week 4 entry

1. Why do you think evaluation of CALL courseware, websites, materials etc important?

it is important to evaluate all things related to CALL because first, technology keeps on changing at a very rapid pace. technology developed 5 years ago may not be relevant today. and to keep up-to-date with the current techno level, evaluations of CALL-related-thingy is necessary in order for the learning and teaching process in the classroom to be effective and updated to the current trends. thats what i think...

2. How do you think Hot Potatoes JCloze may help your students learn English?

very good question. hot potatoes is like a gift from god Himself. its a great software especially for language teachers trying to incorporate technology in the classroom.its easy to use, very simple interface. easily put, its teacher-and-student-friendly interface really makes it one of the best language software available for language teachers. kudos to the developer of hot potatoes. in relation to my students using jcloze as part of their language learning, i personally think they will gain much more insights if compared to the traditional pen and paper approach. moreover, they will definitely feel motivated doing their exercises using jcloze because at the end of the exercise, there is a total point in which jcloze automatically calculated for them. if i am given another chance to teach language in classroom, i will definitely, without any doubt will be using jcloze as my medium of exercise.

in class task 2

in class task 1

wats in a name, shakespeare once said, but merely words and letters. and my name is Ahmad Hafizuddin Zainal Abidin. tat is my given name. how i wish i could choose my own name today.

in relation to this course, i think my computer skills r quite limited cause all my life, ive never used the computer to assist me in language learning. y i say so? because for me, the purpose of computer in my life is totally for entertainment purposes only, except the fact tat i use the comp to do my assignments.

as it was stated above, my comp skills r limited to those applications which i frequently used; itunes, internet explorer, ym, and microsoft office apps.

online learning is new to me. frankly speaking, ive never had the chance to learn through the world wide web.

in my own opinion, the use of technology in malaysian classrooms act out as a two-hedged sword. technology can go wrong, and when it does, it will be messy to clean up afterwords. and to answer ur question, no, i did not incorporate the use of technology during my practicum months because i have ran out of plan Bs if anything goes wrong. i cant afford to loose precious time and energy during those months.

i think the use of technology in classrooms should be incorporated in all language classes. it not only makes the teacher's job easier, but it also saves time and energy in preparing and presenting the materials taught. the only problem is tat we have the technology needed but we dont have the necessary means to use them.

my own personal expectations for this course is so tat i can fully use the computer for learning and teaching purposes in the future.