Week 8

A week goes by, another week came in, and the workload is still there… and for this particular week, we need to submit module 1 and were given another task which is included along with Module 3.

It took me about almost a day to look into what’s inside the module... it’s rather thick compared to the previous module and it’s mainly about audio editing. Generally the module is divided into three components namely:
i) The objectives of this module
ii) The module
iii) The task to test what has been learnt

And by the end of this module, we are expected to be able to:

- Change speed, pitch cut and join audio for making better quality audio files.
- Decrease and increase music tempo.
- Remove noise from audio, upgrading the quality of stupid audio files.
- Converting and encoding audio files
- Changing the type of audio files from wav to mp3
- Create minus one.
- Combine two songs
- Edit music and sound
- Saving and uploading

Week 7

Now, since we’re already in second half of this semester which I think its time for me to focus more on the tasks so I came to class… bring along my dearest laptop with me tried my best to use the given 3hours to work on module 1 which was given to us earlier. Nothing much to say but the task is basically about basic skills of using technology skills. Though we may found it simple but there’s lot more waiting us in the box.

Just be positive with every tiny little thing given to us, there must be purposeful and useful for our own benefits because the next generation of future teacher is not coming to class just for the sake of teaching but they’ll ensure the knowledge transfer and interactive teaching and learning is happening as well.

Week 6

Empowering 21st century educator.
In order for children to be prepared for the 21st century, educators have to understand what it takes to create an environment that supports teaching and learning new media literacy.

We all know how much technology has fundamentally changed the way we communicate, interact, and work. So it should be no surprise that our students engage more deeply in learning activities when teachers deliver content using interactive learning technologies. Furthermore, it is not surprising that when teachers consistently embrace together digital content and interactive learning activities that student engagement and achievement grows. It is what students expect today in this new millennium.

The 21st century teacher needs to be a digital native. While older teachers will inevitably be digital immigrants, at the very least they must be willing to adapt and change. Modern living in the 21st century is internet based. We get our information direct from the source. Knowing how to manage digital software, Twitter and all the other electronic gadgets at our disposal and as yet undreamed of is an important skill for any 21st century teacher to have.
Using technology in classroom would be a meaningful tool in teaching and learning techniques in this era of technology as it could provide and bring the whole world into the classroom. The job of a teacher is not limited to the process of delivering and sharing knowledge in the classroom. We are actually given greater responsibilities in shaping and creating the value of the people of tomorrow; the people who view this world as a stage to learn and to perform their talent and skills based on what has been taught throughout their schooling years.

Week 5

Utilizing technology-based teaching aids in classroom instruction

Teaching aid, as its name suggests, is a kind of aids which support the teaching and learning activities of teachers and students.
To put it more specific, a teaching aid is a tool used by teachers, facilitators, or tutors to:

- help learners improve reading and other skills
- illustrate or reinforce a skill, fact, or idea
- relieve anxiety, fears, or boredom, since many teaching aids are like games


In short, teaching aids are the useful materials and equipment which help create motivation for teaching and learning environment.
Utilizing modern teaching aids successfully will create the best platform for learning and teaching. Teachers are using multimedia content with audio and video into their lessons. The teacher has to be sure to identify the main points of the contents so that children can absorb the knowledge. In doing so teacher might probably wanted to bring a chart or draw a neat diagram on the board, but effective learning still misses out.

One thing we need to bear in mind is the fact that a multimedia content gives the student a better learning experience as they can watch the actual phenomena and processes. With Interactive Whiteboards for instance teachers can annotate on their content and save it in computer files that can’t be done through traditional boards.
Time has come to integrate modern teaching aids into the classroom for effective learning and teaching. So yeah... be creative!!

Week 4: Modern vs. Traditional teaching aids.

Technology plays an important role in enhancing learning system. The time of blackboards with chalk and notice boards is going to change. The crucial factor in a teaching process is the quality of the lessons given by the teachers. Teachers therefore should use modern teaching aids.Modern teaching aids are used to make learning sessions interactive and motivating. Nowadays, classes are equipped with modern teaching aids such as Interactive Whiteboards, visualizer, response system, projectors and educational software etc. Teaching with modern teaching aids is essential in the technological age. Many subject topics can be taught better and in more depth with modern teaching aids. Teachers must use various types of modern teaching aids to connect with students. Modern teaching aids incorporate audio-visual techniques that influence the interest and memory of students.

Book as traditional teaching resources. DO YOU AGREE??
Books are an age old teaching resource. With technological progress, many modern teaching resources have surfaced but the popularity of books remains untouched. When one talks of education the image that props up in his or her mind is that of books rather than a personal computer or IWB.
Books are the age old knowledge imparting resources that every individual has in his or her mind. A child emerging on his or her educational journey first gets acquainted with books; having colored picture illustrations to catch as well as hold on to. Even today, elders are keen on getting their wards fall into the habit of reading books.
Modern technology has brought computers within our reach. Computers form a very important part of young students' education these days. But it may be important to note that it is still books that are used as resources for teaching any subject at any level. Therefore we may conclude that books, till now, are the primary teaching resources.

Week 3

Young Minds...

We came to our third week of this course. And for this week, Pn. Foziah wanted us to work on a group discussion about what is written by Susan Halliwel in her book under the chapter ‘Working with young learners’. As a teacher, we need to consider with the fact that children are very unique in their own way. They can be very expressive viewing things in their own way. Therefore there are quite number of skills that we as a teacher need to bear with in mind especially when working with young language learners. According to Halliwell, those skills are:

Children’s ability to grasp meaning

Children’s creative use of limited language resources

Children’s capacity of indirect learning

Children’s instinct for play and fun

The role of imagination

The instinct for interaction and talk

Thus my group and I were given the second skill which is children’s creative use limited language resources. Based on our discussion, what we can summarize from the paragraph is the fact that:

- Young children may have creative use of grammatical form and concept

- Children excel at making a little language of their mother tongue

When children try to attempt this process, they can actually build up their grasp of the language because they are actively recombining and reconstructing it for themselves.

In terms of classroom activity, teacher needs to provide these young language learners with activities that that can encourage them to communicate expressively in their own way. The activities should also be something that is unpredictable and appear encouraging to them, so that they can construct language actively.

Example of activities:

GAMES!

Because it is known that games is something that is absolutely appeal to young children as it is FUN and apart from that we may find it USEFUL as it could ENCOURAGE COMMUNICATION among the child itself and last but not least; of course it is UNPREDICTABLE because playing is something that is very natural.

So yeah… never underestimates the ability of a child.

Week 2 : A space to share

lazy sunday... updating this blog with a backround music from a wedding ceremony outside my apartment.. a bit distracting with all those noises coming in but yeah.. getting used to it now..

Second week of resource class... what should i say.. glad to meet my respective lecturer again.. =)
She always had tons of stories and advices to share with us.. thats what i l0ve the most about her.. And as for the class, she told us about the importance of fast typing.. and she did provide us the link where we could download and install the typing test installer so that we could practice practice and practice till we can just type without looking at the keyboard anymore! w0oWw.. what a skill..

i might be editing this post again next time.. adding s0me picture and summ0re.. but i think that's it for now..

Cheri0!!