TASK 1

1) Please introduce yourself.

Well hello there 2010!!.. :) Im Intan Darlila but you can call me Ella in short. I am going to be 26 this year but i'll always be 16 years old at heart. Gombak is my hometown where the shoe factory is 'kasut gombak' as they say (although i can almost swear i've never seen it). My hopes and dreams for this year is to complete part 8 with flying colours, get married and have lots of babies. AMIN!!

2)How would you rate yourself in terms of your computer skills and why? (e.g. expert, novice, savvy, geek, illiterate etc)

How would i rate myself? I would say I am no geek or tech savvy when it comes to computer skills however i do have sufficient enough knowledge to create a presentable computer based tasks. I always believe if it looks presentable, it would be good enough for me. :)

3)What computer software and hardware knowledge do you have?

I am profficient with everything that is in microsoft office : words, excel, powerpoint,publisher and outlook :) hehe

4)Have you experienced learning via the computer (online, etc)?

I have actually learned quite a few things via the computer/online. I am amazed on how easy you can learn anything just by a click of a button especially on you-tube. I think You -tube is a good platform for any means of learning because it is visual. I personally like to search for troubleshooting regarding my computer or just simply looking for food recipees and methods of preparing them. You can find and learn just about anything on you-tube :). Other than that, during my practicum, I realized have used alot of interesting ideas from tasks sheets on language teaching taken from the internet. I found the ideas were very interactive and fun for students to do.

5) Did you try to incorporate technology in some of your lessons during your practicum? Was it a success or a failure? If you did not what was/were the reason(s)?

I did incorporate alot of technology during my practicum session. I was lucky enough to have always been able to occupy the 'Lingua centre' where any language teachers are allowed to use for classes. The room was fully equipped with a computer, an LCD projector, audio system and a printer. Most of the time I used this room since other teachers do not need to use its facilities. I must say it was a great success. I played alot of interactive games with them such as snakes and ladders using the LCD projector.

6) What is your opinion on the use of computer/technology in language teaching?

Considering we are now living in an era filled with technology, I do think it is very relevent to use it. Tasks and activities can become more interactive and fun rather than having students learning with books, pen and paper. I have witness during my practicum that any materials I used which had visuals on the projector screen, audio, colours and interactiveness were an attention grabber to the students. For an example, in relation to the snakes and ladders I created as an aid to teach grammar to my students, I found the response and participation was overwhelming. I witnessed even the weaker students who were usually passive got up and was not shy to participate. Sometimes even the task of pressing any key on the keyboard would be exciting enough for students.

7) What are your expectations from this course?

My personal expectation is to learn much more and broaden my skills especially to incorporate technology with my language learning and future teachings. I also hope that I will learn many tasks that I used to do manually will in future would only take a click of a button :)