Hi guys!!! I'm Nurul Aimi Fadzlin bt Mohd Radzif, a part 8 TESL student in Faculty of Education, UiTM Shah Alam. This year is my final year in UiTM, so I am so excited to enter all classes in this semester. Frankly speaking, I have two other blog accounts (one for personal use and another one for business purpose) but now I create this new blog for my final semester and it is also for my CALL subject.
Well... for my computer skills, how should I rate them? Hmm... Well, I think I can rate myself as a half-expert and not 100% expert nor computer savvy person. However, to measure my computer skills, I can say that my skills are for working purposes and not for gaming purposes.
I know how to use windows and Mac programmers since in my house, we have both - computers that use Windows and an Ipad2 which uses Mac. Besides that, for the computer software, I can say that I have mastered in handling Microsoft Office, SmartDraw, Adobe Photoshop, SPSS, etc. Meanwhile for the computer hardware, I don't know how to build a PC but I know how to setup the computer.
I love to use my computer and the internet to find lots and lots of information. So, yes, I have experienced learning via my computer through online, using courseware,etc.
If you ask me, did I try to incorporate technology in some of my lessons during my practicum, well... I will absolutely say "YES!!!" I did try to bring the technology in my class - not in every lesson but some only. If you ask me "Was it a success or a failure?" Then, I will answer "Both." It was a failure since I could not display the video that I wished to display on the LCD screen because the school's LCD projector had went missing but it was also a success since I managed to display the video that I gained from the internet using my two laptops (Yup... I brought two laptops to my school as my backup plan.) I believe all of us need to have Plan B for everything that we do.
In my opinion, it is a great idea to use computer/technology in language teaching but the school must first prepare sufficient facilities for teachers to be able conducting their lesson smoothly and successfully. Children and adolescents nowadays are more attracted to IT so it is a need for teachers to also use IT as a tool to attract their interest in learning. However, there is a strong reminder from me - DO NOT ALWAYS USE LAPTOP AND LCD IN CLASS. DO BRING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS AND CREATE GAMES FOR YOUR STUDENTS TO ENJOY THE LESSON. You will know the reason when you are having your practicum later. Good luck!
From this subject, I hope I could learn some other techniques for me to become totally expert in conducting/handling/managing everything that related to computer.
Now, I'm going to use SPSS to analyse data for my AE which entitled "Teachers' Job Motivation in Four (4) Urban Secondary Schools in KotaBharu, Kelantan. The reason for me to choose this topic is because during my school days I learned there are some factors that influence teachers' motivation in teaching and whether you believe it or not we could actually see the result through their attitude towards the job, school, and the way they treat their students. So, through this research I hope I could identify the main reason for most teachers entered this profession and their motivation level. I hope my supervisor, Mr. Fazyudi, could help me and guide me along the process of completing my AE. In order to make sure I manage to complete this AE on time, I used my 4-months-semester break to collect the data from those four particular schools and alhamdulillah I managed to get 290/320 respondents for my research. I hope in this new semester I could complete Chapter 4 and 5 within two months time. InsyaALLAH.
