Finale..........

With the completion of my 6th Posting in this blog for SKBP1032, my Blogging Assigment for Language & ICT is completed. Thus, this will be the final curtain for this blog. However, my maiden blog entitled Poetic Amoura, which has been orphaned for quite some time, would be revived in the coming end of the semester break.

Before i draw the curtains, i would like to wish all BAELS & BALit (2005/06) : BEST OF LUCK in your final exams and hope all of you pass with flying colours.



Last but not least, i would like to thank my instructor Datin Dr. Norizan for making SKBP1023 an eventful and interesting subject.

A Review of My Blogging Activity

In this posting i will write a review of my blogging activity for SKBP1023-Language & ICT course.


First and foremost, i would like to compliment this course for implementing blogging as one of its assigment. This is because it made this course way interesting and made me look forward to its blogging activities. Moreover, it was fun when we were asked to browse through the online games, language learning websites & educational websites.
Before these activities, i never knew that playing games and surfing the internet could improve ones language.

All the time, i thought the Internet is merely a tool to search for specific imformation and for entertainment purposes only.
Thus, assigments concerning my blog are not only just to obtain marks but has taught me a lot. For example, now i know that there are various English Learning websites which i can browse through if i encounter any difficulty in my BAELS course.

Therefore, it is a practical and effective way for a language student to get to know the Internet and use it to improve ones language. This is because blogging not only made me more aware of the available resources in the Internet but also has given me the oppurtunity to explore into the ICT part of Language.

Blogging has also improved my writing skills in a way that when i write postings for my blog, i'll write as if i'm explaining to someone what i've done.
Hence, i am not so concerned of the vocabulary and grammar aspects, instead i'll take into account whether will an outsider; who knows nothing about my course able to understand my postings when he or she visits my blog. So, i have to write in such a way that anyone who reads my entries will be able to understand whatever i've written.

However, to start blogging, one needs to know and have certain resources. The most important resource is a computer with internet connection. The most troublesome part for me to complete my blog entries is to access the internet. Although there are Internet Cafes, they are quite costly, especially if i were to do my observation of language learning websites using its facility. This is because it would take me at least an hour to browse through one ESL website and write my observation of it. So when i'm back to my hometown, i'll try my very best to complete my postings. That is why my entries for my 4th postings were completed prior to its due date.

Besides this problem, i did not face any other problems because i was familiar with Blogger before i enrolled into university. While i was waiting for my STPM results to be announced, i was an active blogger, thus has another blog entitled Poetic Amoura. Hence, it was easy for me to complete my blogging activities.

Therefore, i would recommend blogging to anyone who wishes to improve their writing skills. This is because it contains lots of features such as Tagboard, whereby anyone who visited your blog can leave their opinions or comments on the board. In addition, it is your blog; so you can write whatever your heart desire as long as it's not a sensitive issue. Hence, the more you practice your writing skills the better your idea will flow; thus, you'll be a better writer. Moreover, you get to play with HTML codes to improve your blog.

As a result, you will not only gain improvement in your writing skills but also attain some ICT knowledge too.

Lastly, i would certainly continue blogging, cause it is like owning my own personal website minus the work of creating it. Blogging is a very versatile way of writing my opinions online and i can share them with my friends via the Internet.

Observation of An Educational Website

For our 5th posting, we are required to search for an educational website and write a report on it.
Therefore, I googled for the term 'educational website' and got a list of websites via the google search engine - http://www.google.com.my/search?hl=en&q=educational+websites&meta=

I entered the 5th website in the list and obtained yet another list of educational websites which are categorized by its subjects such as Arts, Maths and Geography - http://www.homeschool.com/top100/

Thus, i choose to enter the Fun category and choose to browse the website entitled- Kids Space - http://www.kids-space.org/


This picture illustrate the main page of the website. On the right side of the main page, it has a shortcut panel which contains shortcuts/links to its various parts/categories of its website.


There are 3 main aspects of this website, which in my opinion is it's best features as an educational website.

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1st, they teach the users to recognize musical instruments through pictures and sounds. In addition they made the games or pictures animate , so that it would attract the user's attention and continue browsing the website. This feature is integrated in under the Special Project section whereby it has a rabbit mascot called 'Hop' and a raccoon mascot called 'Pop' to guide the users. Under the wings of these mascots is the 'Main Menu' section whereby it has 3 'Scenes' section.

This is the 1st scene entitled Hoppy Hill- In this scene the users can record and play back sounds made by the animals in Hoppy Hill. Thus, its motive is to encourage the user's creative and music skills. This scene also has a section called 'Scenario Creator' whereby the user can write a script with the animals in Hoppy Hill as its cast. Thus, its motive is to encourage the user to improve his or her writing skills.



This is the 2nd scene entitled Poppy Street- In this scene there are tunes and animations which are played when the user click the objects or buldings in the street. After the user has completed browsing through this scene, they have another section called 'Singing Stairs' whereby the Stairs showed works like a keyboard.

This picture illustrate the 'Singing Stairs' section.

In Poppy Street scene, there is another interesting section called 'Brain Teaser'. It is actually a continuation from it's first section. In the 'Brain Teaser' section the user is given a set of question regarding on the objects and animations in Poppy Street. Thus, the motive of this section is to test and improve the user's memory skills.

This is the 3rd scene entitled Hop Pop Hall- In this scene there are instrumental audio clips of children songs in the 'Sing A Song' section. Then, in the 'World Trip' section there are instrumental audio clips of tunes from Germany, Austria, Norway and Brazil. Where else, in the 'Hop Pop Instruments Hall' section there are pictures of instruments played in an orchestra. In this section, it explains what is an orchestra and the muscial instruments played in it. Moreover, they have pictures of the orchestra's instruments and when the user click onto any of the displayed insruments, the sound the instrument produced could be heard.

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2nd, they encourage the users to write short stories, regardless whether it is a narrative story or a story based on his or her experience. The category which is dedicated for this purpose is called the 'Beanstalk' section. The picture on the right illustrate a portion of the Beanstalk's main page.

One unique characteristics of this section is instead of the word 'bell' or 'snowman' the author could put in cartoon like pictures to represent them.

Therefore, it makes the story livelier and captivating for childrens'.

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3rd, this website has a 'Communication' category whereby it has two sub-categories called 'Kid Connect' for children and 'School Connect' for educators or teachers.

Under the 'Kid Connect' category it has another two sub-section called 'Penpal Box' and 'Members Wanted'. Under the 'Penpal Box' section, users can find and post their details to obtain penpals. Where else, the 'Members Wanted' section function as an online forum whereby the users can join specific forum groups of their interest.

The picture on the lefft illustrate the 'Kid Connect' category and its sub-sections.

On the other hand, the 'School Connect' category also has two sub-sections called 'Penpal Box' and 'Project Collaboration'. The 'Penpal Box' in this category function exactly like the 'Penpal Box' in the 'Kids Connect'. The only difference is it is used by teachers or educators to find penpals of the same profession. Where else, the 'Project Collaboration' section function as a sharing section. In this section, teachers/educators can post requests inviting educators from other schools to join in projects which needs participation from other schools. They can also ask for information sharing from other educators.

The picture on the right illustrate the School Connect's category and its sub-sections.

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Hence, this website is a great website for kids aged below 10 years old. This website not only will provoke their artistic side, but in the same time polish their writing skills through penpals and short story writings. In addition, they would be able to interact with kids from all over world through the 'Kid's Space Connection' feature.

Thus, it is also a useful website for kindergarten teachers. The 'School Connect' section is a good way for them to share their experience educating children with other educators from other regions. And if they encounter any difficulties or problems in their profession, they can always ask for advice through the 'Project Collaboration' section because this section works as a forum for them.

In conclusion, I would recommend this website to all educators who handle children aged below 10 years old and encourage childrens' aged 5 to 10 years old to try it out. It's a fun website for kids who wishes to have fun while learning. Moreover, it is a user-friendly website with lots of animations to explore.

ESL website (3) - a4esl.org

The 3rd ESL website i browsed through is http://a4esl.org/
This website has a variety of activities for ESL students to aid in their english language learning. It has a selection of quizzes.


The Grammar Quizzes category has 4 sections which are - grammar: easy, difficult, easy and quizzes about places.
The Vocabulary Quizzes category has 4 sections too which are - vocabulary: easy, easy with pictures, medium and difficult.
The Crossword Puzzles category has 2 sections which are - crossword puzzles : easy and not so easy.


It even has Billingual Quizzes category which has quizzes on arabic-english, chinese-english, czech-english, malay-english and even zulu-english. The malay to english quizzes is linked in our lecture presentation's 6th slides on vocabulary.

Overall, the activities on this webite is suitable for Beginner ESL students.
The Malay-English billingual quiz is suitable for primary students.
However, the crossword puzzles are quite fun and hard to complete, it's suitable for primary to secondary students.
The Grammar and Vocabulary quizzes have levels of difficulty which are appropriate for primary to secondary students too.

ESL Website (2)- 1-Language.com's ESL center

The next ESL website i browsed through is http://www.1-language.com/ . I got it through the same Tower of English ESL Sites as John's ESL community.

This website is very useful to every ESL student and teacher.

Under the Learn English section:

1. The Free Materials section has 3 sub-categories which are Services, Chat/Boards and Resources. The Services category is beneficial to beginner and intermediate students. There are helplines link and the chat room, friends/penpal links can help students to improve their language abilities. There are even ESL games, quizzes and the all time favourite ESL Hangman. However to access the Chat/Boards services which have chatroom, friends/penpal, learning english and Helpline sections, one need to register to obtain a login ID before he/she can obtain these services.

2. The Teach English section has 2 main categories which are Community and Resources. This section is useful for those looking for jobs in this field cause there Jobs and Resumes links. Under the Resources section there are teaching resources which a teacher could use to aid his/her teaching such as the Phonic Sheets and Writing Sheets. These are printable.

Under the People and Languages section:

This section is for those intend to study or live abroad. Whereby they have links to language schools and links to other language learning like learning Spanish or French as 2nd Language.

This website is convinent for those finding resources to learn English language and other languages.

It has many links to foreign language learning.

Overall, the free material section is suitable for beginner students.

ESL Website (1)- John's ESL Community

I googled for esl websites and found lots of esl websites. http://www.google.com.my/search?hl=en&q=esl+websites&meta=
In this posting, I will talk about John's ESL Community website http://www.johnsesl.com/
which i found at Tower of English ESL Sites http://towerofenglish.com/eslsites.html .
The Tower of English ESL Sites has a list of ESL websites.



This website has 2 categories of users which are the Students category and the Teachers category.
I browsed through the Students category.
The Student category has 5 sub-categories which are Language skills, Quizzes, Games, Riddles and Holidays.

Under the language skills category, there are 7 sub-categories which are Vocabulary, Reading, Writing, Listening, Grammar, Idioms and Quotes.
The Listening sub-category is interesting, There is a section on minimal pairs /b/ and /v/, it's quite hard to differentiate the /b/ and /v/ and i scored 11 correct out of 16 questions (68%)
The Grammar section is divided into two parts which are Beginning Grammar and Intermediate.
This category is suitable for beginner students. Secondary students can benefit a lot in the writing, listening and grammar sections.

Under the Quizzes category, there are 9 sub-categories which are Short answer, Cloze, Yes/no, Multiple choice, Vocabulary, Scramble text, Flash Cards, Matching and Listening.
This category is suitable for primary and early secondary students ( Form1-3).

Under the Games category, there are 6 sub-categories which are Hangman, Maldlibs, Scrambled Text, Matching games, Action mazes and Never ending story.
This category is suitable for beginner students. Besides testing ones vocabulary, one can have fun at the same time. Learning becomes interactive.

Under the Riddles category, there are 4 sub-categories which are Logic, Math, What am I? and Words.
This category is very mind boggling.... it's perfect for those who loves riddles.
It is suitable for anyone who wish to have their thinking cap on!

Under the Holidays category, there are 4 sub-categories which are New year, Christmas, Valentine's day and More.
This category is more of an information section. In this section are brief information and history of well-known and celebrated occasions and people such as Thanksgiving day, President's day and Martin Luther King.
This category is suitable for anyone who wish to read up some information or history...

Overall, this website is suited best for beginner level students.
It is a site recommended to all beginner students.

Observation of Chatroom

On 26th January 2006, we had our tutorial session in Lab D, FSSK.
However, half of the computers there were not functioning therefore, most of us had to share computers.
The task on that day was to get ourselves into any chatroom and participate in the chatting while observing the language, colours and fonts the chatters used.


I joined the yahoo chatroom which requires its chatters to own a yahoo id.
Its URL is http://chat.yahoo.com/.
The Yahoo chatrooms are divided into 18 categories which are
Businessess & Finance, Computers & Internet, Cultures & Community, Entertainment & Arts, Family & Home, Games, Government & Politics, Health & Wellness, Hobbies & Crafts, Movies, Music, Recreation & Sports, Regional, Religion & Beliefs, Romance, Schools & Education, Science and Voice Chat.

I joined the Games chatroom. The chatters in the chatroom didn't take notice of me although i said hello, hi, hie many times. The chatters were engrossed in their conversation with other chatters that were in the chatroom earlier. However i did get a couple of private messages asking me to play a game with them. But, time isn't on my side, cause by the time the fella want to start the pool game, my chatroom session has ended.

From my observation while i was in the Yahoo Games chatroom, i found that the chatters uses various fonts, font sizes and colours for their messages. The colours they used varied from a single colour to rainbow-like colours. The colour of their message function as an attention getter to get other chatters attention and to differentiate themselves. I also notice that they do not use much short forms execpt for the usual ones such as u=you, LOL=Laughing Out Loud, the of smileys are not seen at all however, there are ocassional use of emoticons such as :), :P and :D. The use of code switches also didn't occur.

But, if i observe chatting in messengers such as the Yahoo or MSN messenger. The use of code switch, emoticons, smileys and short forms are common.

For example:

In conclusion, chatting in international chatroom is a good way to interact with people from various ages, personality and nationality. However, don't be suprise if the chatters who PM you starts sending naughty messages.

Wherelse, messengers are more personal and one to one mode with more colours and animations.

Observation of typing skills

After the online games session on 5th January we proceed with a typing task.
We had to retype a notice from The Language of ICT textbook by Tim Shortis on Virus Alert(pg16).



We took about 5 to 10 minutes to complete the task.

The font i used was 'Impact' font and the size of the font i used were 40, 22, 48 and 20.

I started off by changing the Font to 'Impact'.
Then, i choose the 'Center' layout to centralize the title (VIRUS ALERT) up to the stop line (....STOP....)
Next, i use bullets for the next 4 lines.
For the next paragraph, i align left after i off the bullets and centralize others below it.

However, the notice i typed is not exactly the same as in pg16, Tim Shortis's book. The difference is the Font and the size of font.

Observation of online games

Thursday, 5th January 2006 was the 1st lab tutorial session at Faculty of Social Science & Humanities Lab D, 0800-1000hrs.
For the 1st hour we were instructed to find and play any games that were listed in the Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) article by Warchauer and categorize the game into any 3 phases of CALL which are Behaviouristic, Communicative or Intergrative CALL.


I googled for the Hangman game and played it at http://www.hangman.no/
The Hangman game at this website can be played either in English or Norwegian(Norsk) language.


The Hangman game is in the Behaviouristic Call category.


It has 3 levels of difficulty which are (1)Easy, (2)Medium and (3)Hard.
After selecting the desired level, the player have to select a topic which ranged from Movies, Musical instruments, Frequently mispelled words, American presidents, Brands to Animal breeds.

It rewards its player with a 'CONGRATZ' message and clapping sound effect if the player solved the game.
Wherelse, if the player fail to solve the word and got hanged, it will encourage the player to play another game by displaying 'HANGING ALREADY? LET'S GIVE IT ANOTHER GO, SHALL WE?' message.

The Hangman game is suitable for Beginner ESL students.
It's a fun way to test our vocabulary and word power :D

Welcome!!

HieHie,

Welcome to my blog for Language and ICT!

This blog is dedicated to reports of tutorial activties for SKBP1023 Language & ICT subject.

SKBP1023 is a 3 credit hours subject whereby 1 hour is for lecture and the rest 2 hours is for tutorial session which, would either be conducted at FSSK computer labs or at BS14 in PPBL.