Introduction to TSL641

Good day everyone. Today I would like to do an introduction on my blog and I hope that you will enjoy reading the details. In addition, I also will be answering questions as instructed by my lecturer.

1. Introduce yourself.

A little bit about my personal information, my name is Nik Amirul Afiq Bin Nik Hassim and I was born on the 21st of January 1995 in Tanah Merah Kelantan. My father works as a policeman while my mother is a full-time housewife. Because of my father's occupation, we have been transferring a lot around the state and I graduated my secondary from SMK Rantau Panjang, Kelantan and further my study upon receiving the offer from UiTM for Foundation in TESL's program.

2. How would you rate yourself in terms of your computer skills? (e.g. expert, novice, savvy, geek, illiterate etc)
3. What computer software and hardware knowledge do you have?

As for my computer skills, I would rate myself as savvy as I know how to go around using the software and make products out of it. For an example, I know how to use Sony Vegas Pro, which is used to edit videos, as well as the other software such as  Mendeley, CC Cleaner and many more aside from Microsoft software. I also know how to clean my laptop as I learned from Youtube, and I also know to install new software, backup files, format system and other things.

4. Have you experienced learning via the computer (online courses, using courseware, websites etc)?

Throughout the years of my study both during my foundation and now, I believe that I am very familiar with online learning. In addition, I believe there are two ways of it, which is the formal and informal ways. First, the formal way, in UiTM, there is a system for everyone and the system benefit the users in various ways. for an example, there is an I-Learn option given to both the students and lecturers where all notes and quizzes will be posted there, and there are also other facilities such as online forum inside the I-Learn where the users can use it for discussion regarding academic matters. On the other hand, as for the informal way of online learning, there are various websites which offer the experience of learning such as Youtube where we can watch recorded lectures and discussion on our chosen topic, Google scholar which supply research articles for references and many more.

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)?

Yes, I often incorporate the use of technology during my practicum and I believe that those lessons were quite successful as there were some factors which make it impossible for me to incorporate the use of technology all the time. For examples, the classes were not equipped with projectors and the only way for me to conduct such lessons was to book the Language Room. However, taking the lack of facilities into account, I had to compete with the senior teachers and also my fellow TESL trainees who wished to use the room. 

6. What is your opinion/prediction/perception on the use of computer/technology in language teaching and learning?

I believe that the students really enjoyed the lesson which incorporates the use of technology as they get to enjoy it more, especially when I showed them pictures, audio recording, as well as short video clips. Furthermore, it also helps to ease teacher's burden as they do not have to carry heavy teaching aids around, as everything can be compiled into a cloud storage.

7. What do you hope to learn/gain from this course?

I hope that by the end of this semester, I will be able to create my own online platform which can be accessed for free for anyone who wishes to learn more about English in an exciting and engaging way.

8. What is the topic chosen for your Academic Exercise? Why have you chosen the topic? Who is your supervisor?  How do you plan to complete your AE so that it follows the designated processes (chapter by chapter) and can be submitted on time?

The topic that I chose is 'The relationship between reading anxiety and reading strategies used by TESL undergraduate students from the faculty of Education, UiTM Puncak Alam, in reading literature'. I chose this topic because I can see that the majority of my friends, including me, we do not really enjoy literature courses especially when it comes to poetry due to the language used. As for my planning, wish to work closely with my supervisor as we have created a Whatsapp group for online consultation and I will keep her update of my progress weekly.

Basically, that is all for my first entry and I will update more as the time goes by.