CALL Entrance Survey

1. My name is Siti Nabila binti Mohd Rus. I was born in Kuantan, Pahang. There are three siblings in my family. My mother is from Kuala Lipis, Pahang while my father is from Besut, Terengganu. I can understand Kelantanese a bit but I can't speak the dialect well. As for the dialect of people living in Pahang... *sighs* I'm not good at it, at all. I am seldomly exposed to the language because most of the time, we only go back to my father's hometown. Besides, my grandparents from my mother's side now live in Kuantan too, and they rarely use the dialect to speak with us. Nevertheless, both dialects are fascinating to me.

2. In all honesty, I am not so good with computer. However, since I use it sometimes to write and post stories on a website for online writers, my typing skill has improved sufficiently. But again, it is still not as good as the touch typists who can type a whole letter without glancing at the keyboard after all, as they sip a cup of coffee occasionally. In relation to technology-based educational skill, I find the software such as Microsoft Excel and Hot Potatotes, not to mention the Flash are a bit intimidating. Well, of course I am scared. This is my first time of creating educational software using all those. To make things worse, they will be graded. Heaven knows how I am going to pass this course with such pathetic computer skill. Again, success wouldn't come rolling at your feet without some extra effort, right?

3. Based on my experience, I have only mastered the use of PowerPoint in creating an interactive software for educational purposes. As for other three (as listed above), I think every thing is relatively new to me, and I might need some extra practice in using them. As for the hardware knowledge, I have to admit that I don't really know most of them. I only recognise the keyboard, the screen monitor and the mouse, (well, then again, it's because we often use them as we use the computer) but for others, maybe not. 

4. Frankly speaking, I have not attended any online courses, workshops in using courseware and websites in order to learn via technology. The only exposure I have ever gotten to learning via it was through the subjects made mandatory for the students of UiTM to take, specifically when I was in the foundation year and the early semesters of degree. 

5. Since we were supposed to go for the practicum in the eighth semester, (which means the next one), we haven't even gone for it. So yes, I did not use any technology in teaching yet, but I am planning on doing so, in order to make the English class more interactive. 

6. In my opinion, using technology in language learning is good. When I was in high school, most of the English classes were conducted in the physical classroom. To be honest, at some point they did get just a little bit of boring for me because there were least interaction between the teacher and the students. So, I think a good language learning classroom is where both types of educational environment are reinforced. 

7. I expect that by the end of this course, I've gained a lot of knowledge and acquired the skill of creating educational software using Microsoft Excel, Hot Potatoes and Flash. Besides that, it is hoped that I'll be able to demonstrate my understanding on reinforcing technology-infused classroom for the betterment of language teaching in future, especially English.

8. For the Academic Exercise, I plan on writing a mini thesis on Blended Learning in ESL Classrooms. As far as I am concerned, the supervisor is not yet assigned to each one of the students in our batch. However, I choose this topic because I find fascinating to actually study on students' engagement in language-based classrooms fostered by the presence of Internet and technology. Regarding the preparation, I'm still collecting the data and references, For the record, we are not taking the subject during this semester.

Thank you so much, for even reading this. :3