BALI'S KECAK DANCE
Kecak (pronounced: /'ke.tʃak/, roughly "KEH-chahk", alternate spellings: Ketjak and Ketjack), a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.[1]
Kecak was originally a trance ritual accompanied by male chorus. German painter and musician Walter Spies became deeply interested in the ritual while living in Bali in the 1930s and worked to recreate it into a drama, based on the Hindu Ramayana and including dance, intended to be presented to Western tourist audiences. This transformation is an example of what James Clifford describes as part of the "modern art-culture system"[2] in which, "the West or the central power adopts, transforms, and consumes non-Western or peripheral cultural elements, while making 'art' which was once embedded in the culture as a while, into a separate entity."[3] Spies worked with Wayan Limbak and Limbak popularized the dance by traveling throughout the world with Balinese performance groups. These travels have helped to make the Kecak famous throughout the world.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
TASK 3: WWW LESSON PLAN
THE EXTINCTION OF TIGER
LEVEL: 4
TIME: 45 minutes
AIMS: To find specific information from the article from the Website and to practice writing.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:
One computer per group of 2 students with an internet connection and a Web browser.
Website: www.thefreelibrary.com; Article: “Tiger’s Last Stand: Could a radical plan save the world’s wild tigers from extinction? The debate roars on.”
PREPARATION:
1. Locate the sites and search for article title “Tiger’s Last Stand: Could a radical plan save the world’s wild tigers from extinction? The debate roars on.”
2. Using the information from the article; prepare a worksheet.
PROCEDURES:
1. Teacher shows students picture of tiger. Ask the students what they know about the causes of the extinction of tigers.
2. Send the students to the sites chosen. Ask them to type in the title of the article “Tiger’s Last Stand: Could a radical plan save the world’s wild tigers from extinction? The debate roars on.”
3. Ask the students to read the article. While they are reading the article, they are given the worksheet prepared and ask them to complete the worksheet.
4. When all the students have finished, discussed their answers. Discuss any unusual facts they learned.
5. Write examples of topic sentence (which had been learned on previous lesson) using the information from the worksheet. Ask them to write their own topic sentence using the information from the worksheet.
FOLLOW-UP:
1. Tell the students to prepare an essay using the information from the worksheet.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Task 2: ESL Website Evaluation
The website chosen to be accessed is the www.a4esl.org.
1. What does the application attempt to “teach”?
This online lesson attempts to teach grammatical components and vocabulary components for various levels in ESL and EFL students. This application provides numbers of activities, exercises, quizzes, practices and puzzles for learners. From the activities provided in this application, the learners can increase their vocabularies and knowledge. Some of the vocabulary exercises include pictures which are very interesting. From the knowledge gained from this application, it can help to increase the learners’ proficiency level. This application also includes bilingual activities where it can be very handy for the learners. Examples of bilingual provided are Malay, Korean, Japanese and Urdu. This application is also very handy for the teachers where it guides the teachers on how to create quizzes. It has online quiz generator where the teacher can get helps in creating multiple choice quiz or flash quizzes for English study which is very interesting. From this application, the teachers can also read the internet TESL journal.
2. What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?
The application user will be expected to answer different types of quizzes based on English component such as grammar and vocabulary. From the content in this application, the user can improve their grammar skills and knowledge on vocabulary. The application user can apply the skills and knowledge in their writing and reading comprehension activities. The learners can used the skills as a reference for their everyday conversations.
3. What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?
This is an easy access application where it does not require any money or a “genius” in computer to run this application. There is no need to login or sign in as a member to use this application. No downloading of any special software required to open this website. This application is very user-friendly where it does not involve any usage of Microsoft Office. The only thing you need is Internet connection to operate this website and not to forget basic language skills are needed.
4. While you are “playing”/”accessing”/”assessing” the application, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?
Yes. It does remind me of activities that I have done in my practicum where I used crossword puzzles in class. It really grabbed the students’ attention and we had fun while learning English. The idioms are also one of the activities that I have done in the classroom. There were also quizzes about places that remind me of the activities that I did in the classroom. Some of the grammar and the vocabulary I had used during my self-study.
5. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?
This application provides activities according to learner’s proficiency level. Hence, this application is related to Bloom’s Taxonomy level where the activities are according to the students’ level of thinking. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a multi-tiered model of classifying thinking according to six cognitive levels of complexity. The activities provided in this application are arranged according to level; easy, medium and difficult. Thus, the students can choose any level that they think is suitable to their proficiency level. This application is also relates to the motivation. Edward Deci (1975: 23) (Brown 2001) defined intrinsic motivation as where the intrinsically motivated activities are ones for which there is no apparent reward except the activity itself. The activities in this application require the users’ intrinsic motivation in order for them to engage with the activities provided.
6. How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?
Jean Piaget suggested individuals assemble new knowledge from their experiences through the processes of assimilation and accommodation. The activities in here clearly promote the process of accommodation and assimilation. In this application, there are no notes for the users in order to help them to answers questions. The users must have basic knowledge on grammatical components in order for them to engage with the activities. The users require their previous knowledge in order to answer the quizzes in this application and from the activities the students are able to assimilate new experience into their existing framework.
7. In 1980s and early 1990s, there was a major debate on ‘whether the computer was “master” of or “slave” to the learning process’ (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation – was the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?
It is undeniable that computer makes our life easier. It could be a master and a slave to the learning process at the same time. It is a master when we are able to get fresh and new knowledge and education at the tip of our fingers. At the same time it could be a slave when we are so dependent on this technology. This technology tend to spoon feed us on everything where the users would not rely on other sources which could be more efficient. Computer can never be a replacement for teachers. As an educator, teacher gives so much to individual in terms of various aspects such as education and moral values in life. Interactions are needed in our everyday life and we can obtain these useful interactions through teachers where it could be limited through computer. We have various teachers that give various opinions, feedbacks and education where computer are lack of it. Computer can be slave where it can separate the user from the real world. Hence, this will cause the users to experience life and learn about the morals, cultures, values and beliefs. Yes, the computer provides information but it takes away the user from experiencing it.
8. Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?
Yes, I will use this application in my future work. It provides various questions that teachers can use in their teaching and students to use as their practice in their learning. Besides it is cost-free, easily accessible and user-friendly. Other than that, it helps teachers in generating questions for quizzes and it includes bilingual activities. From the activities the user can also learn about idioms, acquire knowledge and gain information about places. The teacher can also read journals from this application.
9. Suggestions/recommendations.
There are few suggestions and recommendations that can make this application more interesting. I would suggest that this application provide notes and examples for the users so that it can act as a guide for the user. This application is lack of games, thus games can be inserted in this application to make it more fun and attractive. Pictures, animations and colors can help to make this application livelier. Writing, speaking, listening and reading activities should be included in this application in order to make it more variety.
The website chosen to be accessed is the www.a4esl.org.
1. What does the application attempt to “teach”?
This online lesson attempts to teach grammatical components and vocabulary components for various levels in ESL and EFL students. This application provides numbers of activities, exercises, quizzes, practices and puzzles for learners. From the activities provided in this application, the learners can increase their vocabularies and knowledge. Some of the vocabulary exercises include pictures which are very interesting. From the knowledge gained from this application, it can help to increase the learners’ proficiency level. This application also includes bilingual activities where it can be very handy for the learners. Examples of bilingual provided are Malay, Korean, Japanese and Urdu. This application is also very handy for the teachers where it guides the teachers on how to create quizzes. It has online quiz generator where the teacher can get helps in creating multiple choice quiz or flash quizzes for English study which is very interesting. From this application, the teachers can also read the internet TESL journal.
2. What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?
The application user will be expected to answer different types of quizzes based on English component such as grammar and vocabulary. From the content in this application, the user can improve their grammar skills and knowledge on vocabulary. The application user can apply the skills and knowledge in their writing and reading comprehension activities. The learners can used the skills as a reference for their everyday conversations.
3. What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?
This is an easy access application where it does not require any money or a “genius” in computer to run this application. There is no need to login or sign in as a member to use this application. No downloading of any special software required to open this website. This application is very user-friendly where it does not involve any usage of Microsoft Office. The only thing you need is Internet connection to operate this website and not to forget basic language skills are needed.
4. While you are “playing”/”accessing”/”assessing” the application, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?
Yes. It does remind me of activities that I have done in my practicum where I used crossword puzzles in class. It really grabbed the students’ attention and we had fun while learning English. The idioms are also one of the activities that I have done in the classroom. There were also quizzes about places that remind me of the activities that I did in the classroom. Some of the grammar and the vocabulary I had used during my self-study.
5. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?
This application provides activities according to learner’s proficiency level. Hence, this application is related to Bloom’s Taxonomy level where the activities are according to the students’ level of thinking. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a multi-tiered model of classifying thinking according to six cognitive levels of complexity. The activities provided in this application are arranged according to level; easy, medium and difficult. Thus, the students can choose any level that they think is suitable to their proficiency level. This application is also relates to the motivation. Edward Deci (1975: 23) (Brown 2001) defined intrinsic motivation as where the intrinsically motivated activities are ones for which there is no apparent reward except the activity itself. The activities in this application require the users’ intrinsic motivation in order for them to engage with the activities provided.
6. How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?
Jean Piaget suggested individuals assemble new knowledge from their experiences through the processes of assimilation and accommodation. The activities in here clearly promote the process of accommodation and assimilation. In this application, there are no notes for the users in order to help them to answers questions. The users must have basic knowledge on grammatical components in order for them to engage with the activities. The users require their previous knowledge in order to answer the quizzes in this application and from the activities the students are able to assimilate new experience into their existing framework.
7. In 1980s and early 1990s, there was a major debate on ‘whether the computer was “master” of or “slave” to the learning process’ (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation – was the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?
It is undeniable that computer makes our life easier. It could be a master and a slave to the learning process at the same time. It is a master when we are able to get fresh and new knowledge and education at the tip of our fingers. At the same time it could be a slave when we are so dependent on this technology. This technology tend to spoon feed us on everything where the users would not rely on other sources which could be more efficient. Computer can never be a replacement for teachers. As an educator, teacher gives so much to individual in terms of various aspects such as education and moral values in life. Interactions are needed in our everyday life and we can obtain these useful interactions through teachers where it could be limited through computer. We have various teachers that give various opinions, feedbacks and education where computer are lack of it. Computer can be slave where it can separate the user from the real world. Hence, this will cause the users to experience life and learn about the morals, cultures, values and beliefs. Yes, the computer provides information but it takes away the user from experiencing it.
8. Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?
Yes, I will use this application in my future work. It provides various questions that teachers can use in their teaching and students to use as their practice in their learning. Besides it is cost-free, easily accessible and user-friendly. Other than that, it helps teachers in generating questions for quizzes and it includes bilingual activities. From the activities the user can also learn about idioms, acquire knowledge and gain information about places. The teacher can also read journals from this application.
9. Suggestions/recommendations.
There are few suggestions and recommendations that can make this application more interesting. I would suggest that this application provide notes and examples for the users so that it can act as a guide for the user. This application is lack of games, thus games can be inserted in this application to make it more fun and attractive. Pictures, animations and colors can help to make this application livelier. Writing, speaking, listening and reading activities should be included in this application in order to make it more variety.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
wow..this thing is amazing..thanx falliq!!i have created an exercise using computer!!i feel like a very "modern" teacher!!so "techno"!!
i am trying to learn how to decorate this blog of mine so it will look "hotter"..i hope by the end of this course i am able to decorate my blog and used all types of software..here i am adding my own course outcome!!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
My 1st blog!!fuuuyooo
vavava!!i am actually writing my first blog!!i can't believe i have my own blog..this is due to i am not a 'techno' person!!
my name is fatin zawani binti haji zainal azaim..i am 24 years old..a bit older than the rest but younger than vincent ungko (yeah ben you are older than me!) and same age as hazel..i was born in MAy 10th 1984 and i am from ipoh, perak!!
to be honest i am not that good when dealing with all this technology stuff but i've been wanting to learn about it..(yeah right!)i have very basic knowledge and skill of computers but not ashamed to admit it!!i guess this is just not my 'area'....its a good thing that we have this tsl641 well now people at least i have a blog!!not so left behind anymore..yeay!!
we already have questions to answer for this class..tough for me because its related to computer!!
What computer software you know how to utilize?
i am such a MISS OFFICE..i guess that's all i know..but if i can remeber something else i'll put it up here..i guess i will be updating MY BLOG!!
What computer hardware skills and knowledge do you have?
does knowing how to turn on and off your laptop can be considered as hardware skills?because that is all i know..owh yea..i know how to install certain things..other than that i usually send my laptop to those that were born to be an expert in this area...
What computer / Internet activities do you have and/or oftenly engaged in? e.g download songs, upload videos
i have friendster and facebook...i love to search information on the internet (love?)..i upload lots of things from internet an that is why i have so many viruses..but hey that is why anti-virus was invented!!duh!!
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