Malaysia

Meh. You don't need a flag to be patriotic. It's not something you should only show one day or one week or one month out of an entire year. Some people go crazy, decorating their cars with plastic holders and tiny flags which they'll probably end up throwing away, which isn't exactly environmentally sound. Heck, it contributes to fuel wastage, due to lack of proper aerodynamics, those tiny flags actually create additional friction, which means your car needs that much more power to burn before it can achieve the desired speed, not to mention the miniscule additional weight, which also probably lowers the circumference of the tyres by slightly below a micrometer or so for each flag added. So, when you take into consideration all of these factors, plus any I haven't mentioned, each flag you stick on your car actually makes it worse for the environment, and therefore you are harming your country.

I just digressed a whole lot right there, but the point of it all is that you don't need to go bonkers when Merdeka is around the corner. Helicopters flying around, planes zooming by practicing for the big parade, it all kinda puts more holes in the ozone layer.

You love your country, prove it with less flashy flashy. Pick up pieces of trash you see lying around, help the old people who might have worked their lives to make the country a better place cross the street, or let them sit down on your seat in a crowded bus, hold the door open for them, teach the kids you're pinning your hopes on some manners, keep an eye on them and think about their wellbeing, take care of our past and our future in not so many words by doing the right thing right here in the present.

It's not easy to do the right thing all the time, but it isn't exactly the hardest thing in the entire world to try and do it sometimes..

*sigh*

Malaysia's 51 this year, making it some sort of grandpa country. Happy birthday. I know a bunch of your kids are kinda fighting all the time now over all sorts of silly stuff, sorry about that, but some of us are trying to behave. Mostly. Kinda. Sometimes.

Again, happy birthday.

And sorry about the swearing.

It actually makes a lot of sense...

Seriously, just take a look at this. Whoah. Ever think about that?

Level 56 Evil Politician LFG, low INT, high CHA, high brain cell DPS.

So, apparently someone decided that the citizens of a particular region, not the whole country mind you, should thank him for single handedly knocking off 15 cents of the petrol price due to his divine noisemakers other people refer to as 'mouth' (and use more wisely too, but meh.). Clickity for those who don't know what I'm talking about. The citizens of a particular region which happens to have votes to cast. I wonder why the rest of us petrol users shouldn't be showing our gratitude on this one, but I suppose I don't understand politics as well as most people should.

Hmmm... If I'm not mistaken, One Utama is having a Mega Sale! To hell with 15 cents, they're knocking off up to 50%!! Blame that one on yourself too so that we can give you our gratitude, Mr Evil, sir!

For everyone who thinks Ethos is cool...

Haha, no.

CALL website evaluation

Website evaluation

http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/
projets/anglais/exercises/welcome.html

1. Who are the users the website is targeting?

The users which the website is targeting are actually any users who want to learn English, from the Beginner stage, all the way to Advanced. I’m assuming they have to at least have a rudimentary knowledge of the language first though.

2. What sorts of things are the application users expected to do with regards to learning and using or even manipulating the content?

The site doesn’t boast anything fancy, which is just fine. Users are expected to do anything from filling in blanks, to reading and understanding passages and answering questions about those passages, in a slightly boosted form of the Microsoft Excel exercise we had a while back. There are also some crosswords and the like. Users generally just decide where they stand in the food chain, from Beginner to Advanced, click on a link, and are guided to many different types of exercises, which are focused on the various skills.

3. What sorts of computer skills are the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?

Basically, the computer skills required to use the website are the ability to type, and point and click a mouse. Handicapped students might have a problem with this one, but technology has recently come up which allows those without the benefit of hands to operate a computer using a mouth held device, and in fact, some technology is in the making that allows for a chip to be inserted in the part of the brain which controls motor functions, which then beams instructions to a receiver chip which then processes commands according to whatever it is you’re thinking. Er… Okay, enough digression, but basically, all you need to know to use this website is being able to type and use a mouse. Also, for Mozilla Firefox users, you may want to enable scripts for the website.

4. While you are “playing”/”accessing”/”assessing” the website, does it remind you of anything you do (or have done) in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?

The exercises found in the website are akin to the drilling practices that were done by teachers back in primary and secondary school. Filling in the blanks, reading and understanding passages, it’s the staple food of English class exercises in Malaysia. At least it was back when I was in school…

5. What setting will the website best be used in: independent study lab with no teacher available, lab associated with a class, a teacher-led class with one or a few computers?

The website can be used in an independent study lab, but the dangers of having a computer access a website would be that students will more often than not be surfing rather than studying. A lab associated with a class can be done, as long as the teacher is vigilant and students are obedient. A teacher-led class could probably work, but with only one or a few computers, not much learning would take place, since these are the types of exercises that seem best done individually.

6. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?

Drills, drills, more drills, and drills. Perhaps some scaffolding, if a teacher is around to facilitate the exercises which are being done.

7. How well are the Vygotsky’s constructivist theory of learning and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory applied to the chosen website?

Honestly, the website seems more catered towards individual usage, so Vygotsky’s constructivist theory may not have been what the author had in mind, however, it can definitely be used that way, assuming there is someone who is more proficient than the user who is willing to sit down and guide the user through the exercises. As for Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory, the website doesn’t seem to have any exercises based on anything outside of the Linguistic intelligence sphere.

8. In 1980’s and early 1990’s, there was a major debate on whether the computer was a master of or a slave to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation, is the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?

The website itself quotes this at the starting page : “Students having problems with any of the exercises are advised to consult their teacher for further help -
neither this nor any other program can provide a substitute for a real, live human teacher !”. I’m inclined to agree actually, as you can learn a lot from a computer program, or a website, but until we develop the technology for actual functional Artificial Intelligence, there’s only so many variables which can be programmed into a programs response algorithms, meaning a program will never be able to answer every single question that you can come up with satisfactorily. A computer is a wonderful tool which allows us to actually be able to experience things which we might not have access to in real life, however, at this point in time, that’s where the story ends. A very intelligent student may learn from a computer, but a computer is not able to teach a student. Yet.

9. Would you like to use the website yourself in your future work?

Assuming I work as a teacher, I would probably direct my students to try this website out at home, but I probably wouldn’t try to use it in class, unless I had direct control over every single terminal my students were accessing. It is a very good site for drilling exercises, but lacking something more interactive, students would become bored quickly and easily unless they wanted to access the website on their own steam.

10. Suggestions/Recommendations.

I have no real suggestions and recommendations for the website. It’s true, I have toted that the website is mainly about drills with a lack of interactivity however, websites like these are needed for those who want to learn the language without having to wait forever for an interactive flash to finish downloading so that a merry clown can sing ABC to you while you go off on your adventure through the wild with a talking tiger who lays down grammatical rules while hunting bad language. I may be exaggerating, but my point is, not everyone needs a website which is colorful and interactive in order to learn. Those who have taken practicum will know that if you enter every single class with a different game, in the end, the students will get bored of games and will not have learned much. This website is pretty good, since it gives you what you want, and that’s it.

Meh

Yeah, did I happen to mention yellow is my least favourite colour?

An Actual Post

So, finally, an actual post. Tsk.

I actually wasn't enthusiastic about starting a blog, but that couldn't really be helped, so I guess that feeling will have to be shelved. Why wasn't I enthusiastic? Bad experiences I suppose.

Don't get me wrong, some blogs are actually really really enjoyable to read. I happen to browse through a few webcomics, and the artists post up their thoughts on a lot of things all the time, some are entertaining, some are profound, and some are just another way to look at things. My wife blog hops whenever she has a lot of free time and nothing better to do (I probably have my head stuck in a video game at the time), and sometimes I pop into the room and peek over her shoulder at something interesting, which is cool. So at this point in time, I know that blogging is something which can be positive. At this point in time.

Unfortunately, my first few experiences with blogs led me down the negative path of thinking, years back when the trend suddenly started to boom. See, most of the blogs I happened across were basically... How do you put this... Online emo-pityme-whinefests. With the occassional "I'msocool" post. Explain? Alright. Whine, whine, whine, life sucks, whine, whine, please take pity on me, whine whine, I'm so helpless even though God gave me ten fingers and toes just like everyone else, whine whine, my troubles are unique, whine, zomg I attended (insert underground stuff) today that makes me ubercool, oh wait, no events today, back to whining.

Now, expressing yourself is all well and good. If something bad happens, you can tell your friends, no problem. It's healthy. But making blogs a stepping stone for some kind of pity-fest so that random people you don't even know who happen across your blog somehow and decide to tell you that wow, your life really >HAS< been tough, omg, you're so strong, don't worry, you'll endure, rarararar, just to make yourself feel good, I think that's just embracing patheticness. Done on a private blog, where only your closest friends have access to your posts, yeah, all well and good. Doing it daily on a public blog? No. Bad dog.

I'm of the school of thought that public blogging should be done sensibly. Make posts funny. Make them interesting. Make them non-sensical. Make them profound. Mention troubles if you need to, but don't dwell on them needlessly day after day, because you're not being emo, you're just begging for attention in the cheapest way possible.




......
You know, if emos were really emo, there would be no emos as soon as they decided they were emo?

Microsoft Word Exercise

And now, how it would look like turned into an exercise!

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Word Snake

The text below is all squished together. Separate the words from one another to form a whole sentence! If you have a sense of humour, it will be funny!

Thecatdippedthemouseintothemelteddarkchocolateandlicked

itslipswonderinghowthecombinationwouldtasteafterhaving

laininwaitsolongfortherodenttospringthetrapithadset

earlierwhileavoidingdetectionbythedogwhowasout

togetthecatforpullingthatprankonitlastweekresulting

inthedisfavoroftheirownerwhohadonlyjustrecently

allowedthedogbackintothehouse,albeitverycautiously,

fearingarepeatoftheepisodewhichhadlefthimwith

aminorconcussionandsmellingofdroolandcanineurine

rightbeforehisimportantdatewiththeprettywoman

fromtheofficewhoeveryoneelseadmiredbutnooneelse

hadthegutstotalktobeforehehadtakentheplungeand

askedheroutonlytocanceltwohoursaftertheirdatewas

supposedtostart,callingfromahospitalphoneafterhisneighbor

hadfoundhimpassedoutontheporchwithadogsittingonhis

chestgrowlingupatacatonthewindowsillwhichlookedfor

somereasonreallysmugandguiltyatthesametimeifpossible.