In Class Task 7; HYPERTEXT and HYPERMEDIA

Have you ever wondered about the power of crystals? Did you know that crystals have the metaphysical power of healing? Using certain crystal methods, crystal healing can help a number of physical problems. This metaphysical healing relies on the innate powers of healing crystals. For example, rose quartz is great for emotional healing, amethyst crystals for headaches, malachite for the stomach, lapis for anxiety, and jade for the heart....just to name a few.

From as far back as the days of the legendary lost city of Atlantis, through the ancient Mayan and Hebrew civilizations, and including Far Eastern and Native American cultures, crystals and gemstones have been used both in spiritual rituals and as aids to physical healing.

How do crystals work? No one seems to know for sure. Tales tell that they were first used in Atlantis. Crystals became important to the people of that civilization who believed in their capacity to store and amplify any power source fed into them - physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. Practitioners of modern-day crystal therapy believe that the stones' ability to work as conductors allows them to focus energy via a person's thoughts to stimulate healing - both physical and nonphysical.

Crystals are used in meditation and spiritual ceremonies, laid on the body during types of massage or bodywork, when a person is resting, or placed in drinking or bathing waters. It is claimed that an odd number of facets on the stone aid in healing, while an even number of facets create the best energizers. Red, yellow, and orange stones are said to produce energy, clear and aquamarine stones are healers, and lavender and blue-violet stones create calming effects.

Article Review

Title: Using Mobile Phones for Vocabulary Activities: Examining
the Effect of Platform
Language Learning and Technology,Volume 14,Number 2,June 2010,p.p 95-110.
http://llt.msu.edu/vol14num2/stockwell.pdf

by Glenn Stockwell.

About the author: He is a Professor in Applied Linguistics at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. His research intensifies on areas include computer-mediated communication, mobile learning, and the role of technology in the language and learning process.
E-mail: gstock@waseda.jp

click here to review the article.


The research aims to investigate the differences in the scores achieved in activities and the time required to complete those activities through the use of mobile and PC platform. Besides, it also explores whether learners are improving in speed and scores over time on each platform. It was a quantitative study which has been conducted longitudinally in three years involving 175 learners from the School of Law who enrolled the first-year English –language Subject at Waseda University. Learners were aged between 18 and 21. The samples have to learn the vocabulary outside of class. Vocabulary activities are considered as part of assessment and the activities were available to the learners either on PC or on their mobile phone known as VocabTutor. Brief explanation was given on how to use and complete the activities. They were free to choose either using the PC or mobile phone and even both and they can switch the use of it at any time they like. Grade was assigned depending on how many of the ten lessons they completed. The findings show that the difference in the score achieved in both platforms was insignificant and time constraint for completing the activities using mobile phone was slightly longer around 1.4 minutes for each activity. It was also found that there was no apparent improvement in terms of speed as well as no actual trends of scores achieved across the semester.

Basically, this research has captured my interest as it explores on the effectiveness of using mobile phone- a gadget that mostly everybody is using it and brings it everywhere, as a medium to learn vocabulary. As a matter of fact, mobile phone nowadays can be considered as a multipurpose gadget because we can use it as MP3, camera, voice recorder etc. despite its main function to make phone calls. However, in Malaysia, mobile phone has not been fully utilized in language teaching due to certain factors. Perhaps, this is the time for us to develop applicable programs or software that utilizes this multipurpose tool to the fullest. As for me, I only have the dictionary application in my phone and I found it is very beneficial for me because I do not have to bring the thick dictionary everywhere like a geek. However, based on my review on this study, I noticed that the findings of this study is not really convincing because the sample were allowed to switch the use of platform any time they want. Therefore we cannot assure that the score of one particular learner is increasing or decreasing. Let’s say for instance, learner A has been using mobile phone for the first three activities and he or she has scored 5/8 for the first activity and keep on increasing one point for the next two activity, while learner B has been using PC also for the first three activities and scored 6/8 in every activity, however for week 4, both have changed the used of platform but only learner A has increased in score achieved. Subsequently, the result has been analyzed in general and not for every individual regardless of the switch made. Thus, we cannot see the improvement as the data showed no significant increased. That is why I can see the researcher obtained incongruent data when he claimed there were no real trends that became apparent in the scores for the activities. In order to improve this study to be more reliable and empirically valid, I think the researcher can build a control group in which the sample in this group should only use the PC for the activities and another group is to be experimented where the sample need to use the mobile phone for the activities. In fact, if the researcher intends to look at the improvement of scores achieved, I think it would be more accurate if it was assessed individually. Nevertheless, this study has given significant impact in the teaching and learning ESL in general and in Malaysian context. All these while, we have been overlooking on the use of small and compatible tool in broadening the language teaching prospect. Though some have been utilizing it, the awareness and effort given are still inadequate. We can see that in Japan, the development of technology supports the teaching and learning process in which in the article the researcher has mentioned that there were no incompatibility issues in the use of mobile phone for the activities since all three major mobile phone carriers in Japan have equipped the mobile-system with Internet-capable handsets. So we should move towards it as well. In conclusion, this study has given positive implication especially for teachers to utilize as much as possible the use of technology in language teaching so that teaching and learning process will not only take place in classroom setting.



(shock to know that this is exactly 800 words)

In Class Task 6; Reflection on the use of Hot potatoes

First and foremost, i would like to thank Dr. Izaham for introducing the hot potatoes to us. i never thought that there's such a software that really helpful and make things easy especially for teachers to come out with an interesting approach to teach the language.

So far, learning how to use hot potatoes really makes me feel excited to try and explore further. Before this, i only enjoy the language games or exercises on-line not knowing that we can simply create it on our own- how wonderful. In fact, its simple way to use really helpful particularly for a novice like me (plus the guidance from dr. Izaham). Definitely i will be clueless if i were asked to use it abruptly without step-by-step guidance from Dr. Izaham.

The best part of Hot Potatoes for me is JCloze. I like using JCloze as it can switch a dull reading exercise into an interesting and interactive one. we can put pictures, audio sound as well as video for the learners so that it will be more attractive and even it would be very helpful for them to understand the passage. I talk based on my experience because when i was in school, i hate reading close passage because it is very boring. Though the concept is basically similar, yet the use of pictures, audio and all that will give a new-look to the close passage and this will indirectly decrease the level of bored among learners.

Anyway, using JMatch is also interesting. I have experienced playing the matching exercises on-line and that time i was wondering how they (the authors of the website) can come out with that exercises or games. it seems very sophisticated to me indeed as we can simply 'click and drag' the answers. so as i have been exposed to the use of JMatch in Hot Potatoes, i finally have all the answers for my questions before. now it was no longer that sophisticated to me as long as we have this sophisticated software- Hot Potatoes.

Nevertheless, we cannot always expect that things will always be easy. same goes with the use of Hot Potatoes. now it has shown its real colour as it has challenged us through the use of JMix. i bet, it is quite confusing to keep on 'linking' back and forth and yet it still not working like how we expected it to be. perhaps it means to say that "hey, don't look easy on me!"... well,anyhow i am still learning on how to make it smoothly linked to the next and previous questions. after all, it is our duty to continue on learning even outside the classroom.

As the matter of fact, the exposure to Hot Potatoes is something very beneficial for me as it somehow taught me on how to integrate the use of computer and internet in language teaching. thanks to the inventor of Hot Potatoes.

In Class Task 5 ; JMatch

ANAGRAMS

PROVERBS