Technology for Speaking and Listening

I think every student agree that teaching and learning must be fun. Method that using in class also must appropriate and interesting. Based on comprehensible approach, learning language must be low stress. Teaching with technology must be suitable with that statement.

Students can enhance their speaking and listening by themselves. Comprehension must come before productive skills. That’s why students have to listen first to acquire language. Mostly, teacher is considered as the role model for students. They listen to teacher’s instruction, words, and also pronunciation.  For TPR (Total Physical Response), teacher usually gives command and then students do the command without saying anything. If it implicates to technology, students can use TPR games from internet. Technology can make students have low anxiety, they won’t feel embarrassing if they make some mistakes, because there is only human-computer communication. Besides, students can use technology as many times as they want and whenever they want. For natural approach, teacher can use song or video to enhance students’ listening skills. If they are often listening to the music, they will learn a lot of things, such as vocabularies, idioms, etc. After they listen, they have to try their speaking skills. One of important thing from speaking skill is pronunciation, because English is inconsistent. There are some website that can give example to pronounce. Students can watch the video about how to pronounce and then students can imitates it. Besides, grammar is also important. Chatting is one of technology that can be used in class and also outside the class, like schmooze. The teacher also still can monitor the students in the chatting room. Teacher can correct students’ grammar through the conversation. 

Technology is good helper for students and teacher, though there are some weaknesses, such as internet access, expertise of the technology, computer, etc. for me, with or without technology teaching and learning activities must be fun in the class, so students can enjoy ad acquire language subconciously.

Portable Technology for Learning

In people’s mind, maybe cell phone is not useful and appropriate to bring to the class. Mostly teacher in Indonesia forbid their students to bring their cell phone to the class, because the students will misused it. Students can texting during lesson or searching some website (ex: social networking). The thing that students like to use cell phone is SMS. It makes students cannot far from their phone. Besides, cell phone now more sophisticated with internet access, video recording, and camera. Those sophisticated things should be used more useful in class. For example, teacher can held polling through text message. Teacher can give question or quiz and then students can vote the answer. Students also can use to get some material from their teacher.

The second portable is PDA. PDA is more sophisticated than cell phone, because it works like computer. It can support multimedia functions and video. Video in PDA has higher resolution than cell phone. Besides, students and teacher can do file sharing. They can also do web-based grammar and vocabularies.

Another portable technology for learning is iPod. In iPod, we can do listening and recordings activities. Students can record their assignment and then send it to the teacher. In the iPod, there is Podcast that can support students to learn. They can download some listening sessions from there as references or sources.

I can conclude that MALL is also help students, the special thing that computer cannot get from mobile is portable. CALL is also more complete rather than MALL. Computer can deal with sound, visual, and text at the same time. The number of data in computer also bigger than mobile. So, teacher shouldn’t avoid students to bring their portable thing, teacher should deal with technology that evolves fast.

DIGITAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL NATIVE

http://www.mathiaspoulsen.com/tag/digital-natives/

Today is the era of digital. Everything is easy to get, especially information. There are so many sophisticated gadgets in the world. Kids are more sophisticated now, they can do multitask with phone in the hand and the other hand works on Laptop. They are really usual with technology, although it evolves really fast. Even, since they were still in womb, they used to listen to the music from their mom. Those are the evidence of the digital era has happened in this world.

Digital natives are the expert of all the things that sophisticated. They are really usual with computer, phone, and also software. Teachers should be digital native in this era, because they have to follow the times and technology. Web-based learning is really helpful today for teacher and student. There are a lot of things that can be used by teacher for teaching and learning activities, like prezi for presentation,  blogger for sharing information with student, webquest, email, using audio and video recordings,  etc. students can still learn even in long distance, teacher can use skype, video recording, or video call. Teacher and student also can sharing about some subject or discuss through chatting in forum. If the technology is available in class, but teacher is not the digital native, teaching and learning activities through technology cannot woks well.

image source : google.com

Digital media are the tools, like MALL and CALL. MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) is everything about portable, such as cell phone, PDA, and iPod. CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) is computer based learning. Teacher used some software for teaching and learning activities, such as poser point, translator, etc. all the things that seems useless like cell phone can be useful in class.

Digital natives and digital media should be available in school. Those two things have to work well in class, so the new generation will be good generation and recognized in the world.

HISTORY OF ARIE SEPTHI IRDIANTY

Arie Septhi Irdianty is my full name.  The person who gives that name is my father.  My father gave A in the beginning of my name intentionally, because A is the first of the alphabet, so it will refers I’m the first child of my parents. Besides, A refers to ALLAH, my father believes that A is the best alphabet to initiate my name. In the middle of my name, my father gives signs that I was born on September.  The last part of my name, my father told me that am for identity purpose. Irdianty gives identity that I’m a daughter of my parents.

Actually, I’ve just known the meaning of Arie from my physics teacher. He told me that in Javanese language, Arie means the first child. I’m happy to know that, because before I knew it, I just know the meaning of Septhi Irdianty. Septhi represents that I was born on September. Irdianty is combining name from my parents, Irwansyah and Ernawati.  My younger sister also has the same identity like me, she has Irdhana at the end of her name that also represent my parents’ name.  

In the past, I feel Arie is not appropriate for me, because Arie is common used for boy or man names.    There are many people who said that my name should for man. People, who don’t know me before, consider me as a man, it sounds silly for me. So, it makes me not confidence and comfortable with my own name.

If possible, I really want to change my first name which still with A for the initial. There are a lot of names in the world, but I don’t know which name that I want. I just want my name heard more feminine than Arie. Perhaps, my name, Arie, influence me not to be feminine like other girls. But, after I know that I’m not the only one Arie who is girl, I’m very happy. I said to my friends that my name is not regardless of sex again, it can be used by man and woman in this world. I don’t have any intention again to change my name. I realized that my name is the gift from my parents, there are some reasons why my father gives me that name. Besides identity, my name also contains of hopes, pray, and good things.  So, I never think again that I want to change my name.