Assalamu alaikum and a very pleasant greeting
I bid welcome to all to my humble cyber shack, a home away from home. Here are some FAQ related to one of my course in the university: TSL641
1. Please introduce yourself.My name is Azuan bin Ahmad. As denoted by my insignia, I am a Muslim Malay from Malaysia. Currently continuing my Bachelour Degree in Education (Hons.) (TESL) in Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia. For those who are not familiar with the term, TESL is the abbreviation for "Teaching of English as a Second Language."
Hailed from the state of Pahang, I consider myself as an East Coaster of the Peninsula. My interests range in so many variations. With the experience I have faced through out my life, it has opened me with many aspects. I have faced many failures before. But, being a Muslim, I prohibit myself from giving up on life, and on Him. It is a sin. Everything that has happened before occurred for a reason. So, the long path that I have been taking for now has showed me so many things, introduced me to so many people and educated me with so many lessons.
Whenever people ask me what I do, or even filling in an online form, I would say that I am a lifelong student, freelance trainer, frequent blood donor, registered organ donor and part-time good Samaritan. All of these define who I am.
My interests cover Muslim outreach movements, religion comparison, ancient mythology, folklore, metaphysics, psychology, leadership and zoology.
2. How would you rate yourself in terms of your computer skills and why? (e.g. expert, novice, savvy, geek, illiterate etc)
In a word, I would tag myself as an IT savvy. I have been introduced with this modern gizmo since 1993, when the computers back then used MS DOS, floppy diskettes and trackballs. So, I had the opportunity to be delve with some commands and language. If one choose too have a conversation about computers, I am able to be comfortable and prolong the chat as I please. That is to show how familiar I am with this field. Obviously, I am not a technophobe. I am also a fast typist, provided that the keyboard is a QWERTY that is.
3. What computer software and hardware knowledge do you have?Although Windows is my default Operating System, I believe I too am with others as well, as Macintosh, Linux and Unix have their own advantages and disadvantages. When all fails, the command prompt can be handy as well.
Other than the recommended and obligated Office softwares, I am also familiar with Microsoft Publisher, MS Paint and Adobe Photoshop to further enhance the publication experience. Media-wise, I am able to use the Movie Maker and Sound Forge. All these applications are very important for me to make the best of multimedia presentation.
Other additional apps would be the Auto CAD and C++. I had the experience to learn this when I was doing my Engineering courses, back a few years ago. However, I believe my skills in these part are quite rusty now.
For the entertainment part of it, I am very good in Warcraft, Diablo and other adventure RPGs, real-time strategy and city-building simulation games.
I also know how to upgrade my own personal computer with minimal or distant consultant. To add more RAMs or hard disk into the PC is not a very difficult task for me. I too know hot to work with other auxiliary output peripherals such as printers, plotters, photostat machines, facsimiles and LCD projectors.
4. Have you experienced learning via the computer (online, etc)? 
For the formal education setting, I have to say that UiTM i-Learn portal is my only answer to this question. I have to say that accessing notes from the portal, discussing in the group thread forum and submitting assignments online is a refreshing experience. It provides a whole new experience and exposure, with some withdraws to say the least.
The main setbacks of i-Learn is that it is not well used by the lecturers themselves. Some not only even bothered to update, but they would also neglect to tell their students of its existence.
Informally, I would say the best way of learning online is via Youtube. I would regularly listen and watch religious talks on the website, learn how to make new things (e.g. cooking, crafts, etc.) and get in touch with the current news.
5. Did you try to incorporate technology in your some of your lessons during your practicum? Was it a success or a failure? If you did not what was/were the reason(s)?
My practicum school was Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Telok gadong, Klang. It is a suburban school that house almost 3000 students, coming from Malay, Chinese and Indian hereditary. Since the size of the population is large and the size of the school compound itself is very limited, the school have to opt for going two sessions. I was given the opportunity to teach Form 1 Erat and 1 Kasih in the afternoon session.
The school has only one Multimedia Room. With 13 classes for every Form, plus a Removed class, I had to compete with other senior teachers to book the room. Through out me time there, I was only able to access the room two times for my English lessons. Both of the times I managed to do a listening lesson and a video viewing session. All in all I have to say that they were successful - enjoyed by the students and achieved the objectives.
However, to really let the students to use computers in the class is next to impossible. The school computer lab was still under renovation. Even when I wanted the students to send me an e-mail or type me an essay on the computer, the students find the tasks as extremely challenging. Most of them do not own a computer at home, let alone Internet connection. They do not even have their own Facebook account!
6. What is your opinion on the use of computer/technology in language teaching?In my opinion, to answer this question briefly is injustice. There is no real black and white on responding this matter head on. The best way is to elaborate on the subject with serious consideration about several criteria: the students socioeconomic status, the school culture, the subject, the teachers' competency and budget.
In order fit this limited time and space, I would say that incorporating the technology in the class room is a great thing, but we are yet incapable to use it in a bigger scale. I do say so because to me, the students need to be prepared for the future out there as computers, Internet and social networking is the in thing. It will not only be a supplementary, but later on it would also be a must as they want to precede in their desired career path.
The downside of this is the logistic hindrances. The digital divide is still huge between the haves and the have nots. The rural areas mostly are still left behind. For the urban schools, the highly dependence on the technology may also lead to its downfall. Students would be very dependent on the spell check and copying assignments from the internet. More studies need to be done in order to put this in check and balance.
7. What are your expectations from this course? This course, in my humblest opinion, should be offered for the students prior to their practicum training. This would be a very huge advantage for them to know and utilize the use of technology in the classroom. However, since I am taking this course preceding the practice, I would say that I might expect for this course would serve a better purpose as a pro-graduate, rather than an undergraduate. My previous statement should not be taken in a negative connotation, yet as an eye-opening to the students and the lecturers alike.
I put my hope on this course as preparation for the students to be able to put themselves out there in the cyberspace, rather than in a printed material, as an outreaching method in promoting the use and benefits of English for the whole public out there. Since the use of blogs is becoming the in thing currently, the teaching and learning would make a huge breakthrough and groundbreaking approach, as not only the school children can assess the instructions, other third parties (parents, society, school administration, education authority, etc.) can also take a peek. This will allow them to monitor the process. On top of that, some might even benefit the lesson. Such incidences are not uncommon.
