Conceptualising Blended Learning

Week 1

Since the beginning of pandemic situation, Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture introduced e-learning as an alternative learning to facilitate students’ activities and to increase students’ knowledge and performance. It has given an effect on the education system in Indonesia because both teachers and students need to adapt to the use of technology as the media to deliver and facilitate learning. Materials and assignments were shared through the learning platform. In Indonesia, there were also pros and cons with the use of e-learning. On the other hand, it has given benefits both to teachers and students because it improves the effectiveness and flexibility in the teaching and learning process.

As time goes by, we are now in the new normal situation and we are now adapting to the use of blended learning as the method of teaching and learning. According to Tsai (2021), Blended learning is known as hybrid learning, multi-mode or mixed-mode learning. In the blended learning situation, students learn the subjects through a face-to-face interaction in the classroom and supported by learning media, such as an education platform (Google Classroom, Edmodo, or Moodle). Referring to the definition provided by the government, Sekolah Budi Utama, where I teach English, is also seen blended learning as hybrid learning. This method of teaching is used to combine learning activities between face-to-face learning (conventional learning) and independent learning (online self-study). In my institution, blended learning has not been implemented yet because the school is still waiting for the decision from Yogyakarta government.

Furthermore, my institution has prepared the facilities if blended learning will be implemented in the near time. The students will participate in learning activities both through online learning platform (sekolahmaya.id) and conventional learning with the guidance and support from the teacher in the classroom. They are divided into different groups of study, so only 50% from the total of students come to school. Materials are shared through the learning platform. The differences are those who come to school will get the explanation about the materials and submit the assignments directly. In addition, those who study at their home will still access the explanation from the teacher through the video or materials in the form of pdf or power point presentation and they will submit their assignments on the learning platform.

 

Reference:

Tsai, Yi-Shan. (2021). Conceptualising Blended Learning. Edinburgh: The University of Edinburgh.

Jane Eyre: A Pleasant Feeling from Forgiveness

This was very pleasant; there is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow creatures, and feeling that your presence is an addition to their comfort. (Charlotte Brontë, p. 260)

Jane Eyre is an orphaned girl who is plain, small and she has unpleasant looking. On the contrary, she is also described as an intelligent and independent character. In the book, it is mentioned that when she was a child, she was very unhappy because her parents died, had to live with her aunt in Gateshead Hall, and was sent to the terrible school (Lowood Institute). From Jane’s struggles throughout her childhood experiences, the reader gets to know the feelings to be a child who is dependent and being controlled by adult to be disciplined and to have good behaviors. Moreover, Jane’s character also tells the reader about the things that people need to know from a child fantasies when having a very difficult time after getting several punishments of not following the requirements to be a good child.

In Lowood Institute, Jane finds Miss Temple and Helen Burns as her role model and best friend. Jane respects Miss Temple for she has given a positive impact to her students, Jane Eyre and Helen Burns. She is a caring and good teacher because she treats and guides her students very well. Besides, her only best friend, who is Helen Burns, is described as calm, loving, and intelligent and from her point of view, both Jane and reader learn about her devotion to God. It is proved when she says to Jane:

“I am sure there is a future state; I believe God is good; I can resign my immortal part to Him without any misgiving. God is my father; God is my friend: I love Him; I believe He loves me.” (p. 82)

From their friendship, I get to understand the sense of losing a best friend because Helen was died after suffering from diseases. Moreover, I can learn that from their friendship, people have a chance to love and to learn about ourselves as a human being.

When Jane grows up, she becomes such a heroine person because she really values her life and is very passionate to speak the truth in order to express her desire. Besides, after moving to Thornfield Hall, she also becomes a good teacher for Adèle because she teaches her student to value herself as a girl and soon, her student becomes a great student. In this place, she also learns a difficulty and joy of being an adult because this is the place where she meets her first love, Mr. Rochester. He is described as an intelligent, intellectual and sympathetic character who also falls in love with Jane. On the contrary, he has been married to Bertha Manson who is out of control. From Bertha Manson and Jane Eyre, the reader learns that both of them share similarities because they have a romantic relationship with Mr. Rochester. Besides, both of them shares the feeling of being imprisoned in the house for Jane was imprisoned when she was child in the “red room” while Bertha was imprisoned in her husband house. Mr. Rochester and Jane are haunted because the presence of Bertha is actually destroyed their romantic relationship. In connection with that, Jane refuses to get married with Mr. Rochester because she values herself as a person and wants to save his life by doing that even though she has a very difficult time at that time of being penniless. From Jane’s experiences, the reader learns that valuable property and money, which Mr. Rochester has, is not important compared to the feeling of knowing the bitter truth. It is the same as the feeling when a girl meet a man that she wants to marry, she will feel all kinds of joyous and happiness things in her future life, and it is being destroyed after knowing the fact that the man has already had a wife which is still alive.

Again, Jane Eyre moves to another place after experiencing a very difficult time with Mr. Rochester. In the process of finding a new place to live, she has to experience to be a penniless and becomes a beggar to seek a new job. I learn that people always have a choice when having a difficult time, to just let it come and do nothing, or to learn and grow from our difficulties by seeking an opportunity. By her own faith, she finally finds the River’s family home at Moor House and there she finds her cousins and knows the fact that her uncle who just died inherited his property to her. In this place, her cousin, St. John Rivers also asks her to marry him and accompany him to go to India and again, she refuses the marriage proposals, but she is willing to go to India. Based on her point of view, Jane places herself as her sister and St. John does not love her for he just want a companionship from her to live as a missionary in Calcuta, India.

Before starting a new life, Jane asks a permission to visit Thornfield Hall, and soon finds the fact that the house is empty. After getting to know the reason that Mr. Rochester moves to Ferndean because of the tragic event which is caused by his late wife, Bertha Mason, Jane finds her Mr. Rochester and Pilot in that house. Even though Jane finds the fact that Mr. Rochester is blind, both of them still get married and become very happy to start a new chapter of their life as husband and wife. Therefore, the reader learns that love is made within our minds, souls, and hearts and it grows stronger when we can share the same feelings of forgiving our bitter past experiences.

Above all, I learn that Charlotte Brontë has given described a charming and lovable character as Jane has that a middle class woman can also get a chance to be respectable. Charlotte Brontë gives the reader a better understanding that woman can take a role in life and it feels pleasant to read her novel. In short, forgiveness is pleasant as we can accept the reality in our life, find a way to have a better life and we deserve to be happy and to love and be loved.

The Results or Answers of Google Scavenger Hunt

a.       3456 + 78091 =

81547

b.      700000 / 89 =

7865.16853933

c.       What is 33% of 34,567?

11407.11

d.      How many inches are in 5 miles?

316800 inches

e.       How many minutes are in 40 years?

21037950.6 minutes

f.       What's the equivalent of $20 in the currency of the Czech Republic?

Kč488.25

g.      Name a movie and where it's playing in the 60637 zip code.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

h.      What is patent 20030095096 for?

Method and apparatus for use of rotational user inputs

i.        What is the price of Electronic Arts stock today?

$60.95

j.        What's the population of Miami, Florida?

417,650

k.      How tall is Shaquille O'Neill?

2,16 m

l.        What's the predicted weather for Beverly Hills tomorrow?

Intervals of clouds and sunshine and low clouds and fog lingering along the coast

m.    What time is it in Bejing, China?

15:50:07 CST

n.      What time is it in Johannesburg, South Africa?

09:50:32 SAST

o.      What is score of the last game played by your favorite in-season sports team?

0-1

p.      List three books written by Erin Hunter.

-          Warriors Super Edition Moth Flight’s Vision

-          Seekers Return to the Wild 6 the Longest Day

-          Seekers Return to the Wild 5 the Burning Horizon.

q.      Correct the spelling of Misisippi.

Mississippi

r.        How many 3 bedroom homes are currently for sale in your hometown?

30

s.       Are there any comic book stores located in your local area? If so, how many?

Yes, 124 stores

t.        List a G rated movie currently playing in the 60618 zip code.

Currently, there are no movies and show times for this theater

u.      Where is American Airlines flight 177 taking off from and landing?

Taking off from John F Kennedy Intl (KJFK) Gate 36 and landing to San Francisco Intl (KSFO) Gate 57

Google search features is a feature that provides several features beyond searching for words. It includes about book search, cached links, calculator, currency conversion, definitions, file types, groups and many more. Then, now, Google has the newest features which are results prefetching, safe search, search by number, similar pages. Site search and many more.

I have known several Google search features, but I do want to know more about using Google voice features. Actually, I have ever used this features in my cellular phone, but I still do not know how to use it in the computer, so I need to know more about it. In my opinion, Google search feature helped me to find exactly what I am looking for, especially it has many features. All that I can do was that found the right features to help me in searching for the information that I wanted to know.

Search Engines to Help Students’ Assignment

By: Agata Nina Puspita

As it is known that there are many ways that the teacher can use in the learning activity to teach the students. Since this is the globalization era, one of the way that the teacher can use is by using Search Engines when looking for online information. Through Search Engines, both the teacher and the students can search all information from one convenient place and explore related works, citation, authors and publications from others. On this occasion, Search Engines application will be used in English language class. In this class, there are 30 students and all of them are able to use the technology well since they live in the era of the technology development. As the teacher, I will use one meeting in my English class to do the assignment by using Search Engines application.

In order to help students’ language ability, this class will design to help students to improve students’ listening, reading, writing and speaking skills in English language. Since there are many ways that the teacher can implement in the classroom in order to deliver the materials, I will use Search Engines application. As an English language teacher, I use Search Engines application because it provides the teacher with many access to search about what I want to know. I will conduct one meeting in my English class for students to use Search Engines application to do the assignment. The assignment that is given to the students is that they have to find articles about news report and they have to analyse it. Since they live in the technology era, I will use the development of the technology to help them in doing their assignment. First, I will tell them about the activity that they will do in one learning activity before the class start by using Search Engines. I will give the explanation on how to access and how to use the Search Engines, so they can do the assignment. Next, I will give them the example and I will make sure that every students has understood about what they are going to do. After they have understood, I will distribute the assignment and they will do the assignment in pairs, so it will make them easier in doing the assignment. For that reason, this one meeting classroom will be conducted in the computer laboratory in order to help them to access the internet easily.

Google Search Skills as the Effective Way for English Language Students

By: Agata Nina Puspita

In the era of globalization, the technology development has grown fast and it affects the way of teaching-learning activities. As an English teacher, it also affects my own perspectives since the development of the technology helps me a lot to get knowledge from other people and share my knowledge to other people, especially to my students. As a teacher, I also use the development of the technology to design the materials that will be taught to students. In my opinion, it also helps me to give such a fun material for the students, so it helps them to be motivated to join the learning activity in the classroom. In my English class, since the development of the technology has given many benefits for both teacher and students, I also introduce many application to my students that may help them in searching for the information that they want to know. One of the application is using Google Search which helps them to get new knowledge.

As an English teacher, in some meeting of my class, I will use Google Search in order to help them to get the information from other people easily. First, I will introduce them to Google Search. I will give some explanations about the search engines that will be used in my class. The explanation will include about how to use it and how it works in order to get the information for them easily. Next, I will give examples about how to use it in the classroom. After they have understood how to use it, I will give some assignment which is related with Google Search application, so in the future time, they are able to use it. The last, in the end of the meeting, the students will submit their works to the teacher. Therefore, for this meeting, my class will be conducted in the computer laboratory, so the students will able to access the internet easily.

In my opinion, through Google Search, students can get many benefits, such as improving students’ vocabulary. By applying Google Search in the classroom activity, it helps students to learn English in many ways and it can also improve their knowledge about how to use the development of the technology as well. Besides, by using Google Search, students are able to test and improve their English language skills, such as their reading, listening, writing and speaking skills. Therefore, as an English teacher, I hope that every teacher will also implement the development of the technology in their classroom activity in order to help students to be more motivated in learning, especially learning English language. 

Using Google Aps in English Language Classroom Activity

By: Agata Nina Puspita

Nowadays, there are many online application that can be used by the teacher in order to give the materials to students. Using online application may also help both teacher and students to reach their learning goals in the teaching-learning activity since the development of the technology has grown fast in this globalization era. One of the application is by using Google Aps which involve the application of Google Drive. As an English Teacher, I also use Google Drive in order to help me sharing my materials to both my fellow and my students, so we are able to get information from each other easily.

In my English class, in the first meeting of the classroom activity, I ask my students to make a google account in order to make both of us easier in sharing the materials during one semester. After they have created their own google account, I share all of the learning materials including the syllabus for one semester through Google Drive. After we have done the class, I share the materials that are taught in the classroom to their account, so they are able to get the materials immediately. Besides, I also share the students’ progress on their assignment through Google Drive, so they are able to know their own progress. I do all of them continuously, so they do not miss any information from the teacher. Therefore, as a teacher, I always ask them to check their Google Drive, so they can get the information from their teacher easily.

Besides sharing the materials, I also ask my students to submit their assignment to my Google account in order to make me easier in checking students’ assignment. After I have finished checking my students’ assignment, I also give the feedback immediately, so they can get both the feedback and the score easily. In the teaching-learning activity, as a teacher, I also need suggestions from other teachers, so I also ask what I still do not understand about the teaching-learning activity to my fellow. As the result, Google Drive really helps me in order to get and share the information easily.

Using Hot Potatoes as the Sample Exercise in the Learning Activity

According to TESL-EJ (2012), Hot Potatoes is exercise-creating program which can be used by webmasters, teachers and even students to make a variety of interactive exercises. Besides, these exercises can then be exported as HTML files and launched on any website. In my opinion, using Hot Potatoes is one of the most interesting ways in teaching the students. There are many advantages in using Hot Potatoes as the sample exercise in the learning activity. First, students can get variety helps to keep their motivation in learning the material. Second, students can get an instants feedback or immediate activity that keeps their motivation learning.

As a teacher, it will be helpful and useful if you use Hot Potatoes in your class. Here are some steps that you can apply in your classroom if you want to use Hot Potatoes.

1.      Create the so-called ‘data file’ which has a Hot Potato XML extension (like .jcw or .jcl).

This file is useless without the Hot Potatoes program, but it is used to edit the exercises later. The exercise are exported to web-based exercises (which have the HTML extension .htm) which can be displayed anywhere on the Web.

2.      Before creating a Hot Potato exercise, you need to think about what you want to achieve with it, especially for your students. After you have finished to choose the right exercise, you start to create an exercise. Here, I will tell you about the exercises that you can find in Hot Potato.

a.       Multiple choice

It is the most effective way to give feedback to your students.

b.      Short-answer Quiz

It help you to provide questions which are good in combination with sound clips, definitions or gap sentences, but in this application, you will only have one possible answer.

c.       Crosswords

It brings a playful element into you study material. The quality of the clues determines much of success.

d.      Matching

It can be used in any situation where understanding of a subject can be expressed in the combination of two objects or phrases.

e.       Cloze

It can be used for any type of fill in exercises, with or without wordlist at the top and with or without extra clues given.

f.       Jumbled Sentence

It is suitable for any type of activity in which the learner has to order something, such as the lines of a poem.

3.      When you have finished with the data file, you have to save it and create the web-based exercise which you save under the same name as the data file.

4.      Do not forget to always check the exercise for spelling or punctuation errors.

5.      When you want to make changes, please do the steps that in data file, save it again and overwrite the previous web page.

6.      Do not forget to always check the link because if it is different, it will not appear in the web.

Introduction to Hot Potatoes: http://academic.sun.ac.za/forlang_s/ftp/section7_html/hotpot_intro.pdf

JCloze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqedUh_9700

JMatch: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BYSEaE97Kts

JCross: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Df24cAWzEwY

JMix: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jMZgEM2pPRw

JQuiz: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Grd8-MCqp9A

Reference:

TESL-EJ. (2012, December). Creating Web-Based Exercises in Hot Potatoes. Retrieved April, 16 2015 from http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume16/ej63/ej63m1/