CHAI XIAO LING REFLECTION

920504-08-6234

Upon completing the coursework on Technology in Teaching and Learning (EDU 3105), I have gained various insights and knowledge in producing a video clip and the web-based learning package. This coursework is definitely a good way to help the trainees to be prepared to deal with the future technology and also be able to cater the students needs. I am glad to have the opportunity to be updated with the latest software such as the Hot Potatoes, Video Pad, Kompozer, Core FTP Lite, iSpring Free and other useful software that can help to create interesting teaching resources to educate the students in their learning. As a Teaching English as Second Language (TESL) trainee, I was require to produce a video clip that can help students to acquire and understand a certain topic in the English syllabus better. The topic that I have chosen is Unit 6: Delicious Food. It was one of the topics in the Year 2 Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR) English syllabus. One of the reasons why I have chosen this topic is because students are more attracted to delicious food and also this topic will arouse their curiosity in how foods are made.

As stated earlier, in this coursework a short video clip has to be made to help the students to learn English better. The video should be adhered with the guidelines such as last no longer than 4 minutes, minimum 3 minutes and the format of the video should be compatible with the most of the video drivers found in common computers and web- based video drivers. To make a good video, we need to plan. Therefore to keep things organize and smooth, I have planned the video by writing the video script. The video script is very essential as it keeps me alert of the storyline and the duration of the different scene in the video. It is very beneficial if you stick to the plan and start preparing the materials for the video, it can help to save time. Besides, it also helps the characters that you have chosen to be in the video to start preparing their roles. While writing the video script, I have listed down the important elements such as the sequence, a short description, estimate time of take, scene and the text that will appear on screen to keep me alert while taking the video. After finished preparing the video script, I started off with preparing materials and giving briefing to my cast before the video was taken. The title of my video is Chais Kitchen- How to Make Pizza. It is a short video clip that teaches the students on how to make their own

pizza at home. The materials that I need to prepare for this video are the ingredients and the kitchen utensils to make a pizza. After setting up my camera at my dining room, I started shooting according to my plan as written in the video script. I found that video shooting is very interesting and challenging at the same time. I need to learn how to operate the Digital singlelens reflex camera (DSLR) to make sure the video taken is clear. Some of the important tips that I have learned while taking video using DSLR are such as set up the lens from auto focusing to manual focusing as to prevent the noise while the lens zoom automatically and also the aperture to control the amount of light travel into the lens. It was very difficult at first, after referring to the online tips and my friends guidance I have learned to improve my skills and I enjoy taking video now. While shooting, I become aware of the different type of shot such as extreme close up, close up, medium close up, wide shot and etc as taught by my EDU 3105 lecturer, Miss Sumitra Kan Fong Kuen ealier. This is very important to help to convey the correct messages to the students on what should be focus and what should be learned as a whole. The shot decides the highlight of the video, students will stay focus and take what is important in the video. To shoot the step-by-step process of making a pizza, I have used most of the close up shot to help students to beware of the details of making a pizza. Besides, the close up shot can help students to stay away from other distractions such as the other unnecessary backgrounds because it was frame tightly on the ingredients and the kitchen utensils. After shooting the video, I was recommend by my brother to install the video editing software named Vegas Pro 12.0. It is the Sony Creative Software that helps video editing to be more effective and professional. It was complicated at first, I have encounter several problems such as cutting the video and inserting the suitable audio or background music for the different scene. After referring to my brother and online guide, I manage to get a gist on editing the video using the software. I am also glad that I manage to find a few suitable and free soundtracks from Sound Jay. Com for the video. I love trying out the Vegas Pro 12.0 as it provides a number of plug-ins that can be inserted in the video to add more effects such as the checkerboard, credit roll, text and etc. For the credit roll, I have included my credits to the people whom I want to thanks throughout the video making process. After finish cutting the video and inserting the soundtracks, I finished it off by rendering the video. After rendering it into the Windows Media Video (WMV) file, I have uploaded it to the YouTube. To make sure the process of uploading the video is fine, my friends and I have went to a caf that provides good Wi-Fi service. We went to the Blackball Dessert Caf at Batu

Pahat to upload our video and it runs very smoothly. To insert the video into my webpage, I have embedded the code from YouTube and insert the HTML code into the webpage. I felt a sense of relief when I manage to post the video on my webpage.

Throughout the process of making the short video clip, I have learned to be more patient and systematic. I am sincerely proud of the video producers that they have worked so hard to produce videos to help spreading the message to the world to educate the human about goods and bad. I salute to their determination because making a video is such a challenging task and need a lot of sacrifices. I hope by learning this, I can take more videos to help students to learn the language better in future. In this coursework, we are required to produce a web-based learning package to help the primary school students in their learning process. This web-based learning requires relatively sophisticated technology and knowledge; therefore we need to include various multimedia elements such as video, interactive exercises, graphic and etc into the learning package. These multimedia elements can help to arouse the students interest and make the learning process more effective through the virtual learning. To produce a good web- based learning package, I have used the software provided by Miss Sumitra Kan such as the Hot Potatoes, KompoZer, Core FTP Lite and etc. I was given a web address as a host so that I have the authority and able to manage and edit the webpage by my own. Before that, we have attended classes that conducted by Miss Sumitra to learn about the software. I was very glad that the classes that I have attended actually help me a lot in creating the web-based learning package. Besides attending classes, I have also look up for the tutorials made by Miss Sumitra to help us more about the software.

I started off this project by changing the template that I want to use for the learning package. The template that I have chosen is simple and not busy with too many layouts. After changing the template, I have linked each page namely, the Home, About me, General Information, e-Learning, Video and Reflection to each another. It is very important to link the pages as it will direct the students to look up for the correct information on the page that they have selected. Home is where I link the users to the main page of all the PISMP trainees of their shared work, About me where I briefly describe about myself, General Information is where I tell the users or students about the purpose of the webpage and I have also included a video script of my video, user guide and about the learning content, e-Learning is where I have included the exercises that I have made from the Hot Potatoes and lastly the

Reflection that I have used to share my experience while creating the video and web-based learning package.

Hot Potatoes is a good software to be used to create our own exercises to provide students with various type of questions such as quiz, mix, match, cloze and cross. One of the obstacles that I have encountered while using the Hot Potatoes is that I could not link the exercises that I have prepared to my webpage. When I click on the exercises that I have posted to my webpage, the link appeared to be broken. Then, I approached to my friends to help me to overcome the problem. I was told to take out the HTML file from the subfolder then link it directly to the HTML file. It was a success after a few trials. I learned to be more focused and patient because patience is a virtue.

While KompoZer is a software that combines the web file management. It was a very useful software that support web page editing. Sometimes, I failed to publish the file into the webpage because I overlook the filenames. I did not realize until I open each filenames to match it with the correct pages. I also get to know to that I should not use punctuation characters or spaces for the filenames. I also encounter problems such as embedding the YouTube code into my webpage. After approaching to my friends, I learn to embed the code by right-clicking the video to copy the embedded code and insert it into HTML code. And I finally manage to post the video on my webpage. After editing and updating all my files, I have transferred it through the Core FTP to update my page at website. Core FTP requires internet connection in order to update those files into the webpage and it is also user friendly where files will be updated by just transferring files between our computer and the remote FTP server. I have look up for tutorials to make sure each step taken has lead to the correct path. At first, I find it difficult to distinguish between the new files and the old files, after several trials I manage to use the refresh button to keep the new files updates in the folder. It is always difficult to start with something new at first, if you are determined and do not give up, you can always find the solution at the last. As the saying goes, when there is will, there is a way.

In my opinion, I think that the web-based learning is very suitable and manageable to all the students nowadays as it allows the student to progress at their own pace. The ability to work through the material at the students own pace is definitely a dramatic advantage over traditional teaching methods. As a teacher, I

must always update the knowledge of the latest technologies in a bid to produce future generations with global skills.

As a conclusion, to produce a short video clip and the web-based learning package is not an easy task and based on the weaknesses that I had shared, I will try to overcome and improve myself from time to time.