Wednesday, December 07, 2005

comment from academic writing

Technical Writing

Pendapat saya :
TW adalah mata kuliah yang pertama kali membuat saya merasa seperti anak ITB. Saya diajak

berfikir layaknya seorang Enggineer, belajar melakukan sesuatu dengan memanfaatkan fasilitas
hasil enggineering, dan menurut saya untuk menuangkan ide baru dan melakukan rekayasa.
Mata kuliah inilah yang membuat saya sadar bahwa saya adalah enggineer.

Keuntungan dan fasilitas Blogger:
1. Kemudahan proses belajar mengajar
2. Fasilitas belajar melalui materi quiz interaktif
3. Penambahan wawasan melalui karya-karya
4. Belajar dari kesalahan orang ,lain, karena adanya fasilitas comment yang ter Publish
5. Termotivasi untuk malakukan yang terbaik.
6. Ide-ide kita terpublish mendunia
7. Membuat mahasiswa “friendly” dengan fasilitas internet
8. Proses belajar tidak dititik beratkan di kelas, namun mahasiswa dituntut untuk belajar mandiri
9. Proses belajar bersekala international, karena ada interaksi dengan mahasiswa luarnegri
10. Proses belajar mandiri dan “memaksa” U/paham.

Suggestion:
Saatnya kampus ITB menjadi Cyber Campus!! Bangsa ini tidak akan maju jika perguruan

tzinggi terbaiknya masih memiliki sistem pendidikan KUNO!.

----------------------------------------------

Technical Writing

Menurut saya penggunaan blog dalam matakuliah ini merupakan suatu terobosan baru yang

seperti nya merupakan yang pertama di ITB. Penggunaan blog memudahkan para siswa untuk
saling berinteraksi dengan dosen atau dengan teman-temannya. Penggunaan blog dapat mengatasi
keterabatasn waktu yang menyulitkan untuk diadakannya pertemuan langsung antara dosen
dan mahasiswa. Selain itu , blog juga memungkinkan siswa mendapatkan contoh-contoh tulisan
dari kuliah-kuliah Tecnical Writing lainnya baik dari dalam maupun ljuar negeri, dengan
banyaknya contoh-contoh tulisan, para mahasiswa akan dapat belajar dengan lebih cepat.

Kekurangan prosedur ini:
- Access internet di ITB kurang sehingga sulit untuk mengakses internet, untuk mengakses blogger,

saya harus meminjam internet di kos teman
- Sistem kuliah online ini kurang mendapat dukungan fasilitor dari ITB

Saran :
ITB sebaiknya segera mengembangkan akses internet untuk mahasiswanya. Teknologi internet

sudah sangat dibutuhkan dalam mendukung p[rosedur belajar mengajarini

Advantage :
- Tidak perlu datang ke kelas
- Materi dan hasil kerja dapat dilihat dan diubah-ubah kapan saja
- Bisa dikerjakan kapanpun
- Memberikan nuansa baru pada perkuliahan
- Lebih menantang karena hasil pekerjaan dapat dilihat orang lain di seluruh dunia.

Disadvantage :
- Perlu koneksi internet

Suggestion :
- Harusnya TTKI dibuat lebih seperti ini
- Kasih Wi-Ki ditiap kelas.

----------------------------------------

Using Internet for Technical Writing Class

Advantages :

• Easier for finding sources in writing essay as final project
• Make student more hi-tech in using internet
• No paper-work in class
• We can express our self in writing more free than if we do it on class

Disadvantages :
• We should spend more moneys for just collecting project.
• Sometimes, we do our work chasing by deadline time.

Suggestion:
• Internet-free in whole ITB
• We don’t really need meeting with in class, I suppose... (n-n)

------------------------------------------
TW dg blog/internet

* Keuntungan :
- Jadi tau makai blog (sebelumnya ga tertarik, pas terpaksa untuk bikin tugas ternyata menarik)
- Lebih fleksibel untuk mengumpulkan tugas.
- Lebih cepat ngeliat komentar dosen mengenai tugas yang dibikin
- Lebih keren
- Lebih gampang untuk menghubungi dosen jika ada pertanyaan (via email)
- Bisa belajar lebih dari tugas teman-teman lain karena setiap input dosen bagi mereka dapat dipelajari bersama.
- Bahan-bahan kuliah bisa didapat dengan ebih mudah.

* Kekurangan:
- Kalo pas servernya down atau bloggernya under construction, jadi ga bisa upload tugas

(so for si, belum ngalamin, tp kalo terjadi kan susah juga...)

* Saran :
- Project dimulai lebih awal aja, supaya lebih banyak waktu untuk ngerjain (kalo diakhir semester

kaya sekarang tugas-tugas dari jurusan lazgi banyak-banyaknya jadi menghambat utk nulis)
- Saya sebenarnya masih kurang ngerti tujuan PKIT ini. Ada yang bilang untuk bikin abstract pas TA,

padahal pas ngikutin kuliah ini sepertinya tidak seperti itu.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Advantages TW use Blog/Internet.

- Sangat bagus, kita bisa belajar banyak dari rekan-rekanlain yang bagus dalam menulis di blog.

Bila hanya mengandalkan tulisan dalam sebuah kertas kita tidak bisa melihat karya teman-teman
yang ,lain, dan tulisan tersebut akan mudah hilang, tidak seperti bila dituliskan dalam blog yang
datanya tersimpan dalam database blog sehingga arsip lama masih bisa kita lihat.

Disadvantages :

Saya rasa tida ada, hanya saja kekurangannya pada kesadaran dari mahasiswanya sendiri

untuk aktif menulis di blog. Mereka menulis di blog hanya bila mendapat tugas dari dosen.

Suggestion :

Perlu ditambah susnya, dan berikan kesadaran pada mahasiswa bahwa kemampuan dalam

Bahasa Inggris sangat penting bagi mereka

----------------------------------------------------------------

The advantages of Technical Writing using Blogs:

1. Provide lattes information to the student faster
2. Gives us (the student) actual simulation in writing an essay and then publish it.
3. Make us usual to be citied by others (everyone can easily gives other a critics)
4. Give the students simplicity in posting their home work, even when they are not in Bandung.

Disadvantages :
Expensive ! HeHeHe ever since I am using Telkom-Net-Instant as my IP provider!!

Suggestion:
I love this class!! And maybe it will be even better if this class is equipped eith internet connection

(for free, of course!!)


---------------------------------------------------
Advantages :

• Sangat bagus karena bisa membandingkan dengan pekerjaan orang lain, sejauh mana kemajuan

dibanding yang lain.
• Dosen bisa respon semua pekerjaan yang dilakukan, dibandingkan bila di kerjakan dikelas respon

dosen tidak merata. Pasti hanya diambil sample saja.
• Mahasiswa lebih aktif.

Disadvantages

• Mahal ke warnet melulu....
• Mengerjakannya jadi terburu-buru

Suggests :
• Technical Writing tuh harus setaunan supaya bisa lebih “nangkap” tujuan-tujuannya.
• Kayaknya harus diperjuangkan terus supaya kedepannya ITB lebih bisa bertaraf internasional

malu ma universitas lain...

---------------------------------------------------

Tecnical Writing using Blog.

Advantages :

- Student can choose right time to write his writing
- Student can find other source for his writing from internet

Disadvantages :

- Make student lazy because time to do the task is too long. (depends on the student personality)

Suggestion :

- I think this class not different wit academic writing it should be more “technical”

----------------------------------------
Keuntungannya :
- Dengan blog (internet) lebih interaktif
- Respon terhadap mereka yang kurang lebih cepat
- Menghemat waktu untuk melakukan comment karena biasanya sebelum pelajaran kita harus

sudah memposting dan kita dapat langsung mengetahui kekurangan nya pada saat pelajaran
- Bisa kapan saja dan dimana saja mengumpulkannya

Kekurangannya :
Susah untuk mencari conectsi internet

Saran :
- Lebih banyak koneksi internet di lingkup ITB sehingga lebih banyak pelajaran juga yang

menggunakan internet.
- Membuat suatu forum agar lebih mudanh untuk bertanya/bertukar pedapat

................................................................................

Technical writing using blog / internet


Advantages

By using Blog/internet I think that it’s more “up to date” and more fun to do. Student can also

do the work on line so that they don’t have to attend the class if they have other things to do.
By using Blog/internet, student’s work can be review or seen by lots of people. They can give

comment to the student’s work

Disadvantages :

Basically, I don’t think that there are any disadvantages by using Blog/iternet. It’s just that

students need to be more “active” in order to get some results. For example, students need
to ask if they got some problems. Because the lecturer can not always “see” student’s progress
since most part of the lecture is done online.

Suggestion :

- Maybe the whole lecture should be done online
- About the SKS, I think that it’s already appropriate (2 SKS)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keuntungan TW menggunakan blogger (internet) :

- Dapat menggunakan tugas kapan saja dan dimana saja
- Dapat berkomunikasi dengan dosen kapan saja dan dimana saja
- Dapat mengedit tugas dengan mudah
- Dapat mengambil bahan kuliah dengan mudah.

Kerugian menggunakan blogger (internet)

- Terkadang blogger lambat dan terjadi error
- Menambah pengeluaran untuk biaya internet

Saran untuk TW :

TW layak untuk dilanjutkan karena membuat kita mengerti cara membuat tulisan yang baik

(unity dan chorence) dalam persiapan untuk Tugas Akhir

----------------------------------------------------
Using Blog in internet for Technical Writing

Advantages :

- Introduce the student how to use the blog
- Boost the student courage to write something
- That’s the new method in study in ITB so the student is not boxing
- Good for student to advance his thinking

Disadvantages :

- Wasting time for student to use the internet in “warnet” (especially if the “warnet” so far)
- There is a problem if the internet network is busy.
- The standard format for writing in Blog is not formal, so the writing in Blog is not formal,

so the written essay may be will become the unwanted essay, especially the symbols in the
essay will be changed.

Suggestion :

- The time for doing home work, but without took the quality of written essay (asal jadi)

----------------------------------------------
Penggunaan blog dalam kelas ini sudah baik. Peserta terpacu untuk menulis aktif di blog.

Tetapi itb/lc sebaiknya membuat sistem blog sendiri karena blog luar banyak kelemahannya seperti :
akses yang lambat, perlunya user AI3, adanya komersialisasi blog (ads, banner, dll). Kekurangan
yang lain misl nya apabila peserta tidak memiliki akses ke komputer karena minimnya komputer
publik (kalo harus beli laptop/note book mahal). Sebagai contoh elektro hanya memiliki sekitar
30 komputer publik di JASINFO.

Jika ITB ingin mengembangkan sistem kuliah berbasis internet maka diperlukan penyediaan

perangkat keras yang lebih banyak. Misalnya penambahan komputer publik. Jika hanya ingin
membuat jaringan internetnya saja misalnya dengan wi-fi hal itu tidak cukup, jika tidak dapat
diakses oleh mahasiswa.


--------------------------------------------------------

Advantages of TW using blog

- Tecnical writing sebaiknya lebih ke pembuatan sebuah tesis
- Menggunakan blog memberi kemudahan dalam

# penggunaan internet
# tidak perlu menulis tugas secara manual
# membiasakan membuat wacana/ide untuk disampaikan secara luas melalui jaringan cyber

- Posting dapat di edit kembali jika perlu dengan mudah
- Tugas bisa dibaca kembali setelah di kumpulkan (publish)

Disadvantages :

- Akses internet yang cenderung lambat ketika jam-jam kerja
- Perlu kehimpunan / warnet karena di kost ga ada internet
- Perlu log in AI3 ke internet

Suggestion :
- Blog jangan dibuat di www.bloger.com tapi di branch-site-nya www.lc.itb.ac.id. Hal ini untuk

mengantisipasi ketika bardwidth internet lamban atau ada gangguan di backbone-nya itb
(jadi ga bisa akses internet, Cuma bisa di LAN ITB)
- Sebaiknya 3 sks.
• 2 SKS untuk pembahasan materi + tuas
• 1 SKS untuk diskusi feedback tugas
- dosen interaktif untuk semua kelas paralel TW


--------------------------------------------------------------
Technical writing with Blogger:

Advantages:

• University student learn more global about writing, especially for application technology

(use internet facility)
• It’s more interest → make student enjoy with this class.
• Many source can find when make an essay
• It’s available time to consult ate with the teacher blogger → every time in 24 hours can post non

blogger → one a week, in a class
• U can see all idea of all student in a class comprehensively

Disanvantage :

- Sometimes difficult to make connection to internet
- Maybe need more budget.

Suggest :

- Why not ? if ITB use blog in technical writing itb could be an zetivator to make

“education atmosphere” in Indonesia
- The teacher that teach this class should be interactive with all student. Not only teach

grammar on the white/black board, but also learning to support student imprope their
English shill. Maybe in writing, speaking or arguing about some idea


-----------------------------------------------------------

Advantages

TW sangat bagus menurut saya, karena mengajarkan saya mengembangkan suatu ide ke dalam

tulisan. Jadi saya harap TW ini tetap ada untuk kedepannya. Mengenai penggunaan internet sebagai
media sangat bagus. Sehingga dalam perjalanan kuliah ini kami tidak hanya bertemu di kelas
saja tetapi bisa setiap saat.

Disadvantages

Ketersediaan komputer ataupun layanan jaringan internet di kampus yang kurang memadai.

Karena jika saya mengerjakan di himpunan, saya tidak bisa menulis dengan baik
(karena suasananya yang ribut). Sehingga mau tidak mau jika ingin menghasilkan tulisan
yang bagus, saya harus ke warnet karena lebih privat (suasananya lebih baik). Sehingga
dengan sering ke warnet otomatis akan membuat biaya tersendiri.

Suggestion

- Pertahankan TW ini, karena mengajar kita lebih fokus dalam menerapkan suatu ide ke dalam

tulisan. Khususnya untuk kami yang akan TA
- Penggunaan internet sangat bagus, jadi saya ingin horspot di kampus untuk internet ada.

Saya terlebih ingin jika nantinya, setiap mahasiswa menggunakan fasilitas ini dalam kuliahnya.
(Pakai wireless dalam koreksinya)
- Sebaiai kampus teknologi, saya ingin agar setiap ruangan kelas terdapat hubungan internet

(ada komputer) khususnya hubungan wireless tadi karena lebih mudah digunakan.


--------------------------------------------------------------
Keuntungan pakai internet:

1. lebih bebas ngerjain tugasnya
2. secara pribadi membuat saya lebih terpacu untuk menulis berhubung menulis bukan bukan

hobi saya
3. kuliah lebih bermanfaat dari pada Cuma “nongkrong” di kelas tanpa praktek

Kerugian

1. buka blognya mesti pake AI3 jadi repot dan harus daftar lagi

Saran

1. pake internetnya yang intra-net soalnya ga punya AI3
2. diberikan di tahap-tahap awal kuliah misalnya pas TPB, biar “terpupuk” budaya nulis dari awal,

kalo kaya kita udah kadang ga bisa menulis.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advnatages

1. By using blog/internet, we will be able to finish our tasks and essay without attending to class
2. We can learn it (TW) by ourselves
3. Saving time
4. We can past our task without have to fee! Asshamed, cause people didn’t see our face

(not seeing us in real /face to face)
5. Learn more about internet (especially blog)

Disadvantages

1. Some times the connection is soooo BAD !! in ITB, so we waste our time to open only one page
2. To open it in other places (beside ITB), we should pay some money
3. We can’t ask the teacher directly, and have and answer from him/her directly

Suggestions

1. This class is we some, ITB should make EVERY body in ITB (especially undergraduate students)

to TAKE THIS CLASS (diwajibkan) every departements should take this class
2. Too short of time, too uch knowledge that we want to learn so, may be the curri culum should

split this TW into 2 parts (TW I and TW II) may be, so, we can learn english more and more it
means we add more SKS
3. If you pay attention, lots of undergraduate students, sho dont want, don’t like don’t care to

imprope sheir english abillities (speaking, writing, etc). So, ITB should paymore attention
on their student’s capability in english (poorly deh, pokonya) Sorry, if there are some persons
who don’t like this ideas.


--------------------------------------------------


Tecnical Writing....
Using blog (internet)

Advantages :
- Jadi kenal apa ini blog....
- Tidak membosankan... karena sih dipaksa untuk mengenal dunia maya, saya jadi tau banyak hal baru
- Keren dan elegan ga kaya ngajar mata kuliah lain...

Disanvantages:
- Di rumah belum ada internet, jadi merasa kurang bebas untuk berkomunikasi dengan dosen, padahal masalah banyak .... hals ... seperti susah mengungkapkan ide, kesulitan dari grammer...

mau di warnet kadang suka ga punya ung.... mau cari gratisan di himpunan ngantri...
pokoknya mahasiswa banget eh...

Suggestion :
- Tetap kaya gini aja karena saya sadar disadvantages di atas sumbernya dari saya yang

kurang berusaha....


---------------------------------
Mata kuliah Tecnical Writing memang diperlukan bagi mahasiswa ITB. Banyak mahasiswa

ITB yang punya kemampuan teknik yang bagus tapi tidak bisa menulisnya secara baik dan benar.
Apalagi salah satu tolak ukur kemajuan terhadap suatu perguruan tinggi adalah banyaknya
jurnal atau tulisan yang dibuat. Mungkin akan lebih baik kalau porsinya lebih besar.

Media bantu yang digunakan untuk kelangsungan mata kuliah ini adalah menggunakan

blog di internet. Keuntungannya memang terasa yaitu adanya pusat informasi dan tempat
pengumpulan yang mudah di akses oeh mahasiswa. Internet sudah menjadi hal yang umum di ITB.
Oleh karena itu , seharusnya penggunaan internet di ITB lebih disumberdayakan.

Kerugiannya menggunakan blog (internet) hanya masalah teknis seperti lupa pasword dan tulisan

yang dipaste dari word bisa berubah untuk karakter tertentu di blog.


------------------------------
Advantages of Technical Writing using blog/internet

→ Finishing and collecting the tasks are easier, faster and saving more time.
It’s more enjoyable and efficient.
It give more opportunities to learn about using blog and internet
It encourages student to write and publish writing so people around the world can read it.

Disadvantages of Technical writing using blog / internet

→ I don’t think there are any significant disadvantages, except that there are times when internet

connection is very god that it needs very long time to connect to the internet.

Suggestion

→ It may be gather if technical writing class is had to be taken by every student in ITB (from every department).
The amount of SKS is paper enough.


----------------------------------
Advantages

- Dengan memakai blog, maka akan lebih memudahkan bagi mahasiswa untuk mengumpulkan tugas

sekaligus membandingkannya dengan tulisan temannya sehingga mahasiswa dapat mengetahui bagian
mana yang salah atau kurang tepat
- Memberikan waktu kepada mahasiswa untuk memikirkan membuat tugas, sehingga tugas yang

dibuat lebih baik
- Mengenalkan kepada mahasiswa tentang blog dan fungsinya sehingga pemikiran mahasiswa semakin terbuka.

Disadvantages

- Setiap mahasiswa harus punya login AI3 untuk dapat mempos di blog karena blog terletak di luar

ITB (bukan intranet)
- Akan ada SOI maka proses upload tugas menjadi susah

Suggestion

- Sistem Blog harus tetap dilanjutkan
- Blog harusnya dibjuat di server di dalam ITB sehingga mahasiswa dapat mengakses secara intranet

dan bila terdapat SOI maka tetap bisa menguplood tugas dengan lancar.
- Sebaiknya semua materi kuliah di uplood sehingga dapat di akses secara online.


--------------------------------------------

Advantages :

- This class actually can give a lot experience in writing in English
- Student can express their original idea without essay, so it can improve the student creativity
- By internet & multimedia this class is young more interactive

Students' comment Technical Wrt

Technical Writing

Pendapat saya :
TW adalah mata kuliah yang pertama kali membuat saya merasa seperti anak ITB.
Saya diajak berfikir layaknya seorang Enggineer, belajar melakukan sesuatu
dengan memanfaatkan fasilitas hasil enggineering, dan menurut saya untuk
menuangkan ide baru dan melakukan rekayasa.
Mata kuliah inilah yang membuat saya sadar bahwa saya adalah enggineer.

Keuntungan dan fasilitas Blogger:
1. Kemudahan proses belajar mengajar
2. Fasilitas belajar melalui materi quiz interaktif
3. Penambahan wawasan melalui karya-karya
4. Belajar dari kesalahan orang ,lain, karena adanya fasilitas comment
yang ter Publish
5. Termotivasi untuk malakukan yang terbaik.
6. Ide-ide kita terpublish mendunia
7. Membuat mahasiswa “friendly” dengan fasilitas internet
8. Proses belajar tidak dititik beratkan di kelas, namun mahasiswa dituntut
untuk belajar mandiri
9. Proses belajar bersekala international, karena ada interaksi dengan
mahasiswa luarnegri
10. Proses belajar mandiri dan “memaksa” U/paham.

Suggestion:
Saatnya kampus ITB menjadi Cyber Campus!! Bangsa ini tidak akan maju jika
perguruan tzinggi terbaiknya

masih memiliki sistem pendidikan KUNO!.

---------------------------------

Technical Writing

Menurut saya penggunaan blog dalam matakuliah ini merupakan suatu terobosan
baru yang seperti nya merupakan

yang pertama di ITB. Penggunaan blog memudahkan
para siswa untuk saling berinteraksi dengan dosen atau dengan teman-temannya. Penggunaan blog dapat mengatasi keterabatasn waktu yang menyulitkan

untuk diadakannya pertemuan langsung antara dosen
dan mahasiswa. Selain itu , blog juga memungkinkan siswa

mendapatkan contoh-contoh tulisan dari kuliah-kuliah Tecnical Writing lainnya baik dari dalam maupun ljuar negeri,
dengan banyaknya contoh-contoh tulisan, para
mahasiswa akan dapat belajar dengan lebih cepat.

Kekurangan prosedur ini:
- Access internet di ITB kurang sehingga sulit untuk mengakses internet,
untuk mengakses blogger,saya harus meminjam internet di kos teman
- Sistem kuliah online ini kurang mendapat dukungan fasilitor dari ITB

Saran :
ITB sebaiknya segera mengembangkan akses internet untuk mahasiswanya.
Teknologi internet sudah sangat dibutuhkan dalam mendukung p[rosedur belajar mengajarini

Advantage :
- Tidak perlu datang ke kelas
- Materi dan hasil kerja dapat dilihat dan diubah-ubah kapan saja
- Bisa dikerjakan kapanpun
- Memberikan nuansa baru pada perkuliahan
- Lebih menantang karena hasil pekerjaan dapat dilihat orang lain di
seluruh dunia.

Disadvantage :
- Perlu koneksi internet

Suggestion :
- Harusnya TTKI dibuat lebih seperti ini
- Kasih Wi-Ki ditiap kelas.

----------------------------------------------------------

Using Internet for Technical Writing Class

Advantages :

· Easier for finding sources in writing essay as final project
· Make student more hi-tech in using internet
· No paper-work in class
· We can express our self in writing more free than if we do it on class

Disadvantages :
· We should spend more moneys for just collecting project.
· Sometimes, we do our work chasing by deadline time.

Suggestion:
· Internet-free in whole ITB
· We don’t really need meeting with in class, I suppose... (n-n)

-------------------------------------------------------------

TW dg blog/internet

* Keuntungan :
- Jadi tau makai blog (sebelumnya ga tertarik, pas terpaksa untuk bikin tugas ternyata menarik)
- Lebih fleksibel untuk mengumpulkan tugas.
- Lebih cepat ngeliat komentar dosen mengenai tugas yang dibikin
- Lebih keren
- Lebih gampang untuk menghubungi dosen jika ada pertanyaan (via email)
- Bisa belajar lebih dari tugas teman-teman lain karena setiap input dosen
bagi mereka dapt dipelajari bersama.
- Bahan-bahan kuliah bisa didapat dengan ebih mudah.

* Kekurangan:
- Kalo pas servernya down atau bloggernya under construction, jadi ga bisa
upload tugas (so for si,belum ngalamin, tp kalo terjadi kan susah juga...)

* Saran :
- Project dimulai lebih awal aja, supaya lebih banyak waktu untuk ngerjain
(kalo diakhir semester kaya sekarang

tugas-tugas dari jurusan lazgi banyak-banyaknya
jadi menghambat utk nulis)
- Saya sebenarnya masih kurang ngerti tujuan PKIT ini. Ada yang bilang untuk
bikin abstract pas TA,
padahal pas ngikutin kuliah ini sepertinya tidak seperti itu.
----------------------------------------------------

Advantages TW use Blog/Internet.

- Sangat bagus, kita bisa belajar banyak dari rekan-rekanlain yang bagus dalam menulis di blog.
Bila hanya mengandalkan tulisan dalam sebuah kertas kita tidak bisa melihat karya teman-teman yang ,
lain, dan tulisan tersebut akan mudah hilang, tidak seperti bila dituliskan dalam blog yang datanya
tersimpan dalam database blog sehingga arsip lama masih bisa kita lihat.

Disadvantages :

Saya rasa tida ada, hanya saja kekurangannya pada kesadaran dari mahasiswanya sendiri untuk aktif
menulis di blog. Mereka menulis di blog hanya bila mendapat tugas dari dosen.

Suggestion :

Perlu ditambah susnya, dan berikan kesadaran pada mahasiswa bahwa kemampuan dalam Bahasa Inggris sangat

penting bagi mereka

------------------------------------
The advantages of Technical Writing using Blogs:

Provide lattes information to the student faster
Gives us (the student) actual simulation in writing an essay and then publish it.
Make us usual to be citied by others (everyone can easily gives other a critics)
Give the students simplicity in posting their home work, even when they are not
in Bandung.

Disadvantages :
Expensive ! HeHeHe ever since I am using Telkom-Net-Instant as my IP provider!!

Suggestion:
I love this class!! And maybe it will be even better if this class is equipped
with internet connection
(for free, of course!!)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Advantages :

· Sangat bagus karena bisa membandingkan dengan pekerjaan orang lain, sejauh
mana kemajuan dibanding yang lain.
· Dosen bisa respon semua pekerjaan yang dilakukan, dibandingkan bila
dikerjakan dikelas respon
dosen tidak merata. Pasti hanya diambil sample saja.
· Mahasiswa lebih aktif.

Disadvantages

· Mahal ke warnet melulu....
· Mengerjakannya jadi terburu-buru

Suggests :
· Technical Writing tuh harus setaunan supaya bisa lebih “nangkap”
tujuan-tujuannya.
· Kayaknya harus diperjuangkan terus supaya kedepannya ITB lebih bisa bertaraf internasional malu

ma universitas lain...

*********************************************************

Tecnical Writing using Blog.

Advantages :

- Student can choose right time to write his writing
- Student can find other source for his writing from internet

Disadvantages :

- Make student lazy because time to do the task is too long. (depends on

the student personality)

Suggestion :

- I think this class not different wit academic writing it should be more
“technical”

.........................................

Keuntungannya :
- Dengan blog (internet) lebih interaktif
- Respon terhadap mereka yang kurang lebih cepat
- Menghemat waktu untuk melakukan comment karena biasanya sebelum pelajaran
kita harus sudah memposting dan

kita dapat langsung mengetahui kekurangan nya
pada saat pelajaran
- Bisa kapan saja dan dimana saja mengumpulkannya

Kekurangannya :
Susah untuk mencari conectsi internet

Saran :
- Lebih banyak koneksi internet di lingkup ITB sehingga lebih banyak
pelajaran juga yang menggunakan internet.
- Membuat suatu forum agar lebih mudanh untuk bertanya/bertukar pedapat

...........................................................

Technical writing using blog / internet


Advantages

By using Blog/internet I think that it’s more “up to date” and more fun to do. Student can also do the
work on line so that they don’t have to attend the class if they have other
things to do.
By using Blog/internet, student’s work can be review or seen by lots of people.
They can give comment to the student’s work

Disadvantages :

Basically, I don’t think that there are any disadvantages by using Blog/iternet. It’s just that students
need to be more “active” in order to get some results. For example, students
need to ask if they got some problems. Because the lecturer can not always “see” student’s progress since most part of the
lecture is done online.

Suggestion :

- Maybe the whole lecture should be done online
- About the SKS, I think that it’s already appropriate (2 SKS)

-------------------------------------

Keuntungan TW menggunakan blogger (internet) :

- Dapat menggunakan tugas kapan saja dan dimana saja
- Dapat berkomunikasi dengan dosen kapan saja dan dimana saja
- Dapat mengedit tugas dengan mudah
- Dapat mengambil bahan kuliah dengan mudah.

Kerugian menggunakan blogger (internet)

- Terkadang blogger lambat dan terjadi error
- Menambah pengeluaran untuk biaya internet

Saran untuk TW :

TW layak untuk dilanjutkan karena membuat kita mengerti cara membuat tulisan
yang baik (unity dan chorence)

dalam persiapan untuk Tugas Akhir

=======================================================

Using Blog in internet for Technical Writing

Advantages :

- Introduce the student how to use the blog
- Boost the student courage to write something
- That’s the new method in study in ITB so the student is not boring
- Good for student to advance his thinking

Disadvantages :

- Wasting time for student to use the internet in “warnet” (especially if the “warnet” so far)
- There is a problem if the internet network is busy.
- The standard format for writing in Blog is not formal, so the writing in
Blog is not formal, so the written essay may be will become the unwanted
essay, especially the symbols in the essay will be changed.

Suggestion :

- The time for doing home work, but without took the quality of written
essay (asal jadi)

**************************************************************

Penggunaan blog dalam kelas ini sudah baik. Peserta terpacu untuk menulis
aktif di blog. Tetapi itb/lc sebaiknya

membuat sistem blog sendiri karena blog luar
banyak kelemahannya seperti : akses yang lambat, perlunya user AI3,

adanya komersialisasi blog (ads, banner, dll). Kekurangan yang lain misl nya apabila peserta tidak memiliki akses ke
komputer karena minimnya komputer publik
(kalo harus beli laptop/note book mahal). Sebagai contoh elektro hanya

memiliki sekitar 30 komputer publik di JASINFO.

Jika ITB ingin mengembangkan sistem kuliah berbasis internet maka diperlukan penyediaan perangkat keras yang lebih banyak. Misalnya penambahan komputer
publik. Jika hanya ingin membuat jaringan internetnya saja

misalnya dengan wi-fi hal itu tidak cukup,
jika tidak dapat diakses oleh mahasiswa.


“””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””


Advantages of TW using blog

- Tecnical writing sebaiknya lebih ke pembuatan sebuah tesis
- Menggunakan blog memberi kemudahan dalam

# penggunaan internet
# tidak perlu menulis tugas secara manual
# membiasakan membuat wacana/ide untuk disampaikan secara luas melalui
jaringan cyber

- Posting dapat di edit kembali jika perlu dengan mudah
- Tugas bisa dibaca kembali setelah di kumpulkan (publish)

Disadvantages :

- Akses internet yang cenderung lambat ketika jam-jam kerja
- Perlu kehimpunan / warnet karena di kost ga ada internet
- Perlu log in AI3 ke internet

Suggestion :
- Blog jangan dibuat di
http://www.bloger.com/ tapi di branch-site-nya http://www.lc.itb.ac.id/.
Hal ini untuk

mengantisipasi ketika bardwidth internet lamban atau ada gangguan di backbone-nya itb
(jadi ga bisa akses internet, Cuma bisa di LAN ITB)
- Sebaiknya 3 sks.
· 2 SKS untuk pembahasan materi + tuas
· 1 SKS untuk diskusi feedback tugas
- dosen interaktif untuk semua kelas paralel TW


‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

Technical writing with Blogger:

Advantages:

· University student learn more global about writing, especially for application technology (use internet facility)
· It’s more interest → make student enjoy with this class.
· Many source can find when make an essay
· It’s available time to consult ate with the teacher blogger → every time in 24 hours can post non
blogger → one a week, in a class
· U can see all idea of all student in a class comprehensively

Disanvantage :

- Sometimes difficult to make connection to internet
- Maybe need more budget.

Suggest :

- Why not ? if ITB use blog in technical writing itb could be an zetivator to make “education atmosphere”
in Indonesia
- The teacher that teach this class should be interactive with all student.
Not only teach grammar on the white/black board,

but also learning to support student imprope their English shill. Maybe in writing, speaking or arguing about some idea


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Advantages

TW sangat bagus menurut saya, karena mengajarkan saya mengembangkan suatu
ide ke dalam tulisan.
Jadi saya harap TW ini tetap ada untuk kedepannya. Mengenai penggunaan internet sebagai media sangat bagus.

Sehingga dalam perjalanan kuliah ini kami tidak
hanya bertemu di kelas saja tetapi bisa setiap saat.

Disadvantages

Ketersediaan komputer ataupun layanan jaringan internet di kampus yang kurang memadai. Karena jika
saya mengerjakan di himpunan, saya tidak bisa menulis dengan baik
(karena suasananya yang ribut).

Sehingga mau tidak mau jika ingin menghasilkan
tulisan yang bagus, saya harus ke warnet karena lebih
privat (suasananya lebih baik). Sehingga dengan sering ke warnet
otomatis akan membuat biaya tersendiri.

Suggestion

- Pertahankan TW ini, karena mengajar kita lebih fokus dalam menerapkan
suatu ide ke dalam tulisan.

Khususnya untuk kami yang akan TA
- Penggunaan internet sangat bagus, jadi saya ingin horspot di kampus
untuk internet ada. Saya terlebih
ingin jika nantinya, setiap mahasiswa menggunakan fasilitas ini dalam
kuliahnya. (Pakai wireless dalam koreksinya)
- Sebaiai kampus teknologi, saya ingin agar setiap ruangan kelas terdapat
hubungan internet
(ada komputer) khususnya hubungan wireless tadi karena lebih mudah digunakan.


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Keuntungan pakai internet:

lebih bebas ngerjain tugasnya
secara pribadi membuat saya lebih terpacu untuk menulis berhubung menulis bukan bukan hobi saya
kuliah lebih bermanfaat dari pada Cuma “nongkrong” di kelas tanpa praktek

Kerugian

buka blognya mesti pake AI3 jadi repot dan harus daftar lagi

Saran

pake internetnya yang intra-net soalnya ga punya AI3
diberikan di tahap-tahap awal kuliah misalnya pas TPB, biar “terpupuk”
budaya nulis dari awal, kalo kaya kita udah kadang ga bisa menulis.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Advnatages

By using blog/internet, we will be able to finish our tasks and essay without attending to class
We can learn it (TW) by ourselves
Saving time
We can past our task without have to fee! Asshamed, cause people didn’t see
our face (not seeing us in real /face to face)
Learn more about internet (especially blog)

Disadvantages

Some times the connection is soooo BAD !! in ITB, so we waste our time to
open only one page
To open it in other places (beside ITB), we should pay some money
We can’t ask the teacher directly, and have and answer from him/her directly

Suggestions

This class is we some, ITB should make EVERY body in ITB (especially
undergraduate students) to
TAKE THIS CLASS (diwajibkan) every departements should take this class
Too short of time, too uch knowledge that we want to learn so, may be the
curri culum should split this
TW into 2 parts (TW I and TW II) may be, so, we can learn english
more and more it means we add more SKS
If you pay attention, lots of undergraduate students, they don’t like don’t
care to imprope
their english abillities (speaking, writing, etc). So, ITB should paymore
attention on their student’s capability in english

(poorly deh, pokonya) Sorry, if there are some
persons who don’t like this ideas.


,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Tecnical Writing....
Using blog (internet)

Advantages :
- Jadi kenal apa ini blog....
- Tidak membosankan... karena sih dipaksa untuk mengenal dunia maya,
saya jadi tau banyak hal baru
- Keren dan elegan ga kaya ngajar mata kuliah lain...

Disanvantages:
- Di rumah belum ada internet, jadi merasa kurang bebas untuk berkomunikasi
dengan dosen, padahal masalah

banyak .... hals ... seperti susah mengungkapkan
ide, kesulitan dari grammer... mau di warnet
kadang suka ga punya ung.... mau cari gratisan di himpunan ngantri... pokoknya mahasiswa banget eh...

Suggestion :
- Tetap kaya gini aja karena saya sadar disadvantages di atas sumbernya dari
saya yang kurang berusaha....


############################################################

Mata kuliah Tecnical Writing memang diperlukan bagi mahasiswa ITB.
Banyak mahasiswa ITB yang punya kemampuan

teknik yang bagus tapi tidak bisa
menulisnya secara baik dan benar. Apalagi salah satu tolak
ukur kemajuan terhadap suatu perguruan tinggi adalah banyaknya jurnal atau
tulisan yang dibuat. Mungkin akan

lebih baik kalau porsinya lebih besar.

Media bantu yang digunakan untuk kelangsungan mata kuliah ini adalah
menggunakan blog di internet.

Keuntungannya memang terasa yaitu adanya pusat informasi dan tempat pengumpulan yang mudah
diakses oeh mahasiswa. Internet sudah menjadi hal yang umum di ITB.
Oleh karena itu , seharusnya penggunaan

internet di ITB lebih disumberdayakan.

Kerugiannya menggunakan blog (internet) hanya masalah teknis seperti
lupa pasword dan tulisan yang dipaste

dari word bisa berubah untuk karakter
tertentu di blog.


*****************************************

Advantages of Technical Writing using blog/internet

→ Finishing and collecting the tasks are easier, faster and saving more time.
It’s more enjoyable and efficient.
It give more opportunities to learn about using blog and internet
It encourages student to write and publish writing so people around the
world can read it.

Disadvantages of Technical writing using blog / internet

→ I don’t think there are any significant disadvantages, except that
there are times when internet
connection is very god that it needs very long time to connect to the
internet.

Suggestion

→ It may be gather if technical writing class is had to be taken by
every student in ITB (from every department).
The amount of SKS is paper enough.


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Advantages

- Dengan memakai blog, maka akan lebih memudahkan bagi mahasiswa
untuk mengumpulkan tugas
sekaligus membandingkannya dengan tulisan temannya sehingga mahasiswa
dapat mengetahui bagian
mana yang salah atau kurang tepat
- Memberikan waktu kepada mahasiswa untuk memikirkan membuat tugas,
sehingga tugas yang dibuat
lebih baik
- Mengenalkan kepada mahasiswa tentang blog dan fungsinya sehingga pemikiran mahasiswa semakin terbuka.

Disadvantages

- Setiap mahasiswa harus punya login AI3 untuk dapat mempos di blog karena blog terletak di luar
ITB (bukan intranet)
- Akan ada SOI maka proses upload tugas menjadi susah

Suggestion

- Sistem Blog harus tetap dilanjutkan
- Blog harusnya dibjuat di server di dalam ITB sehingga mahasiswa dapat
mengakses secara intranet
dan bila terdapat SOI maka tetap bisa menguplood tugas dengan lancar.
- Sebaiknya semua materi kuliah di uplood sehingga dapat di akses secara
online.


ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


Advantages :

- This class actually can give a lot experience in writing in English
- Student can express their original idea without essay, so it can improve
the student creativityBy
internet & multimedia this class is young more interactive

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Creating a Writing Course Utilizing Class and Student Blogs

Weblogs, or blogs for short, were created as a tool for people to create online journals without the need of any programming experience or knowledge. Although not originally intended for use in EFL classes, blogs have immense potential as an extremely valuable tool for the teaching of second language writing. By utilizing free blogging services on the Internet, teachers are capable of creating and storing online supplemental materials for students, post class notes for student review, and give general feedback to the class as a whole and individually. Additionally, students are able to submit assignments online. Taught in a computer room with Internet access, a writing class utilizing blogs that allows students to actually write in class on a computer can be created. The objectives of this paper are 1) to show other teachers how to set up a course using blogs at ‘Blogger' (a free blogging service) and 2) to discuss the advantages of blogs for both teachers and students. The ideas presented are based on an undergraduate level academic and technical writing course taught in the second semester 2005.
Introduction
Weblogs (or blogs) are electronic journals that allow the user to keep records of their writing on a website (Figure 1). In recent years, the use of these electronic journals in education is on the rise, especially in the United States. A good example is the Bay Area Writing Project which has organized the Educational Blogger Network (edBlogNet) with the purpose of helping kindergarten through university teachers “use weblog technology for the teaching of writing and reading across the disciplines” (eBn, 2003). Blogs have been successfully implemented into journalism, political science, and various junior high to university English writing courses for native English speakers. However, the use of blogs in teaching EFL appears to still be in its infancy but has much potential, especially in teaching written communication skills. Campbell (2003) goes into various ways blogs can be used by teachers and students to communicate in an EFL environment. He suggests using class blogs as a forum for students to express opinions, ideas, and interesting information. Additionally, the use of a ‘tutor blog' is a way for teachers to share with students and point them to other interesting links. Duber (2002) also discusses the background of blogs and gives links to several teachers' ‘tutor blogs.' Although the number of articles discussing blogs in an EFL teaching setting has increased recently, few of them discuss group or team blogs that keep student submissions private between the individual student and the teacher.



Figure 1: An example of a student's blog.

The best way to illustrate the use of blogs in the classroom is by showing how to set up and administer a collection of class and student blogs. Since there are several articles that describe various blogging services with their various functions (Hiler, 2000), this article will not get into that topic but rather discuss creating blogs at ‘Blogger' (located at www.blogger.com) in order to give a concrete example.
Setting up a Blog-Based Writing Class
The majority of the ideas presented in this paper were implemented in an undergraduate level academic and technical writing course taught in the second semester 2005. The ideas that were not implemented are from verbal student feedback pertaining to methods of improving the class structure.
Intended Audience for this Section
Blogs are a versatile tool with numerous applications. The ideas presented in this paper are intended for teachers that meet two conditions. First, the teacher can obtain a computer with Internet access and each student will have a computer to use in their department. Secondly, the description presented is intended for teachers who have a) limited or no HTML experience and b) no access to Internet server space. If one has HTML experience and server space, a few more options for creating the class are available that fall beyond the scope of this paper.
Features of the Blog-Based Class
Before choosing a blogging service, one must know what will be required of it. The following is a list containing the features this author felt would be necessary for a successful blog-based class:
• It must be possible for a teacher to create as many “class blogs” as deemed necessary to organize class materials. For example, it must be possible for a teacher to create a blog for class notes and another for posting group feedback (Figure 2).
• The class blogs must be viewable by all students. Furthermore, only the teacher should have administrative privileges to modify these blogs.
• Students must all have their own individual blog for posting assignments. Only two people, the teacher and the student, can view the student's individual blog. Students can edit their own writing and the teacher can add comments to the students' submissions. However, students cannot edit the teacher's comments.
• For the sake of organization, it must be simple for the teacher to change between students' blogs.
• The blogging service must provide server space on the Internet to store class and student blogs.
• The blogging service must be free.
Although there are numerous blogging services available, not all of them fit the stipulations above. In order to have individual student blogs that allow the teacher to add comments and modifications, a blogging service that allows “group blogs” is required. Blogger is one blogging service that allows “group blogs,” as well as the other features previously stated.



;
Figure 2: Blogger's “dashboard” is where all the blogs one is associated with are listed.
Setting Up Class and Student Blogs at Blogger
As shown in Figure 3, an account and blog can be made in three steps. For those without an account, a username and password must be created in the first step. Continuing along the process, the next step is to enter a title and URL for the new blog (Figure 4). The last step is to choose a template to determine font, color and layout of the blog when viewed as a webpage.



Figure 3: The blog creation process as shown on the welcome page of www.blogger.com


Figure 4: In Step 2 of creating a blog, the blog title and URL is entered.

Creation of the class blogs should be done before the first class and assigned relevant blog titles and URLs that communicate the purpose of the blog. For example, a blog of class notes should be titled “class notes.” By creating separate class blogs, information can be efficiently organized. For example, one class blog can be solely for keeping lecture-based material. Another blog can be kept solely for giving group feedback to the class. In this way, students can easily find pertinent information. Other possible class blogs are student assignment instructions, vocabulary, and answers to past assignments. The teacher created class blogs can be used as an example when introducing the concept of blogs to the students.

The creation of all the student blogs can be done on the first day of class. After introducing the class and the class blogs, give students a non-blog related activity and have them come up to the teacher computer one at a time to create their student blog. From the teacher's account, begin the process to create a new blog as previously described. In the first step, enter the student's name as the blog title and have the student enter a name for their URL address. To keep the student blog private, this URL address should not be shared with anyone. Next, quickly have the student choose a template, which can be changed at anytime, for the layout of their blog. After a few moments to process and create the blog, one is ready to start adding to it (Figure 5). However, since the blog was created on the teacher's account, students to do have access to it yet. Adding the students as members to the blogs is the final, most important step in setting up the student blogs. In the ‘settings' menu of each of your blogs, there is a ‘members' option. Here, group members can be added to the blogs via the ‘add team member' button. Following the instructions, have students type their email address in one of the ‘new user' fields and click the ‘save settings' button (Figure 6). There is also space to attach a message with the invitation. After all the students have completed this process, instruct them to check their email. They should all find an invitation from Blogger with a link to follow to join the student-teacher blog. If the students do not have an existing Blogger account, they will need to do so at this point and create a username and password. After the students accept the invitations to join their blogs, the initial set up is complete.



Figure 5: Adding an entry to a blog




Figure 6: Adding a group member to a blog


The Blogger layout can appear confusing at first glance, but actually it is quite simple to navigate and use, especially after the May 9, 2004 design change. Blogger contains a comprehensive help section to aid users. For this reason, only a few points regarding Blogger use and navigation will not be discussed here. After logging in from the main page, www.blogger.com, users are taken to what Blogger refers to as the “dashboard.” In the case of the teacher, all the class blogs and all of the student-teacher group blogs are shown (Figure 2). In the student's case, just the student-teacher group blog is shown. Also, it is important to tell students that when adding or editing a post, it will not be saved until the ‘publish post' button is clicked. Students must be taught the importance of this step or they will lose their work.
Viewing the Teacher Blogs
The teacher created class blogs act just like any other website. Teachers must share the URL of these blogs, decided in the blog creation process (Figure 4), for students to have access to them. An easy way to do this is to create a message to the students containing all the information regarding the class blogs and paste it into the message section of the invitation to join the student blog (Figure 6). It is recommended that students bookmark these URL addresses on their computer.
Advantages of Blogs to Teachers
• The use of blogs is a supplemental aid to the teacher. The amount of time students use their weblogs is at the discretion of the teacher. Students can use it once a semester to submit a paper, weekly for class assignments and notes, or anything in between.
• Computers in the classroom are not a prerequisite for the use of blogs. Thanks to the affordability of today's computers and high speed Internet access, most students have Internet access at home. Many universities have computer classrooms and computer areas for students to access now.
• All of the teacher's notes will be viewable together in chronological order. This is very convenient when preparing lessons that build upon previous material taught in the class.
• It is simple to edit class material if the text can be improved or if something new needs to be added.
• All student writing samples are kept in one place and can be read from any computer connected to the Internet at anytime.
• Teachers can give collective feedback to the class when a recurring mistake is found by adding entries to a “Writing Feedback” class blog. Additionally, individual feedback can be given to individual student blogs.
• In order to save time when giving feedback, save a copy of the messages at an additional teacher-only blog. If a class is taught for several years with different students, teachers might be able to recycle these messages. From this blog, the teacher can select the appropriate message to send to a student regarding their feedback to their homework and writing samples.
Advantages of Blogs to Students
• Students have access to your complete notes on the Internet. Students have the option of previewing the class material before class and reviewing the material after class.
• Because students are connected to the Internet, they have access to online English dictionaries. Students can easily look up words they do not understand by cutting the unknown word and pasting it into an online dictionary.
• Because the class material is organized into sections, students can easily find information.
• Students can read comments for the class as a whole and comments directed at them individually. This maximizes feedback and contact with the teacher.
• Students can observe how their writing has changed over time.

Grading
Many teachers might be hesitant to have students submit online assignments because it is difficult to make comments and corrections. However, it is possible to create a color code system of correction. When correcting student assignments, the teacher can quickly alter the color of particular mistakes by using 2 simple HTML commands surrounding the text to alter:

student mistake .

When viewed as a webpage, instead of seeing the HTML code, the color of the text will have been changed. By simply changing the color to blue, green, brown, orange, etc., different types of mistakes can be indicated. Students, by using a key, can then learn the nature of their errors based on the color of the text. A detailed explanation of this correction system, as well as student feedback regarding it, are beyond the scope of this paper and will be discussed in a future one.
Conclusion
When students graduate from university and begin their careers, the bulk of their writing will not be done with pencil and paper, but rather on a word processor. Therefore, writing classes ought to be set in realistic environment utilizing the writing aids of a computer. Since most universities have computer labs with Internet access, writing teachers can easily create classes utilizing blogs that allow students the chance to write and submit assignments in class. Combined with essential discussion and lecture from the teacher, the utilization of both class and student blogs can effectively maximize student access to class materials and exposure to teacher feedback. As teachers continue to experiment and share their ideas for various applications of blogs for teaching EFL, the number of blog applications can be expected to increase dramatically.
References
• Campbell, A. P. (2003, February). Weblogs for use with ESL classes. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. IX, No. 2. from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html
• Duber, J. (2002, September). Mad blogs and englishmen. TESL-EJ, Vol. 6. No. 2. from http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/tesl-ej/ej22/int.html
• eBn – the Educational Blogger Network. (2003, February 5). Bay Area Writing Project News. from http://www.bayareawritingproject.org/bawpNews/2003/02/05
• Hiler, J. (2002, July 22). The microcontent news blogging software roundup:
• Part one of the weblog industry report. Microcontent News. from http://www.microcontentnews.com/articles/blogware.htm

INTERNET AND LANGUAGE TEACHING IN INDONESIA; ITS DEVELOPMENTS AND PROBLEMS IN THE CONTEXT OF ITB LANGUAGE CENTRE

In this paper the writer is going to share the experiences of using CALL especially Internet in the teaching of English to ITB students at ITB Language Centre and Department of Sosioteknologi. The writer is also going to share his experiences in running CALL workshops in Indonesia and overseas..
ITB Language Centre started programming a cyber self-study for ITB students in 1998. The site was popular but then the site itself faced many problems; relating the activities in the cyber self-study with the students’ needs and classroom activities, teachers’ knowledge of internet and the developments of the site are going to be discussed. Considering the weaknesses of cyber self-study, mailing lists were used to support the teaching of academic writing and technical writing. These mailing lists have advantages and disadvantages to be discussed. The recent use of ‘bloggers or blogs’ in teaching writing will also be discussed and shared.
To complete the sharing of the use of internet in teaching English at ITB, the writer is also going to share the positive results of CALL workshops at some universities, such as Universitas Negeri Papua, Universitas Cenderawsih, Universitas Pattimura, Universitas Haluoleo, Universitas Negeri Jakarta and many more.

Introduction
The internet offers many new remarkable facilities and new ways of communication. Yet the speed with which new product, hardware updates and software development are delivered and adapted for use by companies, universities and by individual means that it’s difficult even for the most committed enthusiast to keep abreast of the market and an eye on the opportunities now emerging.

The resources available in cyber – space are growing daily: so too do the opportunities for ELT professionals in many fields. And, whatever area of ELT business one’s engaged with commercial development, materials creation, publishing, as an agent or provider, teacher, or student – there now exist some exciting opportunities ahead.

The internet is dominated by two main activities: first the exchange electronic mail (email) and second, viewing – and sometimes interacting material on the World Wide Web (WWW). Both kinds of Internet use are discussed here, together with a variety of related activities relevant to ELT.



The idea of developing CALL at ITB
In the late 1990s ITB Language Centre established a Local Area Network (LAN) with 5 computers connected to the internet through campus network. In the year of 2000 a website was designed for the language centre, and published at http://www.lc.itb.ac.id which was previously published at a free domain (http://www.geocities.com/eltcitb and http://uptitb.tripod.com). The interactive site for self study (cyber self study) was started to be designed to give students more practice outside classroom and the language centre. The design of the cyber self study is to provide more self access materials that are not available at the self access centre. The cyber self study was also introduced to ELTECs (English language Teaching Contacts Scheme, http://www.britishcouncil.org/eltecs.htm) east Asia members interested in IT in 2000 in Chiang Mai and in 2002 in Bangkok.
In the self access centre students are able to use the available facilities, such as watching CNN, BBC or other TV programs and read English books, magazines and journals. The students can also do grammar, listening, writing and reading exercises designed for self study. The idea of establishing resource centre with self study materials is premised on ideas about empowering learners since most of the students enrolling at the language centre are adult learners. Hiemstra, R. (1991) points out that research in self-directed learning (SDL) during the past 25 years has demonstrated that most of adult learners prefer to take considerable responsibility for their own learning. The students of the language centre can use the facilities at the resource centre from 09.00 – 20.00 from Monday to Friday, and they usually study at the resource centre before their class.
www.lc.itb.ac.id/selfstudy.htm
This cyber self study site is mainly categorized into three sub-heading; Lesson, Quiz and other pages. Under lesson heading, students can access frequently asked materials such as the use of articles, subject-verb agreement, countable uncountable rules and many more. This site is intended to give accessible materials related to classroom activities.
Under the Academic Writing button www.lc.itb.ac.id/writing/academicwriting.htm there are useful materials for students who have problem with writing in term of generating ideas, grammar rules, writing a draft and even punctuations. This page is linked to Purdue University Writing Lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu. Under the Free Lesson (reading), the students are directed to open http://www.english-to-go/tolesson.htm where they can practice reading and check the answer after doing the exercises. The material on this page is updated weekly. This page is also good for a reading teacher who needs supplementary materials.
Under the subject verb agreement, count and non count nouns and adverb order, present perfect, articles, adjectives and scientific presentation button students can study these materials on their own. One of the reasons to have such page is to provide students with materials which they keep asking from semester to semester. In short this page is specially designed to respond to frequently asked questions from students.

Interactive Quiz
The idea of developing interactive quiz was inspired by the self directed learning material at the resource centre where the students can choose various materials for self study. Students have the freedom to choose the materials, time, space and the phase of study in the resource centre. In other words, students have the complete control and responsibility of their learning. Even they score, evaluate or check their own work. Computers have become a “home” for most ITB students. They have to use computer in dealing with their subjects such as math, writing assignments, simulation and even programming for certain departments. Realizing that they are much more at home with keyboard, mouse, monitor, and discs than they are with pencil, paper and books, interactive quizzes are developed. The role of these pages are to provide exercises that can be done anytime, anywhere they like with the help of computer connected to the internet. The quizzes are classified into several buttons such as writing, quizzes for TOEFL class, reading, conversation, vocabulary, and various quizzes from all over the world. These exercises are written for students taking courses at ITB Language centre. Some are product of the teachers and some are links to various existing sites. All of the interactive quizzes provide instant feedback in various forms depending on the type of software used.

Other pages
This page consists of various links to ELT sites which are useful and worthwhile for students;
 grammar (http://www.drgrammar.org/)
 reading (http://www.readingsoft.com/)
 practice your English (http://www.englishpractice.com/)
 English as Global language (http://www.globalenglish.com/)
 An Online Textbook for Technical Writing
o (http://www.io.com/~hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/acctoc.html)
 Learning Oral English Online (http://www.rong-chang.com/book/)
 Idioms in Conversation (http://www.comenius.com/idioms/)
 News, Stories, song you can download (http://www.efl.net/)
 CNNSF (http://literacynet.org/cnnsf)
 English for Petroleum (http://www.naturalgas.org/)


Introducing the site to students
Orientation about the site (www.lc.itb.ac.id) to the students is conducted at the beginning of the class together with the orientation on how to be an independent learner, and how to use the resource centre. The orientation is conducted by the class teacher and course programmer at the Resource Centre and ended by doing some exercises from the site (www.lc.itb.ac.id/selfstudy.htm). The self study site is also announced and advised to be visited by ITB students taking academic writing, technical writing, academic presentation, seminar presentation, and reading class at Socio-technology Department. Not only the students but also the English teachers have the orientation about what available in the web so that the teachers can give input in term of content. The site is updated from time to time.

A simple survey
A counter to tract the number of visitors was installed on February 2000 and the number of visitors (clicks) was 135458 (April 23, 2005). A survey was conducted to find out the usefulness of the website. The survey was conducted in 2003 at ITB Language centre. There are 605 respondents, they were students of ITB language centre who were taking English classes. They were from ITB and various universities and high schools around Bandung, and were asked to complete the questionnaire. The result of the questionnaire shows;

 5% of the respondents visited the course information, 30% the cyber self study (lesson), 80% the cyber self study (quiz) and only 2% visited the bulletin board.

 80% found out about www.lc.itb.ac.id from the orientation by the class teacher, 10% from friends, 8% from www.itb.ac.id internal search engine and 2% other sources.

 When they were asked to rate from 0 – 10 with 0 being poor, 5 being good, and 10 being excellent;
o 80% rated 8, 18% rated 6 and 2% rated 5 for content
o 10% rated 8, 60% rated 7, 15% rated 5, 10% rated 4, 5% rated 3 for visual attractiveness.
o 20% rated 8, 5% rated 7, 40% rated 6, 20% rated 5 and 15% rated 4 for ease the browsing the website
o 10% rated 7, 10% rated 6, 50% rated 5 and 30% rated 4 for overall design/layout.
o 2% rated 9, 70% rated 8, 8% rated 7, 10% rated 6 and 10% rated 5 for the usefulness of the website.
o 12% rated 9, 60% rated 8, 8% rated 7, 10% rated 6 and 10% rated 5 for the usefulness of the website links.

Similar survey was conducted in at the end of semester I and II in 2004. The respondents were 710 ITB first year students. The result of the questionnaire shows similar result with the one conducted previously at ITB language centre.

 25% of the respondents visited the course information, 30% the cyber self study (lesson), 40% the cyber self study (quiz) and only 20% visited the bulletin board.

 70% found out about www.lc.itb.ac.id from the orientation by the class teacher, 10% from friends, 18% from www.itb.ac.id (internal search engine) and 2% other sources.

 When they were asked to rate from 0 – 10 with 0 being poor, 5 being good, and 10 being excellent;
o 70% rated 8, 8% rated 6, 20% rated 5, and 2% rated 4 for content
o 2% rated 8, 16% rated 7, 6% rated 6, 14% rated 5, 24% rated 4, 28% rated 3 and 10% rated 2 for visual attractiveness.
o 10% rated 8, 5% rated 7, 40% rated 6, 20% rated 5 and 25% rated 4 for ease the browsing the website
o 3% rated 7, 8% rated 6, 35% rated 5, 30% rated 4 and 24% rated 3 for overall design/layout.
o 1% rated 9, 30% rated 8, 18% rated 7, 15% rated 6, 10% rated 5, 24% rated 4 and 2% rated 3 for the usefulness of the website.
o 8% rated 9, 48% rated 8, 18% rated 7, 10% rated 6 and 16% rated 5 for the usefulness of the website links.

The result of both surveys shows that the students visit the web especially the cyber self study and find it useful. The improvements and changes are done when necessary, such as adding the exercises, checking the active links, improving the layout or content.

Links for English teacher
The idea of having these pages was inspired by a workshop attended by the writer in Hong Kong in 1999 sponsored by the British Council Jakarta. At that time a workshop on “using internet for teaching elementary and secondary school” showed how rich with authentic materials, articles on ELT and many more useful reading materials related to ELT the internet has. The internet also provides medium to draw on many resources and perhaps the most valuable contribution of the internet to English Language Teaching is its role in facilitating teacher’s access to professional material, contacts and resources (Warschauer, 2000). Under the category of “Links for English Teacher’ there are useful links to various sites such as ELT articles, lesson plans and materials, bilingual education, linguistics, business English, drama, quiz, teacher training and many more. These sites were introduced to ITB English teachers and updated from time to time when they come across good ELT sites. Unfortunately these pages were dormant since 2002.

The development of cyber self study in Indonesia
The cyber self study for the first time was introduced in 2000 at a seminar on “Testing and Evaluation in the context of Undergraduate English Language Teaching in Indonesia” at ITB (www.lc.itb.ac.id/selfstudy.htm) and similar site was developed by Pusat Pelatihan Bahasa Universitas Gajah Mada (http://ppb-ugm.tripod.com/ppbugm/home.htm) and introduced in the same occasion. The second time was at the TEFLIN Conference in the same year in Jakarta. Started with these two events, many language centers showed interest in designing similar sites. Five English Language Teaching Centers (ELTC) from eastern part of Indonesia under the funding of CIDA conducted series of workshops on Internet and English language Teaching. The first workshop was held at ITB for 1 week as an introduction. Then each ELTC conducted several workshops at their center in the year of 2001 – 2003. As a result of these activities then several sites on ELT in Indonesia were designed;
www.geocities.com/eltckendari/index.htm; (ELTC UNHALU)
www.geocities.com/eltcmanado/index.htm; (ELTC UNSRAT)
www.geocities.com/ababarakati/index.htm; (ABBA BARAKATI Kendari)
http://eltc-uncen.tripod.com (ELTC UNCEN)
http://eltc-unipa.tripod.com (ELTC UNIPA)
In helping those centres in developing cyber self study materials, an interactive site for creating quiz is published at http://sby4.tripod.com with log in password ‘gumawang’. With minimum knowledge of web designed, this site is quite easy to be used. Some of the sites mentioned are developing well and some are in the stage of dormant. For example, ELTC UNHALU has also developed SAC online using local area network and one of the staff has initiated a website for ELT journal http://www.geocities.com/language_journal and also a website for NUESP www.geocities.com/nuesp_indonesia. Other ELTCs have similar problem in developing the sites. Most of the train teachers in web designed and cyber self study are continuing their studies for master degrees overseas and the LAN at each centre is still being developed. With financial and and academic support from CIDA in the past and now FKSU, these centers will potentially give significant contribution to the development of the use of internet in ELT. There will be interesting development of internet and ELT in Indonesia. Some other centers have conducted similar training but have minimum support from the institution, such as Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Riau and Universitas Sriwijaya. In developing such sites commitment, funding and support from the institution are needed. It seems that they are aware of the potential but not ready to develop and explore the use of internet for ELT institutionally and letting the staff to develop and explore by themselves.

Mailing list
Other development of IT is mailing list. How to create a mailing list was also introduced to ELTCs for teaching purposes. By setting a mailing list students can easily communicate to each other and to their teacher outside class. Discussion can be generated outside the class before classroom discussion or a follow up discussion could be done after class activities. An example of this kind is fisika2000@yahoogroups.com where students and teacher generate discussion before technical writing class, discussing follow up activities after class or teacher assigns tasks to students via mailing list. Another mailing list introduced to ELTCs was eltc2000@yahoogroups.com. Initially the mailing list of eltc2000@yahoogroups.com was intended only for communication among the member of ELTC under the support of FKSU. It was founded in August 2000, with 10 members. It was used to communicate among the members to discuss meetings and workshops held at one of the centre. Right now the member of this mailing list grows up to 178 not only limited to ELTCs members and it is now used for communicating issues related to ELT including sharing teaching materials. Most of the members are English teachers from Indonesia. Another Indonesian English teachers’ mailing list is itbconf2002@yahoogroups.com founded in July 2001. The initial intention of having this mailing list was to send email about British Council – ITB – university of Leeds conference which is held once every two years. Now this mailing list is also used to communicate other national and international seminars. The member of this mailing list is 312.

Web Log
One of the disadvantages of mailing list for teaching is limited space in the mail account. It is difficult to imagine of having a mailing list for technical writing with 30 – 40 students in the class. The teacher and students will receive at least 30 similar emails in a week. By week 4, there will be 30 x 4 = 120 mail.
Considering the disadvantages of mailing list for teaching purposes, the use of web log is possibly a good idea and worth trying. Web log or popularly known as blog is a web page that serves a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. This easily designed web page can be created for free at www.blogger.com. At the moment the writer is doing experiment in teaching several classes using web log. The main reasons for using web log are among others;
 it is easy to be designed
 it is free
 it takes just minutes to create
 it is user friendly
 it gives flexibility in setting
 it can be used as a discussion board

One of the sites is http://dephan.blogspot.com. This site is specially designed for students from ministry of defense who are going to continue their post graduate study in defense management which is going to be delivered in English. They have to take intensive English classes at ITB language centre. In encouraging the students to read and write for real purposes out side the class, this site was designed. This site is an open site, where anyone can participate in the discussion. Tasks and reading texts are posted and students write comments on the website. Similar web log was designed for intensive pre-departure course at http://bappenas.blogspot.com.
Other web logs used for tutorial in teaching academic writing (2 credits), technical writing (3 credits) and critical reading and writing (4 credits) are http://acjati.blogspot.com, http://acf.blogspot.com, http://twjati.blogspot.com, and http://sbmjati.blogspot.com. These web logs are restricted to member; only the member of the class can write comments or posting comments. To be a member of one of these classes, student must have a personal web log, and they are encourage to write a personal journal in their own web log, and visit a good example of web log for practice writing, http://dianehome.blogspot.com created by a Taiwanese taking intensive course in Canada. Sharing web log with a advanced writing and grammar class http://ievcc.blogspot.com/ is an interesting experience. The students taking the advanced writing and grammar using http://ievcc.blogspot.com/ are also advised to visit http://acjati.blogspot.com, http://acf.blogspot.com, http://twjati.blogspot.com, and http://sbmjati.blogspot.com by their teacher. A direct result of this collaboration, students from ITB and Canada communicate using emails and writing comments on their personal web log. Since the writer is in the middle of doing this experiment, questionnaire to evaluate these web logs has not been properly conducted yet.
To exercise the ease of creating web log at www.blogger.com , an online course was set up for free using http://teaching-writing-online.blogspot.com with 15 participants. The course was designed for four weeks with at least twice a week of instruction using email (blogger_jati@yahoogroups.com) and web log. By the end of week three all participants have their own web log and ready to use it for teaching purposes. With this experience the writer is planning to run similar free online course in designing interactive quiz using http://sby4.tripod.com

Conclusion
When English teachers become aware of new development in technology or pedagogical theory, the first reaction is frequently “Sound good!”, and the second “but?” There is almost invariably conflict between the ideals stimulated by the technological innovation and the practical matters which must be taken into consideration for effective implementation of those ideals. Cyber self study, links for teachers, mailing list, and web log are only simple examples of how to use and integrate internet in English language teaching. Internet creates a new responsibility for English teacher to be aware of the power of the resource and to explore ways of putting it to use in improving the learning environment.

Bibliography

Chapelle, A. C. (2001). Computer Applications in Second language Acquisition, Foundation for teaching, testing, and research. Cambridge University Press.

Crytal, D. (2001). Language and the Internet. Cambridge University Press.
Dunkel, P. (Ed.). (1991). Computer-assisted language learning and testing: Research issues and practice. New York, NY: Newbury House.
Hardisty, D., & Windeatt, S. (1989) CALL. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Healey, D., & Johnson, N. (Ed.). (1995). 1995 TESOL CALL interest section software list. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Publications.
Hiemstra, R. (1991). Self-directed learning for older adults. In American Association of Retired Persons, Resourceful aging: Today and tomorrow (Volume V, Lifelong Education, Conference Proceedings), Washington, D.C.: American Association of Retired Persons.
Higgins, J. (1988). Language, learners and computers. London: Longman.
Jones, C., & Fortescue, S. (1987). Using computers in the language classroom. London: Longman.
Kenning, M.-M., & Kenning, M. J. (1990). Computers and language learning: Current theory and practice. New York: Ellis Horwood.
Schank, R. C., & Cleary, C. (1995). Engines for education. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Warschauer. M, Heidi Shetzer, and Christine meloni (2000). Internet for English Teaching. TESOL.

Presentation Skills

Presentations can be fun. They are your chance to speak your mind, to strut your stuff and to tell the people what the world is really like. While you hold the stage, the audience is bound by good manners to sit still and watch the performance.
The Objectives of Communication
The single most important observation is that the objective of communication is not the transimission but the reception. The whole preparation, presentation and content of a speech must therefore be geared not to the speaker but to the audience. The presentation of a perfect project plan is a failure if the audience do not understand or are not persuaded of its merits. A customers' tour is a waste of time if they leave without realising the full worth of your product. The objective of communication is to make your message understood and remembered.
The main problem with this objective is, of course, the people to whom you are talking. The average human being has a very short attention span and a million other things to think about. Your job in the presentation is to reach through this mental fog and to hold the attention long enough to make your point.
The Plan
It is difficult to over estimate the importance of careful preparation. Five minutes on the floor in front of senior management could decide the acceptance of a proposal of several months duration for the manager and the whole team. With so much potentially at stake, the presenter must concentrate not only upon the facts being presented but upon the style, pace, tone and ultimately tactics which should be used. As a rule of thumb for an average presentation, no less than 1 hour should be spent in preparation for 5 minutes of talking.
Suppose you have a talk to give, where do you start?
Formulate your Objectives
The starting point in planning any speech is to formulate a precise objective. This should take the form of a simple, concise statement of intent. For example, the purpose of your speech may be to obtain funds, to evaluate a proposal, or to motivate your team. No two objectives will be served equally well by the same presentation; and if you are not sure at the onset what you are trying to do, it is unlikely that your plan will achieve it.
One question is: how many different objectives can you achieve, in say, 30 minutes - and the answer: not many. In the end it is far more productive to achieve one goal than to blunder over several. The best approach is to isolate the essential objective and to list at most two others which can be addressed providing they do not distract from the main one. Focus is key. If you do not focus upon your objective, it is unlikely that the audience will.
Identify the Audience
The next task is to consider the audience to determine how best to achieve your objectives in the context of these people. Essentially this is done by identifying their aims and objectives while attending your presentation. If you can somehow convince them they are achieving those aims while at the same time achieving your own, you will find a helpful and receptive audience. For instance, if you are seeking approval for a new product plan from senior management it is useful to know and understand their main objectives. If they are currently worried that their product range is out of date and old fashioned, you would emphasise the innovative aspects of your new product; if they are fearful about product diversification you would then emphasise how well your new product fits within the existing catalogue.
This principal of matching the audience aims, however, goes beyond the simple salesmanship of an idea - it is the simplest and most effective manner of obtaining their attention at the beginning. If your opening remarks imply that you understand their problem and that you have a solution, then they will be flattered at your attention and attentive to your every word.
Structure
All speeches should have a definite structure or format; a talk without a structure is a woolly mess. If you do not order your thoughts into a structured manner, the audience will not be able to follow them. Having established the aim of your presentation you should choose the most appropriate structure to achieve it.
However, the structure must not get in the way of the main message. If it is too complex, too convoluted or simply too noticeable the audience will be distracted. If a section is unnecessary to the achievement of your fundamental objectives, pluck it out.
Sequential Argument
One of the simplest structures is that of sequential argument which consists of a series of linked statements ultimately leading to a conclusion. However, this simplicity can only be achieved by careful and deliberate delineation between each section. One technique is the use of frequent reminders to the audience of the main point which have proceeded and explicit explanation of how the next topic will lead on from this.
Hierarchical Decomposition
In hierarchical decomposition the main topic is broken down into sub-topics and each sub-topics into smaller topics until eventually everything is broken down into very small basic units. In written communication this is a very powerful technique because it allows the reader to re-order the presentation at will, and to return to omitted topics at a later date. In verbal communication the audience is restricted to the order of the presenter and the hierarchy should be kept simple reinforced. As with sequential argument it is useful to summarise each section at its conclusion and to introduce each major new section with a statement of how it lies in the hierarchical order.
Question Orientated
The aim of many presentations given by managers is to either explain a previous decision or to seek approval for a plan of action. In these cases, the format can be question orientated. The format is to introduce the problem and any relevant background, and then to outline the various solutions to that problem listing the advantages and disadvantages of each solution in turn. Finally, all possible options are summarised in terms of their pro's and con's, and either the preferred solution is presented for endorsement by the audience or a discussion is initiated leading to the decision. One trick for obtaining the desired outcome is to establish during the presentation the criteria by which the various options are to be judged; this alone should allow you to obtain your desired outcome.
Pyramid
In a newspaper, the story is introduced in its entirety in a catchy first paragraph. The next few paragraphs repeat the same information only giving further details to each point. The next section repeats the entire story again, but developing certain themes within each of the sub-points and again adding more information. This is repeated until the reporter runs out of story. The editor then simply decides upon the newsworthiness of the report and cuts from the bottom to the appropriate number of column inches.
There are two main advantages to this style for presentations. Firstly, it can increase the audiences receptiveness to the main ideas. Since at every stage of the pyramid they have all ready become familiar with the ideas and indeed know what to expect next. This sense of deja vu can falsely give the impression that what they are hearing are their own ideas. The second advantage is that the duration of the talk can be easily altered by cutting the talk in exactly the same way as the newspaper editor might have done to the news story. This degree of flexibility may be useful if the same presentation is to be used several times in different situations.
The Meaty Sandwich
The simplest and most direct format remains the meaty sandwich. This is the simple beginning-middle-end format in which the main meat of the exposition is contained in the middle and is proceeded by an introduction and followed by a summary and conclusion. This is really the appropriate format for all small sub-sections in all the previous structures. If the talk is short enough, or the topic simple enough, it can indeed form the entirity of the presentation.
The Beginning
It is imperative to plan your beginning carefully; there are five main elements:
Get their attention
Too often in a speech, the first few minutes of the presentation are lost while people adjust their coats, drift in with coffee and finish the conversation they were having with the person next to them. You only have a limited time and every minute is precious to you so, from the beginning, make sure they pay attention.
Establish a theme
Basically, you need to start the audience thinking about the subject matter of your presentation. This can be done by a statement of your main objective, unless for some reason you wish to keep it hidden. They will each have some experience or opinions on this and at the beginning you must make them bring that experience into their own minds.
Present a structure
If you explain briefly at the beginning of a talk how it is to proceed, then the audience will know what to expect. This can help to establish the theme and also provide something concrete to hold their attention. Ultimately, it provides a sense of security in the promise that this speech too will end.
Create a rapport
If you can win the audience over in the first minute, you will keep them for the remainder. You should plan exactly how you wish to appear to them and use the beginning to establish that relationship. You may be presenting yourself as their friend, as an expert, perhaps even as a judge, but whatever role you choose you must establish it at the very beginning.
Administration
When planning your speech you should make a note to find out if there are any administrative details which need to be announced at the beginning of your speech. This is not simply to make yourself popular with the people organising the session but also because if these details are over looked the audience may become distracted as they wonder what is going to happen next.
The Ending
The final impression you make on the audience is the one they will remember. Thus it is worth planning your last few sentences with extreme care.
As with the beginning, it is necessary first to get their attention, which will have wandered. This requires a change of pace, a new visual aid or perhaps the introduction of one final culminating idea. In some formats the ending will be a summary of the main points of the talk. One of the greatest mistakes is to tell the audience that this is going to be a summary because at that moment they simply switch off. Indeed it is best that the ending comes unexpectedly with that final vital phrase left hanging in the air and ringing round their memories. Alternatively the ending can be a flourish, with the pace and voice leading the audience through the final crescendo to the inevitable conclusion.
Visual Aids
Most people expect visual reinforcement for any verbal message being delivered. While it would be unfair to blame television entirely for this, it is useful to understand what the audience is accustomed to, for two reasons: firstly, you can meet their expectations using the overhead projector, a slide show, or even a video presentation; secondly, if you depart from the framework of a square picture flashed before their eyes, and use a different format, then that novelty will be most arresting. For instance, if you are describing the four functions of a project manager then display the four "hats" he/she must wear; if you are introducing the techniques of brainstorming then brandish a fishing rod to "fish for" ideas.
With traditional visual aids however, there are a few rules which should be followed to ensure they are used effectively. Most are common sense, and most are commonly ignored. As with all elements of a speech, each different viewfoil should have a distinct purpose - and if it has no purpose it should be removed. With that purpose firmly in mind you should design the viewfoil for that purpose. Some viewfoils are there to reinforce the verbal message and so to assist in recall; others are used to explain information which can be more easily displayed than discussed: and some viewfoils are designed simply for entertainment and thus to pace the presentation.
If your viewfoil is scruffy then your audience will notice that, and not what is written upon it. Do not clutter a viewfoil or it will confuse rather than assist. Do not simply photocopy information if there is more data on the page than you wish to present; in these cases, the data should be extracted before being displayed. Make sure that your writing can be read from the back of the room. Talk to the audience, not the visual aid.
The Delivery
"The human body is truly fascinating - there are some I could watch all day" - Anon
Whatever you say and whatever you show; it is you, yourself which will remain the focus of the audience's attention. If you but strut and fret your hour upon the stage and then are gone, no-one will remember what you said. The presenter has the power both to kill the message and to enhance it a hundred times beyond its worth. Your job as a manager is to use the potential of the presentation to ensure that the audience is motivated and inspired rather than disconcerted or distracted. There are five key facets of the human body which deserve attention in presentation skills: the eyes, the voice, the expression, the appearance, and how you stand.
The Eyes
The eyes are said to be the key to the soul and are therefore the first and most effective weapon in convincing the audience of your honesty, openness and confidence in the objectives of your presentation. This impression may of course be totally false, but here is how to convey it.
Even when in casual conversation, your feelings of friendship and intimacy can be evaluated by the intensity and duration of eye contact. During the presentation you should use this to enhance your rapport with the audience by establishing eye contact with each and every member of the audience as often as possible. For small groups this is clearly possible but it can also be achieved in large auditoriums since the further the audience is away from the presenter the harder it is to tell precisely where he or she is looking. Thus by simply staring at a group of people at the back of a lecture theatre it is possible to convince each of them individually that he or she is the object of your attention. During presentations, try to hold your gaze fixed in specific directions for five or six seconds at a time. Shortly after each change in position, a slight smile will convince each person in that direction that you have seen and acknowledged them.
The Voice
After the eyes comes the voice, and the two most important aspects of the voice for the public speaker are projection and variation. It is important to realise from the onset that few people can take their ordinary conversation voice and put it on stage. If you can, then perhaps you should move to Hollywood. The main difference comes in the degree of feedback which you can expect from the person to whom you are talking. In ordinary conversation you can see from the expression, perhaps a subtle movement of the eye, when a word or phrase has been missed or misunderstood. In front of an audience you have to make sure that this never happens. The simple advice is to slow down and to take your time. Remember the audience is constrained by good manners not to interrupt you so there is no need to maintain a constant flow of sound. A safe style is to be slightly louder and slightly slower than a fire-side chat with slightly deaf aunt. As you get used to the sound, you can adjust it by watching the audience.
A monotone speech is both boring and soporific, so it is important to try to vary the pitch and speed of your presentation. At the very least, each new sub-section should be proceeded by a pause and a change in tone to emphasise the delineation. If tonal variation does not come to you naturally try making use of rhetorical questions throughout your speech, since most British accents rise naturally at the end of a question.
Expression
The audience watch your face. If you are looking listless or distracted then they will be listless and distracted; if you are smiling, they will be wondering why and listen to find out. In normal conversation your meaning is enhanced by facial reinforcement. Thus in a speech you must compensate both for stage nerves and for the distance between yourself and the audience. The message is quite simply: make sure that your facial expressions are natural, only more so.
Appearance
There are many guides to management and presentation styles which lay heavy emphasis upon the way you dress and in the last analysis this is a matter of personal choice. That choice should however be deliberately made. When you are giving a presentation you must dress for the audience, not for yourself; if they think you look out of place, then you are.
As an aside, it is my personal opinion that there exists a code of conduct among engineers which emphasizes the scruffy look, and that in many organisations this tends to set the engineer apart, especially from management. It conveys the subliminal message that the engineer and the manager are not part of the same group and so hinders communication.
Stance
When an actor initially learns a new character part, he or she will instinctively adopt a distinct posture or stance to convey that character. It follows therefore that while you are on stage, your stance and posture will convey a great deal about you. The least you must do is make sure your stance does not convey boredom; at best, you can use your whole body as a dynamic tool to reinforce your rapport with the audience.
The perennial problem is what to do with your hands. These must not wave aimlessly through the air, or fiddle constantly with a pen, or (worst of all visually) juggle change in your trouser pockets. The key is to keep your hands still, except when used in unison with your speech. To train them initially, find a safe resting place which is comfortable for you, and aim to return them there when any gesture is completed.
The Techniques of Speech
Every speaker has a set of "tricks of the trade" which he or she holds dear - the following are a short selection of such advice taken from various sources.
Make an impression
The average audience is very busy: they have husbands and wives, schedules and slippages, cars and mortgages; and although they will be trying very hard to concentrate on your speech, their minds will inevitably stray. Your job is to do something, anything, which captures their attention and makes a lasting impression upon them. Once you have planned your speech and honed it down to its few salient points, isolate the most important and devise some method to make it stick.
Repeat, Repeat
The average audience is very busy: they have husbands or wives etc, etc - but repetition makes them hear. The average audience is easily distracted, and their attention will slip during the most important message of your speech - so repeat it. You don't necessarily have to use the resonant tonal sounds of the repeated phrase, but simply make the point again and again and again with different explanations and in different ways. The classic advice of the Sergeant Major is: "First you tell 'em what you are going to tell 'em, then you tell 'em, then you tell 'em what you told 'em!"
Draw a Sign
Research into teaching has yielded the following observation: "We found that students who failed to get the point did so because they were not looking for it". If the audience knows when to listen, they will. So tell them: the important point is ... .
Draw a Picture
The human brain is used to dealing with images, and this ability can be used to make the message more memorable. This means using metaphors or analogies to express your message. Thus a phrase like "we need to increase the market penetration before there will be sufficient profits for a pay related bonus" becomes "we need a bigger slice of the cake before the feast".
Jokes
The set piece joke can work very well, but it can also lead to disaster. You must choose a joke which is apt, and one which will not offend any member of the audience. This advice tends to rule out all racist, sexist or generally rude jokes. If this seems to rule out all the jokes you can think of, then you should avoid jokes in a speech.
Amusing asides are also useful in maintaining the attention of the audience, and for relieving the tension of the speech. If this comes naturally to you, then it is a useful tool for pacing your delivery to allow periods of relaxation in between your sign-posted major points.
Plain Speech
Yes!
Short and Sweet
One way to polish the presentation of the main point of your speech is to consider it thus. The day before your presentation, you are called to to the office of the divisional vice-president; there you are introduced to the managing director and a representative of the company's major share holder; "O.K." says the vice president "we hear you have got something to say, we'll give you 30 seconds, GO". Can you do it?
If you can crystallise your thoughts and combine your main message with some memorable phrase or imagery, and present them both in 30 seconds then you have either the perfect ending or the basis for a fine presentation.
The Narrative
Everyone loves a story and stories can both instruct and convey a message: Zen Philosophy is recorded in its stories, and Christianity was originally taught in parables. If you can weave your message into a story or a personal annocdote, then you can have them wanting to hear your every word - even if you have to make it up.
Rehearsal
There is no substitute for rehearsal. You can do it in front of a mirror, or to an empty theatre. In both cases, you should accentuate your gestures and vocal projection so that you get used to the sound and sight of yourself. Do not be put off by the mirror - remember: you see a lot less of yourself than your friends do.
Relaxation
If you get nervous just before the show, either concentrate on controlling your breathing or welcome the extra adrenaline. The good news is that the audience will never notice your nerves nearly as much as you think. Similarly, if you dry-up in the middle - smile, look at your notes, and take your time. The silence will seem long to you, but less so to the audience.
Conclusion
Once the speech is over and you have calmed down, you should try to honestly evaluate your performance. Either alone, or with the help of a friend in the audience, decide what was the least successful aspect of your presentation and resolve to concentrate on that point in the next talk you give. If it is a problem associated with the preparation, then deal with it there; if it is a problem with your delivery, write yourself a reminder note and put it in front of you at the next talk.
Practice is only productive when you make a positive effort to improve - try it.
I am a lecturer of Departement Sosioteknologi, ITB. Teaching Reading, Academic Writing, Technical Writing and Seminar presentation. I would like to get feedback by email (jati@gerbang.lc.itb.ac.id).