The Transform of Communication Tools

                Have you ever use pager? Or have you ever the “old style” of mobile phone? Are you still listening music from radio tape? Well, as a digital native I’m sure that all of you have already known those things. Moreover now you have many communication technologies that more modern than the things that I mentioned above.

            Maybe for listening music, a few years ago we still use radio tape and cassette, but now we have mp3 player or even mp4 player which can save a lots of songs and video also for mp4 player and it is portable. We can save many songs that we like in our mp3 or mp4 player and we can replay the songs that we like again and again. The mp3 and mp4 players also can be used for learning languages. We can save the conversations or songs in English and we can replay it when we still can’t hear it clearly.

            In the other side there was also PDA. Well, although it doesn’t exist anymore now but we also can use it for learning languages. The PDA can open the pdf file although in little size. Honestly I don’t know well about the PDA because I never use it. But nowadays there is an iPad which is like computer but smaller and more stylish with the touch screen and we can zoon the screen and the screen size is wider than the PDA so we can read the file easier.

            About cell phone, there were many types of cell phones which have different functions. In the first era of cell phone the size is bigger than the cell phones now and it only can be used fro call. The next generation of cell phone can be used for send short message, and then it included the vga camera, radio fm, mp3 player, video player, voice recorder, internet, and also we can install many applications that we want in there. I’m sure that in the future we only need a mobile phone for doing our jobs because all function is in there. Even now there is.

            The mobile phone itself also can be used as the tool for learning language. we can download and install many applications about language like English-Indonesia dictionary, thesaurus dictionary, or even we can put not only English dictionary but also other languages dictionary inside. That’s why now to learn about language is easier. We don’t have to take much time for go to course and spend much money because there is the technology that make it more simple and easier.

               

Social Networks as Learning Tool

             Can you see how fast the technology of information is increasing now? Yes, it becomes very fast. Now we can find lots of information easily, and very fast. We only have to open the site, write the keyword and then with just one click you will find so many information that related to your keyword. In this era there are many social networks which can connect you to all of your friend or even to all of people in everywhere. For examples there are Friendster, facebook, skype, twitter, youtube, google talk, yahoo messager, hello, blog, and maybe there will be some new social network that will be exist in the future.

            Everybody now has already become so familiar with those social networks. Even social networks are not only for chat with friends but also it used for sell something, to promote something and also for studying.  Yes, for studying. The teacher and the students can use it for studying.

For example we can use facebook chat application to have a discussion with our callmates, or the teacher can ask the students to write something about the material and post it in facebook and then send the link to the teacher. Then the teacher and the other students can give feedback too through comment. We also can use youtube also as study tool for the teaching and learning activity. The teacher can download a video that has relation with the lesson and show it to the students in front of the class. The teacher and the students also can record a video about learning activities and upload it into youtube and the other students will give the comments about the video.

The other examples are skype and blog. The skype can help us to connect with the other people through video. So we still can talk face to face to each other even we are far apart with skype. So the teacher and students also can use it as video conference if the teacher can’t attend in the class. So there is no reason to be left behind about information. And with blog, we can use it to post and share our writing about the lesson that the students has already learned in the class and write their opinion or maybe their question about the lesson and the other students can help to give feedback or answer the question by write a comment there.

There are so many benefits that we can get from internet especially social network. But there are also the bad thing if we use internet to study because we can easily do plagiarism or cheat, and there are lots of bad content if we pen that. So the teacher can use those social networks in class but the teacher has to give the advice that the students is only able to open the site which has related to the material. Actually I still confuse how to make my students in future to not open the wrong site because as a teacher I can’t observe my students one by one. So how about the others? Do you have any suggestion how to make the students go in the right track?

The Secret of My Name

           Name is not only a word to call someone or something, but it must have the meaning behind that word. We can say that the name is equall with our pray, our expectation or to recall something. We choose a name for someone of course because we have some expectations that we want it to become real in someone’s life. That’s why we have to be carefull to choose a name for someone especially for our children.

            I’m one of many child in this world who feel so lucky to have my own name. I was born in Javanese family. My father is from Tulung Agung, East Java and my mother is from Banyumas, Central Java. Eventhough I’m a javanese but I wasn’t born in java island. I was born in borneo island. I tell about my birth place because it’s related to the history of my name.

this picture show that I like drawing

One day in the beautiful morning, I was borm in Ulun Hospital in Banjarmasin city, the capital of South Kalimantan. My father gave me name Nurul Briliani. At first my father wanted to give Berlian Al Banjari to me, but he said that it sounds like a boy name. At the first I curious why my name is Briliani. It’s quite difficult to spell because all of my childhood friends could not spell it correctly and it’s also unique for me when I was childhood because I never found someone with the same name like me. So I feel proud to have this name because my name is the unique one.

            I still felt curious with the meaning of my name, then I asked my father. He said that my name means The Bright Light or Diamond Light. He gave me this name because I was born in Banjarmasin and there is Martapura which is a famous diamond producing place in South Kalimantan. The other reason is he had wish that I wil be a smart woman. After I heard my father’s reasons about why he chose my name like this, I became more proud with myself. I knew that my parents love me so much that’s why they gave this name.

            I think my name which is my parents wish about me more less has already given an effect to myself. The God gave me the bright think and I m so grtaeful for this. Although I have some lacks but I still feel grateful and so thankful with this gift from God to me. I feel that my parents had made the right choice to give me this name and I wish I always can make them proud to me. So I will never change my name forever because it’s already sounds unique, awesome, meaningfull, and no one havs the same name with me but the most important reason is this name is the gift from my beloved parents. Thank you so much for my dad and mom. I’m so proud to be your daughter.