SELF-INTRODUCTION :)

 

"Introduce yourself." It is just a simple line, but it works wonders when getting to know another soul better. I do believe that whenever people have to introduce themselves to others, they should always try to be genuine in any way possible. Since this is a casual post, I am truly sorry in advance if my writings are a bit too personal or nonsensical for your liking, Dr. Assalamualaikum, and hi Dr Azah! For the first task of your class, I have been instructed to write a blog post about myself for you to get an idea of who I am. Since we are still stuck with online classes until God-knows-how-long, this platform is a better option for getting to know one another in a friendly way!

 

Before anything else, let me tell you a bit about myself. My name is Atrisyiah, I am 21 years old, and Malacca has been a place I have lived my entire life in. I adore books and languages and usually devote my free time immersed in reading. I am not going to sugarcoat you into thinking that my reading journey is all sunshine and rainbows as there are times where I will find myself being in a book slump for quite some time until I finally find a good book to read again! Okay… let us not dwell on that and let us move on to my recent favourite. I will share a little sneak peek about the book with you, Dr! (hopefully, I will be able to convince you to read it!)

 

I recently (right before the new semester started) read a few books. One book that stands out the most to me is House of Koi by Lillian Li. House of Koi is a book that I hold dear to my heart as the author did a great job to pointing up the importance to discover your identity while understanding that sometimes your future can be found in the past and it is waiting for you there. Chinese authors usually write Malaysian-based English books, and there are times when I will feel completely lost or left out because they did not highlight enough "Malaysian" feels there. The diversity of Malaysia is also nowhere to be found, but Lillian Li, as a Chinese author, did a great job portraying and presenting us the authentic side of Malaysia. 

 

This book follows a 14-year-old-girl named Mila, who has been living her whole teenage life in Georgetown (a capital city in Penang) but was forced by her parents to move to Bukit Mertajam, where she has to switch from an International School to a local private school. Mila has been sent away to her popo's (grandmother) bungalow on top of the mountain to live with her grandmother for a year while her parents deal with business matters in Thailand. Here starts the journey of Mila battling with her identity as a Malaysian Chinese who can barely communicate in Mandarin. Mila's battle to develop her own self-identity is also highly realistic. Honestly, everyone can understand Mila's struggle to adapt to a new society and a new group of individuals. The difference between a typical public school and an American international school is clear in terms of environment and curriculum. She was only attempting to adapt to a new setting while remaining the girl she was in her "old" life. While dealing with those issues, here comes Sean, a mountain boy who is also her childhood friend, trying to help her face her insecurities.

 

However, Mila gets in my nerve at some point when she refuses to accept her root and is extremely ashamed of speaking both Malay and Chinese. Here are some lines to support those remarks "Of course, I'm embarrassed by you! You can't even speak proper English. And your accent! You sound so stupid", she spats the word. Sean then replied that with "And you're too afraid to speak. You're too afraid to be yourself. Do you even know who you are? Ever since you were a kid, you've always been afraid. You've always hidden behind Jane. You hid behind me. You were always so scared of popo like she disgusted you, like everyone who doesn't know English disgusted you. Do you think you are better than us? You think everyone should speak English towards you because we have to adjust to you. And you never even try to adjust to us or even try to speak Malay or Chinese to us. Just because our English isn't that good means that we are better at more languages. The languages that you're terrible at!"

 

Those lines really hit me deep as it perfectly portrays today's society. We can see how our generations, especially the youngsters, are being groomed and brainwashed that they will be above anyone if they speak in English. Even better, in a British accent. I even experienced those things when I was in high school. Sometimes people are too afraid, embarrassed, and reluctant to accept their own cultures as they are not okay and uncomfortable with being themselves. 

 

Also, this book is not only good because it deals with Mila's journey to discover her self of identity, but it is also a good read because Lillian Li includes Malaysian food (hawker-style food, nasi lemak, maggie mee etc.), Malaysian snacks (tam tam, sugus, milo dinosaur) and traditional childhood games (congkak, split game, Pepsi cola,) to complete this masterpiece. House of Koi is the book filled with love and warmth as Mila slowly indulges herself with her grandmother and her new bunch of friends that help her return to her roots. The characters in this book are all incredibly alive, lovable, and engaging, and they, without doubt, serve as a reason why Mila can love and accept herself back for who she truly is. They made her fall in love with the idea of being a Malaysian again and how much Bukit Mertajam means to her. 

 

You can see how unapologetic I am for being a Malaysian here, Dr. I am really sorry for the lengthy review and explanations for the book! I will then proceed with my expectation for this subject, which is Innovative Technologies in Teaching and Learning, for this semester. When I was first introduced to this subject back in Week 1 and week 2, it is safe to say that I was utterly puzzled on what to expect from this subject. I was even more terrified when you introduced the whole class to the Instructional Design (ID) concept. The theory of the ADDIE model, ID4T model, ICARE model, and even Bloom's Taxonomy model seem so blurry to me. I think those concerns are due to my limited knowledge about technological things (I am not tech-savvy, but my skills are not too shabby either). Since this subject will focus on innovative technologies and their relations to instructional technology, I am excited to learn about the definition, ID models, history of ID models, instructional concept, and integration of technologies. As a student of this subject, I also would love to learn more about analysing the materials, design, and innovation of self-instructional materials for any organisation. 

 

 After taking some sweet time to read more about them, I am pleased to say that some of my expectations about this subject are; first, I would love to demonstrate proficiency and display high skills in applying programs for academic and administrative purposes. Second, it would be best if I could use cutting-edge technologies to create educational and instructional materials and resources based on the instructional design principles and concepts. Third, I would be glad if I could display and demonstrate autonomous and self-directed learning by selecting articles with writing reflective entries regarding the most recent developments in innovative technologies. 

 

Before I end this post, I would love to thank you, Dr Azah, for all the support given during our lectures. I can never repay you for always being a kind lecturer for your students. May the Almighty rewards you greatly, both here and in the Hereafter! :)

Disclaimer: The photo was taken from Google.