Creative, confident and resourceful team player, determined to encourage and inculcate the passion for self-directed lifelong learning in students through digital literacy and upstanding values.
Education & Honors
International Islamic University Malaysia
Master of Education (in progress) 2018-present
Instructional Technology
Researching and developing a narrative game to foster healthy decision making in the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Current GPA: 4.00/4.00
MARA University of Technology
Bachelor of Education (Honors) 2004-2009
Teaching English as A Second Language
Pioneered the submission of a computer program for teaching literature in the classroom as a final project, which received an A.
Overall GPA: 3.75/4.00
Bunkyo Gakuin University
Intercultural Exchange Program 2006
Intensive study program of Japanese history, education and culture.
MARA University of Technology
TESL Foundation 2003-2004
Overall GPA: 3.87/4.00
May 2016 - Present
IGCSE English Teacher / The Sequoia Academy, Kuala Lumpur
Designed interactive and effective English lessons for Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 students, with a focus on IGCSE First Language English and English as A Second Language. Incorporated the concept of growth mindset and visible learning in the classroom for more engagement with the students.
January – April 2008
English and Civics Education Practicum / Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seksyen 18, Shah Alam
Created and taught English and Civics Education lessons to form 2 students. Demonstrated ability to build positive relationships with other teachers and students. Enhanced student engagement through computer assisted language learning activities.
February 2005 – May 2007
Volunteer Student Teaching TEACHING EXPERIENCE / Rumah ILHAM, Kuala Lumpur
Prepared and taught English lesson plans for students aged between 9 -12 years. Developed interactive teaching aids (giant board games) and modified lessons to include real word examples.
September 2019 - Present
International Islamic University Malaysia // Graduate Research Assistant
March 2021 - June 2021
Offspring Inc Sdn Bhd // Content Specialist
July 2020 - January 2021
DPO International Sdn Bhd // Creative Content Writer
May 2016 - July 2020
The Sequoia Academy Secondary // School English Teacher
Teach IGCSE English. Utilise technology in teaching and learning.
February 2011 – Present
About The Letter A Sdn Bhd // Singer-Songwriter/Writer/Music Producer
Compose and produce jingles and theme songs for corporate companies. Perform on a musical stage. Provide motivational talks to students.
November 2010 – January 2012
Santai Travel Magazine // Writer
Showcased the delightful attractions in the many Homestays in Malaysia.
April 2008 – April 2010
Aidit Alfian Records // Recording Artist/Songwriter
Released debut album and awarded best song in a national songwriting competition (Anugerah Juara Lagu 25) through self-penned song, Tolong Ingatkan Aku.
The Homestay Icon for the State Of Selangor 2016
Promoting homestays all over Malaysia as a valueable tourist attraction
Ambassador for Pearl haya 2012 - 2015
Promoting an exclusive hijab brand for muslimah attire.
Spokeperson for Tesco Malaysia 2012
Promoting Tesco for a Hari Raya Campaign.
Whoa! Willow!! 2008
A play staged in Panggung Bandaraya, Kuala Lumpur. Co-scriptwriter.
Dielle the Musical 2007
A play staged in MATIC, Jalan Ampang. Backup singer.
All-Asian Intervarsity Debating Championship 2007
MARA University of Technology. Organizing committee member.
Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championship 2006
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Participant.
All-Asian Intervarsity Debating Championship 2006
Universiti Putra Malaysia. Participant.
Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championship 2005
University of Queensland, Australia. Participant. Performer.
All-Asian Intervarsity Debating Championship 2005
University of Malaya. Participant.
Real UK 2004
Joined students from all over the world on a two-week study trip, discovering universities and the British culture (London, Manchester, Cardiff, Aberdeen) organized by the British Council.
ANA RAFFALI is a multi-talented artist in a class of her own. Not only is she able to write her own songs, sings and performs with the guitar, solo or with her band; she became producer, arranger and recording engineer for her own songs. Ana shares her heartfelt originals and entertains with covers of her favorite classics, keeping the audience at the edge of their seats, and swaying in time to the beat. She is also well known for her friendly persona, which would put any unsuspecting guest singer from the audience at ease, while sharing the stage for an impromptu performance.
Throughout her career as a singer-songwriter, Ana has brought baju kurung and baju kebaya to another level, walked on miles of ‘red carpet’ and performed on various platforms in the Malaysian music industry. Currently, she holds the record for the first female singer- songwriter to have won Malaysia’s biggest songwriting competition, the “Anugerah Juara Lagu” as well as the only lady to have won as singer, composer and lyricist.
With a growing number of fans that she keeps track of online via Twitter and Facebook, Ana Raffali is well-known and loved for her approachable personality. Her slews of fans are able to relate to her musical and charity works regardless of age, gender and social economic background.
Since her debut in 2008, Ana continues to harness her talents, not only as a singer-songwriter, but also as an entertainer.
She is able to perform original and cover songs most comfortably in both Bahasa Malaysia and English.
Not only has her beautiful voice pleased many, her polite manner and articulate speech from a strong education background continues to charm the audience from all walks of life.
Group Project: An Instructional Video on Homophones
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
This group project was rather challenging, due to the fact that each of us have very different schedules, but we managed to persevere and complete the task with everybody contributing their expertise. Whatsapp is a life-saver!
I am very thankful to my students who were willing to be featured in this video. I even previewed the completed video to them in class and it was interesting to note their responses. They enjoyed the dramatisation of the content and were very participating during the quiz. I think if we had more time, I'd probably include a voice-over in the quiz segment too.
Individual Project: An Instructional Video on Nouns
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
There are a lot of limitations to this task. Firstly, this app is a Freemium, which means it is only free up to a point.
- I cannot create a video with a duration for more than 3 minutes.
- There is a minimum duration for each animation and you can't speed them up.
- You cannot customise the animation/graphic for the slides, only the text and embedded photo or video.
- You can only preview your work by rendering them first, which takes up a lot of time if you're constantly checking the duration for each part to tally with your script.
- The export resolution is 360p so it's a little pixelated when viewed at a big dimension.
- I don't think it's possible to record voice-overs directly in Renderforest.
- I don't really mind the watermark, though.
The way I work around all of the problems is by using iMovie to join 2 parts of my video into one seamless presentation, record the voice-over, adjust the duration of certain scenes, add music I downloaded from Youtube Audio Library, and add customised photos/slides made using Spark Post.
Another challenging part to this exercise is the voice-over. I have my studio microphones and all, but due to the time constraints, I just used my headset to record the narration. I then had to do some audio cleanup and boost the quality of the recording by a lot. This convinced me that I should just break out my microphone next time.
The reasons why I chose to do an instructional video on Nouns are:
- My initial idea on the Instructional Video on Active Learning was a bust because I don't really have solid materials to work with.
- I have to do Grammar revisions with the new Year 9 class I'm teaching. In order to teach them more complex sentence patterns, they must have a clear understanding of all the parts of speech.
- I figured that since I want to experiment with Renderforest 3D Toolkit, the lesson must be more visual than conceptual.
Important question I should ask myself: Will I use Renderforest again for my video needs? Maybe. It's quite expensive to subscribe to unlock its features (close to RM50 a month) and to get the cheapest deal, it has to be a one-year commitment. If I don't mind the setbacks, there are actually a lot of options to choose from so I can vary the type of videos I create, and the idea of variety is very attractive. Perhaps I will continue my Part of Speech series with Verbs next.
Digital Storytelling Project: Adobe Spark Video
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
This task was very engaging. Although Spark Video makes it easier to find accompanying photos for the narration, I had to dig around the internet for the video content. Thankfully, Pixabay and Pexels provide a lot of resources for me to play around with.
I was inspired to create this narrative because I once shared the story with my students and they seemed to be really absorbed by it. I had read it somewhere but my memory fails to recall where and who shared it. Since I couldn't find the actual story, I decided to retell it in my own words. Before this, I wanted to do a vignette on Active Learning, but upon consideration, I realised that there aren't many resources to use to make the storytelling engaging enough. I'm grateful that this story gets to be told since it has a powerful message to it.
My working structure for this project goes like this:
- Write the story/script for the digital narrative.
- Highlight keywords and possible video ideas to the story.
- Scout for videos and photos (if there is no video).
- Start working in Adobe Video: upload the video, insert text, adjust alignment of content, select duration and transition.
- Choose a suitable soundtrack.
- Preview and edit.
I think what was time consuming was the editing and refining process. A lot of trial and error. The process took a lot of RAM and the app repeatedly reloaded itself when it doesn't feel right. I also work on my phone and it's easier to preview the video on the phone than the computer, so sometimes I went back and forth the two devices.
What I find to be setbacks to Spark Video may be strengths for some people who are not well-versed on video editing softwares like Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, or even iMovie. It's very intuitive and minimal and gets the digital storytelling job done. However, I find myself wishing I could simply cut and drag the parts to my satisfaction rather than going to each individual video clip to select the part and the duration that I want.
Overall, I love the app and how it simplifies work for me and would definitely create more videos for my lessons in the future. More importantly, I (accidentally) subscribed to the Photography plan so I could customise my Page and now, there's no turning back.
Poster Project: Adobe Spark Post
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
How will graphic designers ever make money after Spark Post? They can create the templates used in Post, I guess.
Honestly, I felt like I was cheating in this assignment because the large part of the work has already been done for me with the templates provided. I just had to pick a photo, insert the text that I want, audition the templates with my content, select a template that I like and think will work, and adjust the layout to taste. Okay, so it's not completely without me having to do work, but this app really saves a lot of time. Furthermore, I think I learn a lot by looking at the templates and picking and choose the elements that I like for future use.
A simple post will never be the same or simple again.
Stock Photo Group Project
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
The idea of this project was to fill in the gap in the stock photo market.
There seems to be few photos that depict a diverse Asian population. Most of the time, stock photos feature caucasians or people of colour from Africa. Not so much on people hailing from this part of the world. This was a fun project to do, and we are also contributing to society as well.
I was extremely lucky to have group mates who are able to accomplish half of the task, a course mate who's willing to help, and a husband who can take photos. It was a family affair during the photoshoot. I think my 4-year-old son had the most fun having his photo taken. Below is a sample of how the photos can be put to good use.
Revised Bloom's Taxonomy: Digital Tools Group Project
ePortfolio Workshop
Photo Credit
//.a.studio //About The Letter A //Astro Awani //IIUM //Instagram //NST //Wikimedia Commons
Credits:
Created with images by JESHOOTS.COM - "untitled image" • coyot - "school draw drawing"