CALL_IS_VSL

Discusses why a study in Romanian seemed to indicate that introducing computers LOWERED test scores in math. One answer is the type of statistics analysis used. Another, perhaps more accessible, is that children were given a "bare-room" Windows PC--no educational software, which though available, had to be self-installed. For novices at or below poverty level, how was this to be done. And without educational/pedagogical infrastructure from the school, why would it be done.

"The Teaching Foreign Languages workshop will help K-12 foreign language teachers improve their practice by making connections between the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning and current research in foreign language education. Workshop components include eight lively half-hour video programs with leading researchers and practicing teachers discussing how the standards play out in day-to-day classroom situations, a workshop guide available online and in print, and interactive activities on the Web. " Looks very well done--has video workshop and materials, all free.

"language learning audio/video resources delivered via RSS to suit the pace of the individual student, anytime, anywhere" Looks to have lots of education learning resources.

Jing can be used to make a screencast of what's on your monitor--including a Powerpoint persentation--pretty cool! Jing Pro is $15/year.

Laura Walker's teacher blog: "Nine great reasons why teachers should use Twitter Mar 29, 2009 What's the point of Twitter? Why should educators get involved? What difference does using Twitter make? Here are some answers that you might like to share."

"an articulation of four major perspectives on assessment: associative, constructivist, social constructivist, and situative (see the diagram below). This is an excellent report, full of examples, case studies, and practical guides." The site links to a pdf guide to Technology-enhanced assessment and feedback.

A wealth of resources, materials, teaching tips, tutorials, etc., including student showcase of projects completed--you can submit your own students' work.

This site has short videos of cartoons illustratings words. I can't figure out how this can be for Grade School and Vocabulary for SAT/ACT. This might be a good resource.

This Website making service has so many features that it looks likely to become a pay-per-use site eventually. Very professional looking with 300 site templates, phote album capacity, blogs and forums, calendar, password protection, email list, etc.

If you try out this Website maker, please let us know!

"What do you think? If you train teachers to use IWB… how do you make the difference in how the board is used for learning apparent for them? What activities are truly interactive and contribute to learning in a new way while others are merely"fun" to use your fingers with?" A thoughtful article on how to use a Smart Whiteboard effectively--and interactively

A place to create stories associated with geographical places. Should be a nice way for students to explore the world, write, create, and share stories.

Mostly free and easy to use--all online. Can be very useful for diagraming sentences, charting the plot for a collaborative story or project, etc.

Nice short article on how one teacher integrates Google tools into the curriculum.

An excellent set of links to tools to help students understand size and scale, with suggestions for lessons based on the familiar reference point of local geography.

Teaching social bookmarking is the topic of this K-12 blog entry. Tells how and why to use Diigo educationally, but can be applied to other, similar applications.

We're still working on how to use virtual realities for educational purposes. This article proposes some sites for both younger kids and early teens.

A new project by Martin Holmes (creator of Hot Potatoes). You can download software (PC only) for Web versions of John & Muriel Higgins' Rhubarb and Sequitur (close quizzes). Exercises you create can be upload to your own Website, or to the hotpotatoes.net server to be shared. It's fun to see these old programs take on new life.

"...why not replace some traditional testing with opportunities for creative expression? I've included some such options in my list of alternative assessments. Every one of these tasks includes natural differentiation for different levels of ability. They are written in general terms and can be adapted and applied as required. Use the ideas individually or combine aspects of different ones."

An online professional development system--commercial, but looks to be very useful, and is used widely in Canada.

Modules explaining aspects of teacher training theories - theatre and Drama, creative writing, gestures/action English, patterns of SLA, etc.