Group items tagged

This issue - Languages, Cultures and Virtual Communities - has a number of articles on CALL and online learning.

I liked the idea about adding "conversation" to the book they were reading - through Twitter.

Too many apps to sort through to find an educationally useful one?  Here's a database that is "a central resource to assist educators looking for mobile apps to facilitate the learning process" - the TBR dLearning Initiative.

Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) is now putting it's journal articles on iTunes as a free podcast.

Vol 29, No. 3 (May 2012) - this is the URL for the "current issue" - you can see abstracts, get the whole PDF if you're a member, signed in.

There is quite a few posts about Wallwisher on youtube. I wanted to share this one because the author explains how to use the tool to entice students to create an extended text that they can share with other students for comments. Combining the post-its to paragraphs and an overall texts is also a great way to look at text strucure overall. He also introduces another tool Middlespot which looks even more suitable for story telling. Check it out!

Original illustrations with no words

From the abstract: This paper evaluates the impact that t he introduction of blended learning in a distance language learning course has had on teachers.

Sorry, you may have to go to your own library access to see this, but it was interesting for a number of things: 80% took all classes online, 74% indicated interaction with peers was not or only a little important, among other questions in a survey given to middle and high school students.

Discussion on how technology is being used and why we're still struggling to give more control of learning to students. A good read!

"A 2014 paper by researchers at Michigan State University, in East Lansing, provides a tangible example: Teachers and students in the small-scale study were found to be making extensive use of the online word-processing tool Google Docs. The application's power to support collaborative writing and in-depth feedback, however, was not being realized. Teachers were not encouraging group-writing assignments and their feedback focused overwhelmingly on issues such as spelling and grammar, rather than content and organization." This really gets to the heart of the idea of combining education and technology: the technology has to serve the goal and it doesn't sound like the teachers' goals were the same as the stated goals of the assignment. So obviously Google Docs is a fantastic tool, but it has to be utilized appropriately for it to be effective.

I must say I have sat through many workshops in my tenure at my university that included the modification of some practices and even included, to my frustration, the basic structure of a lesson from stating outcomes to assessment. The problem with our particular situation is that usually it is directed to a "one-size-fits-all" use of a given technology that may not apply to many disciplines. I have found them somewhat useful for upper-level courses at times, but the language classes often pose the need for a kind of collaboration and interpersonal technology that isn't presented. Hence my desire to take this course. Another difficulty is the overwhelming number of technological applications presented--I can't tell you how many--and the students really become overwhelmed, since they often have to learn new technologies in almost many courses. Some work and some don't, and since they are the guinea pigs and there are no guarantees that everything will work as planned, and given the astounding changes in tech, the newness never seems to end, neither for the student nor the teacher. So focusing on just 1 or 2 to begin with seems like the only way to deal with it. Finally, I think that, at least in our university, the huge courses found often in the sciences reflect the slowness to adopt meaningful change. Many in these disciplines have simply used the tech to deliver more lectures on topics students must memorize, perhaps adding clickers for comprehension checks. There seems to be a great disconnect between what happens in the classroom and the amazing advances in tech they have made for their hands-on work--labs, collaborative work, etc.

The expert interviews are something I need to do more of. Love the idea of a virtual Career day. Would be a good way to keep alums connected.

Nice blog post that describes different ways for teachers to share resources and develop a PLN (personal learning network)

More about online places to learn a language like LiveMocha.