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Creating an e-Learning School Culture A strategy for creating a School e-learning culture Education is constantly changing the way students learn and how instructors teach. Technology is often the driving force behind many of the world's changes and innovations. In education, creating an e-learning culture is more about developing and tweaking what already exists, sharing a common vision, and doing things a little differently. The purpose of this article is to identify and outline a strategy for creating an e-learning culture within a school system ready to step away from traditional teaching. http://elearningindustry.com/creating-an-e-learning-school-culture #elearning #school #classroom #teacher #educator

Bastard Culture!: How User Participation Transforms Cultural Production Mirko Tobias Schafer 0 Resenhas Amsterdam University Press, 15/07/2011 - 249 páginas In the wake of the recent far-reaching changes in the use and accessibility of technology in our society, the average person is far more engaged with digital culture than ever before. They are not merely subject to technological advances but actively use, create, and mold them in everyday routines-connecting with loved ones and strangers through the Internet and smart phones, navigating digital worlds for work and recreation, extracting information from vast networks, and even creating and customizing interfaces to best suit their needs. In this timely work, Mirko Tobias Schäfer delves deep into the realities of user participation, the forms it takes, and the popular discourse around new media. Drawing on extensive research into hacking culture, fan communities, and Web 2.0 applications, Schäfer offers a critical approach to the hype around user participation and exposes the blurred boundaries between industry-driven culture and the domain of the user.

 Embedded in the very weave of the organisation, culture is the most difficult aspect of an organisation to change and the hardest form of change to sustain 'That's because transforming a culture requires influencing people's deepest beliefs and most habitual behaviours' (Rogers, Meehan & Tanne 2006 p5). Rogers et al indicate that as little as 10% of all organisations that set out to develop a high performing culture achieve their goal.

A recent post by George Couros (author of The innovators Mindset) posed an interesting question about the role that culture plays in shaping the trajectory of an organisation. The traditional wisdom is that culture trumps all but George points to the role that individuals play in shaping and changing culture itself. Is culture perhaps less resilient than we are led to imagine and is it just a consequence of the individuals with the greatest influence? Or, is something else at play here?

Nairobi 2010 Conference Reoprt  Climate Change and Natural Resource Use in Eastern Africa: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation Report of the 3rd Scientific Conference of the Ecological Society for Eastern Africa (ESEA) and co-hosted with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) at Multimedia University College, Nairobi, 19 - 21 May 2010 By Nicholas Oguge, Caroline Lumosi, Teddy Odindo, Joseph Ngondi and Philista Malaki October 4, 2010 Summary While the Earth's climate has changed throughout history, the current warming trend has been of particular concern because most of it is human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented.  One of the greatest concerns of this global warming is climate variability and change.  The risks associated with climate change add to development challenges such as food and water insecurity. Although climate change is only one of the many drivers negatively affecting biodiversity and ecosystem services, it certainly exacerbates the other factors such as land degradation and unsustainable natural resource use. There is general concern on the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources. This would widen poverty levels confronting eastern African countries and threaten gains made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Thus, the Ecological Society for Eastern African organised its 3rd annual scientific conference with a theme addressing this global challenge.  The idea was to bring together researchers, policy makers and the general public together to discuss the climate change phenomena, its impacts, mitigation strategies and adaptation measures with regard to natural resource use in Eastern Africa. In order to address above issues and to reach out to a wider audience, we designed the conference strategically on three tiers:   1. Plenary talks: to provide policy information and direction, science on climate change, ecological and socio-economic effects, how to commun

Earlier this year a group of teachers I work with explored the 'Eight Cultural Forces' identified by Ron Ritchhart of Harvard's Project Zero. In doing so we decided to focus on our use of the term learning instead of the word work. Our goal was to bring our language choices into the spotlight and explore how a more deliberate focus on learning might alter the culture of our classrooms. Two terms later this focus persists and it is worth reflecting on the effect that this has had.

n practical terms, any change effort that does not consider the culture into which it is introduced is unlikely to succeed. The worst-case scenario is that the change effort is resisted to such a degree that it is never truly implemented. In many cases, however, the change effort fails to produce the sort of results initially imagined despite the efforts of all involved to adopt the change. Although the new behaviours are adopted, something goes wrong, and it isn't always that the new idea itself is to be blamed. - Maybe it's culture?

I've been using this site for almost 10 years. It's not sophisticated, but it has a vast collect of Mandarin and Chinese cultural resource. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Mandarin+&+Chinese+culture

This unavoidable and irreducible complexity means that schools are challenging place to study, to understand and to manage change within. Even for the teacher who spends everyday inside the school there is so much going on that unguided observations and the plans based upon them come with no guarantee of success. - We need a lens and a lever to manage this complexity. -  Such a lens is offered by the 'cultural forces'.

Two quotes by Albert Einstein point to the importance of creating a culture within our schools (and organisations) that encourages experimentation, innovation, tinkering and indeed failure. If we are serious about embracing change, exploring new approaches, maximising the possibilities of new technologies, applying lessons from new research and truly seek to prepare our students for a new work order, we must become organisations that encourage learning from failure

Resources On this page you will find links to resources, activities, etc. ONLINE TOOLS ■Storybird, create your own books using original illustrations. ■Tagxedo, create word clouds with different shapes. ■Online Convert, online tool to convert different kinds of files. ■Dragontape, crop and mix youtube videos, and embed the result. ■Vocaroo, record your voice online and send it to a friend, post it on the web with a link or a html code. ■Brainshark, add audio to your pictures or slideshow presentations. ■Dictationsonline, dictations for different levels. ■Only2Clicks: The 101 most useful websites READY MADE MATERIAL AND UNITS ■English Language Lab Asturias (ELLA) ■ESL-Library ■British Council Teaching Resources ■English Lessons Online ■News English Lessons ■EL gazette ■Mosaic, specific materials for low levels. ■Efl-resource.com, materials classified according to levels and topics. ■Film-English, lesson plans from films in English. WRITING ■Flo-Joe ■Busuu SPEAKING ■Busuu ■The Mixxer: Language Exchange Community for Everyone ■Verbling READING ■BritLit (British Council) DICTIONARIES ■SHAHI: Diccionario visual que combina contenido del Wiktionary con imágenes de Flick. ■Wordreference, Assorted Monolingual and Bilingual Dictionaries and links to other Dictionaries. ■Merriam-Webster Online, Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical Dictionary and Spanish-English Dictionary ■Cambridge Dictionary, Dictionary, Idioms and Phrasal Verbs ■Collins Dictionary, Monolingual and Bilingual Dictionaries ■Macmillan Dictionary and Thesaurus ■Visual Dictionary ■Pronunciation Dictionary ■Oxford Dictionary ■The Free Dictionary, Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus. Legal Dictionary, Medical Dictionary, Dictionaries in other Languages. ■Free Medical Dictionary Online ■Linguee, Dictionary created by internet users with real examp

I'm a so-so fan of Skype. I've used it on an infrequent basis and have had more than a few dropped calls. Audio and video alike. However, it's a cheap way to make long distance calls and seems to work better over wi-fi and the video quality is improving on a regular basis. So therefore it's probably a great tool for the classroom. But how can you use Skype to do more than just make calls? Well, there's a pantload of interesting ways! Check out these fun ideas: Collaborate! Meet with other classrooms: One of the most common projects educators utilize Skype for is setting up exchanges with classrooms around the world, usually for cultural exchange purposes or working together on a common assignment. The program's official site provides some great opportunities to meet up with like-minded teachers and students sharing the same goals. Practice a foreign language: Connect with individual learners or classrooms hailing from a different native tongue can use a Skype collaboration to sharpen grammar and pronunciation skills through conversation. Peace One Day: Far beyond classroom collaborations, the Peace One Day initiative teamed up with Skype itself and educators across the globe to teach kids about the importance of ending violence, war, and other social ills. Around the World with 80 Schools: This challenge asks participating schools to hook up with 80 worldwide and report back what all they've learned about other cultures and languages. Talk about the weather: One popular Skype project sees participants from different regions make note of the weather patterns for a specified period of time, with students comparing and contrasting the results. Collaborative poetry: In this assignment, connected classrooms pen poetic pieces together and share them via video conferencing. Practice interviews: The education system frequently receives criticism for its failure to prepare students for the real world, but using Skype to help them run through mock-up

Book Reviews Book title: Digitisation Perspectives Type: book Author: Ruth Rikowski Year: 2010 Edition: 1st ISBN: 9460912982 Publisher: Sense Publishers Publisher's Description: This book examines various views and perspectives on digitisation. As Simon Tanner, Director Digital Consultancy, King's College London says in the Foreword: "Digitisation has become a cultural, scholastic, economic and political imperative and raises many issues for our consideration." Furthermore, that the book: "...seeks to address and answer some of the big questions of digitisation... It succeeds on many levels..." There are 22 contributors in the book, all experts in their fields. The book is divided into six parts: Part 1: 'Background and Overview to Digitisation and Digital Libraries' Part 2: 'Digitisation and Higher Education' Part 3: 'Digitisation and Inequalities' Part 4: 'Digital Libraries, Reference Services and Citation Indexing' Part 5: 'Digitisation of Rare, Valued and Scholarly Works' Part 6: 'Futuristic Developments of Digitisation' Topics covered include electronic theses, search engine technology, digitisation in Africa, citation indexing, reference services, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, new media and scholarly publishing. The final chapter explores virtual libraries, and poses some interesting questions for possible futures. The book will be of particular interest to information professionals, educators, librarians, academics and I.T. and knowledge experts. Ruth Rikowski concludes by indicating that: "...hopefully, the book will provide a source of inspiration for further research, leading to some more effective ways to proceed with the digitisation process. Also, that it will be possible to do this within a framework that can be used for good rather than ill, and for the benefit of many." Reviewer: Eric Jukes (Formerly of College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London) Book Rating: 5/5 Buy this book from Amazon  Review Summary

I have annotated this quite heavily as very interesting.

The role that education plays in issues of social equity and justice cannot be undervalued. It is acknowledged by the United Nations as a human right, 'Everyone has the right to education' (United Nations, 1948) and as outlined in the Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians 'As a nation Australia values the central role of education in building a democratic, equitable and just society- a society that is prosperous, cohesive and culturally diverse, and that values Australia's Indigenous cultures as a key part of the nation's history, present and future.' (Barr et al, 2008). Such lofty assertions of the importance of education as a right and national value should be sufficient to ensure that all Australians have access to an education of the highest standard with equitable outcomes for all, the reality is that this is not the case.

The cultural capital of India 'Kolkata' has paved its way not only in the field of architecture and economy but it is leading in the educational sector as well. There are number of English medium schools in Kolkata that provide high quality schooling to their students.

Navratri, a vibrant and spiritually significant festival, is celebrated with immense enthusiasm and fervor across India. This nine-night festival, dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga, brings people together to revel in devotion, music, dance, and traditional rituals. In this blog, Apnahumsafar.com takes you on a journey into the heart of Navratri celebrations, exploring its cultural significance and the joy it brings to people's lives. Navratri: The Festival of Nine Nights Navratri, which means "nine nights," is celebrated in the Hindu calendar month of Ashwin (usually September or October). It marks the triumph of Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon Mahishasura, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. The Significance of Navratri: Devotion and Worship: Navratri is a time for devotees to seek the blessings of Goddess Durga, who represents feminine power and divine strength. Devotees fast, pray, and perform aarti (ritual worship) to honor the goddess. Dance and Music: Navratri is renowned for its vibrant Garba and Dandiya Raas dances. People of all ages come together to dance in circles, accompanied by lively music. These dances symbolize the joy of life and the victory of good over evil. The Colors of Navratri: Each day of Navratri is associated with a specific color, and devotees wear clothes in those colors to symbolize their devotion. The colors include: Day 1 (Pratipada): Yellow Day 2 (Dwitiya): Green Day 3 (Tritiya): Grey Day 4 (Chaturthi): Orange Day 5 (Panchami): White Day 6 (Sashti): Red Day 7 (Saptami): Royal Blue Day 8 (Ashtami): Pink Day 9 (Navami): Purple Navratri Celebrations with Apnahumsafar: At Apnahumsafar.com, we understand the significance of cultural celebrations like Navratri. Festivals are an opportunity to connect with your roots, meet new people, and forge meaningful relationships. Whether you're looking for a life partner to share in these joyful celebrations or seeking adv

post from Half an Hour: excellent explanation of how connectivist moocs work, what the difference is between them and x or wrapped moocs and what open is In this presentation Stephen Downes addresses the question of how massive open online courses (MOOCs) will impact the future of distance education. The presentation considers in some detail the nature and purpose of a MOOC in contrast with traditional distance education. He argues that MOOCs represent the resurgence of community-based learning and will describe how distance education institutions will share MOOCs with each other and will supplement online interaction with community-based resources and services. The phenomenon of 'wrapped MOOCs' will be described, and Downes will outline several examples of local support for global MOOCs. 

At the start of each year we arrive back from our break hopefully rested and energised. The new year brings many new opportunities including new students, new team members and new teaching programmes. We begin again the climb up the hill with a fresh group of learners arriving at our doors full of excitement who will rely on us to meet their learning needs in the year ahead. All of this means we are at risk of starting the year with a certain level of panic. There is so much to do, our students are not accustomed to our routines, we don't know each other well, there are parents to meet, assessments to be done and before we know it we are back to being busy. 

A useful website for finding out about China and learning Mandarin for children and adults. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Mandarin+%26+Chinese+culture