Group items tagged

If you spend any amount of time using a wiki–or, for example, services such as Flickr or delicious, where you can tag and organize your material in a variety of different ways–then sooner or later entropy will tend to set in.  It can be hard to find things

If you spend any amount of time using a wiki–or, for example, services such as Flickr or delicious, where you can tag and organize your material in a variety of different ways–then sooner or later entropy will tend to set in.  It can be hard to find things

If you spend any amount of time using a wiki–or, for example, services such as Flickr or delicious, where you can tag and organize your material in a variety of different ways–then sooner or later entropy will tend to set in.  It can be hard to find things

what is needed is something more closely approximating fluency in another language: the language of digital environments.

ess useful to know one program very well and more useful to achieve a level of comfort navigating digital tools for oneself.

1. Think of your computer less as the place where all your data lives and more as the thing that gives you access to your data.

The term ‘Multiliteracies’ refers to two major aspects of language use today.

The first is the variability of meaning making in different cultural, social or domain-specific contexts.

the business of communication and representation of meaning today increasingly requires that learners are able figure out differences in patterns of meaning from one context to another.

. “People think that texting is random and that it’s born from laziness. Actually, it’s neither of those things,” she said.

“Flipping the Switch: Teaching Students to Code-Switch from Text Speak to Standard English”

The goal, she said, is for English educators to understand, and in turn help students see, that digitalk is just another form of communication. While it is ideal for one realm, it will not work in another.

a concordance as presented by a word cloud gives greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text

word clouds to find unexpected language

a suggestion for beginning writers that uses this program. Wordle your work-in-progress, then look at it. Is it what you expected? Are the names of some characters HUGE, when in fact you didn't think they got that much time on the page? Do you use fiction's "meaningless words" too often: apparently, very, or really? Or perhaps some good news... a theme of your book appears to you, written but unnoticed until now. It's suprisingly cool how much this reveals about your use of language.

WordSift was created to help teachers manage the demands of vocabulary and academic language in their text materials. We especially hope that this tool is helpful in supporting English Language Learners.

WordSift helps anyone easily sift through texts -- just cut and paste any text into WordSift and you can engage in a verbal quick-capture! The program helps to quickly identify important words that appear in the text. This function is widely available in various Tag Cloud programs on the web, but we have added the ability to mark and sort different lists of words important to educators. We have also integrated it with a few other functions, such as visualization of word thesaurus relationships (incorporating the amazing Visual Thesaurus® that we highly recommend in its own right) and Google® searches of images and videos. With just a click on any word in the Tag Cloud, the program displays instances of sentences in which that word is used in the text.

Abstract In 2008, a new term emerged in the already crowded e-learning landscape: MOOC, or massive open online course. Lifelong learners can now use various tools to build and manage their own learning networks, and MOOCs may provide opportunities to test such networks. This paper focuses on the technological aspects of one MOOC, the Connectivism and Connective Knowledge (CCK08) course, in order to investigate lifelong learners’ attitudes towards learning network technologies. The research framework is represented by three perspectives: (a) lifelong learning in relation to open education, with a focus on the effective use of learning tools; (b) the more recent personal knowledge management (PKM) skills approach; and (c) the usability of web-based learning tools. Findings from a survey of CCK08 participants show that the course attracted adult, informal learners, who were not concerned about course completion. Time constraints, language barriers, and ICT skills affected the participants’ choice of tools; for example, learners favoured the passive, time-saving mailing list over interactive, time-consuming discussions forums and blogs. Some recommendations for future MOOCs include highlighting the purpose of the tools (e.g., skill-building) and stating clearly that the learners can choose their preferred tools. Further research on sustainability and facilitator workload should be conducted to determine the cost and effectiveness of MOOCs. Investigation is also necessary to understand MOOC participant profiles as they relate to course outcomes and retention and whether terms such as course and attrition are appropriate in this context..

TexToys is a suite of two authoring programs, WebRhubarb and WebSequitur. The programs are used to create web pages (HTML documents) which contain interactive language-learning exercises.

TexToys is shareware, so you can download and install it free of charge.

Registering your copy of TexToys entitles you to one year's free subscription to our hosting and results server at www.hotpotatoes.net.

P3 stands for Peer-to-Peer Pedagogy

ethics of using digital tools.  "Its not about homogenizing difference," she said; "its about making space for difference." 

P3 reminded me that it's not about the technology--it's about the people who create it, collaborate on it, and question it.