Singable Books: Sing and Read Your Way to English Proficiency

nikeditor — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:40:25 +0000

Singable books are inherently interactive and appealing to children. The melody is often familiar to American-born teachers, but in any event, the musical notation and all the words are usually included at the end of the book. Read more

Web 2.0 Storytelling: Emergence of a New Genre

nikeditor — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:30:07 +0000

A story is told by one person or by a creative team to an audience that is usually quiet, even receptive. Or at least that’s what a story used to be, and that’s how a story used to be told. Today, with digital networks and social media, this pattern is changing. Stories now are open-ended, branching, hyperlinked, cross-media, participatory, exploratory, and unpredictable. Read more

The Teaching Knowledge Test

nikeditor — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:26:42 +0000

Introduced by Cambridge ESOL (the CELTA people) in 2005, the Teaching Knowledge Test (1) was a response to requests by governments around the world (2) for an easily accessible way of training and certifying English Language teachers, including those who have previously taught other subjects and need to requalify. It is now offered by centres in 21 countries around the world. Read more

Krashen teaching methods challenged

nikeditor — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:23:05 +0000

First let's look at what fluency in a language means. My definition can be found in a document that is a few years old, called The Linguist Manifesto. Fluency does not mean perfection. Perfection in another language is an illusion, but we can all achieve fluency. We can always improve. As long as we are communicating effectively we are fluent. Read more

Lara Croft is my new teacher

nikeditor — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:13:35 +0000

Problem solving, improving performance though the acquisition of skills and meta-cognative knowledge. Sound familiar? Games have a pseudo-pedagogy all of their own which can be leveraged into learning and teaching in education. Read more

When YouTube is blocked (eight ways around)

nikeditor — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:44:57 +0000

Pretty much everyday, in schools everywhere, and at homes at night, students and teachers are trying to figure out how to best capture video that is blocked to them during the school day. Read more

Students Watch Lecture Videos in Fast Forward

nikeditor — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:38:27 +0000

Some professors report that when their students are reviewing class materials, the students speed up online recordings of lectures and zip through hour-long presentations in as little as 30 minutes. Sure, their professors sound like chipmunks. But the students say they can absorb the information faster than the professors deliver it. Read more

Negroponte, TED and the XO

nikeditor — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:34:51 +0000

This is an interesting video from the TED conference network on the XO Computer initiative. Nicholas Negroponte is very engaging in explaining how the XO laptops can be integrated into developing communities in ways that bring children into the spotlight. Read more

Cool tools (for schools)

nikeditor — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:31:30 +0000

Yesterday we met with Microsoft who showed us some really exciting new (and older) tools and resources they have developed. Some have an obvious educational application while others are just very cool pieces of software! All except SenseCam are available to use now (and most are free). Read more

Brainbox: neuroscience and learning

nikeditor — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:21:14 +0000

Advances in neuroscience mean that our knowledge of the brain, how it develops and works, is rapidly improving. But what is our current level of understanding of the brain, what developments in related technology are taking place and what are the potential implications for education and learning? Read more

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