Need to print money ?

If you need to print play money try this site. There must be other sites like that.

M learning ?

College opens door to cellphone learning

By Elizabeth Binning
4:00 AM Friday Apr 30, 2010

Students can study their lessons at any time on a range of mobile devices

Most schools have banned mobile phones in the classroom - but Howick College isn't like most schools.

The college not only allows mobile phones, it is encouraging a group of students aged 15 and 16 to use them as a learning device in a project that could change the future of learning.

The project is the brainchild of teacher Nathan Kerr, who was named the most innovative teacher in the world at Microsoft's international awards in 2008.

While the concept of m-learning may sound confusing to people who remember lessons with only pen and paper, Mr Kerr said it was about encouraging students to learn in a way that interested them.

The reason is that then they can walk away with these lessons and they can review it anytime, anywhere.

On top of functions like calculators, clocks and software uploads, cellphones are often free or available at very reasonable prices when compared with a laptop or computer.

With all that in mind Mr Kerr started "zapping" students' lessons into their mobile devices using free applications such as Powerpoint and Movie Maker so they essentially had their notes or learning resources with then all the time.

Students are now creating the learning movies themselves - something that makes learning fun.

The result has been that students can't wait to view their lessons and are looking them up on their phones as soon as they get on the school bus or during their breaks.

"Howick College prides itself on producing innovative thinkers who are future focused on leading education in the 21st century," he said.

"Students have been very positive about using mobile technology because it is part of their everyday experience."

By Elizabeth Binning

This is an interesting idea. The complete article can be viewed here.
NZHerald

I wonder

I wonder, is this the site that Robbie's group used to make a presentation ? Eslgamesworld
Editable Jeopardy Betting Powerpoint (PTT) does look familiar to me, well Robbie, was this the one ?
Anyway Robbie and his group presented Holes ( a very creative presentation, as well !), with the usual edible prizes. I now have some coloured A4 paper, maybe I can find some Monopoly money to print out and use that as prizes instead.

Free Rice

I did manage to get Free Rice to work on my phone. It is also possible to test your English grammar. It has a grammar section too !

Leave the blog alone and let it gather dust ?

I, for one, intend to carry on with this blog. I have enjoyed doing it a lot. I hope that some souls out there have gained some insight and ideas to help them. Just because the course is over does not mean we don't have to think, enjoy and write to our blogs anymore.

Week GOK Hubbard

Hubbard, P. (1988). An integrated framework for CALL courseware evaluation. CALICO Journal, 6(2), 51-72.

This was written in 1988 so it may well be dated. Shakespeare is dated too, but that does not mean that it is not good.

Most evaluation schemes for courseware using CALL use a checklist or set of questions. Hubbard suggests a flexible framework to enable teachers to develop their own evaluation techniques. Claire's blog has all the diagrams.

I suspect the same general ideas will be good, yet now people are far more connected with mobile phones and such like. This will mean that it is possible to have "micro software" to suit such mini applications as phones. Hardware has moved ahead by leaps and bounds with software in quick pursuit. I suspect this will provide new challenges for teachers. Students using software on the move, maybe it is already happening. Maybe Free Rice will run on phones. I will try tonight on my way home. I have an older smart phone, newer ones are probably even more capable.

Hot Spuds !

I have no idea why potatoes are called spuds. If you want to find out something try looking on You Tube and you might be lucky !

If you want to find more information on Hot Potatoes what do you do ? See if there are any more videos on the same topic.

Week 1 reading Warschauer

Warschauer, M. (1996). Computer-assisted language learning: an introduction. In S. Fotos (Ed.), Multimedia Language Teaching (pp. 3-20). Tokyo: Logos International.

The three phases of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

Warschauer described the there phases of CALL as behavioristic CALL, communicative CALL, and integrative CALL.

Behavioristic CALL was the "Drill and kill" form of CALL. This was when computers were really in their infancy during the 1960s. The computer never tired and unlike the students it never got bored either. That is not to say that it does not have its uses. Learning the ABC is rote memorization after all. The computer was viewed as a tutor.

Communicative CALL came about in the 1970s and 1980s when microcomputers started appearing (The youth of today would consider these microcomputers as museum pieces with feeble capacities and a bit large to put it mildly. For those with an historical interest can click here.). It was thought that the "drill and kill" techniques did not provide authentic communication. Communicative CALL was intended to rectify the problems of the earlier CALL. One intention was to use computers as a stimulus. Now computers were also used as a tool, a workhorse.

Integrative CALL came about with the advent of multimedia computers and most of all the Internet. Computers have improved enormously and are continuing to make advances that will make them even more useful in the learning environment. Now there is synchronous software to enable communication with video link as well. An example of this might be Windows Live Messenger or SKYPE. Students are able to interact with peers in different countries for the cost of an Internet connection.
Software is very interactive these days. No doubt things will get even better with time. Software today is very different from the drill and kill approach of bygone times.

I suspect in the future smart phones will play a much bigger role in learning. There must be very few people who do not have a mobile phone these days. It is only a question of time before these will be exploited for learning.

Re Windows Live SkyDrive

On 22 April 2010 I up loaded an Excel file to SkyDrive and I have been trying to download it, I cannot as it has been "corrupted". I am not sure quite why this is. It does make me think that to rely on SkyDrive 100% is maybe not such a good idea at all. I am not about to dump my Flash RAMs. The original posting can be seen here.

This is something called Cloud computing. One advantage is 25Gb for free ! Another advantage is that whereas flash RAMs are very small and easy to lose, SkyDrive will always be there. If you have your vital data in multiple places if you have the misfortune to lose a flash RAM (Claire and Iris please take note) it is not a major calamity. If I have vital data that I cannot afford to lose I will store it on my flash RAM, an external hard disk, SkyDrive, my notebook and my netbook and then e mail it to myself. Computers do fall over, sometimes they get stolen, flash RAMs get forgotten, power surges can destroy computers. Unless you want to write that assignment all over again store it in different places.

Re the Antikythera mechanism

I looked at my posting about the Antikythera mechanism. Wikipedia suggests that the mechanism was refined. This makes me wonder what other machines might be lurking out there, or maybe have been lost to all time. The Baghdad battery comes to mind. What was that all about ? Can anybody explain that to me ?

Ex The Times

Grounded planes cause mass starvation in London
Flintoff

Ok, so the headline is a bit of an exaggeration, at the moment, but you never know what the next few weeks may bring. At the very least, you might think that with all the Kenyan mangetout, and suchlike, mouldering on planes that can't fly here, Britain's overwhelming reliance on imports might start to be a problem.

During the lorry driver's fuel strike of 2001 supermarkets warned the government that there was a real danger of food running out. Well, if the next Icelandic volcano goes of soon, and planes are grounded for a substantial period, we'll be stuffed - or not, if you see what I mean.

Surely The Times would get it right, the author has mixed up off and of, Shame on Him !

An Egyptian Plane ?

Here is a very strange artifact. Maybe this is an Egyptian plane from a pyramid ? So let me see, Australian aborigines developed a airfoil wing section. Egyptians might have know about it as well. The Wright brothers invented the airplane in 1903. If anybody has any explanation please comment.

For those that are unable to view this Egyptian plane (?) you can follow the link http://www.catchpenny.org/model.html

Classical music

Sometimes it is nice to use some classical music in a classroom. The Hall of the Mountain King is good as it has an increasing tempo. Some students have a musical ear, they may well enjoy things like this.


If a cartoon is preferred then The Old Mill has to be a good choice.



If you prefer fireworks you can try this site or even this one more fireworks.

Perhaps of course you need some really big fireworks !

Cards for games

If you need to make cards for your class try and laminate them so that they last longer. I have also found it beneficial to clip off the corners to make them rounded. Corner clippers are available at good stationery shops. Making cards does take time so it makes sense to make them more durable if they are likely to be used again. I have found that it is not necessary to leave a small margin around the card area to protect the cards. This means they are much easier to cut out.

A web site with lots of quizzes !

Here is a web site that I have just found. Nonstop English It has tests in it that may be useful. It might also give you ideas on writing tests.

Re using You Tube clips in presentations

IMHO it is a really good idea to save the video in some way if you are using it in a presentation. If you save just the link and use the Internet to access it, one day that clip may be removed, or the Internet could be down that day. If you save the clip to a hard disk or a flash RAM that will save the day. Embedding a video also removes the comments. Sometimes people leave objectionable comments. A further advantage of saving a video clip is it is not always desirable for parents to know exactly where you got the clip from.

There have been a few presentations in another class. These were all edible prizes, I am all for that naturally. Stickers work well also and may just be better for the students health and the teachers wallet. One school in Taipei used slips of paper with the word prize printed on it. If the students were good they got a "prize" if they were bad they lost a prize. The students treasured these prize slips, so they were working at a fraction of the price of candies.

Learner Autonomy and Tandem Learning

Learner Autonomy and Tandem Learning: Putting Principles Into Practice in Synchronous and Asynchronous Telecommunication Environments by Schweinhorst, K. (2003).
According to the article autonomous learning should not be viewed as a “laissez-faire” (French for leave it alone) approach, nor should it be viewed as self-access or self-instruction. The learner will have to have the ability to be self critical. The teacher will still have a role to play to ensure that the students are on task.

Tandem learning is where for example a German learning English would be paired with an Irish learner of German. They would use synchronous (such as Windows Live Messenger) or asynchronous (e mail) technologies. Each learner would be responsible for their own and their partner’s leaning.
Each learner has to support the other in order to accomplish their learning goals.
Both learners should use both languages in order to profit from the exchange.

It was noticed that pairing up students was not actually that easy. Often students would run out of topics. It was found that students of a similar age, with similar interests was the most useful and productive pairing. Mismatched students soon ran out of topics to talk about.

There are additional problems, there is only one hour time difference between Germany and Ireland, so synchronous technologies will not present a problem. However, if the learners are on opposite sides of the world synchronous technologies would present problems, due to the time differences. This is where asynchronous technologies would be better.

A problem arose with the asynchronous communication in that different e mails systems used slightly different systems. This is why Trinity College, Dublin set up the Electronic Tandem Resources the ETR. This was a dedicated web site where students had to log in. Their use of the L1 and L2 were logged and could be assessed by the students. Thus they could evaluate approximately how much of the L1 and L2 they were actually using.

It was found that a system such as this did have the advantage that students were aware and had prepared themselves for communication in the L2. Further they were not inundated by the irrelevant e mail messages that infest the usual e mail accounts.

A similar sort of thing was set up with synchronous communications. A logging system was set up so the students and the teacher could get a copy of the text used in each communication.
Tasks were set up again and used both synchronous and asynchronous technologies.
One example of a task was a chain story created via synchronous and asynchronous technologies, the story was edited and revised by the native speaker. The final version was submitted to the teacher. It would seem that specific goals are essential to help move the process along and assist the acquisition

According to the paper there are three areas where technology and pedagogy affect the reflection process. These are the pressures, affordances and potential to permit reflection.

Do you think English is easy ?

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

The Magic Gopher

The Magic Gopher is from the British Council. This will keep some of the students guessing for a long time. Maybe you could ask them how the Magic Gopher does this truly astounding magic trick! There is a link to The British Council, this has a whole range of resources that may be of interest to you or your students.

Technology in testing: the present and the future.

Technology in testing: the present and the future by Alderson, C. (2000).

This paper covers the uses of computers in testing.  It is a bit dated as it makes extensive reference to CD ROM.  These days downloads off the Internet would probably be used.  It is common these days to have computers sans DVD.  External optical drives do have their uses, far more so than built in optical drives.  Optical drives are prone to falling out of alignment so they are easily damaged.  So it makes sense to have external drives where possible as this makes a computer lighter as well.

A monumental disadvantage of CBT (Computer Based Tests) is there are some students who lack computer skills and aptitude, indeed some people have a very negative attitude to computers.  I have seen somebody type with one finger, that could make test taking really problematic.  This kind of problem will be greatly reduced with time.  As a decade has passed since this paper was written this sort of phobia is less likely to be a problem.

The paper cites a disadvantage that speaking cannot be assessed, this was before Windows 7 was launched.  It has a facility to teach a computer to recognize speech.  I have not had a chance to fully evaluate it yet.

There are distinct advantages of CBT.  Certain items such as Multiple Choice (MC) can be marked by the computer, so instant feedback is possible.  This is not possible with pencil and paper tests.  Some people (myself for instance) have appalling handwriting, this is not relevant with CBT.   It is not necessary to coordinate hundreds of test takers into entering an examination hall.  Students can take the test at a time of their choosing.  It can be done from wherever there is a viable Internet connection.  The mention of “diskettes” does suggest that this paper is somewhat dated.  These days much software is downloaded via the Internet.  Hence tests can be up to date.

Computer adaptive testing is where the computer estimates the student’s abilities, and presents the next item to suit the student for example freerice.com .  This particular programme gives the correct answer if a student fails to answer correctly and submits the failed item again to see if the student remembers the right answer.

An entirely incidental feature of this programme is that when the programme is used a donation of rice is made. The programme claims to improve the users abilities more information on this can be found in the Free Rice FAQ.

Some students do find a test intimidating, more so if it is taken in a large examination room with many others.  CBT do away with this, so they are far more user friendly (But not to Luddites).

In listening tests students are able to adjust the volume of the headphones.  Naturally this would be a problem for deaf students.  I had a deaf student who needed to lip read (In Cantonese and English !).

CBT is clearly most suitable for low stakes assessments.  There is the chance that some people will cheat in computer based tests, however the only person they will delude will be themselves.

DIALANG was and still is used for low level testing in 14 European languages.  This was experimental and at the time used major innovations.  The author mentioned the limitations of DIALANG in assessing students’ productive language abilities, however computers and technology have progressed greatly in the last decade so this may have been resolved now. It has been suggested that this is not particularly suitable for the younger learners.

When this paper was written computers would not have been as numerous as they are today.  CBT does enable more frequent testing of students with a reduced workload for the teacher. Students and teachers are more computer literate and technology has advanced considerably.  Moore’s law still holds true (and will probably hold true for at least another decade), consequently it can be expected that CBT will become more commonplace and more versatile. Smart phones are like mini computers, so students could test themselves when in transit. Perhaps the challenge is to make the test appear like a game, this would give a much broader appeal to an assessment.

Puppet show material

This is good for very young learners. Further if you photocopy some teddy bears and put them on chopsticks there is the opportunity to get the children to reenact the video in the puppet theatre made out of an old box as described earlier.

An advantage of using embedded material is that it removes the comments that people make, sometimes these comments can be quite offensive.

Concordance feedback

A reflection on “Can learners use concordance feedback for writing errors?” Gaskell, D,. & Cobb, T. (2004).
This was a paper to establish whether concordance was an effective way of assisting students with their writing abilities. The study involved 20 adult Chinese EFL students, 11 male and 9 female. All were computer literate and most were graduates. The students were required to complete 10 assignments over a 15 week semester. Peer feedback was used and the instructor then gave feedback with a concordance link for the five typical errors.

The students provided a short essay, these were analyzed and the most common errors were given concordance feedback throughout the course.

In order to not overwhelm the students only five concordanced errors were targeted. These identified errors were then searched for in the correct form. Online concordance software was used to show the correct way of using the examples.

After a four week training period the students were shown how to conduct concordance searches themselves.

At the end of the course the students were asked if they felt their English writing skills had improved. All of the students felt that their English improved however only 40% felt that this was due to the concordance work.

It would seem that a longer training period and a much longer study period would have had more favourable results. It did seem that after week four some of the interest waned. It seemed from this study that this was not going to work well with more basic students.

I usually teach very young learners and as such I fail to see how concordance software could work with the younger students. This article was written six years ago and software improvements may have been made since then.

Some culture for you !

This is from Madame Butterfly.

Puppet shows

This is a puppet show by edmontonpl. That is Edmonton Public Library, a puppet show by edmontonpl is usually pretty good. As a rule young children love puppet shows. Again this is low tech, however it opens the door to a range of activities, reading, acting the parts, drawing and painting. If a puppet show is performed by your students, maybe it could be uploaded to You Tube.



As you all know I am not one to gossip, but I did find this site and it looks great to me ! Puppet theatre Often children enjoy making things with their hands. Somehow it seems far more satisfying to them if they have made it themselves. Cardboard boxes are easily available and can be decorated to suit. Sometimes activities do not have to cost lots of money. Children can sometimes become great story tellers. If a puppet theatre was made classes could preform their own plays. Puppets can be made out of cardboard and painted. The tale of the gingerbread man could be retold. I am sure the younger students would enjoy this sort of activity. Scenery could be added to any play. This is where artistic students could play a role. These days the Internet is the way to search for material and ideas. Younger students might be able to find material, resources, and ideas. This would also improve their keyboard skills.

Nice music

Here is Black Velvet

The Dinosaur Song

This is the Dinosaur Song, great for kids !

Sooty and Sweep

When I was a young boy I used to watch this show on TV. Maybe I am exposing my Chinese peers to new ideas here. I have been thinking for years about starting a puppet show. Maybe a glove puppet show like this one is the way to go.
I am certain that something like this will captivate the younger learner. Puppets have been used for hundreds of years. In Indonesia children learn body language from the puppet shows. Sooty does not speak at all, he whispers into the ear of the presenter. Sweep talks by squeaking and the only puppet who can speak (In English naturally) is Soo, who is a sweet natured panda. I am sure that young learners will listen to the puppets rather than to their teacher. This is decidedly low tech, however that does not mean that it will not work.

Second Life

I suspect that Second Life could have been used instead of attending a lecture at CityU. This was a drama session where students sat around a table and did a skit. Most people on the course live close to the campus, it takes me at least an hour each way. When you factor time and transport costs into things SL might well have much wider applications. Years ago children in Australia would study by radio if they lived in the outback. Maybe much work or study could be done without leaving your keyboard. It is not quite the same as a face to face meeting but it could save time and money.

The Antikythera Mechanism

The Antikythera Mechanism is a mysterious computer that was made about the time of Christ. Nobody knows who made it or what civilization made it. It was inscribed with Greek so maybe it was the Greeks who made it. This makes me wonder what else is out there that we don't know about. It is quite an astonishing bit of technology not repeated for 1400 years. Does anybody know of anything else like this ?




This is a very puzzling machine indeed. More information can be found here.