Great to see this guy from an English school in France interviewing people on the street, and then adding captions to the video. This one is part of a series focussing on homeless people, on the beach in Miami. Interesting to compare the two women’s opinions here. Here’s the first in the series, with interviews of Santa Claus, whose residence is South Miami Beach. From (Real English MPG.)
I’ve been thinking about this: How do people use web-based resources in their classroom? I’m sure the answer is “plenty of different ways”, eg.: Blended Learning: group activities involving discussion around a theme or text, followed up by a link to a web site. Blended Learning: in a face-to-face class, use a digital projector to engage a whole group with web-based learning activities … Ask learners to search for resources and share links (either in a face-to-face group, or in an online course). Provide links in a self-access, or independent Read More …
Wow! Take a look at this collection of flash writing tools from Read Write Think dot org i’ve only tried the “Bio-Cube” so far, but was impressed when the printout revealed an actual cube that the student can cut and glue into the shape of a cube.
Thanks to the very diligent and useful NZ Literacy Portal, another couple of terrific resources coming our way: "Computers in Action", from 'tech.worlded.org', is a primer in the basics of using the personal computer, with lesson plans structured in a way that includes the language functions. This isn't a resource for students, but rather a set of strategies for teaching. Eg, Window to the Soul is about Minimizing / Maximizing Windows, and involves Writing, reading, conversation.
Trawling the web for interesting ideas for our Literacy and Multimedia course, and came upon this lesson plan from Read Write Think (.org) (We're looking at advertising and publicity.) Looks to be a terrific resource in general, although this lesson plan is too complicated for the learners we have at the moment. What i like about this lesson plan is the way it includes pre-reading for the teacher who wants to gain some theoretical background, as well as clear steps for introducing the topic through discussion.
The last entry reminded me of a brilliant resource, now out of print but still available (eg via Amazon), called Keystrokes to Literacy by Antonia Stone. Many adult basic educators (and online groups such as the LiteracyTent folk) refer to this when teaching beginning literacy and computer keyboard at the same time.
Here’s an example of the world of technology emerging into the classroom. The BBC reports on a new game called “Keyboard Crazy”, which is a physical, on-the-table game, instructing people in the position of letters on a computer keyboard. Educators in Britain seem to be impressed by this commercial product, judging from a review from the Basic Skills Agency. One teacher claims it helps people learn “mental literacy” (as distinct from your physical, instinctive literacy?).
This year (’05) at PRACE, we were very fortunate to have the opportunity to research computer games in a learning environment. Our group of adults studying literacies with Margery seemed to enjoy playing games in their computer session, so we went off to discover what other games might be useful in a literacy-learning environment. My favourite game was AddemUp, from Blue Bug Games – a number game that really challenged people in the group. We found using the data projector very useful, for making this into a group activity. You Read More …
Found a terrific set of basic images, at a Japanese language teaching site. Basic vocabulary type images – could be useful for low-level classroom. There are so many places online where you can find free images these days. (We've got some more in the AL-T Treasure Trove of Links.) Teachers are sometimes concerned about copyright – and if you're thinking of re-publishing, then it's an essential concern. (You can read up more on this issue at the Au. Flexible Learning Framework, or at the new "Copyright Kitchen", on the
Here at the Eureka! e-volutions in e-learning conference, Ballarat, Vic. an interesting presentation from the South Grampians adult education centre – who have been using digital storytelling as a way to engage their students in the 'disaffected youth' program. "Low literacy levels" are a major issue with the group, and the teachers have found the power of using images and voice to reconnect people with learning.