Archive for December, 2008

An Ideal E-Notebook

‘Spent the day contemplating Clarke’s e-note-taking advice. Isn’t it amazing? They’ve got it all online but for proper note-taking tools.  I mean Moodle doesn’t have such a module or activity as a notebook. Nor does Blackboard Vista. Well, they do have blogs and notes sections, but they’re so-o badly designed that I do not want […]

E-Learning & Note-Taking

Alan Clarke (E-Learning Skills, 2004, p.  26) made my day today when I read this E-learning does not provide an event at which you are required to take notes. All the content is presented in a form you could save as a file or print out. It would seem that you can capture everything. However, […]

Posted on December 31, 2008 at 1:43 am by Stacey · Permalink · 2 Comments
In: Learner Skills, Learning Styles, Using Blogs in EFL · Tagged with: ,

Storytelling for Dummies

Fun lovers are sure to appreciate this exemplary story

Posted on December 29, 2008 at 9:43 pm by Stacey · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Digital Storytelling, Learning Language Teaching · Tagged with: 

Learning Tools & Technologies: Implementation Issues

Whenever I come across a book on web-based learning tools and technologies that seems remotely relevant to my current objectives, it talks about tools and technologies that are either as old as the hills and ever so often do not exist any more, or have been replaced by or evolved to to be something completely […]

Posted on December 29, 2008 at 8:49 pm by Stacey · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: E-Learning Design & Management, Observations · Tagged with: 

Techniques to Increase Memory & Stimulate Deep Cognitive Processes

According to MacLachlan (1986) сited by E. L. Criswell (1989, pp 36-39)  the following instructional techniques can help the teacher teach and the student learn: Explaining the benefits of the lesson to the student before or at the beginning of the lesson. Memory is increased when the student is paying attention. That’s logical though sometimes […]

Posted on December 29, 2008 at 3:02 am by Stacey · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Instructional Design, Learning Language Teaching, Statistics, Teacher Skills · Tagged with: ,

Teaching EFL to Very Young Learners, Part 2

While we were in the middle of exploring Cookie and Friends, I gradually introduced two more CD-ROMs, also by OUP. They are Tilly’s Word Fun 1 & Tilly’s Word Fun 2. Product Description Tilly’s Word Fun 1 – Topics Animals Face Family Food School Toys Tilly’s Word Fun 2 – Topics   At home Body […]

Teaching EFL to Very Young Learners, Part 1

I started teaching my child English when she was 3y8m old. The software that we used was very positively accepted, and the child was required to provide her responses using the computer mouse and clicking. The CD-ROM Cookie & Friends by Vanessa Reilly, OUP, was amongst the very first. Product Description Provides a colouring activity […]

Structure of Human Development: Implications for Instructional Design

Piaget (1964) cited by E. L. Criswell (1989, pp. 35-36) developed the theory that children grow intellectually in stages: From years 0 to 2, children explore their tiny environments, and through physical exploration, learn that objects exist and do not change from day to day. This is the sensorimotor stage. This is a period of […]

Digital Storytelling

A digital story is a personal experience represented in narrative format. The script is amplified by including video, music, still-frame imagery, and the author’s voice. A digital story typically lasts for two to three minutes. Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools p. 43 It must take ages to create such a story, but the idea […]

How Many Limited English Proficient (LEP) Learners are There?

According to the US department of Education, there were ca. 5,400,000 ESL students in the USA alone in 2006 and the number is increasing. ESL or LEP students are US fastest-growing population and are expected to make up one out of every four students by 2025.

Posted on December 23, 2008 at 9:52 pm by Stacey · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: ESL Facts & Figures, ESL statistics, Statistics