Category Archives: Instructional Design

Is Studying 1-to-1 Pairwork?

Posted on January 9, 2009 by admin

Does studying 1-to-1 qualify as pairwork? And is it necessarily teacher-centered and bad? Anyone?

Posted in Collaborative Learning, E-Learning Design & Management, groupwork, Learning Language Teaching, Observations | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Sources of Frustration for E-Learners

Posted on January 8, 2009 by admin

According to research, e-learners are likely to be frustrated by technical difficulties communication breakdowns Source: Hara., N (2000). Student Distress In a Web-Based Distance Education Course.

Posted in Course Design, E-Learning Design & Management, Instructional Design, Observations, Statistics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Interactivity & The 5 Ts that Make it Fail

Posted on January 6, 2009 by admin

Ian Forsyth (Teaching & Learning Materials & The Internet, 3rd edition,  p. 135) defines interactivity as emulating the traditional classroom He lists the 5 Ts that cause interactivity to fail on the Internet (pp. 19 -23) time technology timid territoriality … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborative Learning, Course Design, E-Learning Design & Management, Educational Technology, groupwork, Instructional Design, interactive CD-ROMs, Learner Skills, Learning Language Teaching, Teacher Skills | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

E-Courseware Design: Issues

Posted on January 5, 2009 by admin

Let me list some of the topical issues that keep emerging and need to be addressed asap. usability – what I mean here is all the extra clicks that either my students or I make, which takes time. Distributing courseware … Continue reading →

Posted in Course Design, E-Learning Design & Management, Educational Technology, Instructional Design, Observations, Teacher Skills | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Web 2.0 Synonyms & Opposites

Posted on January 3, 2009 by admin

The opposite of hyperlinking is RSS aka really simple syndication. Users find content on the web and hyperlink to it . The opposite is subscribing to syndicated content aka RSS feeds. RSS readers are also known as aggregators. Metadata or … Continue reading →

Posted in Course Design, E-Learning Design & Management, Educational Technology, Instructional Design, language learning e-tivities, Web 2.0 Buzz Words | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How Long Should One Online Language Lesson Last?

Posted on January 1, 2009 by admin

To begin with, I am not aware of any reliable statistics.  I can only draw on my personal experience and summarize a number of related Google search results. It is obvious, I hope, that it is impossible to spend more … Continue reading →

Posted in Instructional Design, language learning e-tivities, Learning Language Teaching, Observations, Statistics, Teacher Skills | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Ideal E-Notebook

Posted on December 31, 2008 by admin

‘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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Course Design, Instructional Design, language learning e-tivities, Learner Skills, Observations, Teacher Skills, Using Blogs in EFL, Using Wikis in EFL | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

E-Learning & Note-Taking

Posted on December 31, 2008 by admin

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Learner Skills, Learning Styles, Using Blogs in EFL | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Techniques to Increase Memory & Stimulate Deep Cognitive Processes

Posted on December 29, 2008 by admin

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Instructional Design, Learning Language Teaching, Statistics, Teacher Skills | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Teaching EFL to Very Young Learners, Part 2

Posted on December 27, 2008 by admin

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Instructional Design, interactive CD-ROMs, language learning e-tivities, TEYL | Tagged , | 4 Comments