Saturday 6 April 2013

Monday 28 January 2013

добірка лінків - для розвитку вашої розмовної англійської:

Іще одна чудова добірка лінків - цього разу для розвитку вашої розмовної англійської:

1) Стаття на LearnEnglish – British Council про те, наскільки важливе знання та розуміння сленґу, та декілька корисних вправ: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/english-skills-practice/life-uk/slang
2) Серія подкастів BBC
“Keep your English up to date” - провідні британські лінгвісти про свої улюбені вирази та історію їхнього виникнення:http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/uptodate/
3) World Wide Words - сторінка для тих, хто серйозно захоплюється походженням незвичних слів, включно зі сленґом, та загалом змінами в англійській мові: http://www.worldwidewords.org/
4) A Dictionary of Slang - онлайн-словник британського сленґу та ідіом:http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

Спасибі колегам British Council Russia!

Sunday 16 December 2012

Lesson by Gareth H. Jones – Does festive music make shoppers spend more money? « designer lessons

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Meograph

  • an almost ideal digital storytelling tool for English Language Learners.
    • I’ve previously posted about Meograph, a web tool that lets you create an audio-narrated digital story. I did have one reservation about it, though — it apparently did not let you grab images off the web by inserting its url address. Then, Richard Byrne wrote a post about Meograph starting a new education page.
       That prompted me to visit their site again to see if they had added that feature of grabbing photos off the web. I didn’t see it, and shot them an email asking if they were planning on having that capability in the future.  Well, they responded immediately and said that it’s there now — all you have to do it copy and paste the image’s url address in the YouTube field.  That ability now possibly makes it an almost ideal digital storytelling tool for English Language Learners.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

4 Signs Your EdTech Program Isn't Working

    • 1. Limited activities from limited bandwidth.

       
      Students spend 37 percent of their math class time on algebra and 63 percent trying to stream related videos.
    • your school’s bandwidth just isn’t sufficient to run your educational technology program
    • 2. There’s permanent marker on the SMART board.

       
      Few things can be as frustrating to IT professionals as teachers and staff who haven’t been adequately trained to use a school’s technology. Given the significant financial investment required for educational technology, building in sufficient resources for professional development for teachers to become technology teachers is absolutely essential. One rule of thumb is that spending plans should allocate a full 30 percent of their funds toward teacher training and support.
        • Make sure that adequate time for professional development is built into the teachers’ schedule. Make training videos available online if possible, so that teachers can learn at their own pace.
        • Provide teachers and staff with opportunities to share best practices. Consider scheduling regular working groups or meetings throughout the school year.
        • Encourage teachers to ask their students when they don’t know how to do something. Teachers may be surprised to find that students often have the answers – and if they don’t, then finding the answer through their own investigations can be a useful learning exercise.
         

         

      • 3. Battling the Distractions
         

         
        Students have – unbeknown to the teacher – spent an entire class period playing World of Warcraft on their iPads instead of reading their history e-textbooks. If students are distracted rather than engaged by their tools, whether laptops or tablets or smart phones, the problem may lie in the teacher’s pedagogy. Some teachers make the mistake of simply swapping out printed textbooks for e-textbooks in a classroom full of iPads and calling it edtech, hoping that the video games in the classroom will enhance student engagement like the studies have said.
          Edu-tech professionals generally agree that high-tech classrooms require a fundamental shift in the teacher’s role – a transition from “sage on the stage to a guide on the side,” as it’s commonly put. According to education consultant Ben Johnson, teachers in high-tech classrooms should:
         

         
        • Inspire good questions from students
        • Give students engaging, open-ended problems
        • Channel student interests in productive ways
        • Constantly assess student learning and provide critical feedback
          Furthermore, when teachers stop asking themselves how they should teach the content and instead focus the question on how to get students to learn the content, students will lose their interest in distractions.
      • 4. Today’s conversation in the teacher’s lounge centers on nostalgia for the bygone era of chalkboards and overhead projectors.

          Technology can be frustrating and confusing at times, but all successful edtech programs need buy-in from teachers and administrators. If they’re not excited by your edtech program, then the writing is on the wall. Fortunately, generating enthusiasm usually isn’t hard. If you’re meeting with resistance, try the following:
         

         
        • Offer opportunities for collaboration and input in program planning and development. Avoid situations in which teachers feel the program has been imposed upon them.
        • “Wow” your colleagues with best practices and examples of unique things technology can accomplish in the classroom.
        • Collect and share as much research as you can to demonstrate technology’s positive effect on educational outcomes.
          While technology in the classroom isn’t new, today’s high-tech classrooms are speeding through territory that is largely uncharted. There are bound to be glitches along the way, but with the right resources at your disposal and dedicated resources for training teachers in classroom technology, you’ll be sure to fine tune your program in no time.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.