2008

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Adventure Narratives for EFL ESL Students

Nik Peachey

For a long time now I've really admired and been fascinated by the work of Amanita Design. They have a really unique approach and I love the way they blend photographic textures with cartoon images. I also find their games quite addictive and that's I quality I always look for when trying to find stimulating materials for students, so I've been looking at how these games could used for language development.

eBook 95
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The fear of podcasting!

Connecting 2 the World

I recently heard a podcast from the ELI conference on the future of education and technology. While I am sure there was some editing done, in listening to the podcast I knew that I could never be a star in this area. Since I will be teaching about podcasts as a means of organizational communication in the next few weeks, this got be to thinking, Who should and who shouldn’t podcast.

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Wiiboard Software

The Electric Educator

'Turing a Nintendo Wii controler into a smartboard is a relatively simple process. Here is what you need. 1. Nintendo Wii controler (Note: you do NOT need to have the Wii system. A controler can be purchased for about $50). 2. Blue tooth enabled PC (if you don''t have built in bluetooth on your PC, you can purchase a bluetooth adapter for as little as $8, although I would recommend spending a bit more for higher functionality) 3.

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Heroes and idiots

Learning with 'e's

It's been a traumatic week. But strangely interesting too. An enforced stay in hospital for 6 nights has made me sit back and observe instead of participating for a while. The nurses and doctors were absolute heroes of course. Nothing was too much trouble and I was well cared for. I will be sending a letter of thanks to the Sunderland Royal Hospital to let the managers know that they have some quality staff on their books.

Course 28
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Quickly Create Personalized Learning Experiences that Work

How can we actively engage learners 24/7, on their level and according to their interests, while respecting their learning styles? It’s not impossible. In this guide: Explore how to transform traditional, one-way videos into two-way interactive learning experiences Understand different types of artificial intelligence (AI), including - Generative vs.

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A Tool for Comparing Words

Nik Peachey

I've just found this very useful tool that allows you to compare words and phrases and how they are used online. It works very simply by taking the two words or phrases that you type in and searching through Google to give you the results for each word. It tells you which is the most popular and how many pages each one appears in. There are a few other tools around which can do a similar thing, but I prefer Google Battle , (an alternative is Google Fight ) because it shows you a nice graphic of

Tools 82
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Defining New Communication Technology

Connecting 2 the World

One of the first goals in teaching my class on New Communcation Technology in Organizational Life, is to define “New Communication Technology.&# The assigned reading is a blog on ZDNet Blogs by Dion Hinchcliffe. While some people may question the use of a blog as an assigned reading, the fact is that there is very little accessible at the undergraduate level on New Communication technologies.

More Trending

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Developmental requirements for technology

Connecting 2 the World

The discussion on the eLearning Technology blog about cursive vs. print vs. touch typing got me to thinking about any of the technologies being used in the classroom today. My Introduction to Distance Learning course has students in a variety of educational levels (K- 12, university, public education, and professionals) and subjects (Art, science, math, business, cyptopathology, computer science, foreign language, library science).

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Not all blogs are created equal

Connecting 2 the World

While searching for blogs on new technologies (I am surprised at how many there are), I came across a conference that was held at the dawn of blogging. Global PR (which I had come across before) gave me some new directions in finding relivant blogs. The posting I came across was written by Italo Vignoli about blogging in foreign languages. He brings up some interesting points that I would love to see follow up on.

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Understanding the big picture while keeping track of the details

Connecting 2 the World

I find whenever I use a new tool, I have trouble using it until I see where it fits into the system of communication and education. I am very excited about my new course, as I have been able to put together a conceptual framework of the types of Web 2.0 technology, and how they relate to each other. I still am having trouble with facebook, but I am getting there.

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Skills needed for new communication technology

Connecting 2 the World

George Sieman wrote an interesting post that got me thinking. What are the skills needed for new communication technologies? What should we be including at the higher ed level to prepare students for the workplace of the 21st Century? Here are some idea: How to network. I plan on having my students join linkedIn and follow the paths of networks they create with their class.

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Can Brain Science Actually Help Make Your Training & Teaching Stick?

Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape

The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.

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The effect of new technologies on organizational communication

Connecting 2 the World

The following is a framework I am developing to use in my class as we look at new technologies (enterprise 2.0, Web 2.0, mobile technology). In my previous blog I mentioned there being four categories of technologies: those for CMC, information sharing, collaborative work, and social networking and community building. In analyzing any new technology, an organization must look at the technology and its current use, advantages and disadvantages, technology affordances and attributes, and the poten

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Social Networking and Search Engines

Connecting 2 the World

In reading Tony Karrer’s blog today, I realized that there is so much technology that I don’t understand and know how it works. For example, he has a number of statistics that I am sure I should know how to use, yet I can’t figure it out. Likewise, the shift from WebCT to Blackboard’s BLS system has been painful and frustrating.

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Learning technology teacher development blog: Online Video: For Language Development

Nik Peachey

skip to main | skip to sidebar. Learning technology teacher development blog. Tips, resources and teaching materials for EFL and ESL teachers. Tuesday, 16 December 2008. Online Video: For Language Development. There are now a number of online video sharing communities that are specifically designed to support the development of language and communication skills.

Video 68
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My blog has moved

Connecting 2 the World

Due to some problems with subscriptions using this blog, I have moved my blog to another platform. Tags: communication Connecting 2 the world.

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Reimagining Chickering & Gamson's Principles Post-Pandemic: Technology's Central Role in Modern Edu

This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.

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A River of Images

Nik Peachey

I love the power of images and their adaptability for teaching, so I can't say that I'm upset to be almost overwhelmed with really great tools for exploiting Flickr at the moment. The latest of these is Flickriver , an incredibly simple Flickr search tool that creates an endless webpage (just keep scrolling and the page keeps getting longer!) of Flickr images based around either a search term or whatever it finds interesting on the particular day you visit the site.

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Pronunciation goes 2.0

Nik Peachey

I've been looking this week at Forvo , which is a kind of web 2.0 pronunciation site. The site allows users to request, and add audio clips of the pronunciation of different words from a huge range of languages , so if you want to know how a word is pronounced you can either do a quick easy search for the word and then listen to it, or if the word isn't already within the database, you can add it and request a pronunciation.

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My blog has moved

Connecting 2 the World

Due to some problems with subscriptions using this blog, I have moved my blog to another platform.

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The Importance of Culture

Connecting 2 the World

'One area that has been missing in the discussion of Work Literacy is the ability to adapt to different cultures. Defining Culture I feel it is important to begin by defining what I mean by culture. In the US, we tend to use a narrow definition of culture as something that is: a) foreign (different than our own US culture), b) uniform (everyone within a culture thinks the same and a person belongs to "a" culture), and c) identified through rituals and artifacts (rather than differences in values

System 49
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Behind the Bell: The Underlying Impact of Tardiness in K-12 Schools

Managing a K-12 campus with constant pressure to meet performance metrics is challenging. And tardiness can significantly limit a school from reaching these goals. Learn more about why chronic lateness matters, and key strategies to address the following impacts: Data errors caused by manual processes Low attendance and graduation rates that affect a school’s reputation Classroom disruption, which leads to poor academic performance High staff attrition and “The Teacher Exodus” Unmet LCAP goals t

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Using Word Clouds in EFL ESL

Nik Peachey

I've just discovered Wordle , which is a really useful site for creating word clouds. The word clouds are created by entering either a text, URL or del.icio.us user name into a field. The site then generates a word cloud based on the frequency of key words in the text or webpage. Here's what a word cloud based on the URL of this blog looks like. The word clouds are really easy to create and can be printed up for classroom use or saved to a gallery on line.

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Create your own social network 7 steps

Nik Peachey

Social networking is one of the key concepts that is driving Web 2.0 these days. With the opportunities social networks offer for collaboration and communication, this is certainly something we as educators should be thinking about being involved in. In this tutorial I'd like to show you how to create your own social network on Ning, just by following 7 steps.

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Blog Creation

The Electric Educator

'I opened this blog on my Christmas vacation because I am free from the tyranny of grading and lesson planning! The intention of this blog is to record the use of technology in my classroom. I am doing this in part for my own benefit so that I can review what I have done and for the benefit of others so that they might take my ideas for further use and improvement.

Twitter 45
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BlipFM: my favourite streaming music site

Connecting 2 the World

If you haven’t discovered it yet, give BlipFM a try. BlipFM has a Twitter-like interface where you can see what others are listening to from the great BlipFM catalogue of music. You can search by artist or title to see if your favourite is there, and then other BlipFM DJs (you are a DJ on BlipFM) get to see what you’re listening to. They can send you what are called ‘props’ i.e., little virtual thanks for particular choices, and you can do likewise when something turns up

Twitter 45
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The Battle of the Authoring Tools: A 10-Point Comparison for Picking the Right One

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.

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Games With a Purpose and a Social Network

Nik Peachey

Well who would believe it? A social network built around playing word games with online partners! This may not sound like a great idea, but I have to say that I'm impressed! Gwap (Games With a Purpose) is a collection of 5 basic word games which you can play in collaboration with an online partner (The website automatically finds you one). The site has a selection of five rather addictive games: The ESP game.

Data 43
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What can a wiiboard do for me?

The Electric Educator

'Over the summer, I came across this video by Johnny Chung Lee. This video gained a huge following amongst the ed tech crowd. Johnny Lee''s stated goal is to make technology more accessible by discovering new functions for everyday technology. The wiiboard is just one of the projects that Lee is working on. I am amazed at his ingenuity and creativity.

Twitter 43
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Using Product Reviews

Nik Peachey

Product review sites are becoming ever more popular on the internet, and why not after all? If you are going to spend money buying something, it's always a good idea to see what other people who bought that same product think of it. ExpoTV is just that kind of site. It has a collection of, mostly home made, video clips made by ordinary people, mostly from North America, talking about the products they have bought.

Video 42
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Create Image Books

Nik Peachey

I've always liked sites that take images and enable you to do something interesting with them. Pim Pam Pum seems to be a company that is remarkably good at helping us to make the most of Flickr images, and I particularly like this little tool called Bookr. Bookr enable us to create nice interactive image books with text captions. Here's an example that I created based on the poem 'In White' by Robert Frost.

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The Roses and Thorns of an LMS Strategy: How to Flourish with the Right LMS

Speaker: Amanda Davis, Chief Experience Officer and Liam O'Malley, VP of Association Solutions

The "new normal" is now a little less new, a little more normal. Does that mean your current LMS strategy is in need of a refresh? Is your organization or association leaning into the always-evolving eLearning environment to ensure you have the tools and content to remain relevant through all this change? There are many complex decision-making processes within your learning & development strategy and LMS lifecycle management, including: Selection.

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Prompting reading speeds

Nik Peachey

This is a really handy little tool which is doing the rounds at the moment. It's called CuePrompter and it's an online Teleprompter. For those not in the know, a Teleprompter is a tool used by news readers, TV presenters etc to help them remember their lines. They read it from above the camera. This one is very simple to use and you simply cut and paste your text into the field, choose screen size, text size and colours and click a button and you are off.

Tools 41
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Using 'How to' videos

Nik Peachey

Monkey See is an excellent site which carries a lot of short high quality video content. It is based around the concept of instructional videos; being able to see something in order to be able to do it yourself. It has short video clips that cover a really wide range of things from parenting tips, relationship advice, to how to set up a home studio, play the guitar or apply red lipstick!

Video 41
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Online Video: What does it have to offer teachers and learners?

Nik Peachey

This series of postings are the result of a training presentation I was asked to deliver for Moroccan teachers of English in Kinitra on 15th December 08. To prepare the session I looked back at many of the postings from my blogs over the last 18 months and thought about some of the changes that have been taking place in the way online video sharing has developed.

Video 41
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Soundscapes from Soundtransit

Nik Peachey

Sound Transit is a really wonderful formulation of an idea. It's not just a huge collection of Mp3 sound files from all over the world, but the sounds have been tagged by country and described and a visitor to the site can take a sound journey around the world. You just choose your country of origin, your destination and how many stops you want to make.

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Building the Foundation for a Modern K-12 Classroom

K-12 looks different these days. But one thing remains the same: you need a reliable learning platform that serves as the foundation for teaching and learning––for all students, in a variety of learning experiences. Discover how the Instructure Learning Platform supports today's K-12 classroom through: A central, consistent, connected hub of the digital learning environment.