Education & Technology Brazil

Web-based learning and Improving English abroad - A guest post by Lindsey Wright

2011-09-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

This time, you'll be reading a great piece by Lindsey Wright. I'm very happy to have her as my first guest blogger. And I'm positive you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Lindsey is a writer from Seattle, US. And she is fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, particularly the online school, to transform the landscape of learning. She writes about web-based learning, electronic and mobile learning, and the possible future of education.

Web-Based Learning and Improving English Abroad

As English increasingly becomes the world language in academia and politics, more and more international students are turning to web-based learning to master this language. Many countries include English instruction as a part of mandatory public education, but there are many more people without access to in-person language instruction. This being the case, it's very important for web-based English study programs and online college courses to have a set structure, to use technology in innovative ways, to provide feedback to learners, and to be mindful of students' languages of origin and culture. Quality English instruction can help facilitate the trend towards better international relationships and communication. Without good standards for instruction, the many people attempting to learn English will have a poor grasp on the language they need to succeed, either in English-speaking countries or abroad.

To get a sense of English's status as the new world language, consider that in 2001 380 million people learned English as a first language, 250 million learned it as a second language, and around one billion people are in the process of learning it worldwide. These are consequential numbers because the resources necessary to teach English to a billion people around the globe on a face-to-face basis simply aren't available. Accordingly, computer-based language learning has seen a huge increase. It began with the use of computer-assisted language learning programs, but has now spread to an online learning experience that includes interactions between students and instructors.

One of the original critiques of web-facilitated language instruction was the lack of structure and classroom control. A study by The Open University indicated that language students learn better in tightly controlled online learning settings. Therefore, it's pivotal that online English classes have a set curriculum, avoid rolling admissions, and have distinct assignments and progress checks. Using a classroom-inspired structure allows students to reach the necessary stepping stones in a straightforward way. Open forums, message boards, or chat rooms without a schedule or set protocol are not an effective way to learn English but should rather serve for quick fact-checking or community-building among English learners.

Secondly, modern technology can allow students to interact with their fellow learners and instructors in new ways. The inability to hear students actually speak the language has been a roadblock to effective online English instruction, but with the advent of webcams, Skype, and YouTube, it's now an obstacle easily overcome. Online classrooms should utilize these technologies to ensure students are gaining the ability to speak English correctly. After all, most learners want to learn the language in order to speak it themselves, not just to understand others' speech or comprehend only written materials.

Online classes can use forums or blogs as venues for students to post video or audio of themselves reading aloud and get feedback from fellow students and their instructors. This can even be especially useful for university students and academics who can read and write in English but need extra instruction in pronunciation. It's this type of interaction in learning that's most exciting about web-based instruction.

Next, online instruction must include feedback with more depth than empty praise. Meaningful feedback is crucial to learning and understanding a language. Online instructors should highlight students' specific strengths and particular areas that need work. Web-based English instruction should include weekly instructor-student feedback focusing on specific areas of weakness for students to improve.

Finally, online English instruction should be cognizant of students' first languages. Classes should be separated by language of origin if necessary, but at the very least instructors must be particularly mindful of the varying kinds of difficulties English learners with different native languages tend to encounter. On that note, quality instruction must be challenging but not impossible. Loosely dividing classes into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels can also ensure that students are working at the right level of competency and allow instructors to cater to specific needs more readily.

For the one billion people in the process of learning English, regarded by some as the hardest language in the world to master, online instruction offers a convenient and affordable way to learn and grow. Unfortunately, some parts of the Web have not caught up with the modern demands for quality instruction. By making small changes and having a dedication to international learners, web-based English instruction can help make the world smaller and allow for better collaboration and understanding.

ELTchat - How to approach exam classes

2011-03-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

This morning’s ELTchat discussion was on the experiences on how to approach exams classes. International EFL exams is an endlessly growing market in which teachers’ need to be prepared for.

Chatters started sharing their experiences in teaching exams. The range of exams was very comprehensive and included: Cambridge exams (YL – Starters, Movers, Flyers, KET and PET and Main Suite – FCE, CAE and CPE.) ; TOEFL, IELTS, OTE, Michigan, Trinity, TIE and TOEIC. Needless to say, someone pointed out that not everyone is familiar with all this acronyms. And the agreed definition of an exam class was one where the endgame is to take a pass a specific test but not leaving behind the acquisition of language as well.

In the very beginning of the discussion chatters agreed that concerning exams practice is key and should never be taken for granted. The insights were:

- * Some students can develop their own techniques to deal with tests

- * Some other students may completely turn a blind eye on the techniques you’ve taught when they actually do the exam

- * Sometimes students get bored of all the practice and just want to talk

- * Students need to be guided on how to do the test.

- * The knowledge students need to have for an exam does not come up naturally. It is about the combination of what they can learn generally and the techniques for the exam.

- * There seems to be little transfer from what students learn for the exams to real life and perhaps teaching techniques may help

- * A good way to prove that taking exams without practice can be pointless is telling them that regardless their level of the language, if they don’t have the techniques; they’re likely to face big problems.

However, it was skillfully pointed out that a lot of teachers focus on practice exercises and forget about teaching the language ad skills. And what chatters had to say about it was:

- * Sometimes students just want to talk for the sake of talking

- * It is good from time to time to tell your students to throw away the book and watch telly.

- * Teaching students the necessary skills/strategies involved is vital as well as practice

- * Concerning band exams such as IELTS, teach beyond the exam students are working and then they will be comfortable for a lower band

* The points in which teachers felt that were issues in exams were:

- * The maturity of students when taking the test. Some reported that 14 year-old-students wanted to take CPE and failed miserably for lack of experience.

- * Too much obsession in taking exams

- * The stress and pressure put on students and expectations both teachers and students have towards a great result

- * Too often students don’t have the subject knowledge depth for the exam (even in L1)

- * Some students who passed the exams can hardly speak

- * Students who don’t have a good enough level but are in exam preparation classes and intent on doing the exam anyways.

- * When asked to write an essay students can’t even think of ideas in their L1

- * Some colleagues find exams classes too serious to make fun and play

- * Lack of familiarization with the exams

- * Lack of learner autonomy – work outside classroom is necessary to do well in exams.

- * The mindset of result seekers

- * Some students only see the certificate at the end important rather than the process

- * Students can hardly find time to come to class let alone studying outside the class

- * Most of students don’t have enough linguistic resources strategies

- * Parents who only care about the certificate regardless their child’s abilities

- * Many teachers see little point to the YL exams

- * Most of the exam preparation books are not good and interesting enough

Great ideas to lessen the pressure on students, how to improve their achievements on exams were and to create a less boring environment were:

- * Have students examine the tests, then make their own projects and items for them, then ‘test’ each other

- * Have students write their own questions in the style of the exam and promote a quiz with classmates

- * Use a Task-based approach and let the exam items and formats create some parameters

- * Create pop-quizzes

- * Teaching unplugged is a great way to approach exams. Teach naturally what needs to be taught going for teaching moments.

- * Give students advice on what exams they might want to take in the future

- * It’s good for students to start up from the very first tests so that when they get to the advanced ones they are confident enough

- * Compare several descriptions of the exam, see if you can spot any contradictions, and then decide which one is the easiest to understand, most comprehensive and/or concentrates on the most important points.

- * Get exam preparation students to be responsible for themselves

- * Photocopy each text and blow them up. Put each one on a different wall and give students the questions can be very dynamic.

- * The potential vagueness/looseness of Dogme and the constrained/contrived nature of exams make for a positive mix

- * Exams have to be looked at differently depending on whether formative or summative; different psychological effects and practical purposes

- * Talk about your own experiences in taking exams with students

- * Do the "getting to know the exam" exercises for students in textbooks and self-study book

Useful links:

www.flo-joe.co.uk

www.fotobabble.com

www.cambridgeesol.org

www.ielts.org

www.ets.org/toefl/

www.splendid-speaking.com

Resources for FCE, CAE, CPE: http://esl.about.com/od/cambridgeexams/

On-line CPE grammar: www.examenglish.com/cpe/CPE_grammar.htm

On-line CPE vocabulary: www.examenglish.com/cpe/CPE_vocab.htm

FLO – JOE place for teachers and students www.flo-joe.co.uk/cpe/students/tests/index.htm

Wyższa Szkoła Informatyki in Białystok provides the following CPE tests: www.wsi.edu.pl/dydaktyka/english/testy/przy_testy_cpe.htm

Project Gutenberg gives opportunity of reading classics: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Collection of FCE and CAE tests: www.jezykniemieckinet.webpark.pl/angielski.htm

They have hundreds of classic books you can read now: www.pagebypagebooks.com/

Cambridge exam (FCE/ CAE) style exercises: www.parapal-online.co.uk/cambridge.html

Churchill House test for Cambridge exams: www.churchillhouse.com/tests/

Better writing: www.askoxford.com/betterwriting/?view=uk

Free on-line tests: www.it.uom.gr/elu/online.htm

On-line exam (KET/ PET/ FCE/ CAE/ CPE/ IELTS/ TOEFL/ tests) www.english-online.org.uk/exam.htm

Longman exam centre: www.longman.com/exams/teachers/index.html

The Role and Function of Humor in the EFL Class

2011-01-27T15:52:00.000-08:00

#ELTchat January 26 – The role and function of humor in the EFL class: from “Ha, ha!” to “Aha”

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.”

I was thrilled to know that the topic I have suggested was the chosen one to be discussed at the last #ELTchat. The use of humor as a pedagogical tool is something I have always been intrigued by. The way students respond to it is like magic. Humor breaks barriers and brings students and teachers closer. Teachers use humor as a way of putting students at ease, as an attention-getter, as a way of showing that the teacher is human, as a way to keep the class less formal, and to make learning more fun.

Pedagogically speaking, it is known that humorous activities can improve students’ performance since it drastically reduces tension thus promoting an anxiety-free environment. This can be also seen in tests results. As @JoshSRound skillfully pointed out: “Humour helps to lower the affective filter – helps learners to relax”. I vividly remember that at university I’ve had a professor who taught the whole semester using cartoons and comic strips. We could not avoid having fits of laughter during the final test! The usual tension surrounded by exam days was over. And we all thanked that teacher for that.

Some teachers believe that humor is easier to be dealt with higher level students. This is something I disagree. A good sense of humor, in my humble opinion, is what every teacher should have. No one likes to be taught by that cranky person staring at you with eyes of a hungry leopard about to devour anyone who dares to raise a hand. Cracking some practical jokes every now and then are what I call a differentiator. Bearing in mind that the students at this stage are far from being proficient, only universal humor is appropriate for it would in most cases be expected that the linguistic and cultural jokes are beyond the level of competence of the students. Teachers may introduce “quips”, that is, "smart" answers or retorts to the questions or statements such as:

Are you fishing ? / No, just drowning worms?

I don't like the flies in here. / Well, come around to tomorrow. We'll have some new ones.

Like @ShellTerrell said: “Teaching humor itself is easier with upper level students, but having in humor in class, no”. With my Young Learners (YL) I often use an activity they love and have loads of fun: Change your Persona – I put up some crazy characters on the wall and they have to respond to my question using the characters either I or other colleagues choose. (eg. Old lady, rude man, stutter, typical adolescent, angry mother, deaf granpa, mute…). Another great activity is 10 Top Things You Should Know About Me – I scatter some absurd and real information about myself on the board and read them very seriously till they realize some are not true and begin to laugh. Then I invite a couple of students to do the same and try to convince their peers of the most absurdities. Sure to be a hit!

However, as some educators rightfully adverted: cultural boundaries must be respected when using humor. What might be fun in the Brazilian culture not necessarily is in the Japanese cultural context. Teachers should be aware of these differences and moreover use humor in their favor. Be careful not make offensive jokes against the most problem

atic personal issues such as body size, sexuality, race, religion and the like. In this regard, Sigmund Freud's pioneered a study on humor in which a distinction was made between "tendentious" and "nontendentious humor", the former being that which is "derogatory or ridiculing and that masks them es of hostility or aggression” whereas the later, "void of hostility, is more playful and innocent in character". The first can also be referred to as “destructive humor” and the second is “constructive humor”. In this sense, I personally believe that touchy subjects such as these can be discussed using humor. I once used the below cartoon to try

to engage my students into the search-for-the-perfect-body issue:

Not only is this a very funny cartoon, but I could also engage a great discussion with my students which led to body modification, fatness, being comfortable with yourself, the importance of loving yourself the way you are, and ultimately bullying.

Another point that deserves our attention is that laughing at someone else’s mistakes can be devastating. But If teacher shows he/she can laugh at him/herself, then learners feel more able to do so too.

Some other activities I like:

- Advanced levels: I usually have students look for Phrasal Verbs in cartoons, comic strips and sitcoms such as Friends. On another note, I like to work with the concept of Pun (double sense humorous phrases/words) – students search for them wherever they can and come to class to explain both meanings to their colleagues

- YL: Playing any kind of Mr. Bean’s short-films is always a very welcome lesson started. Whether it be to teach vocab or a specific grammar topic (e.g: What is he doing now? – present continuous / Where did he park his car? – simple past) while they burst into laughter.

- One great idea proposed on the chat was to turn coursebook dialogues into complete nonsense. Students, therefore, get the chance to play with language and discuss language cohesion, coherence and other features.

On a final note, humor is part of virtually most social encounters; the use of humor and wit is intimately related to human nature. Humorous statements are speech acts that have different functions in spoken and written discourse. I defend, therefore, the notion that the use of humor in teaching English makes lessons more enjoyable and friendly and can contribute to student proficiency. Humor is an important factor for the development of listening and reading and literacy.

And now, my favorite cartoon for all of you teachers:

Irrational Education

2011-01-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

By definition, irrational means that something/someone is deprived or without the faculty of reason. It has occurred to me, through an inexplicable association of ideas, that Education in Brazil is somewhat irrational.

Let me try to explain it, then.

In spite of all rationale and constant diagnosis that has been done concerning education, much still remains incomprehensible to the majority of people. One of them is how much money should (must?) be spent – please read INVESTED. 5,2% of the GDP is currently been devoted to educational investments which is obviously not enough. It is undeniable that double this figure would be sufficient. However, what society does not understand is where this money would come from. Let along if the government has this money. It goes without saying that the more money invested, the better. But the heart of the problem is not only this. We do not spend too little on education. Rather, we spend too poorly. Too recklessly.

Another irrationality is the inability to face the educational drama. Teachers get far too little or none instruction before entering a classroom and payings are far below the average, I’d dare saying of the worst among other professions. How do we intend, this way, to offer quality in education? Teaching formation courses suffer from an abyssal anachronism. What has been done for fifty years cannot be done nowadays. Giving out computers for those who don’t understand the basics of it means next to nothing. Thinking clearly: ever since these machines entered the classroom, what have been the improvements in content? The results are nowhere near to be found in the Programe for International Student Assessment classification maps.

Currently, the construction of new schools is very rare. It seems that authorities and the government got tired of the subject. The building of new premises appears to be the only possible way to achieve the so desired wish: full time schooling which is the basic grounds of any developed country. The problem is that we are all too aware of the fact that our High School students spend roughly four hours a day at school. From this point we can have a glimpse of how deep the hole is. Furthermore, there is the lack of priority. There’s too little effort on technical courses and students do not get enough formation to face university life when they leave high school.

Do our schools feature libraries? No!
Do they feature equipped laboratories? No!
The non-equivalence between age and grade is under control? No!
Did we reduce truancy and failings? No!
Is there scientific initiation during high school? No!
Are reading levels going up? No!
Is the illiteracy level next to zero? No!
Are the gratuitous textbooks distributed to schools carefully chosen/designed? No!
Are those books well distributed? No!

A lot more could have been mentioned. Deep inside, what we are sadly aware of is that education has not been privileged due to a consistent political will.
So, where do we start? We start from the boosting in investiments in teacher development, career plans and equippment in schools (labs, I.T, libraries, sports). I hope that in the near future we come to realize that the literacy process of adults cannot be made only by generous volunteers. Rather, we need fully capable teachers who are trained and love what they do.
We all wish our children had great teachers. But who dreams to see their children become teachers? In South Korea, if i'm not mistaken, where they are acknowledged and well paid as doctors and lawyers there is a famous saying: "Never step on a teacher's shadow".

It's time we gave it more credit.

:-) See you in a post.

An Xtranormal Experience with 7-year-old kids

2010-11-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

Technology is like electricity: it is pervasive, boundless, it is everywhere… it is useful. We teachers ignore it at our peril. We would never expect our pupils to use typewriters or read by candlelight. Equally, we should be encouraging them to use the tools they have available, the tools with which they are familiar if we are to ensure they remain engaged and motivated.

I had longed searched for a tool with which students could work collaboratively and have fun at the same time. Xtranormal (www.xtranormal.com) entitles itself as a text-to-movie website which allows teachers and students to create short films with their own scripts by using clever text-to-speech technology. This means students write a script and then feed in into Xtranormal to produce films with characters dramatizing it.

My pupils, 7-8 year olds are rather motivated learners and loud as any kid their age. Needless to say they are crazy about technology and a simply coming to the board can turn into great excitement. They were first introduced to Xtranormal, a webtool with which they were not familiar yet, at one of our regular classes. I have created a short version of myself teaching and saying their names thus quickly managed to engage my students’ attention: it soon transpired that this was an activity they wanted to do. With a few jaws almost touching the floor I said the magic words: “You are going to create animated videos like this one!” – They were amazed and could not wait to start.

I allowed my students a few minutes to brainstorm dialogues they wanted to transform into animations. In small groups they came up with simple chunks of words in accordance with what they had previously studied. The most creative dialogues among the groups was the one chosen to be featured in the short-film. While they were in charge of creating the dialogues, I was on the computer editing the video according to their like. And then, our first animation was born. Once they were all satisfied the script and the editing were finished to the best of each pupil’s ability, they were then set the homework: bring in more ideas for dialogues for the next videos. And ideas poured in the following classes. They wanted to create a video every class. It was difficult to tame their incitement.

Some teachers have reported problems during the implementation due to parental authorization. I, myself, strongly believe that in such cases not only the kids should be engaged in the project but parents too! Having the support of parents by adding a little note with the link to our first video on the institutional letter helped me get going with the project. Great Slander once taught me: "Should any problems with parents arise; I would try to convince them by showing how powerful the experience is, provide them with examples and explain how safe the kids will be."

My conclusion is that the upshots of this project could not have been any better. Using this tool has enabled my students to revisit vocabulary and structures, thus contributing for their learning and comprehension of the language as a whole. I was very happy myself with the feeling of accomplishment we had.

I would surely do this project again without any changes since it has helped me realize the importance of the role of technology in current education. Paraphrasing Shelly Terrell, we should use technology not only because our pupils use it or will be expected to in their careers. We need to use technology to tear down our classroom walls. We should use technology to show students that their voices can travel the world just like ours do when we tweet, blog or update a status on Facebook. We need to use technology to motivate students to continuously research and to show them that their work transcends beyond the class syllabus.

Poetry makes kids think out of the box

2010-11-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

I have to say that Valeria França's mentioning about poetry in class came to me as a surprise and a big coincidence. At the beginning of the term a fellow teacher asked me if I had some ideas on how to work poetry with her class. When I finally found something worth sharing, I myself felt tempted to try it out. And so I did.

First of all, the use of poetry in an EFL classroom can be a great motivator. After all, they are authentic texts. Moreover, poems are rich in cultural references, and they present a wide range of learning opportunities. However, I am no expert in literature – let alone English Literature – thus my aim was not to teach poetry itself, but English through poetry.

The big day had come and I was very anxious to see how the lesson would go since most of Brazilian students tend to regard poetry as something tedious and irrelevant. So, I tried to do something a little different from what the lesson plans I had at home, something that would turn dullness into excitement. Thus I decided not to present any poems in advance and not to mention the words poetry/poem before the correct moment.

The attempts were made with two distinct groups: a Basic compound by teenagers ranging from 11 to 13y.o and a Pre-intermediate compound by teenagers ranging from 11 to 12yo. I started by playing some classical music for them to set the mood.

While the Basic students were listening to Bolero by Maurice Ravel - a very dramatic piece of music - I asked them to close their eyes and think of a landscape, a color, a felling and emotions that they would associate with it. After that they should look at the two paintings I had previously put on the IWB. They were Narcissus and Medusa by the Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. So I asked: “What do you feel when you look at these pictures? Apprehension? Fear? Solitude? Anger? Love? Happiness? I told them to focus on the music and on the pictures as well.

In small groups students were subsequently supposed to create a mind-map with feelings, emotions, colors, objects, names etc that would link with the music and the pictures. After doing that, they were asked to select one of these items and write about. At this time I first mentioned the word “poem”. This way I feel I could water down their anxiety and provide a propitious environment for writing. And oh boy, they wrote like crazy! Especially because they were told to work collaboratively. Each member of the group would be in charge of a verse. Here are the results:

As for the Pre-intermediate group, I wanted to turn their emotions and perceptions into something a little calmer. So, I played As Bachianas Nº5 by Villa Lobos and the pictures were Woman with a Parasol and Cliff Walk at Pourville by the French impressionist painter Claude Monet. The results followed the idea of calmness, quietude and inner-peace as you can see:

In another opportunity I will have them recite the poems, record and upload it onto Youtube and finally create a Glogster.

My conclusion is that poetry can serve as a great stimulus for EFL students since it can provide great opportunities for personalization and creation. This means that communication is genuine because they are talking and writing about their own perceptions and feelings. They are engaged and motivated which helps making the lesson, the language and poems memorable. As teachers we should not neglect the benefits literature offers. During this simple activity I was able to introduce them to a new world. Some of them had never heard of Villa Lobos. Some thought he was Portuguese. And I dare say that never had they paid attention to classical music and to paintings as they did.

For me, there is no greater reward.

P.S I’ve posted the students’ original piece of writing so as not to hinder the outcome of this project. Later on I corrected them and gave feedback.

Vocabulary - How do you talk to your kids?

2010-11-04T05:19:00.000-07:00

While reading some blogs it dawned on me how much we are used to water down our language just for the sake of adapting our vocabulary to our students. And this is so sad! Why treating kids as if they were idiots? (sorry for the word). I vividly remember my mom telling me off because whenever we met a baby I was all about "Gucci, gucci, baby - ne ne ne" and she used to say: "The baby is not an idiot. Talk to him normally" I never quite understood why. (!)

Look around and you'll see how poor kids language inventory is. How many "but" and "ands" and "whiches" and "sos" do you have to face in a daily-basis.

Maybe we are the ones to be blamed. Either for not giving proper instruction or for not talking them into using more sophisticated words and estructures. Students nowadays may have their language repertoire

Children learn the best from what they see and hear from their parents, teachers and important adults around them. Modeling behavior and using appropriate vocabulary will help children learn and grow. This is true for children at all ages. Working in early education, I feel it's important to speak to even young children with respect for their intelligence. Children love to play with words, and they usually remember more than we do.

For this, I would like to share with you some food for thought extracted from a video (embedded below) by Stephen Fry

"For me, it is a cause of some upset that more Anglophones do not enjoy language. Music is enjoyable it seems, so are dance and other, athletic form of movemement. People seem to be able to find sensual and sensuous pleasure in almost anything but WORDS"

This reminds me of Cecilia Coelho when invited to write a guest post on Ken Wilson's Blog she got us thinking about the difference between "Listen" and "Hear".

"Hearing is about perceiving the sound whilst listening is about paying attention to what you hear, decoding it. (...) When it comes to your students' efforts in using English to express themselves - be it orally or in writing - do you listen or just hear them?"

Great, isn't it?

Finally, I would like to share a great tool I've found to teach vocabulary in a very dynamic and fun way: www.languageguide.org. It aims to develop 3 types of resources:

Pictorial Vocabulary Resources - which contains image based pages as well as complementary pages with adjectives, verbs, and expressions. Where you can place the cursor and listen to the words.

Interactive Readings - which help develop comprehension skills and build vocabulary.

Grammar Guides - which are experimental introductory grammar guides for French, Spanish and English

When a student says a teacher is a pair of glasses...

2010-11-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday an eleven-year-old student came to me and said she had finally figured out the meaning of the word 'half'

She'd said she's a great fan of the sitcom Two and a Half Men but could never grasp the meaning behind the series' name. It may seem pretty obvious for us. Not only because we are fluent in English but also for the set of images and the plot of the sitcom - two guys and a teenager trying to live under the same roof. However, for those who don't understand the language these inputs may never be perceived.

Curious as I am, I asked her how she had figured it out (fully aware of the answer, obviously). And then she started: "Well, teacher* remember that last class you taught us how to tell the time? - I was kind of in doubt on how to use the word 'half' but when I saw the sitcom I realized the real meaning of it. Now I know! It means 50% because half an hour is 50% of an hour and half a man is a child."

I was amazed by the strattegies she used to understand it. Nevertheless she went even further: She said she felt that only now that she's learning English she could actually SEE the world.

See the world? At the this time I was thrilled and dying to know what had gone through that little mind. - Then she added: "The only one time when I felt the same way was when I had my first pair of glasses. I could actually see the world and realize how blind I was."

I bet you can picture tears rolling, uh? OMG... That was such a moment and provided me plenty of food for thought.

We, educators are being compared to glasses. We can make people see through different eyes. We can enhance their vision of the world. Change the way they see things. I mean not only physically but also psychologically.

That's how I feel: changing people's lives. Breking long-term mindset and helping them discover a new world.

I hope my students regard me as 3D glasses :-P

* In Brazil, people are culturally inclined to use the noun 'teacher' as a vocative. I am aware that in English it is not, however I let them call me teacher because it evokes a more intimate relation than calling me Mr. Andrade :-)

Youtube goes interactive and educational

2010-10-29T04:14:00.000-07:00

One can find almost everything on Youtube nowadays. From how-to-solve-the-magic-cube videos to those which inspire and help us teachers develop in our adventure of teaching.

Firstly, I'd like to talk about interaction, one of the pilars of Web 2.0. Interaction among users is key to a sucessful social media. Blogging, Twittering, Commenting on Facebook feeds all require interaction and that's what drives them to conquer the world we live in. For the very first time you can interact not only by commenting on Youtube videos, but also change the course of the video itself --- AMAZING!

How to use it in class:

When the video leads you to a copy of a youtube page - when in reality is a Flash miracle - ask your students what class of word they can use in the blank (answer = verbs) - Students can come up with as many verbs as they want and see the characters of this great ad acting as they commanded!

This way you can review verbs, commands, verb agreement, pronoun use and the works!

Secondly, I would like to call the attention of educators around the globe to the magnificent strand of Youtube: Youtube Educational Videos.

Inspired by Shelly Terrell's (@ShellTerrell) last post on her blog when she invited Kimberly Bowen to write about Youtube Educational Videos, I decided to give it a try.

At first I used to listen and see TED TALKS as my main imagery inspirational tool. However, I was greatly surprised by some of the EdVideos on Youtube.

Since youtube is quite more popular among students than TED Talks (which is especifically designed to educators)- this tool may help your students foster their learning onwership.

Why Using YouTube Educational Videos:

- Learning takes place not only inside the walls of a classroom. So, it's a nice idea to get students to discover their own learning pace. On Youtube they can watch videos whenever and wherever there's an internet connection. They may watch it how many times they wish as it is not a real-time presentation.

- Students can have the opportunity to access the presenter by commenting on the videos or sending him/her an e-mail. This way, they're not only learning but also building their own PLN.

Have you tried? I'd love to hear from you what your fave ones are!

Here's one of mine:

See you in a post! :-)

Education is at WAR. So why do you teach?

2010-10-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Having attended some of the Virtual Round Table conferences I had this insight:

I'd like to start saying that at first I did not pursued this career. My first thought was to become a personal trainer due to my great affection for sports at that time.

My family is basically compounded by teachers. I have my mother, two aunts, an uncle, a cousin and a few other more distant relatives who are educators. For this reason, I'd often said to my parents that this would not be the kind of profession I would follow. Why? Why getting so little for working so hard? Why trying to educate children who were not educated at home? Why working so many extra-hours at home, preparing material and stuff? (I'd seen my mother dreading the time when she had to use the mimeograph to make copies of tests. The only thing I liked was the smell of alcohol.) Why spending my leisure time preparing and correting tests if I could be lying on the beach instead?

You know know why? Beacause I had a dream! I dreamed of becoming a better person through making people the best they could possibly be.

And I still have a dream. I dream of making my country the top of the countries. Without education this is unattainable.

Education is at war. Noone dares doubt it. Unprepared teachers are ubiquitiously scattered in schools. Meanwhile, unprepared parents are relying on these teachers to educate their children. How could this be possible? Complaining about these trivial problems is easy. Here in Brazil, education never came first. And we'll have to live many years to see it the growing as a priority.

However, there have been more serious problems to be dealt with: our kids have been living a nightmare in schools. Much has been demanded from them. Much has been asked. Much has been said. Nothing has been done.

They often compare themselves to superheroes. Who have to multitask by doing great at school, having some time to see their friends, practsing some sport and the like. Phew! i'd get tired just to imagine.

Education needs heroes. However, these heroes cannot be the students. They have to be us! We have the power to lessen their pain, to make learning more enjoyable. To change their lives!

What have you done to change education so far?

I guess you should start by changing yourself! Education Reform is closer than you might ever have imagined. Be careful. You might be the one who's been left behind!

See you in post :-)

please comment!

Overcoming Technofobia: The Teachers Issue

2010-08-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

The dawn of 21st century has seen an explosion in technology-based solutions and an extension of it has been placed int the realm of education. However, the use of technology in education is not focused as much as in other sectors such as business and health. While technical solutions are expanding exponentially and an emphasis has been placed on the "wired", technical skills are not developing in the same pace.Therefore, most teachers are legging behind for finding themselves lacking the basic technological understanding and skills that are core to successfully operate these solutions.

Do you suffer from Technofobia? [Future generations truly hope not]

Question #1 - How can I help overcome the view of technology as "dangerous"?

- Start up by defining projects using technology clearly: On many occasions, project and technology issues are merely a result of misinformation, which the use of rubrics resolves. The key is to be specific, however, leaving room for student inquiry.

- Allow Students Freedom under a Watchful Eye: become a coach, mentor, and guide for your students. Watch them, learn from them, and keep them on track. Teachers’ responsibilities are not relinquished and they sometimes have to lay down the law; however, this becomes less of a problem as students learn to learn using technology. Let the students explore, create, and develop a better understanding of the concepts they are learning.

Question #2 - How many educators fail to distinguish between "computers" and "technology"?

Every teacher wants to use the best tools to help students learn, and technology integration requires long-term staff development time. Withal, some teachers do undermine the power of technology. It's crucial to mention that a Powepoint presentation does not make you technological.

- Ask for Help to Avoid Technophobia: There is always someone available in a school to offer technological help. Every school has several technology savvy teachers today. Some schools even have on-site technology integration specialists or coaches. Do not be afraid to ask for help, because this leads to a better understanding. Just like teachers tell their students every day, there is no such thing as a dumb question.

- Fear of technology is not new! Embracing technology involves changing routines and opening yourself to r-i-s-k. The fear of technology sometimes comes more often from the fear of change than of technology itself. Open your mind! Use all possible source of technology you might have access to: cell phones, bluetooth, laptops, Ipads, Itouchs, Iphones (and smartphones in general), flash drives, webcams, and of course: your imagination and creativity.

Teacher dispostion and views on technology play a large role in whether the technology is adopted in classroom. John Saye in his book 'Technology in the Classroom: The Role of Teacher Disposition in Gatekeeping' describes 5 kinds of teachers according to their disposition to technology and intolerance for risk:

* Trailblazers *

* Pioneers *

* Settlers *

* Stay-at-homes *

* Saboteurs *

Pick yours!

See you in a post :-)

10 basic reasons why technology MUST be used in class

2010-08-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Many educators are still rather reluctant when it comes to the use of technology in class. Some say it can easily distract stutends and therefore they lose focus ruinning their precious classes. Some claim that its cost is not in sync with its benefits. And even worse: some teachers are empowered with high-tech and they simply don't know what to do with it (!).

So, here are my favorite top 10 reasons why technology must be used in class:

1- Collaboration

How has your life as a teacher changed with the advent of the Web 2.0?

A Web 2.0 site gives its users free choice to interact or collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumer) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumer) are limited to the passive role of content view that was created for them.

Web 2.0 draws together the capabilities of client- and server-side software, content syndication and the use of network protocols. Standards-oriented web browsers may use plug-ins and software extensions to handle the content and the user interactions. Web 2.0 sites provide users with information storage, creation, and dissemination capabilities that were not possible in the environment now known as "Web 1.0".

- Rather than laboring alone on homework, students can this way work in small groups wherever they happen to be and at any time

2- Here, there and everywhere

Skype, Msn Messenger, Google Voice... how many webtools can you name that provide interaction and communication with anyone in any part of the globe? Many!

The worldview of the student can be expanded because of the zero cost of communicating with other people around the globe. The Internet permits free video conferencing which permits interaction in real time with sister schools in other countries. From an educational viewpoint, what could be more important than understanding other cultures through direct dialog and collaboration?

3- Individual Sequencing and Studying Pace

Information technologies can permit students to break step with the class and go at a pace and order that suits that student better. Without disrupting the class, they can repeat difficult lessons and explore what they find interesting. With time, it will become more like having a private tutor rather than being lost in a large class. Moreover, students can research for other sources or simply find other ways to approach one subject.

4- Weight

One thing that really gets on my nerves is to see the poor student carrying tonnes of books in their backpacks because they have 4, 5 or maybe 6 different subjects one that day. Add up some notebooks, some binders, pencil cases and others material and voilá in 5 years' time you have a student with a chronic backache. Ipods have up to 32 gb storage which means thousands of files in it. A kindle reader may allow you to have approximatelly 1500 books weighing only 29g. An Ipad weighs 680g and the whole world can be put in there. Not to mention netbooks computers, cell phones, flash drivers and etc..

5- Ownership of Productivity

Students need productivity tools for the same reasons you do. They need to write, read, communicate, organize and schedule. A student's life is not much different from any knowledge worker, and they need similar tools. Even if they are never used in the classroom, portable personal computers will make a student's (and teacher's) life more effective. To cash in this benefit, schools need to go paperless.

6- Organization

How often do you lose your mind trying to find that slip of paper where you made that important annotation? Get rid of them! Go paperless! Use social bookmarking. The way I use social bookmarking is quite simple. Since I do a lot of my work at home, I often bookmark at home and then access those bookmarks at school. For example, if there are several youtube videos I want to show students, I bookmark them at home and then load them when I go to school in the morning. Using bookmarks you don't need to create "folders" for each site you want to mark, you can just tag them. Not to mention the power of social networking. You can follow people and get to know what they've tagged.

7- Learning X Teaching

Technology allows the tables to be turned. Instead of teaching (push), students can be given projects that require them to learn (pull) the necessary material themselves. Key to this is the ability to get the information they need any time anywhere, without being in the physical presence of a teacher. This project-based pull approach makes learning far more interesting for the student. I strongly believe that students cannot wait to get out of regular classes to go to the after-school internet project.

8- Depth in Understanding

Interactive simulus are prone to produce a much greater depth of understanding of a concept. When virtual manipulatives are used in a classroom setting they can go far beyond chalk and talk. The use of visuals in a collaborative space conduct to curiosity and investigation therefore demonstrate concepts far beyond the traditional talk and hand-raising.

9- Time and Space Stretching

There's no substitute for a teacher. No machine wil ever do that - Thank God ;-) However, we the use of internet and its many tools we can stretch the time students spend with their teachers. Teachers could be found and thus help studentes develop at any time. Plus, on-line material can be much more available than that. A student who wishes to hit the "books" at 1:00am can do it easily sitting in front of his computer.

The use of textbooks inside a classroom are unfortunately and inevitably limited. On the other hand, a wireless laptop has access to the teacher's course material and the entire Internet almost anywhere. This is also a vastly larger resource than can be practically carried on paper in a backpack.

Bottom line: information technology allows learning anywhere, anytime; not just in one particular classroom for 60 minutes a day.

10- Express yourself. Don't repress yourself!

Webtools allow students to express themselves in a never-seen-before way. Let their imagination fly by creating and editing videos, prezi presentations, run a class blog or a web-based newspaper, exchange podcasts, create a web-based TV program or radio station, compose digital music.. Be creative and let them be as well.

In short, we have still a long path to go so as to achieve the goal of a technological class, especially in Brazil where technology may be costy and teachers are rather too much old-school material. However, I believe that if education is about knowledge and intellectual skills, then we have to beware that IT is at the core of it. It is just a transition and we'll survive. Don't worry.

See you in a post :-)

Education and Technology - How did you cope with this marriage?

2010-08-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

In contrast to developed countries, the discussion about the use of technology in class in Brazil is still incipient. Some private schools already have an IWB (Interactive WhiteBoard) in every classroom. However, in some schools they are not connected to the internet (?!), in other more students have never heard of it. I strongly believe that technology must be intrinsically connected with education since students are exposed to it all the time. They get to school with their Ipods clung to their ears, all of them have a mobile with which they text, transfer files, listen to music, record voice clips and yeah they call. Such other technologies should be inserted into everyday class routine because they are part of students lives and it won't be different at the work place.

Regardless of your nationality and therefore location, I invite educators to join this discussion about inserting technology in class. I would like you to share your experiences and tell us how you managed to get it done.

This blog aims to prove that it is possible to use technology for educational purposes not only in wealthy countries but all over the world. Since it's becoming and inevitable way of dealing with learning.

Please, contribute.

See you in a post :-)