By Barbara Dieu · July 25, 2008
Many teacher or ELT consultant blogs today either link to content listed in institutional portals or to suggestions coming from group lists, bulletin boards, conferences ,blogs, etc with the purpose of filtering and interpreting the never-ending stream of information, while suggesting examples of best practice.
At Dekita, more than giving recipes or pointing to stimulating or controversial uses of the web, we have sought to highlight such good practice by showcasing how EFL/ESL learners themselves make use of the Web environment, discuss issues that matter to them and reflect on their language learning experiences. The Exchange and the Orchard project were an attempt at facilitating connections, recording and aggregating such instances. However, they have not managed to gain momentum so we have decided to close them, at least for the time being.
Examples of open, participatory Web publishing amongst English language learners (and teachers) are still scarce, resulting in a dearth of authentic voices. Also lacking are evidence of observation, description, comparison and a critical reflection on everyday practice and learning processes. Most coordinated teacher-driven activities arising from classwork result in learner-generated content that does not seem to stretch beyond the cookie-cutter model of the standard pre-packaged coursebook topics.
What do learners have to say? What makes them tick and connect? Where can we read them and listen to their voices? What environments do_ they_recommend and why? How do they observe, describe and learn from their interaction with the diversity of people, stimuli and situations they encounter? How do they search and filter the web? What language do they use to communicate? Are they encouraged and envisage participating in the design of their learning process?
Is it possible or just useless to develop together open architectures of participation where experts, practitioners and learners mingle, guide and scaffold each other outside institutional gridlocks and gatekeepers, walled gardens, ELT methodology marketing trends and the edutainment tech consumer bandwagon?
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By Barbara Dieu · May 16, 2008
In the article Who Comments on Blogs, and Why?, published on March 15th 2007, journalist Stephen J. Dubner (co-author of Freakonomics) admits that although he enjoys reading blogs and has quite a lot to say, he hardly ever comments. He challenges non-commenters to answer his question and gets 135 replies in the span of more than a year (last comment is from May 13th).
Incentives seem to be the cornerstone of modern life. On the Web, memes, friendship and love chains and challenges abound. In the educational arena this is exemplified by the Comment Challenge, coordinated by Sue Waters, Silvia Tolisano, Michele Martin and Kim Cofino.
The organizers challenge the 123 participants to be better blog citizens by engaging them in a 31-day round of activities with the aim of later tracking who is the commenter with:
Monetary prizes from coComment and other sponsors have been secured.
What do you think? Comments welcome :-)
Comment [6]
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By Barbara Dieu · September 19, 2007
Claudia Ceraso, the Argentinian blogger behind The FCE Blog , makes a post referring to the European Day of Languages. The event, promoted by the Council of Europe, has been celebrated every September 26th since 2001 to foster plurilingualism, diversity and life- long language learning.
I notice the link announcing the event takes me to a page of European Centre of Modern Languages in Graz, Austria. This triggers memories and sends me me back in time to 2001-2003, when I participated virtually in a series of surveys and discussion forums led and moderated by Peter Radai and team around The Status of Language Educators . These outline the views, perceptions, questions and daily professional activities of language educators and the project was launched with the mission of drawing national and international attention to the profession of language education, and to its implementers, language teachers all over Europe.
The results were published in a book of the same name (French or English version available), which can be bought online or downloaded as a pdf file .
Although many of the issues brought up then, like the existence of teacher power/influence/ability to empower students/solidarity and the role of the teacher as a an agent of change in their own institutions remain the focus of many of the edublog discussions nowadays and have not been solved, I am optimistic and see an evolution.
There is a growing awareness that schooling, as it is offered now in many contexts, does not educate learners for civic participation and collaboration in a knowledge society. There is a recognition that at work, much of the learning occurs informally through conversations with experts, peers and tutors, independently from the formal courses offered by traditional training departments. Participatory media has allowed many educators from around the globe to connect to a growing network, start conversations, exchange ideas, develop professionally beyond the institutional walls and actively co-construct knowledge.
Alexander Hayes, the organizer of the Future of Learning in a Networked World , advances the following questions on the group list :
Do you believe that the future of learning in a networked world is a bleak one…..a souless online virtual connection, a facile attempt to build community where only self serving individuals oscillate in ever increasingly smaller circles with shorter interactions and a senseless lack of ‘human-ness ?
The burning questions I put forward back in 2001 are still topical:
What steps have you taken in your language classes to promote cooperation, tolerance, respect towards the other and individual development? How responsible do you feel socially?
and to them I add:
What are the key literacies needed in the 21st century and can participatory media help us, life-long language learners, develop them? How?
Comment [3]
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By Barbara Dieu · April 03, 2006
Absolutely Intercultural is a newly launched site focusing on all aspects of intercultural communication. It is hosted by Anne Fox (Denmark) and Elmar-Laurent Borgmann (Germany), and edited by Karsten Kneese (Germany). A new episode will be podcast every second Friday evening. Anne and Elmar would like to start an intercultural dialogue between the makers, the contributors and the listeners.
The first tasty tidbit takes place in a tapas bar in Leon, North of Spain. Get a glass of rioja, join the table and share your experience!
Comment [3]
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By Barbara Dieu · March 12, 2006
Bored with the lack of pictures and conversations, I followed the Semilicio.us link featured on George Siemens’ blog . I typed the Dekita URL to find out which sites had a similar focus or interest. As I perused the list, The Word Detective caught my attention. Curiouser and curiouser, I clicked further and found Evan Morris’ online version of his newspaper column by the same name—a treasure trove for lovers of words and language!
I was attracted by another link on the right, Your Favourite Word, which is another wonderful way to play with vocabulary.
Now, as I went further and explored the possibilities, I remembered the Jabberwock and thought it would be fun to have English speakers from different countries recording L.Carrol’s poem so as to compare the different intonation and pronunciation of words? Listen to this mp3 version recorded in 2003. Would this be too non-sensical?
Comment [1]
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By Barbara Dieu · January 19, 2006
In For the Dream, a young woman from China called Searay has just started blogging about her stay and impressions of Vancouver, Canada, keeping a blog and studying English.
Eddie, a friend of hers from the same course, has already gone back to Taiwan but has kept on blogging in Always the Hours. This is the quotation that he has chosen to illustrate his blog:
What I wanted were new experiences. I wanted to go out into the world and test myself, to move from this to that, to explore as much as I could. As long as I kept my eyes open, I figured that whatever happened to me would be useful, would teach me things I had never known before.—Paul Auster
Do you have any experiences, dreams, learning impressions to share with us? Send us word.
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By Aaron Campbell · May 31, 2005
Haibane reminds us that the idiom ‘Look before you leap’ reveals the importance of patience and forbearance along the road to success, while those who attempt to grab all can become easily lost. ‘Look before you leap’, like ‘better safe than sorry’, implies a cautious, sensible approach toward action. Yet some people believe that success cannot be attained without taking risks, and for that reason choose faster, more adventurous approaches to life, thus the idioms ‘the early bird catches the worm’ and ‘he who hesitates is lost’. How should a person decide when to be cautious and when to take risks?
Comment [1]
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By Pirijan Keth · May 29, 2005
Well, they’re foreign to me at least—but may not be to you reading this in Japan or wherever. You see, I live in Toronto, Canada, and—with a few exceptions—have lived here all my life. And when you live in one place for so long, I think, you start to get bored with the minutiae of daily life even though what seems simple and plain to you would be intriguing for someone in a far-away country.
As a ‘freelancer’ to Dekita (this is my first time writing here), I’ve been asked by Rudolf to talk about my experiences with the weblogs of non-native English speakers like Leylop’s and the many others like hers.
I’ve travelled to quite a few countries and even spent a whole month in China last summer (if only I could afford to do it again!), I’ve learned that, whether good or bad, there really is no place like home. So why, you may ask, have I become an avid reader of weblogs written by people very much like you and me in places far from the world I’ve grown so accustomed to?
Well, part of it are those daily minutiae. Most of us tend to ignore them, but the truth is that there are a lot of unique aspects and differences to our societies and lives that are just waiting to be explored. Things like what foods you enjoy eating and the kind of activities you prefer are a small part of that appeal.
More than that, things like photos and travel diaries help us to better identify, understand and respect our differences.
The other part of it boils down to similarities. Good writing (to me at least) usually has that sharp edge of personality to it. On personal weblogs, people share their feelings and deepest thoughts and shine light on what makes them unique individuals. We—both the readers and the authors—learn that there’s alot to be said for the ‘shared human experience’ that is life.
To use Leylop as an example again, she writes passionately about her love for traveling and all the places it has brought her. She writes about the air of her native town (Hangzhou, China), and of the boredom she experiences at home and (earlier) at school. She does this all without the gift of exceptional proficiency in English, yet her writing isn’t any less enjoyable for it.
Comment [2]
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By Aaron Campbell · May 23, 2005
From wombats to pythons, to elephants and polar bears, zoos are where most people flock to gaze at a wide variety of animals. As Judy in Taiwan points out, the zoo serves a useful purpose by giving
us a chance to observe animals we would not otherwise see and educating us about them. Since the first zoo was created in Vienna in 1752, the number of zoos has steadily grown so that zoos can now be found in most major cities throughout the world. While animal lovers might rightly take objection to how animals are treated in some zoos, other zoos, like the one in San Diego, are well known for their quality of care.
I agree with Dolores when she says that animal rights is an “emotive area for the general public.” Here in Japan, both the zoo in Osaka and the one in Kyoto have left me with a sad feeling after visiting them. Animals that should be roaming on the open plains, swimming in the great ocean, or climbing freely through the treetops, are instead caged up in small, dirty areas with little to stimulate them. Many of them looked sick, both physically and mentally. While it is educational for small children to see a lion or gorilla in the flesh, is it really worth the suffering that the animals endure? Perhaps it is better, like Sebrita on her trip to find fireflies, to feel the happiness of seeing animals for the first time in the wild.
Comment [2]
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