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week3threads
Page history
last edited
by PBworks 16 years, 2 months ago
This week's threads are brought to you by:
Fernanda Rodrigues in Setúbal, Portugal Date: 27 January, 2008 - 03 February, 2008 Number of messages: from #1450 to #1779 |
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Who we are
- Coordinators
- Co-Moderators
- Participants
Week 3 Threads
- Week 1
- Week 2
- Week 3
- Tools
- Live Sessions
- Interesting
Week 1 Return to topLate Introduction mmvcentro #1450 01/27/2008 | Hello Everyone! It is nice to see you again! My name is Maria Eugenia del Campo, please call me Maru. My Yahoo ID is mmvcentro, I work at "MMV Centro Multidisciplinario de Asesoría Integral" as a Psychologis giving therapy. I joined this group to keep learning and to get more practice on e- tools to teach English. I took BaW07 where I found a warm, caring and giving community that opened my eyes to a new world which I would like to continue discovering. I am sorry to have joined on the 3rd week, I will pay more attention next year!! I will work hard to cover all the assignments. I want to express here my gratitude to all the moderators and co- moderators who will be leading us in this fantastic adventure. Love: Maru | Dafne #1451 01/27/2008 | Hi Maru and welcome back to BaW! It´s very nice to have you with us again. I am sure you will be able to catch up in no time ;-) Warm hugs, Daf | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1460 (Response to #1451) 01/27/2008 | Hi Maru, Welcome back. Don´t worry about being late. It is never late to start learning and sharing. We did spend a great time in BaW07 last year. I am so glad to see you here. I was wondering "Where is Maru from Mexico? I haven´t seen her around" I remember having chats withyou and you were really participative. We all missed you. Just let us know if you need any help Abraços José Antônio | Sharon Betts #1461 (Response to #1460) 01/28/2008 | Maru, It is never too late to join and begin expanding your tool bucket. Welcome to BAW08. Sharon | Dennis Oliver #1474 (Response to #1461) 01/28/2008 | Hola, Maru! It's good to be in touch again! I remember you well from BaW07! Like you, I've already decided to participate in next years BaW session. I'm also grateful to the moderators and co-moderators--and also to the BaW08 participants. The "warm, caring and giving community" that you and I found in BaW07 has been created here as well, and a very rich variety of e-resources has already been presented, with much more to come! I remember that you're from México, Maru, so you're kind of my "vecina" because I live in Arizona. Con mis más finos deseos y un fuerte abrazo-- Dennis in Phoenix | Hala #1478 01/28/2008 | Dear Maru, Welcome home! Hala Fawzi | Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1479 01/28/2008 | Welcome back, Maru! Better late than never!! Hugs, Teresa | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1489 01/28/2008 | Hey Maru, good to see you here again. | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1497 (Response to #1489) 01/28/2008 | Thanks Daf! I will do my best!!! Today I will be reading the Baw08 digests to have a feeling of what's going on and then will proceed to do week 3 activities. I do not have computer at home this year so I will be working from a cyber place. Last year I downloaded so many conflicting programs to my limited PC that it decided to crash so I am saving to get a new one!!! I need someone who knows about software by my side! I would like to know what kind of hardware resources I need to have in a PC to avoid conflict and to support the software we are using. Could you direct me to a place to find out please? Love: Maru | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1500 (Response to #1497) 01/28/2008 | Hi Jose Antonio! Thanks for encouraging me!! Here I am, Maru from Mexico. You are right, it is never late to start learning and sharing and we did spend a great time in BaW07. Now I see that you are moderator, congratulations!! All the new students will benefit from your experience and kind way of teaching. I have missed you all too!!! Though I am limited in resurces now, because we have a construction project and my computer crashed last year, the fact that I am working at a cyber place will help us with a future teaching project wich involves students that have no computer at home. I bet a lot of good will come from this year's experience!! Lets continue learning having fun! Thanks for the support, I will be asking!!! Love: Maru | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1501 (Response to #1500) 01/28/2008 | Hi Sharon! Thanks for your warm and encouraging welcome. Of course it is never too late to expand our tool bucket. I will check the threads to visit your creations. Love: Maru | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1521 01/28/2008 | Hi Hala! You are right... This is home!!!! It surely feels like home. I am glad to hear from you. How many students do you have this year? Last year you had 400!!! How are your kids?, How is the weather in Sudan? Please send me the links to your students work, I would like to visit. Love: Maru | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1522 01/28/2008 | Thanks Teresa! I hope next year it does not happen again!! I will be more careful not to crash another computer!!! ha, ha, ha... poor thing, it was ideed limited! Love: Maru | Return to topWeek 2 Return to topWrap up Silvia Colombo #1456 01/27/2008 | Thank you all for your care and support during week2!, which , in my opinion, has been much more challenging than week 1! Hugs, Silvia. | Dennis Oliver #1467 01/28/2008 | Re Teresa's message #1438: Dear Teresa and Dafne--and everyone, I'd like to add my own sincere "Thank you!" to both of you, to J.A., to Fernanda, and to the many BaW08 participants who, through working collaboratively, made Week 2 such a rich and robust learning experience. Kudos! I also agree that Michael Coghlan, Jeff Lebow, and Dave Cormier deserve special thanks. They were indeed fabulous! In addition, I was honored to see my name included in your message even though I feel that I didn't actually contribute very much. Finally, I'd like to add two names to the "Kudos" list: Derrall Garrison and Pam Shoemaker. Derrall and Pam were the main facilitators for the live sessions hosted by WorldBridges. I thought Derrall and Pam did a wonderful job of introducing each session, keeping things moving from topic to topic, addressing problems as they occurred, and providing an effective exit from each session. I also fully expect Week 3 to be another success and greatly look forward to the co-teaching and co-learning that we are sure to experience! Sincerely, Dennis in Phoenix | Dafne #1468 (Response to #1467) 01/28/2008 | Thanks for your message, Dennis :-) I am not very clear what you mean by this: > Finally, I'd like to add two names to the "Kudos" > list: Derrall > Garrison and Pam Shoemaker. Derrall and Pam were the > main facilitators > for the live sessions hosted by WorldBridges. I > thought Derrall and > Pam did a wonderful job of introducing each session, > keeping things > moving from topic to topic, addressing problems as > they occurred, and > providing an effective exit from each session. > Dennis in Phoenix Are you sure you are referring to the EVO/BaW session? ;-) Cheers, Daf > __________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs | Return to topTasks Jose Antonio Da Silva #1458 01/27/2008 | Hi Isabel, We are glad to know you have explored the tools and answered the questions. About them being technical, you are right. Once we are dealing with two tools that require some technical skills, we do feel it is necessary to know how some of the most important features of these tools work. However, we did not forget the theoretical and practical part, that´s why we had the week 2 readings (which are just great), a forum to discuss them, and of course the yahoo group mailing list where people have posted their comments on how they use or would use these tools. Of course people could just pretend they know how to use them. We are here to help, if they decide tolearn at any time, during this course, or during the rest of the year, there will always be a webhead to help. You are absolutely right "we learn by doing" and that is why we encourage people to test the tools throughout the course. Thanks a lot for expressing your concerns. I am sure some other people feel that way too. This, actually, reminds me of what Dennis said "Rome was not built in a day" Abraço grande José Antônio | amma2jo #1464 01/28/2008 | BLOG: 1.A blog (short for weblog) : is a frequently updated website that often resembles an online journal. It's so easy to create and update a blog - it requires only basic access to the Internet, and a minimum of technical know-how. Because of this, it is one of the easiest ways to publish student writing on the WWW. It's almost as easy as sending an email. 2.Weblog, or chronological, online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often links to other Web sites provided by the writer. Others may subscribe to a person's blog, which allows them to read it and write comments in response. BODCASTING: Podcasting (a portemanteau of the words iPod and broadcasting) is the name given to the publishing of audio (usually mp3 files) via the Internet, designed to be downloaded and listened to on a portable mp3 player of any type, or on a personal computer. Wiki A type of Web site that allows visitors to easily add, remove, or otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative authoring. RSS Rich Site Summary (or Really Simple Syndication), a format for aggregating Web content in one place. Say you're a social studies teacher and you've found 20 or 30 Weblogs and media sites consistently publishing relevant information. Finding the time to visit those sites on a regular basis would be nearly impossible. A type of software called an aggregator or feed collector checks the feeds you subscribe to, usually every hour, and collects all the new content from those sites and sends it to your desktop. {{{ EH WHO MAKES NO MISTAKES MAKES NOTHING}}} MHMD Y. NOFAL | Pato #1475 01/28/2008 | Hi everyone, Appart from this course I'm also attending Blogging4Educators and as this week we're starting to deal with blogs, wikis and podcasts I'd like to invite you all to visit my first try-out blog at http://reflectingonweb20.blogspot.com/. Hope you like the topic and help me with the reflections posting your comments. Thanks to all! Patricia (Pato) | Monica Veado #1477 01/28/2008 | Hi Patricia, great first post, I look forward to further discussions! I left a comment there. Congrats! Let me just correct the url (there was an extra "." on the link):http://reflectingonweb20.blogspot.com Um abraço, Monica | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1481 01/28/2008 | Hi Patricia, Very nice blog. Congratulations and long life to your blog. I am sure it will grow fast and get really big. José Antônio | Mirian #1513 01/28/2008 | Dear all, I've posted a new entry at my audioblog. Hope you like it . (Your comments are welcomed!)http://matildos.podomatic.com/ <http://matildos.podomatic.com/> Mirian. ;) | Monica Veado #1517 (Response to #1513) 01/28/2008 | Hi Mirian, that's a great audioblog! Unfortunately my headset doesn't seem to be working too well, I guess, so the sound was very low. Thank you for sending the link with another great tool to try with our students! Um abraço, Mônica | butgems #1529 01/29/2008 | Hi Nina, Teaching, I guess, is the same wherever you go. Students and teachers seem to take after one another far and wide, be they in developed or developing countries. In this group I'm amongst you like a deaf person in a noisy ceremony or a blind one before an eye-catching scenery. Need much time to adapt.. | Dennis Oliver #1537 01/29/2008 | Hola, Mirian. In baw08@yahoogroups.com (message #1513), you wrote: Dear all, I've posted a new entry at my audioblog. Hope you like it . (Your comments are welcomed!)http://matildos.podomatic.com/ <http://matildos.podomatic.com/> Mirian. ;) COMMENTS: I really, really liked your audioblog/podcasts, Mirian, and have left several comments. I especially liked the fact that you've included tasks for each listening; this is an excellent way of encouraging students to listen actively. I also like the fact that you focus on listening passages that feature children's voices. Keep up the good work! Felicitaciones! Dennis in Phoenix | Sharon Betts #1538 (Response to #1537) 01/29/2008 | What a fabulous use of podcasting! Sharon | Mirian #1558 01/29/2008 | Well, I'm very grateful to you all for leaving me those wonderful comments, and for having taken the time to do so. This encourages me to go on searching for better and improved ideas. To Dennis, and about the question posed, yes the students are supposed to write the answers on another piece of paper. Thank you for all your suggestions as well. Bye for now.... Mirian from Buenos Aires. | María Lorena #1560 01/29/2008 | Hi everyone, I just wanted to tell you that this week and the following I'm going to be "away" because I'm in Cordoba (one province in Argentina) and I don't have access to internet everyday. I will try to keep up and attend all the live meetings, but you may not see me that often. Thank you for everything, Lore | Nelba #1561 (Response to #1560) 01/29/2008 | Hi, Lorena. I am going to Córdoba , too ... this week and the following. Where are you staying? Nelba María Lorena escribió: Hi everyone, I just wanted to tell you that this week and the following I'm going to be "away" because I'm in Cordoba (one province in Argentina) and I don't have access to internet everyday. I will try to keep up and attend all the live meetings, but you may not see me that often. Thank you for everything, Lore | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1562 (Response to #1561) 01/29/2008 | Bye Lonerea, We will miss you. Enjoy your trip. Bring some pictures to share with the group. I would love to vistit Argentina one day. Hugs José Antônio | Janet #1586 01/30/2008 | I've been quietly lurking lately. The beginning of a new semester is always busier than usual. I hope to get back into things soon. Janet | Natalia Malkina #1588 (Response to #1586) 01/30/2008 | Dear Janet, Who said you are "falling behind"?. You are keeeping your own pace !!! And this is fine. Like you I am keeping my pace. Good luck Natalia | Monica Veado #1589 (Response to #1588) 01/30/2008 | Don't worry, Janet, there's always so much to do when classes start! Take your time and join us when you can - you can find the links to all our activities and materials on the wiki, and don't forget that help is only a click away, so let us know if you have any questions or doubts! Um abraço and good luck! Monica | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1601 (Response to #1589) 01/30/2008 | Hi Janet, Lurking is also part of learning. It is not always that we can dedicate as much as we would like to. We all do our share of lurking. We will be waiting for your return whenever you are able to do so. Hugs from Brazil José Antônio | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1619 01/30/2008 | Hi Janet! Lurking? You are here keeping your own pace, enjoy the ride. Love: Maru | Jose Antonio da Silva #1636 01/31/2008 | Hello Everyone, I have just visited the wiki page Tools Created by Participants http://baw08participants.pbwiki.com/Tools-participants and it is looking better and better as participants continue posted what they have created there. I have see blogs and wikis. Some are newborn babies and some are babies with some months of age. It is great to see your learning process. Just one observation, when posting links make sure there is no period or comma or any other character close to it (always add a space, sometimes spaces are added automatically and the links are broken and you will have to remove the extra space). There were two wikis I couldn´t access. One is Natasa's http://lunas994.pbwiki.com/Natasa%27s+wiki. There was a period as you can see after the URL and I could not visualize it. I just removed the period and saw her baby wiki (congrats Natasha). The other one was Nouamane's wiki which seems to require a password to visit. So Nouamane, what you will need to do is change the settings. Contgratulations to all those posting there. I have posted comments of some of the blogs and will post some more later. Kind regards Jose Antônio | Carlos #1640 01/31/2008 | Dear Mod, As requested I have just posted on the wiki page what I have done so far, it isn't much... but I'm proud of what I was able to do on my own... A question: does anyone know where I can write online quizzes, besides ESLvideo... It sometimes doesn't work very well with wiki(It tends to disspear! Don't ask me why?) Do you make quizzes? / multiple choice answers to questions - what do you use? Thank you Carlos | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1641 (Response to #1640) 01/31/2008 | Hi Carlos, Week 5 will be only about creating online exercises, but I can already tell you that I use quia (www.quia.com - 30-day free trial), proprofs ( www.proprofs.com - free) and Script-O (www.readingmatrix.com/quizmaker free). Hope to have helped! regards from Brazil, Ronaldo | Lorena Recio #1642 01/31/2008 | Jose Antonio, you can come and visit if you want. I'm taking some pictures, as soon as I can, I'll send you some pictures so that you can see what a great country Argentina is (politics apart!). I would also like to visit Brazil, I haven't had the chance yet. See you all around, Lore | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1645 01/31/2008 | Dear Natasha: Have a nice trip. Do you want a bet? I bet you will manage to catch up, are you in? Interesting questions, I have no idea but I am willing to learn. Was there a chat yesterday? My goodness! I am missisng a lot! Love: Maru | Carlos #1664 01/31/2008 | Hello, Ronaldo Thank you for your help. I'll check the quizz sites you recommended as soon as I have the chance. Thank you so much. I only knew ESL - http://www.eslvideo.com/ but it frequently doesn't show upproperly in the wiki page. I'll give it a try. Thanks Carlos | Maite Martinez #1691 02/01/2008 | Hi everyone! Hope it is not too late to catch up work...I was so enthusiastic about this 2008 EVO and then when it was about to start got compulsory work to do and as always...little time for the rest. I am not sure I shall be able to catch up with all that has been done so far...last year I joined B4B and was of so much use and fun..so I hope I am not too late this year... I am a primary teacher and this year I have really little ones...a 7-8 year olds and EFL to 3 year olds...amazing, right? believe it or not I love it. this is my class blog: mozartsegundo2007@blogspot.com it is in spanish....and mainly works as a resource room for them until we get the computers started at school (hopefully soon it is a new school)... I am settling down to read most messages so far and hope to get to e-know you all soon. Maite | Maite Martinez #1693 02/01/2008 | Dear all, I had a sloppy start I guess...in post 1691 i misstyped an add instead of a dot...the blog adress is: mozartsegundo2007.blogspot.com sorry...Maite | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1697 (Response to #1691) 02/01/2008 | Hello Maite, That is beautiful name. Welcome to the group. It is never late to learn. We are all teachers and we know how hard all of us work. I ma a little quieter this week because I was a little busy in the afternoon and I missed all the excitment that goes around this group, but was able to catch up in the evening. We are in the week of blogs, wikis and podcasts. So just choose a blog host and start playing with it and then move to the other tools, I am sure you will be able to catch up. If you aren´t, you can always continue lerning throughout the year. There is no hurry. You are a teacher already. By the way, teaching kids that age might be a fascinating experience. José Antônio | Nina Liakos #1751 02/02/2008 | Welcome back, Maite, it is so nice to see you again! Nina Liakos | Monica Veado #1698 (Response to #1693) 02/01/2008 | Hi Maite, I've just visited your blog and left a message! ;-) Um abraco, Monica | Sally La Luzerne #1712 02/01/2008 | Hi everyone, I've just managed to put up my first blog although half of what I wrote seems to have disappeared! You can find it (I hope) at http://teachglobal.wordpress.com A good weekend to all of you! Sally La Luzerne-Oi **Please disregard the name Bernice on the address. | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1713 (Response to #1712) 02/01/2008 | Hello Sally, Beutiful and interesting blog you have opened. I liked reading what yu have writte about blogs. It did not open at first bvecaus it had two extra spacesin the URL. Let me share with you and the group, what I do everytime a link does not open: I copy the URL and click CONTROL L ( a small window pops up on your screen) and paste the URL in this window and look for extra/weird characters and extra space (yours had two extra spaces and I revove them). Another thng I learned with Dafne is to put the URL in a line of their own. I ewill post the link again. I hope this time it will openhttp://teachglobal.wordpress.com Thanks for sharing José Antônio | Monica Veado #1722 (Response to #1713) 02/02/2008 | Hi Sally, great blog, and the choice of topic was excellent. I'm a big fan of clean layouts and your page looks wonderful. Keep posting! :-) Um abraco, Monica | Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1724 02/02/2008 | Hi, Sally! Your blog has a very soft, pleasant and peaceful template. And the content is based on a very interesting topic. I liked what I read. Congrats! :-) Teresa | Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1734 02/02/2008 | To answer the question in activity 1-week 3, I followed the link there and ended up starting a new topic in the forum. Sorry if I wasn't supposed to! | OcsovszkyZsóia #1735 02/02/2008 | Dear Cordinators, Moderators, fellows, in the last days I could read some news about some who announced his/her lagging behind. Now I join to them: due some other duty I have to carry out in these weeks (English exam :-( mainly) I could not follow and implement the activites in the way I wanted to do. As I have already told some of you: I am planning to set up a page (which tool could be the best-hmmm, thats the question for myself) for teachers in Hungary, to found a communitiy place soemhow and start a professional dialogue with them about using web in teaching, (since here, in Hungary is quite undeveloped) by giving them hints, best practicies from all around the world and encourage them. So this is my plan and after the next week, I hope I can start to work on this, meanwhile Iam dreaming and learning through baw sessions and emails, shared experiences which I would like to thank you all. I hope I will catch up soon. Of course, Iam online most of the time and reading the emails, just I can not be as hard working as I would like to be.. See ya all Zsofi | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1741 (Response to #1735) 02/02/2008 | Hi Dear Zsofi, at a course like this, you always have a reasonable number of tools to explore and other activities as well and it is common fo people to fall behind. Don€ ¦´t worry, you can always catch up and in the end you will see how much you have learned. I think BaW is such a great even because people have choices of tools and activities and this is conductive to learning. As you have said, you have learned quite a bit already (I am glad to hear you are thinkingor a project) and I am sure you will learn more in the next 3 weeks. Please let us know if we can help you in any manner. Cheers, José Antônio | Sally La Luzerne #1743 02/02/2008 | Hi Jose Antonio, Thank you for your kind comments, helpful advice and for reposting the link! As I wrote, part of the posting disappeared. (I had included a lesson plan that worked well for me.) I saved it repeatedly, so I'm not sure why it disappeared. Also the links within the blog kept running together even though they looked double spaced in the window I was typing in. I see two of them are still combined. In anycase, this activity broke the ice for me, and I feel more confident about trying to use blogs in my classes. Thanks again, Sally | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1747 (Response to #1743) 02/02/2008 | Hi Sally, Thanks alot for your kind words. I am glad I could help. Blogs and lots of online tools are about trial and error. I have lost count of the times I felt frustrated with them. Just one thing I discovered about disappearning posts or comments in Wordpress. When you post a comment and ti disappears, pres the backspace key on top of your blog page and you will see what you have written. Then, you should copy it (just in case you lose what you have written) and try to post again, it has always waorked for me and my students. This also happesn in Blogger. Sometimes I have to submit a comment about three times. In Wordpress, when you have all your students submiting comments at the same time it says "Slow down cowboy, you going too fast" or something like that. Sometimes you get the post across, sometimes you just have to page back, like I said. Thanks again for your reply. José Antônio | Sally La Luzerne #1750 (Response to #1747) 02/02/2008 | Jose Antonio, Thanks for another great tip! Sally | Sally La Luzerne #1752 (Response to #1750) 02/02/2008 | Dear Hala, Monica, Ronaldo, and Jose Antonio, Thank you for your comments to my blog. I enjoyed reading them. Sally | Sally La Luzerne #1746 02/02/2008 | Thank you, Monica, for your comments! I'll try to keep posting. Um abraco for you too, Sally | Sally La Luzerne #1748 02/02/2008 | Hi Teresa, Thank you for your comments. I'm glad you liked the topic. A colleague and I gave a talk on using global issues in language teaching at a 2006 Hawaii TESOL Conference. At that time, we did extensive research on the online materials available. Yesterday I was disappointed to find that many of those links no longer work or have materials. One is now even charging for materials that were free downloads in the past. All the best, Sally | Melanie Ellis #1761 02/03/2008 | Hello everyone, I'm participating here, a bit slowly, but just about keeping track. I've just set up my first, very basic, blog and I'd love you to visit and add some comments about what you do to proofread a piece of writing after you have written the first draft. You will find it at http://nkjowriting.blogspot.com Looking forward to hearing from you Melanie Ellis | Dafne #1770 02/03/2008 | Very useful blog, Melanie :-) I have just left a message there :-) cheers, Daf | Mbarek Akaddar #1766 02/03/2008 | Dear all Though I feel myself lagging behind with Szofi and others , I 'm still hopeful to catch up with the group one day. Meanwhile , I invite you to have a look at my blog where I embedded some google gadgets , youtube , vaestro etc www.akaddar.blogspot.com plenty of google gadgets are at http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open&source=gghp"> http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open&source=gghp Good luck | Dafne #1768 02/03/2008 | Awesome blog!!! Congratulations :-) I left a voice message ;-) Cheers, Daf | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1769 (Response to #1768) 02/03/2008 | Hi Mbarek, Nice Blog. I left a comment there. Thanks for sharing. José Antônio | Sue #1772 (Response to #1769) 02/03/2008 | Dear Akaddar, What a wonderful blog. It inspires me to learn how to do it myself. Do you know if you can put a 'menu' at the top of your blog, as you have so many interesting things in it? Susan | Mbarek Akaddar #1786 (Response to #1772) 02/03/2008 | Dear Daf , José Antonio , Hala ,Susan , Tereza ,Nina , Monica ,Ronaldo Thank you very much for your motivating and encouraging audio and text comments. I m very happy to share it with you. best Wishes | Sabrina #1775 02/03/2008 | Hi Everybody! I have just arrived from my holidays and that's the reason why I haven't participated much during these three weeks. i have read as much as I could but I couldn't devote too much time to do the things we were asked to do during the course because I didn't have access to a good internet conection. However, I will try to do my best during these three weeks. I haven't been able to create a new blog but i would like to share with you the blog we have created at the institute where I work during 2007: www.challengeeducation.blogspot.com It would be great if you can tell me what you think about it and how we can improve it this year. Kind regards Sabrina | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1776 (Response to #1775) 02/03/2008 | Hi Sabrina, I see you have been blogging for a while. Your blog www.challengeeducation.blogspot.com (there were some extra spaces in the URL) looks so beautiful. I like the way you customized it. I also checked and liked your voice thread post with a story with an open end for readers to finish. Teat is a great idea to work with voice tools. I am sure you will be able to catch up. Kind regards José Antônio | Sharon Betts #1778 (Response to #1776) 02/03/2008 | Welcome Sabrina, Your company blog is very well setup and inviting. Don't hesitate to jump in with the week 4 activities and review weeks 1-3 as you find the time. We are happy to have you here. Sharon | Isabel Neves #1777 02/03/2008 | I have been having problems in dealing with all the tasks to be done and since I have projects already going on , I decided not to create anything new. I have posted my links onto the database and if you want to have a look at my webprojects visit me at isabelcneves.googlepages.com Something I would like to experiment with are podcasts and I'll try to have a look at the resources on the wiki. Uploading a video requires html or the url , you just have to edit the page on html. If you want to invite people to write in your blog you have to make them authors, I guess and insert their e-mail. Inserting a photo in your blog is also easy to do... Well all the best isabel neves | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1783 (Response to #1777) 02/03/2008 | Hello Isabel, Sometimes it is difficult to cope with so many tasks because we have other things to do. About the projects you have, I browsed some of your pages. The wiki you have is very interesting, I like the songs you have there. I think it is a great idea having a page like yours with songs for students to listen and sing along. A very nice idea. You have also opened a wiki on podcasts and videos and see that you are still working on it, but I saw you have some listening activities there. There are other blogs also with collaborative projects you have. I liked the way you set up a google pages to post all the links. This is great because your students won´t have to memorize so many links, they would just have to go to the google pages and they will find what they are looking for. I agree with you, you really don´t need to ceate any new blogs or wikis, if you already have those. Sharing them with the rest of the group gives us an opportunity to learn with you. Thanks for sharing such an interesting way of integrating your online work. Abraços José Antônio | Carlos #1787 02/03/2008 | I've done my best to realise all the tasks. Unfortunately, a bit like Isabel we had a crazy week at school and I haven't been able to cope with all of it. I had, before Baw08, built my own blog and stsrted a wiki. This week, I started creating, along with Isabelle Aub, a joint blog for our stufents from both schools to communicate... you may consider it as a BAW08 baby... I went to chinswing and voicethread and, in both cases, created materials I plan to use in lessons. All of this is in the proper section of the wiki page - BAW08. Can't find questions to answer, only found points to reflect upon, and that even in the little time I had, I did... So I hope to go on to week 4... I need a hand, with blogger - how do I introduce questions with the possibility to include posts? I have tried but can't seem to find it. Thanks again Carlos | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1790 (Response to #1787) 02/03/2008 | Hi Carlos, Week 3 really has plenty of tools to explore and I think this variety makes it richer and gives participants an opportunity to pick up tools they think will be more useful for their realities. It is hectic and people do fall behind sometimes. Nonetheless they get a glimpse of blogs, wikis, and podcasts and will certainly be aware of their main features and will probably be able to utilize them in the future if they need with little or no help from others. I have visited the links you have just posted on the wiki and I liked what you did with voice thread. I understand a little French and enjoied the slide show with audio you set up in voice thread. That is the spirit. About the questions in Week 3, in the item number 2 of the weekly activities there is a series of HOW TO questions (most of which you and many participant have already answered by creating your blogs or wikis). About Blogger, I guess ( if I understood your question correctly), you would have to include the question in the post. In Blogger and other blog hosts, each post is separated from the other because they are organized by date and time. If there is a way to do that, someone will tell us about it and I will also learn ABraços José Antônio | Sharon Betts #1792 (Response to #1790) 02/03/2008 | Don't worry Carlos You are actually using some of the tools from week 4 which means you can continue your blog and experiments with those voice tools for another week. Sharon | Return to topProblems Jose Antonio Da Silva #1459 01/27/2008 | Hi Carlos, Don´t worry. The server will certainly be ok today and you will be able to place your comment. We are looking forward to reading it. A wonderful week 3 for you too. José Antônio | Dennis Oliver #1472 (Response to #1459) 01/28/2008 | Olá, Carlos. In message #1448 you wrote that you had had problems accessing the BaW blog and wished all of us a wonderful week 3. I also had some problems with the BaW blog, but not in accessing it. I opened it successfully twice (with no problems at all), but one of my comments disappeared after it SEEMED to be posted successfully. I have had the same experience with other blogs (using WordPress, Blogger, and other blog hosts), however, so when the comment mysteriously disappeared, I just shrugged my shoulders, aid to myself "This happens sometimes," and considered this frustrating experience to be part of the learning process. I echo your good wishes for all in Week 3. Good luck in making your next blogpost! Até logo— Dennis in Phoenix | Return to topLive Sessions Fernanda Rodrigues #1507 (Response to #1504) 01/28/2008 | Hi, dear BaWers I have finally managed to put the recording of Michael Coghlan's presentation online. You can find it here:http://streaming.prof2000.pt/ Here are some instructions: Click on the URL, and you'll get a window requiring autentication; use baw08 for the username and password; then click on the folder baw08, and on the right window, click on the file p2.mp3; then click on the player (arrow) on the left top. Enjoy! Beijinhos Fernanda Fernanda Rodrigues Setubal Portugal | Dafne #1508 (Response to #1507) 01/28/2008 | The recording and instructions have also been added to Michael's page at: http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Michael-YM which is linked to our live sessions page. hugs, Daf | Return to topAnswers to Week 2 questions Isabelle #1509 01/28/2008 | Hey everyone ! I'm so sorry to be late to answer this week's questions. I've had a wonderful week end at Mont Sainte Anne, been skiing for two days... but now I have a lot of catching up to do (my, you guys post A LOT of things in one day !!!). *How do you start a conference and invite guests at Yahoo Messenger? When I open YM, I click on "Actions", then "Invite to conference". Then a new dialog bow will open, asking me who, from my contact list, I would like to invite. I select the people and press "Invite". The conference then starts. *How do you save your chatlogs to your hard drive at YM?When the conversation ends, click on "menu" and choose "save as". Give the conversation a name (I personally choose the name of the person I've been chatting with and the date!), and then click "save". *How do you display your picture at YM? Go to "Messenger" in the top bar, then click on "Display Image". Click on "Share my picture", a new window will appear. You can either choose one of the pics displayed or use the "Browse" button to look into your files and upload your own pic. Once it appears into the gallery of pictures on the left, select it and press OK. Sorry if I'm pretty inactive on the forum and blog, I try to catch up with all the stuff we're doing, listen to all the podcats,read all the tutorials, but it's a lot of work for me. I teach full time, and have little time left at all for this course. Thanks to all the moderators and co-moderators for your help, as well as to all participants for sharing great ideas and techniques !! I'm learning so much from it ! Talk to you soon! Isabelle | Monica Veado #1511 01/28/2008 | Hi Isabelle, don't worry, you're doing great! It's not easy to teach full time and follow a course and that's why most things here happen in an asynchronous fashion! ;-) So take your time, there's no need to rush. All the links, texts and activities will be here long after the course is over, so you can always go back and try something different. Taking a break in the mountains sounds like a wonderful idea! Hope you can meet us tomorrow at 21.00GMT for Graham's session at WiZiQ. Here's the link to follow: http://tinyurl.com/2sf8m8 You can also check Dafne's message here (#1502) for details and instructions. Um abraço, Monica http://projectplatypus2.blogspot.com | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1516 01/28/2008 | Hello Iabelle, It is never late to learn. I am so happy you are done with the week 2 tasks. We all deserve some rest and a vacation. So skiing? Wonderful. I wish I could ski. A Brazilian can€ ¦´t go that far. I have gone cross country skiing, though. It was really cool. I did not try skiing. I am too clumsy for that and I was afraid of breaking my neck I am gald you are back in the game. Week 3 is really exciting. Please let us know ifyou need any help. Hugs José Antônio http://thomasja.wordpress.com http://joseantoniook.edublogs.org | Return to topWeek 3 Return to topWelcome Monica Veado #1444 01/27/2008 | Dear participants, As we move closer to wrapping up our very successful week 2, we would first like to thank you all once again for joining this session and for making it so special. Thanks must also be conveyed to our industrious week 2 moderators – Fernanda, Jose Antonio and Dennis - who seemed to be online 24/7 and were always around helping with our questions and doubts, encouraging further discussions and keeping the ball rolling. And many thanks to Dafne and Teresa for doing such an amazing job as coordinators! In week 3 we would like to invite you to explore the fascinating world of blogs, wikis and podcasts. We know that some of you have very impressive backgrounds using these tools in professional and educational settings, so feel free to jump in anytime to help us; the Webheads world is all about sharing and we will certainly benefit from your expertise! So have a look at what we have prepared for you visiting Week 3 page in our wikihttp://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Week3 and exploring some of the tools and activities posted. Do not feel that you need to try everything in one go; remember that the links will always be available there, so you're welcome to come back at any time to try new tools or revisit some of them! Check our suggested readings for the week clicking on the widget athttp://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Readings and post your comments and thoughts in our forum (click on week 3) http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/baw08.html Our guest speaker this week is Graham Stanley, a teacher and ICT coordinator for the British Council in Barcelona and also a teacher at the school of tourism of the Univ. of Ramon Llull. Meet us for a chat in WiZiQ http://www.wiziq.com on Tuesday, Jan 29, at 21.00 GMT. You can check your local time clicking herehttp://www.qlock.com/time/gmaps?map=1 There are some great videos on blogs, wikis and web2.0 tools in general in our Video gallery, check them out:http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Videos Finally, we would like to draw your attention to other important links you can find on our wiki:http://dafnegonzalez.com/baw/glossary.html containing a very useful glossary with some of the most relevant web 2.0 terms, http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Tutorials with explanations on how to use some of the most important tools used in this course, andhttp://baw-08.pbwiki.com/UsesofTools where you can find a collection of great ideas participants have come up with on how to use with your students some of the tools we have been exploring. So fasten your seatbelts and get ready for take-off! And remember that help is just a click away so do not hesitate to contact us at any time if you have any questions. Hugs (e um abraço!) Jose Antonio, Monica and Nelba Week 3 moderators | Nelba #1471 01/28/2008 | Hello, dear BaW08 participants and welcome to week 3 about blogs and wikis. My name is Nelba Quintana and I will co-moderate this week with José and Mónica. I would be very pleased to help you with blogging. You will find me online at Yaho chat in the mornings ( I live in Argentina ) My ID is nelbaq. Looking foward to meeting you :) | Silvia Colombo #1491 01/28/2008 | Hi Nelba! Thank you! I'm ready to start! Silvia from Argentina. | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1520 01/28/2008 | Hi Nelba! Thanks afor your offer of help, be sure I will take advantage of it. I am glad to "see" you again. I remember I met you for the first time last year and that you were then on holiday, I also remember myself thinking "This girl sure is a great teacher! Who on earth would be checking on a course being on Holiday?" You made a great blog along with Melba Quintana. Well, after the time we shared on BaW07 I could confirm my idea, and now to my pleasure I find you as co-moderator for Baw08, thanks for being there. I do not know in wich City you are, are you in Buenos Aires? Please let me know to try to contact you in the mornings. The whole country of Mexico has the same GMT time, is it the same in Argentina? Love: Maru | Return to topHelp needed Elfina #1498 01/28/2008 | Hello all! Do you know what the word HELLO means? If you visit Teresa€ ¦’²s website (http://fwe2.motime.com), you€ ¦’²ll find out what these 5 magic letters stand for: H=How are you? E=Everything all right? L=Like to hear from you L=Love to see you soon! O=Obviously, I miss you€ ¦’¥ So, HELLO! (from http://fwe2.motime.com) (I fell in love with your interpretation of HELLO, Teresa, the moment I saw it!) I would also like to thank Teresa, Monica and Sharon for your comments on our little chinswing experiment. I must confess it€ ¦’²s quite a challenge for me to keep up with all the events and activities happening here. I€ ¦’²m copying all the links, you are all sharing, to my Favourites folder to explore them later when I have more free time. I€ ¦’²m also printing out the articles from our Weekly readings to do some Metro reading :-) I would also like to share a problem I€ ¦’²ve been experiencing for some time now. Perhaps some of you have had a similar one and might help me to fix it. It happened during the Week 1 live online session. It was full house and the participants were having some technical difficulties now and then. I was using a Sandbox A for audio streaming with RealPlayer when all of a sudden the RealPlayer Message window popped up. It was something about RealPlayer cannot play the clip. RealPlayer went dead. I managed to use iTunes to listen to the session to the end. But since then it has been and still is a problem to skype anybody. I€ ¦’²ve tried a Skype test call, I€ ¦’²ve asked several people to skype me. I can hear people speaking but they cannot hear me (there is something wrong with my settings). I reinstalled RealPlayer, I checked the Volume Control settings (Microphone is not mute) but it didn€ ¦’²t help. The same thing happened when I took a tour to Second Life with David Winet and during our Week 2 live session (Part 2). I could hear others talking but my € ¦’±voice€ ¦’² was silent. Does anybody have an idea what might be the problem? What settings should I check or change to restore the microphone function? Or should I reinstall Skype? If I need to do so, how can my contacts be saved? I would very much appreciate your help. Thank you. Best, Elfina | Sharon Betts #1512 01/28/2008 | Elfina, Can you test your microphone by recording something? Does it work in chinswing for example? or if on windows try to record something using the built-in recorder at Start > All Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Recorder If those work, your microphone works and it is probably a setting in Skype. Sharon | Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1536 01/29/2008 | Dear Elfina, Thank you for your enthusiasm with the meaning of "HELLO". Actually, I didn't invent, but wish I had. I got it in a message and thought it was appropriate for my students in that particular post. Hugs, Teresa | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1543 01/29/2008 | Dear Webheads: I reserved today to check the Baw08 digest, and when I finally finished and wanted to check the weekly activities to start on them tomorrow I found out that the Weekly Activities Wiki Page shows only the Pre Sessions Threads. I tried to find the history button to see if I could get back the whole list of activities but could not find it so I saved it without making changes. Could you please check that? Love: Maru | Dafne #1544 (Response to #1543) 01/29/2008 | Hi Maru, I have just checked the activities page, and it has active links to all the weekly activities, and the threads for pre-session, week-1 and week 2. cheers, Daf | Marcia Maria de Farias Nunes Martins #1550 01/29/2008 | I was esploring BaW blog as suggested in this week activities and this is what I found: "January 20, 2008...7:05 pm Tapped In Tour Sunday 29th Jan Jump to Comments Thanks to BJB for sharing her wonderful world with us. We all had a great tour of Tapped In today at 17.00 GMT" JAn 29th: Can anyone explain what calendar are we following? ;=) Thanks Márcia | Dafne #1551 (Response to #1550) 01/29/2008 | Hi Marcia, This is our calendar of live sessions:http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Live_Sessions Daf | Jaya #1576 01/30/2008 | Dear all, Could anyone tell me some of the ways to teach reading comprehension,paragraph writing and essay writing through wiki for adult learners? I am a beginner. regards, jaya | Monica Veado #1593 01/30/2008 | Hi Jaya, one of the simplest things you can do with your students is to have them edit a text on a wiki page. It's a simple activity but it's quite effective and it gives them the opportunity to have a first contact with wikis and how they work. You could focus on one aspect - grammar, putting paragraphs in order, separating the text into paragraphs, spelling, punctuation, word order, specific vocabulary, etc. Alternatively, you could ask them to create one text together, with each one adding to their classmates' sentences. One activity I'm preparing to try with my students focuses on mini- sagas (short stories with exactly 50 words). I tried it in the traditional 'paper and pen' fashion last year and they loved it, so I thought that wikis might be excellent for that! Once you start, I'm sure you're going to find lots of different things you can do with your students using wikis! Um abraço, Monica | Beyza Yilmaz #1605 01/30/2008 | Dear jaya, I've been using wikis for five months and as my sts need to write lots of paragraphs .What I sometimes do in my class wikis is to post two or three paragraphs to them and ask sts to find the best one and why they have chosen it as the best paragraph.As they know how I grade their paragraphs (criteria),they need to base their ideas on the criteria.Another activity I do with wikis is errror correction.After checking their first drafts, I post some of the problematic ones to the wiki (without writing the name of these sts) and ask the sts to give some advice to their friends about how to improve their paragraphs.I can send you some of my class wikis if you like. Best wishes Beyza question on wiki Posted by: "jaya balasubramanian" jaichelluin@yahoo.co.in jaichelluin Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:28 am (PST) Dear all, Could anyone tell me some of the ways to teach reading comprehension, paragraph writing and essay writing through wiki for adult learners? I am a beginner. regards, jaya | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1611 01/30/2008 | Hi Jaya! A beginner? That's an excellent question, you have great ideas. I would also like to know the answer. Love: Maru | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1628 01/30/2008 | Dear Beyza I will take your offer, I would love to see some of your class wikis, could you please send the links? You mention that you have been using wikis with them for 5 months, could you also give me the profile of your students? I mean, age, grade, etc. How many students do you have per group?, Have you used blogs with them? Love: Maru | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1629 (Response to #1628) 01/30/2008 | Dear Beyza I will take your offer, I would love to see some of your class wikis, could you please send the links? You mention that you have been using wikis with them for 5 months, could you also give me the profile of your students? I mean, age, grade, etc. How many students do you have per group?, Have you used blogs with them? Love: Maru | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1665 01/31/2008 | Hi dear Bawers! Could someone tell me please how to upload properly and excel page to a wiki? After being uploaded the data shows alright but the format is lost! Is it possible to upload an excel page? or do I have to create a table inside wiki? The latter would mean a lot of pages re-doing but if that's the way a wiki works... Who am I to complain? Love: Maru | Angelika Carlson #1705 02/01/2008 | A question to all BaW-ers who use MP3 players in their classrooms: I am looking to buy an MP3 player to play podcasts (and book-readings) in the classroom. What features do I need? Easy to read display is top of my list. But what about technical details? Is it enough if it plays MP3 format or should it also play ogg and other formats? Should the player itself have bookmark facility? What else is important? Thank you for your advice. Angelika P.S: Thank you, Jose Antonio, for your advice on del.ici.ous. Seems like you just have a better nomenclature system... | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1707 (Response to #1705) 02/01/2008 | Hi Anglika, I am sorry for not eading that yu already use delicious. For some reason, the window that opened in my e-mail just let me read half of it. Just now I saw that you had mentioned it. Besides that, I guess I am just abig fan of delicious. I try to tag things with as many anmes as possible and than it is always possible to find. I also use Delicious to find out new resources. If I think I don´t have enough articles or sites on a given topic, I click on the tab ALL on top and find everything other people tagged with delicious and if they are good, I save them. I did that with Connectivism and I found fantastic articles and presentaions. This is one of the jewels I came accross clicking on AAL in delicious http://media.dicole.com/presentations/eden2007/index.html It is a presentation called Serendipity 2.0 the Third Place of Learning. I found it simply fantastic. If you have some time, watch/listen to it. About MP3, I generally fllok for the ones that have a good voice recorder, good memory capability. I guess other people will come along and give more suggestions. I export alot of things I record in audacity to my MP3 and then listen to them (especially presentations) while I am driving. Cheers José Antônio | Kat Urbaniak #1719 (Response to #1707) 02/02/2008 | I second JA on a voice recorder and big memory. :-) Kat | Sharon Betts #1725 (Response to #1719) 02/02/2008 | Great advice so far. We also found that players with easy to use buttons and ones that export directly to a USB port are very easy for students. We have several of the Olympus (no affiliation with the company) that plug directly in to the computer with no cords to lose. Sharon | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1756 02/02/2008 | Dear e-teachers: I need your ideas and comments to set up my project. Could you give me your advice please? Athough right now I am not teaching, I have a local group of teenagers who follow me (besides my nephews, nieces and friend€ ¦’²s kids that live in San Luis). I am determined to get a group of students and at the same time continue with my Apostolate and Community work. In order to practice the e-tools presented here, I will set my heart to persuade most of them to join me as students, the challenge is to keep them interested because it would be an extra curricular class, they would have to spare time, f2f contact does not have a schedule, we neither have a classroom or computer at home and I need to learn how to use blogs, wikis, yahoo groups, podcasts, etc. first!! The description of the local group is as follows: Their age range is 14 to 18 years old Some of them work and study Some go to school in the mornig while others go in the afternoon Non of them speaks English The older ones use the computer to chat, the e-mail to send PPP presentations and have metroflogs to post images. Some of them do not know how to use a computer. (Like me! :-) ) What I found at the Cybers around here is that: The PC€ ¦’²s do not have graphic cards. Only one of the Cybers has original programs. Most of the PC€ ¦’²s have XP system though I found one with Milenium, none of them has Vista. The PC€ ¦’²s memory varies: 248MB, 448MB, 480MB, 512MB, 1GB, The PC's processors: 945 MHz, 1.2 GHz, 1.8 GHz I am at the other end of Andy Pincon€ ¦’²s project, he works with imigrants in U.S.A and I have access to the children left in Mexico. As he found out there, we need to teach them how to use the computer first and then proceed with English lessons. Which would be an effective course design? How could I keep them going back to the cyber to learn? The lessons have to mean fun! Do you know of an online test to find out their English level? Could you direct me to computer tutorials in Spanish? Should I leave it open to any teenager interested to join? I am afraid I will have to set a course totally online, maybe if I start with the local group to see their reactions would be a good idea. To start and annual course sounds great! What do you think? Thanks in advance. Love: Maru. | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1759 (Response to #1756) 02/03/2008 | Dear Maru, This seems to be an interesting and challenging project. From the tools we have seen, I guess twinning blog project would be good (a wiki would also work). The ideal thing would be finding a colleague who happens to have a group at about the same age and start the exchanges on a blog at the language level they are. You could have activities with introductions and so on having both groups posting to the blog and interacting. Having computers in the school or in students home helps, but if you don€ ´t have, a cyber cafe is a good solution. Their level of computer literacy won€ ´be a big problem, I bet they will learn how to use them in notime (this actually is going to make your classes very meaningful and interesting to them). It is very important that you plan ahead the activites you are going to doat the cyber cafe to avoid wasting precious time when you are there. You can always brainstorm the activity, have them talk about the subject, have them write a draft or an outline if this is the case. This makes them more confident and sets the mood for the computer activity. That is what I can think of for the moment. I am sure more people will come along with some other ideas. I am sure this will be a very interesting project. José Antônio | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1760 (Response to #1757) 02/03/2008 | Hello Isabelle, I am not a specailist in blogger, but mine generally gives me all the bloggin options I need if I click on the buttom "Personalize/cutomize." The only think I could think of is the your role in the blog. Check the sttings to see if you are the author or just a collaborator, it might explain why your options are limited. I looked for it in the page "tools creaed by participants" and couldn€ ¦´t see how it looks. Maybe you could send us the link and post it there to get some feedback. I hope I could help. José Antônio | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1762 (Response to #1760) 02/03/2008 | Hi Isabelle, Are you sure you are talking about blogger (www.blogger.com)? Because those ("Connexion", "create a blog" or "personalize") are not the options given by blogger. On the top right there is "dashboard", "help" and "sign out", and in each blog's dashboard there are the options "view blog", "new post", "manage posts", "manage settings" and "manage layout". As JA said, give us more details, as the url, and I'm sure many people will be willing to help. Kindest regards from Brazil, Ronaldo | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1763 02/03/2008 | Guys, does anyone know if with the free version of PBwiki it is possible to remove the "quickstart" and/or the "recent activity" sections of the sidebar? Thanks! Ronaldo | Dafne #1767 (Response to #1763) 02/03/2008 | Hi Ronaldo, Yes, you can delete the quick start, recent activity and any page you wish to delete. Go to "show all pages" at the bottom of any page, and then you will see all the pages listed, and on the right of each page there is a tab that says "delete". Click on it :-) I usually delete the quick start page, not so the recent activity because I like to see who and from where are the visitors to my wiki. I delete all pages when I am going to use a wiki for a presentation. In this way I have the whole page as a PPT slide. Like in this one:http://wiki-wholelanguage.pbwiki.com hugs, Daf | Mbarek Akaddar #1771 02/03/2008 | Dear Maru, I'm actually working with my students on sudents unlimited project at www.iearn.org As a facilitator , I have registered my students ,I have given them passwords and got them to talk about their project to other students and teachers from different parts of the world .At this platform , you can find a variety of student projects that may help you to decide on your own .Once your registration is accepted , you are allowed to register your students who will be allowed to log in and participate in different forums and discussions with other students from all over the world.Their need to communicate with others and to talk about their project will motivate them to develop the linguistic and technological skills to do so.I hope this would help. Good luck Mbarek | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1779 02/03/2008 | Wow Daf, thanks a lot! Now I'm even more in love with pbwiki. Looking at this menu (which I'm a little embarrassed to admit I hadn't seen yet...) not only could I remove the quick start page, but I could also do other three cool things: I added tags to my wiki - I got html code to have a little widget to promote my wiki (I added the widget to the tools created by participants page of baw08 wiki) - I submitted my wiki to google sitemaps (I didn't even know what that was!) About turning the wiki into one online PPT presentation, you said you delete all pages. How different would that be from using the "portfolio" option? Well, if you guys want to check my brand new wiki, I'd be glad to get some feedback, but I'm still working on it (I guess I've done half the work so far):http://strategiesproject.pbwiki.com Thanks a lot Daf! Kindest regards from Brazil, Ronaldo | Natalia #1781 (Response to #1779) 02/03/2008 | Hi, Ronaldo , what a wonderful wiki. I like everything so much that I feel sorry that my course on "Psycholonguistic Foundations for Foreign language Learning and Teaching " is over. Strategies is one of the topics in the course:my students do questionnaires, readings and we have discussions. I am personally very much interested in developing cognitive strategies in L1 and L2 (FL1 - foreign language one) with primary children learning FL2 in the school context. I will have another group of students doing this course ( starts next September) and visiting and contributing to your wiki page could be one of the students' activities. I hope you do not mind. I am also interested in communication strategies in the classroom/ I have some publications on this topic but they are in Russian. Thanks for your site, Natalia | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1784 (Response to #1781) 02/03/2008 | Hello Ronaldo, Waht a beautiful and interesting wiki you came up with. That shows how asking questions can be profitable. I really didn´t knwo how to get rid of that quick start tab, now I know and I have learned a little more. Thanks a lot for asking and sharing your progress. I am sure many of us have learned with you. Abraços José Antônio | Melanie Ellis #1780 02/03/2008 | Hi everyone, I've had a good time looking through different blogs today and found quite a few where there are language exercises for EFL learners. If I want to make my own exercise, such as a reading text and then questions to go with that, that have an answer which only appears if you click on a button, which program can I use to do this? Is it HotPotatoes? Or what do other people recommend? I'm interested in different kinds of exercises- gap fill, multiple choice, true/false and quizzes. Melanie | Ramona Dietrich #1782 02/03/2008 | Hi Melanie, You are talking about Week 5 - we are going to have lots of fun exploring tools that allow us to make interactive exercises. I just activated a 30-free trial version of Quia. I am having so much fun creating exercises for my technology classes!!! It's easy to use and lots of different activities and quiz options to choose from. Be patient and next week we will sort through all the possibilities:-) Beijinhos until Week 5, Ramona | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1788 02/03/2008 | Hi Guys, I have set a blog in blogger and I would like to change the language to English. How do I do that? I mean the tabs with editing options should be in English. How do I change that? http://thomastg.blogspot.com/ José Antônio | Fernanda Rodrigues #1789 (Response to #1788) 02/03/2008 | Hi, JA In Settings/Formatting, you can choose the language. Fernanda | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1791 (Response to #1789) 02/03/2008 | Thanks a lot Fernanda., I tried a lot and couldn´t find it. Abraços José Antônio | Return to topChaotic Days Dafne #1666 (Response to #1665) 01/31/2008 | Today, I had a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" It started very late last night or very early in the morning (depending on your view). At around 2 am I was struggling with a pbwiki set with the Point & Click editor to post two class modules that I planned for Second Life. Every time I saved my work, all the formatting of the pages changed: fonts became larger or smaller, blank spaces showed on different parts of the page, tables showed in different parts of the pages, not to mention that while I was writing, the screen became frozen :-( Well, in the morning, I had a meeting with my boss in Languagelab, and I my voice was choppy, he could not understand what I was saying. We tried skype and the problem remained. So, I decided to use my new laptop (HP, with Vista Business, 180 GB hard disk, 2G RAM memory, remote control, inbuilt webcam and mic, and very light). Surprise!!!!! Windows Vista had vanished from my two-month old laptop :-( When we were about to cancell the meeting, I remembered that my son has a Dell laptop, so I decided to download Second Life, and we had our meeting with clear sound, and easy movements :-) I phoned the technician who always fixes my computers, told him the problem, and left for the university for a meeting with the Dean of Graduate Studies. The meeting lasted 5 hours. After this long boring meeting, I took my car and for unknown reasons, there was such a traffic jam that I spent 3 hours to get home (it usually takes me half an hour) :-( When I got home, the technician was already working on my laptops. He was able to restore the sound on my old laptop. The problem was related to a router he installed last week. Then, he started working on the new one, there was no way to get WVista back. The recovery CDs did not work either. Finally, he decided to contact the support team via chat. After 2 hours trying all the solutions they came up with, nothing worked :-( They finally asked for all my information and they will send new recovery disks by special mail at no cost for me. So, I have to wait for 7 to 10 days to have my computer back to work, hopefully. Of course, all my work is behind. However, I decided that after this "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day", I should go to bed, and wish for a better day tomorrow. Hugs to all, and sorry for this long post, but I needed get all this out of my system ;-) Daf | Michael Coghlan #1667 (Response to #1666) 01/31/2008 | I really feel for you Daf. This all sounds very stressful. One day a few years ago when I was travelling I had a day like this and I wanted to give it all away because it seemed whether or not the tools I needed to do my job worked properly was completely beyond my control. But next day everything was working again and I'm still here online :-) But days like you just had do test your patience and resolve to stay in this 'business.' - Michael | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1672 (Response to #1667) 01/31/2008 | Hi Dafne, I am so sorry to know about that. Technolog and computers can be really stressful sometimes. I have been lucky this time not to have anytbig problems with mine. Nelba is still having problems with hers. I wonder how you felt having to wait for this long and at the end having to wait for 10 more days. José Antônio | Cristina Costa #1674 (Response to #1672) 02/01/2008 | Dear Dafninha, I hope everything will get back to normal. Technology can be wonderful, but even it decides not to work it can be a huge pain! I have had techie problems in the most inappropriate situations too and it just gets on my nerves. I am surprised you are so calm. I would have gone bald by now, as I would have probably released all my stress on pulling my hair ... and jogging for hours. I hope it all comes back to normal very soon and that you are able to catch up with your work. These two first months of the year are so hectic...so I really hope everything gets back to normal really soon. I have huge black circles under my eyes and I am not doing even half as much as you. I don't know how you manage it. You are my hero and my mentor. Hang in there and please do take a rest. I hope you have had great night sleep. The pillow sometimes is our best friend. Beijinhos and tight hugs. Cris | Hala #1675 (Response to #1674) 02/01/2008 | Dearest Dafinha, Things like these, when happen, we say in Arabic "taati al masaaybu tibaan." Meaning: bad things, or life crisis, combine together before reaching to you and then come one after another in no time. ( authentic translation!!) Two weeks ago, I installed SL on my PC getting ready for a trial that could create a new bond between us ( me and SL). It crashed! Last week I installed SL on my laptop for a tour with another session. It worked fine and I enjoyed the time I spent walking, flying, drowning, crashing and being dumb very much.So, I added my SL ID to our database. The day before yesterday, Wednesday, I uninstalled SL from my laptop.Why? Weird things began to happen and it started to be very heavy.To upload or open a page, you can make a nice tasty cup of coffee and come back before it comes up on the scree. I don't mean that the cause of this is SL ( I will be assassinated by SLanders.:-)) Great that you poured it out here and shared it with us. I am sure you had a good sleep and you will always be our wise cool Dafne! tight hugs, Hala | Monica Veado #1686 (Response to #1675) 02/01/2008 | Dear Dafne, it's amazing that the exact same technology that was supposed to save you time and energy can actually make you more stressed, isn't it? Computers that have a mind of their own, cell phone batteries that go dead when you desperately need to make that call, cars that don't start when you are already late... It really looks like you're being tested, or that it's all just a really bad joke! Just like Murphy's Cyclist's Law: "No matter where you're going, it's always uphill and against the wind'! :-) But one thing we can be sure of is that every problem we have eventually becomes just an anecdote! My mother, possibly the calmest person I've ever met, used to say that on days like these we should think that maybe this whole mess was just your guardian angel keeping you out of bigger trouble... I'm glad things are working well now and it's certainly great to have you back. Um abraço, Monica | Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1683 02/01/2008 | Dear Daf, I also feel for you! So to help you survice through these frustrating times, here's Gloria Gaynor singing "I will survive"!!!!! It always gets me in a good mood! Get out of your chair, dance... enjoy! :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVqWV5UmJPo Beijinhos, Teresa | Sally La Luzerne #1694 02/01/2008 | Hang in there Daf. Hope today is a better day! Warm wishes, Sally | Dafne #1700 02/01/2008 | Thanks Michael, Jose Antonio, Tere, Monica, Berenice, Hala and Cristina for your supportive messages :-) I am here, with my oldie laptop. I've just had a successful 2 and a half hour meeting at SL without any glitch ;-) So, I am back and happy to be online :-) warm hugs, Daf | Susan Burg #1706 02/01/2008 | Dear all and dear Tere, First of all, Daf, that was a bad day and glad it is over...! Then I checked out the youtube video, Tere!! I was LOLing...it is so funny!! thanks.... Susan in Italy | Elderbob #1709 (Response to #1706) 02/01/2008 | Actually, I prefer this version....makes me laugh. elderbob | Antonella Berriolo #1708 02/01/2008 | Hi Dafne... it seems someone did vodoo to you ;o)) may be someone envious of your dancer qualities and habilities ;o) for the pbwiki, and everything in codes, when the page get to messy (i admit, i make tables in word and then "paste"... that can be very dangerous!!!) i use this free tool, many of you will know already http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/es/download.php notepad++ . You copy all the messy code, paste on the notepad++, save it as html...and all the code part is now in colours, beautiful, clear colours. and you can search words or codes in the document (you cannot in pbwiki), so it's easier to clean it or to spot where the problem is. Or to add some code, if you want to, for instance (I added anchors in a languagelab document). And for the vodoo... garlic, i was told. it keeps everything away. lol. Jocking. :o)) kisses. antonella | Isabel Teixeira #1711 (Response to #1708) 02/01/2008 | Dear Daf, I´m really sorry for what happened to you.I also bought a brand-new HP, with Vista Business, 160 GB hard disk, 2G RAM memory, remote control, inbuilt webcam and mic, and very light last week. I also I had problem with the DVD driver and had to install Windows Vista again, but I had it back today.I hope I have no more problems with it because I´m really enjoyng it! I also hope you get yours working soon! Hugs, Isabel Isabel Cristina de Araújo Teixeira | Elderbob #1716 (Response to #1715) 02/02/2008 | Smart cell phones and Linux....hmmmm.. elderbob | Lorena Recio #1731 02/02/2008 | Dear Daf, What a horrible day! (and I felt short, but I can't find a proper term for it). How an awful way to start the following day... but don't worry, apparently things are going to brighten up and you will have the time and energy to catch up with everything. Those days happen once in a while... and sometimes even more than once, we just have to cope with them and hope that someone else will also help us, which was your case with your webhead friends. Hope you are back and kicking! Have a nice day and other good days too :) Lore | Isabel Teixeira #1753 02/02/2008 | Dear Richard, If this happened to me I' d go nuts! This new notebook cost me a fortune! I hope you can get your computer fixed pretty soon.And let€ ¦´s pray that our HP notebooks just work fine . warmly, Isabel Teixeira Brazil | Return to topWords from the Heart MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1668 01/31/2008 | As a homage to the gate keepers of baw07 who rescued me more than once and to show newcomers that they are not alone in their pilgrimage to Become a Webhead at BaW08, I want to share my experiences and one anecdote. When I surf the net I tend to get lost, I was born without an internal compass, the same happens to me in the streets of Toluca . Sometimes I kicked myself out of a live session and could not get back in , on another instances I arrived an hour late to wonder where all the participants were, on countless occasions I messed up the participant€ ¦’²s wiki page. Regardless the reasons I found myself recurrently in a state of panic, shame, regret, frustration, etc. I worked long hours, stayed up late, woke up very early or in the middle of the night to run to the PC. As the course developed I realized that even when I was trying with all my might to mess things up€ ¦’¥ nothing terrible happened! I was even encouraged to continue messing around!? To my utter surprise, I always (I mean ALWAYS) there was an Angel, someone who showed me the way. They seemed to be lurking behind the bushes to jump in as soon as they sensed that I was in trouble. They are the guard keepers, standing at the gate of every site to watch over us. One day I was lost, for a change. I could not find Tapped Inn€ ¦’¥ although I had already registered! I did not know that I could mark a page as favorite! I ran in panic to Skype to find that Vance Stevens was online; I did not know who he was, I just knew that he was a Webhead that had allowed me to add him to my list of Skype contacts. I explained my situation and he willingly dropped me a salvation link to join the group; he even went to Tapped Inn as well. When we arrived to the room, everyone started saying: Hi Vance! It is great that you dropped by! Long time no see! How was your conference in Arabia? When are you planning to held de EVO Conference? Then I started to wonder€ ¦’¥ Who is this nice guy? When later I found out that he was THE Vance Stevens, a Legend among e-teachers, I felt a hole in my stomach. Wow! Everyone helps out in this Community; the Gurus and the newcomers. Love: Maru | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1673 (Response to #1670) 01/31/2008 | Hi Maru, This is one of the reasons I missed you at the beginning of the session: your kindness. Thank you so much for having this genuine appreciation for the webheads. What you have just said is absolutely true. There is always someone a click away to help. Sometimes people would come to us and be really embarassed thinking they are disturbing, interrupting, and it is never the case. In generall it is very easy to help. It is just copying and pasting a link, or just giving some directions, a piece of advice. We are a great community, not as big as we should be, but big enough to help those who need to learn and multiply the webhead way of being . Hugs to all Jos€ é Ant€ ônio | Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1679 (Response to #1673) 02/01/2008 | As my internet connection is miraculously holding on, I want to add myself to the homage. I identify myself so much with Maru's words. I can't stop wondering how you webheads manage to answer every query with the tons of messages you have to read. Thank you all! | Monica Veado #1687 (Response to #1679) 02/01/2008 | Dear Maru, that was a truly wonderful post and I second you 100%. It's amazing how quickly and willingly people here simply jump in to help each other in any situation, and how committed this community is to sharing and collaborating. We do not necessarily find this spirit everywhere we go and when we do encounter it, it should be treasured. Thank you for reminding us that being there for the others is not only good and fun, it's a terribly important thing to do in a world that will certainly become a much better place when we 'contaminate' other people with this virus! Um abraco, Monica | Sharon Betts #1704 02/01/2008 | Maru, What a nice tribute - what I find absolutely amazing is the way everyone grows and all of a sudden those that thought they were complete novices are helping others. More pats on everyones' backs. Sharon | Return to topWeek 3 Wrap up Monica Veado #1774 02/03/2008 | Dear participants, This is the end of our third week and we hope it has been as exciting to you as it has been to us, week 3 moderators. On behalf of the BaW08 team, we would like to thank you all for your active participation, and for bringing your expertise and thought-provoking comments into our discussions. We would also like to thank Graham Stanley, our guest speaker this week, for his fabulous live session on blogs and wikis at WiZiQ, and to all of you who were there. And thanks also to Dafne, Teresa and all our BaW08 co-mods for their constant support and incredible hard work! This week we investigated the world of blogs, wikis and podcasts; we now invite you to join our week 4 moderators, Sharon Betts, Ibrahim Rustamov and Kat Urbaniak, and explore virtual classrooms, voice and video mail. We are sure you are going to discover an entire new world of possibilities there! If you would like to 'rewind the tape' and check what we did during week 3, go to our wiki page where you will find all the activities, readings etc.http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Week3 Also, don't forget to check some practical applications of web 2.0 tools suggested by some of youhttp://baw-08.pbwiki.com/UsesofTools and links to some of the tools you have createdhttp://baw08participants.pbwiki.com/Tools-participants New links will be posted there as we move on, so go back to these pages regularly to see what's new! And remember that we are looking forward to your comments and reflections on the weekly readings, so visit our forum!http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/baw08.html Thank you again for making this a truly collaborative experience and for sharing not only what you know, but also your feelings and thoughts. A warm hug (e um grande abraço!) Jose Antonio, Monica and Nelba - week 3 moderators | Return to topTools Return to topSecond Life Mary #1452 01/27/2008 | Thanks Monica! You are the best! Obrigadão Monica! Você é a melhor! | Dafne #1453 (Response to #1452) 01/27/2008 | Dear all, We already have 20 participants interested in visiting Second Life. I have created a page on our wiki with preliminary instructions and some tutorial and informational videos at:http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/secondlife On this page we will post all the plans for our visit :-) Great week 3 for all! Daf | Mary #1454 (Response to #1453) 01/27/2008 | Sounds good, dear Dafne. my new computer does not have a good enough graphic card to support second life. I asked if i can upgrade it and it can't be upgraded. My only recourse is to buy a better computer. I hope it arrives in time for me to go on the tour with you all. | Natalia #1457 (Response to #1454) 01/27/2008 | Count me in for the the TOUr , too. Natalia | Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1480 01/28/2008 | Dear Natasa, You're not alone. I haven't felt any attraction to SL, but I won't miss it with Daf as our guide. Maybe the same thing that happened to Daf, myself and other Webheads regarding blogs a year after we were introduced to them will happen for me and SL: I'll get hooked!!!!!!!! ;-) Hugs, Teresa | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1514 01/28/2008 | Thanks Dafne! A tour is a very good idea! I am in the same boat Mary!!! I have asked the owner of the cyber cafe if I can download Second Life and he will let me know tomorrow, I would like to take the tour like you. Keep your fingers crossed and I may join you!!! Love: Maru | Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1552 01/29/2008 | Thanks Dafne! I AM taking lots of photos and I'd love to share them (well... some) with you. About the SL tour, when will it be? Sorry for asking, but I haven't had time to check all the messages. I'll add my name to the database as soon as I find out what my time zone is. Shame on me, I don't know yet :-( Love Mary | Dafne #1555 (Response to #1552) 01/29/2008 | No time set yet for the tour ;-) Maybe week 5. All the info is here:http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/secondlife Looking forward to the photos :-) Daf | Kat Urbaniak #1585 01/30/2008 | A little off the topic of EFL but here is an article about a woman that used SL to overcome her agoraphobia.http://tinyurl.com/2zoaky Kat | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1627 01/30/2008 | Hi Kat! Thanks for posting this link, it is very useful to me because I do not have access to second life for now. I will experience Second Life after all! Love: Maru | Saša Sirk #1633 01/31/2008 | Thanks, Kat. A nice text to bring in class. I like the fact theat there is also the video version of the story. Cool. Hugs, Saša | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1643 01/31/2008 | Dear Kat: Do I have to download SecondLife do review the articule? The PC`s at the cyber do not have the power for Second Life, I do not want to crash someone elses computer by following the link!!! My curiosity led me to trouble last year, I am like a cat scalded by hot water... never peep around, be cautios!! Love: Maru | Kat Urbaniak #1657 (Response to #1643) 01/31/2008 | No, you'll be fine. It is normal HTML and a video. :-) Kat PS Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought her back. Unfortunately this doesn't work for computers. | Return to topCartoon Maker Silvia Colombo #1455 01/27/2008 | Thanks for sharing this tool with all of us! Hugs, Silvia. | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1493 01/28/2008 | Thanks Sharon! It is amazing to see that you keep producing, Congratulations!!! I loved to hear from you again. Let me catch up with week 1 and 2 to explore the site you shared. Love: Maru | Return to topBlogs and Wikis Rita Zeinstejer #1462 01/28/2008 | Hi, beautiful people, If I had to choose among all tools available "up there" I'd certainly pick "blogs" and "wikis". They are the framework, the hosts, the home for all other tools and apps, the "must-have" for every single teacher on earth. In short, these are the reasons why "blogs" are already popular with EFL teachers: . They allow instant publishing to the Internet . They cost little or nothing . They provide a comment feature that allows interaction from others . They are dynamic and focus on content from the participants - listening, talking, collaborating, having a dialog, sharing . They work for any subject . They are empowering - they give everyone a voice . They make writing THE focus - send the message that writing matters . They promote ownership of work . They allow us to learn from our students . They allow us to reflect on our teaching and our student's learning think, review, rethink, an endless process . They allow the interchange of thoughts and ideas . They are exciting - seeing others comment on your thoughts/anticipating comments and replies And what can a blog be seen as? . a way to improve our own writing . a just in time learning arena . a place to share . an easy way to create a website quickly . a way to connect with others and make connections to learning . a perfect spot for quick writes . a writing room you can make it be what you want it to be . a place to visit daily, which provides elements of surprise . a way to give students ownership of a personal web space, which encourages active engagement . a place to collaborate . a personal way to include parents in the process What can we, as teachers, use a blog for? . to post short current events/ articles to invite students thoughts, reactions, and possible solutions . to create a literature circle . to post photos and ask students to create captions . to foster book discussions in the form of an online book club . to encourage student writing to demonstrate learning . to direct students to curriculum web sites and have them read and make responses . to communicate with another classroom . to react to teacher entries about what they are learning and make connections to how this learning is relevant for them . to post quotes and have students write their interpretation and apply it to something in their life . to invite one student a day to post a summary and reflections on the day's learning . to observe the growth of plants or animals or keep records of science experiments . to spot and record student kindnesses or good deeds . to develop new vocabulary by writing about the new word and having students create sentences or a brief paragraph using new vocabulary . enable students to post their ideas for the classroom or school . let students write short reviews of books they are enjoying reading . showcase their best writing pieces . maintain communication with absent students . challenge students by placing quizzes and tests online . get parents more involved by giving them access to their children's assignments Students can create their own blog to: . complete class writing assignments . create an ongoing portfolio of samples of their writing . express their opinions on topics you are studying in class . write comments, opinions, or questions on daily news items or issues of interest . discuss activities they did in class and tell what they think about them . write about class curriculum topics, newly-learned vocabulary words and idioms Blogs features: . Comment feature . Archiving entries . Linking . Permalink . Blogrolls . RSS feeds . Photos/images . Audio/video . Moblogging . Ipodding This is part of a ppt presentation I gave on blogging a couple of years ago in my area, and I can tell you most of the people in the audience ignored the existence of blogs. I can remember my sense of frustration at the general lack of enthusiasm for opening up one, though I must say that I met some very responsive followers, like three wonderful colleagues who are here in this group today! –Silvia, Noemi and Mary!!--, which proves Webheads seeds sprout up and flourish at the end of the day!!! As to "wikis", they : • are flexible • are intensively collaborative • focus on content • are open to anybody • are editable by anyone • can be organized in innumerable ways What can we use wikis for? • instructions, manuals, glossaries • a class or group project with a bibliographic format • a letter or statement presented on behalf of the class • a handbook or textbook: build a guide to correct punctuation • any project not requiring authorship I have also extracted these excerpts from another presentation I gave on the use of Wikis for language learning, and I hope they can give you a closer idea of similarities and differences between these two unmatchably useful tools the web offers us for free. My hat off to mods and comods in this incredibly hard-working team of experts and experts-to-be ;-) Rita | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1463 (Response to #1462) 01/28/2008 | Hello Rita, Thanks a lot for such a robust and comprehensive description of blogs and wikis covering yur reasons for enjoying using them, their use, their advantages, and such a clear summary on their relevance. Your presentation sounds really interesting, if you still have it you could share it with the group. I am sure many of us would like to see it. I am also a fan of these tools and totally agree with you that they are the framework, the cornestone of all other applicatins. Most of them gravitate around these two. About your surprise in discovering that many teachers did not know what a blog was, it is the same here. Some teachers don´t know what they are, some others think they are just personal diaries, others know what they are, but do not use them in class. This tells us that lots of seeds will sprout at the end of the day as you said. Hugs and thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. José Antônio http://thomasja.wordpress.com http://joseantoniook.edublogs.org | Monica Veado #1465 (Response to #1463) 01/28/2008 | Dear Rita, thank you for giving us such a comprehensive view of the characteristics and uses of blogs and wikis. I'm a huge fan of both tools and have been trying to incorporate them in my teaching, and trying to 'contaminate' other teachers with the web2.0 virus (with mixed results, I must admit). You're right, there are still many teachers who completely ignore the existence and the potential of these tools. It is the same where I live but I'm glad to say we're slowly seeing some changes. What worries me most is not that some teachers ignore them, but the fact that some simply dismiss them as fads and refuse to even investigate the possibilities. Hearing that from educators absolutely baffles me; we should be the first oned to be curious and interested in finding out what there is 'in the real world' that we can bring into our teaching to make it more meaningful and interesting to our students. Thanks for your message! Um abraço, Monica http://projectplatypus2.blogspot.com | Dennis Oliver #1466 (Response to #1465) 01/28/2008 | Regarding Rita Zeinstejer's message #1462: Hola, my dear friend and colleague Rita. What a wonderfully detailed post on blogs and wikis! It provided a wealth of food for thought and also gave many, many suggestions for using these dynamic, engaging teaching-learning platforms advantageously. Your ideas are more than enough to get someone started with blogs and wikis, and they also serve as inspirations for moving to other topics and tasks. I know, from having seen many examples of work you and your students have done, how blogs and wikis can become a rich source of highly participative and collaborative activities. I also know, from my own experience with blogs, what a powerful resource they can be in helping students "find their voices" and use English (or any language) for truly communicative purposes. Thanks, Rita, for this outstanding post! (Because it was so long, I haven't repeated it here.) Gratefully, Dennis in Phoenix | noemi_cavalaro #1469 (Response to #1466) 01/28/2008 | Hi, Rita !!! Many thanks Rita for your comprehensive explanation about Blogs and Wikies. I could add nothing new to it but my gratitude for being so patient with us for such a long time. You opened up our horizons in such a way that we´ll remain grateful to you for life. Thanks to your constant encoragement and coaching we are here to learn and interact with colleagues from all over the world. I´m enjoying a lot this experience and we´ll certainly have a lot to discuss and investigate in our future sessions. Best regards, Noemí ;-) | Cristina Costa #1470 (Response to #1469) 01/28/2008 | Dear Rita, this is a very thorough explanation of blogs and wikis. I have put together also something about this in a wiki, but mine looks very basis compared to yours. Still, I would like to share it here with you all: http://blogs-and-wikis.wikispaces.com/blogsandwikis xxx Cris | Sharon Betts #1488 01/28/2008 | Rita - I would like to use your extensive list of blog and wiki criteria in a wiki of my own. Can I have your permission to do so? Sharon | Silvia Colombo #1490 (Response to #1488) 01/28/2008 | Hi dear Rita! I remember attending your presentation! What a wonderful experience! It showed us a new approach to ESL/ EFL teaching! At that moment very few educators in our place knew about these innovative tools and you became a pionner in this field. You've been doing an excellent job with your learners judging by your students' contributions to your CAE blogs. When students are motivated they can obtain amazing results! Noe, Mary and I have been learning with you about these collaborative online tools and have experimented their different "apps" on our CALL Sig blog and wiki. Now, it's time to start blogging with our students and bring "the real world" into our classrooms! Cheers, Silvia from Argentina! | Rita Zeinstejer #1515 01/28/2008 | Sure you can, Sharon! I'm glad you can make good use of it! ;-) Rita BTW, thanks, my dear Silvia, Noemi and Mary, I am grateful to YOU for having backed me and followed me for so many years! Your constant support gave me the stamina to go on "preaching"... Now we are FOUR!!! ;-) | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1519 (Response to #1515) 01/28/2008 | Dear Rita: I am glad to "see" you again! Wow!! I confirm that you are very creative indeed. Thanks for sharing in a comprehensive way the uses and differences between wikis and blogs, you have grat ideas!! I still need a lot of practice but will get there sometime. When are you coming back to Toluca? I really enjoyed your last visit. Love: Maru | Monica Veado #1622 01/30/2008 | Hi everyone, My master's project involved the use of different internet tools to help advanced students work collaboratively to produce film reviews. They interacted using Yahoo Groups, a wiki and two blogs (one to post relevant input material, the other to publish their final texts). What interested me most was to see at what stage(s) of the writing process this collaboration would emerge, how and my students' perceptions of these interactions. The YG page isn't public, but you can access the initial wiki page with some activities and the drafts and discussions,http://moviereviews.wikispaces.com and the blog about films, with articles and activities posted to help them in the process of writing their texts.http://manyreviews.blogspot.com On the blog sidebar on the right, under 'My Students' Reviews' you can find links to their final articles (there are six movies, and the common topic was 'adapting novels to the big screen'). If you would like to read some of them and perhaps post a comment, I'm sure my students will be thrilled (some visitors have already done that). Right now I'm analyzing all the data and the recorded interviews and the work should be ready (hopefully) by May. :-) Um abraco, Monica http://projectplatypus2.blogspot.com | Daniela #1623 01/30/2008 | Dear Dennis, Thank you for checking on my blog! You are right - Moldovan people speak Romanian, too. thank you for sharing the blog on international exchange - I will try to use it in my class with my international students! | Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1682 02/01/2008 | Awesome, Monica! An impressive demonstration of how different tools can be used to help students develop their skills by working collaboratively. If I've understood this correctly (sorry I'm a complete newbie here) sts use the wiki to construct their text collaboratively and then they post it in the blog. By the way, I think the instructions are very clear and easy to follow, which is not a minor detail. You know, my daughter is a fan of flixster where she is in touch with people from all over the world who discuss different movies. Sometimes I'm amazed by the quality of the reviews they produce. Do you think it could be a good idea to invite our advanced students to join a site like that? You know, as a kind of follow-up activity. | Monica Veado #1685 (Response to #1682) 02/01/2008 | Dear Mary, I think it's a great idea! My students love to talk about films they have seen and discuss them in class. I don't usually show an entire movie in class, but more often than not they end up renting it or seeing it at the cinema. I really believe that the more we can involve our students and get them to interact with the 'real world' in a meaningful way, and exchange ideas with other people, the better! You're right, my students used the wiki to develop their texts and the blogs to get some input (particularly in terms of vocabulary and to help them during the planning phase) and to post their final texts. Thanks for visiting the project! Um abraco, | Carina Llosa #1729 02/02/2008 | Hi I just wanted to invite you to my two blogs: http://preintermediate.motime.com http://englishlevel4.motime.com I haven't updated them recently, because most courses stop in summer (in Argentina). But this week has really inspired me! As soon as I find the time, I' ll do it. I' ve just started a wiki: http://englishclassesforadults.pbwiki.com But again, I do need to find the time to get down to it, so I don't think I'll add much at least till this course finishes! Feedback more than welcome! Thanks Carina | Monica Veado #1730 (Response to #1729) 02/02/2008 | Hi Carina, I've been to your blogs, you have quite interesting things there! It's great to know that this session has inspired you not only to keep on blogging but also to expand your options by exploring wikis as well. Congrats! Um abraco, Monica http://projectplatypus2.blogspot.com | Return to topForum Nelba #1473 (Response to #1471) 01/28/2008 | Hi, again. I would like to remind you about the Forum Section. If you want to start blogging, I would recommend Graham Stanley's article "Blogging for ELT". ( In "Readings" section of our wiki) Then you can go to the forum and leave there your comments at:http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7&mforum=baw08 You will also find links to some blogs you can take as examples. Nelba | Return to topText to Speech tosallyhirst #1482 01/28/2008 | Hello all, I'm adding to the melee of mail as I am exasperated with the forum. In the first week it let me post without registering, but this week it is having none of that, so when I wanted to respond to what I had read, it put up a form for me to register. I filled out the form and it said an activation mail had been sent, but that was an hour ago. Maybe it will arrive yet, but if I don't send this now, my resolution to achieve some kind of active participation in the group for this week will have been scuppered, so I apologise for filling up in boxes with comments that should really be on the reading forum. I've just read the article about text to speech software. Did you know that you can get adobe acrobat documents to read themselves aloud too ? It is not great as it is really very mechanical / robotic in the way it reads, but it is better than nothing and for some learners it seems to help. It doesn't work for all documents, they have to have been created in acrobat, not scanned into it, but you can check quite quickly whether any given document has the function or not. It gives the details of how to herehttp://www.webaim.org/resources/reader/ Reading this made me wonder about pronunciation and production. On my old computer I used to have dragon software which I had to `train' by reading passages into it and correcting any misinterpretations on its part and then when I spoke, it wrote and for lengthy typing it worked well. Then when I got a new computer the software just wouldn't co-operate with Windows XP so I gave upon it, but I've always had this vague idea that that would be the ultimate phonology practice for learners. It literally writes what you say and you have to adapt what you say until it sounds near enough to the word you write. I guess there must be pronunciation software out there by now that works in this way. Has anyone come across any such thing ? Sally | Sharon Betts #1487 01/28/2008 | Hi Sally, Sorry about the forum issue. I have also used Dragon Dictate with students - but didn't know about the Adobe reader fuctionality. I will try that out today as I have a lot of teachers that publish their materials in pdf files. Sharon | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1523 01/28/2008 | Dear Sally: I did not know that you can get adobe acrobat documents to read themselves aloud too, thanks for letting us know. It is a very useful tool to improve our pronunciation, specially for some of us who are non native English speakers. I understand your feelings, do not freet, we know you are participating. You will be able to use the forum soon. I guess Dennis Oliver may know about some pronunciation software, lets wait to see. I bet we will learn about many options!!! Love: Maru | Evelyn Izquierdo #1566 01/29/2008 | Dear Sally and all: 1. Thanks so much for sharing with us the Adobe Acrobat Read-Out-Loud feature. I had no idea about it. I tried it. The sound is not that great but it works. I think it can be useful for a blind a student I have. This info might be useful: http://www.adobe.com/enterprise/accessibility/reader6/sec2.html 2. I'm currently using Bluegrind. It's totally free and has better sound. 3. Searching in the Web I found Text Aloud 2 , which is not free but offers a 30-day trial. TextAloud 2 'converts any text into voice and even to MP3. Listen to email, web pages and documents on your computer or portable MP3 player. TextAloud uses voice synthesis to convert text into spoken audio. Listen on your PC or create MP3 or WMA files for use on portable devices like iPods, PocketPCs, and CD players.' It looks and sounds interesting. 4. If you know more about read aloud features or software, please let me know. Thanks Regards, Evelyn P.S. I don't work for Text Aloud. | Kat Urbaniak #1568 (Response to #1566) 01/29/2008 | Evelyn I used to work in web testing and accessibility a long time ago (well, 5 years ago, haha.) I've used TextAloud more recently.http://www.naturalreaders.com/download.htm is another tool I have played with a little. Hope this helps. :-) Kat | Hala #1571 01/29/2008 | Hello, Thanks for the information about Adobe Acrobat and others. Is there any online software that converts voice or speech to text apart from the one that comes with Microsoft Word? Have a good day. Hala | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1718 02/02/2008 | Hello there! I remember some time ago somebody gave a great hint about using Adobe Reader's speaking aloud tool. Then, I remembered one interesting site which has text-to-speech tools for entertainment, and today I found another one. In both of them you create an avatar and then give it voice by recording a message with your own voice, or writing a text. Check them out: www.voki.com www.munkyourself.com (I saw this one today in Larry Ferlazzo's blog larryferlazzo.edublogs.org) Voki has a much better text-to-speech tool, though, where you can choose from a number of voices and accents. Both of them give you html code for you to embed your avatar at your blog/wiki/page. Have fun! Kind regards from Brazil, Ronaldo | Monica Veado #1723 (Response to #1721) 02/02/2008 | Dear Marina, don't worry, lurking doesn't mean you are not doing anything, it means you are taking your time and doing things at your own pace. There is always time to come back to the activities and try them when you have time. Let us know if you need any help with your blog! I've never tried to embed Voki on a wiki page but I've seen it in wikis before - perhaps it will depend on the wiki host (I've seen it in Wikispaces)? Here's an example of an embedded wiki I found: http://langwitch.wikispaces.com/Make+a+Voki Um abraco, Monica | Sharon Betts #1726 02/02/2008 | If you are a windows user, their is a free download at: http://www.microsoft.com/reader/developers/downloads/tts.mspx to install a good text to speech tool as an addon for Microsoft Reader. The reader must be installed before the text to speech component: http://www.microsoft.com/reader/downloads/default.mspx Sharon Adobe Reader's speaking aloud tool. www.voki.com www.munkyourself.com | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1728 02/02/2008 | Hi Marina, Take your time. Don€ ¦´t worry about catching up. Like Ronaldo said, you willhave the whole year to go over thngs we are seeing here. Some of them won€ ¦´t be that useful right now and some will. At the end of the day you would have picked up what is really of value to you and to your learning process. Hugs José Antônio | Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1733 (Response to #1728) 02/02/2008 | Hi Marina! I know the feeling! After being away for two weeks, I feel I'll never be able to catch up. I haven't even started to experiment with the text-to-speech tools! To make matters worse, I made some kind of mess with the password to my google account and now I can't access the blog I started in December :-(( Anyway, I was comforted by the warm answers you got from our dear webheads. Let's just take it easy. A fellow sufferer :-)) Mary | Dafne #1745 (Response to #1733) 02/02/2008 | After trying different text-to-speech applications I have found that Bluegrind meets my students needs. There is no restriction as to the number of words, long articles are accepted, the recording can be downloaded and students can add it to their MP3 players to listen to it whenever they want, and the recording also stays online. The only downside is that you cannot select the gender of the robot ;-) My 2 cents, Daf | Return to topTwitter janettucker #1483 01/28/2008 | To find out more about Twitter, visit the link below:http://twitter.com/i/9f6c1e89492198acff4d8b3b085298e7be62232e Thanks, -The Twitter Team About Twitter Twitter is a unique approach to communication and networking based on the simple concept of status. What are you doing? What are your friends doing-right now? With Twitter, you may answer this question over SMS, IM, or the Web and the responses are shared between contacts. | Dafne #1484 (Response to #1483) 01/28/2008 | Hi Janet, My twitter ID is Dafwebhead :-) cheers, Daf | zsofia #1485 01/28/2008 | To find out more about Twitter, visit the link below:http://twitter.com/i/7001c5e8278ee6c9a30aa1107a66216b1d4426b6 Thanks, -The Twitter Team About Twitter Twitter is a unique approach to communication and networking based on the simple concept of status. What are you doing? What are your friends doing€ ¢â’ ’´right now? With Twitter, you may answer this question over SMS, IM, or the Web and the responses are shared between contacts. | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1524 01/28/2008 | Hi Daf! You are everywhere, aren't you? Let me get there and I will try it out. If you have an ID that program sure it is useful!! Love: Maru | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1578 (Response to #1577) 01/30/2008 | Hi Ronaldo, Taht was a good idea. I have added myself there. José Antônio | Monica Veado #1591 01/30/2008 | Great idea, Ronaldo! I have a Twitter ID but never did start 'twittering'. I guess now it's the perfect time! ;-) Um abraço, Monica | Nelba #1635 01/31/2008 | Hi, I have added myself to the list :) Nelba | Hala #1676 (Response to #1669) 02/01/2008 | Hi all, A very easy question: How do I write on Dafne's, or any twitterian, home page? I am looking for 15 minutes now to her/mine home page but can't find the "button" or a place to click to do so! See! Very easy question! Hala Fawzi | Nelba #1680 (Response to #1676) 02/01/2008 | Hi, Hala. That is a very good question. I hardly find that option, too. I think that every Twitter user should make this possible. For example, I can leave a message to Graham but not to many other people because the option "send a message " is not available. In fact, I am not a Twitter fan , just have a look at it once or twice a week...depending on the mood. But it is interesting to see what your friends are doing... kind of sharing (web 2.0) isn€ ¦´t it? Hugs, Nelba | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1695 02/01/2008 | Hi Hala Adn Nelba, I have just starte twittering, but I guess you won´t be allowed to post straight on someone else´s twitter page. What you would be able to do would be post a twitter in your page and that person would see it, if he/she is following you and of course the rest of your "followers" as well. So, in twitter, there is no "privacy". Am I right? Hugs José Antônio | Dafne #1699 (Response to #1695) 02/01/2008 | Hi guys! To send a message to a specific person in Twitter, you write @ followed by the username. For example to send me a message you write: @Dafwebhead and then the message hugs, Daf (Happy Online) ;-) | Hala #1714 02/01/2008 | Thanks Daf! I have just post my first 'tiwitterian' post on your twitter page. hugs, Hala | Dafne #1737 02/02/2008 | Hey guys! Hope you are having a nice weekend :-) I´ve come across this blog entry about twitter, with several replies that might be interested in reading, especially if you are not very sure on the usefulness of Twitter. Hugs, Daf | Cristina Costa #1738 (Response to #1737) 02/02/2008 | Could you provides with the link dear Dafne! thanks Cris | Dafne #1739 (Response to #1738) 02/02/2008 | Oops I forgot to add the link to the blog :-( Here it is:http://gnuosphere.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/questioning-twitter/ Daf | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1742 (Response to #1739) 02/02/2008 | Hi Dafne, Wish you the same, especially that the computer problem is soon solved. I think twitter is really great to follow people's activiites and leaning with them. José Antônio | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1744 (Response to #1742) 02/02/2008 | Hi Dafne, Wish you the same, especially that the computer problem is soon solved. I think twitter is really great to follow people's activiites and leaning with them. Jos€ ¦é Ant€ ¦ônio | Angeles Berman #1754 02/02/2008 | I like twitter and think about it as a quick way to know about updates, links, interesting things and news. It was amazing for me to notice that I read some events earlier in twitter and hours later I watched them in the TV news. I'm not using it with my Ss in this moment but think it can be a good way to comunnicate and to know about their interests in the web. I am angelesb in twitter :-) | Return to topChinswing Monica Veado #1492 01/28/2008 | Hi all! Here's a simple and interesting tool to use with your students. Chinswing allows you to create online threads and everybody can join in and express their opinion. I created one if you would like to give it a try; all you need to do is sign up and get your microphone. Click on the red dot on the right to record your message, or click on anybody's thread to hear their comments! Chinswing is one of my students' favourite internet tools. http://tiny.cc/chinswing Um abraço, Monica | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1494 (Response to #1492) 01/28/2008 | Hi Monica and everybody, you know what? Chinswing is definitely a very powerful tool! Last year, during BaW07, I created a thread about stereotypes and invited webheads to contribute, which they did in a fantastic way. But later I found out that other people surfing the web, and to whom I had not given the url to my thread, had also joined it, making my test-drive become a 1-hour-and-30-minute-long discussion. If you guys want to check it out and even contribute more, here goes the link: http://tinyurl.com/2m6b46 *Regards from Brazil, Ronaldo* * | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1495 (Response to #1494) 01/28/2008 | Hi Monia and all, Chinswing is a very interesting tool. It is great for threaded discussions. It is also good for other activies. Elfina for example posted a link to her chinswing page where students were telling stories. By the way Elfina, I loved all the sotries, jus did not know which one to vote for. Thanks for sharing that Monica Hugs José Antônio | Mary #1499 (Response to #1495) 01/28/2008 | Great, Monica--just what I was looking for! http://www.chinswing.com/pages/discussion.aspx?id=8f2333c3-a4ba-4e63-ac8d-451e79352b84 I started a thread for the online learning partners in englishmates and englishexperts, 2 yahoo groups I moderate. Who knows, maybe Alessandro will include it in the englishexperts blog to which I sometimes contribute: http://www.englishexperts.com.br/ | Monica Veado #1505 (Response to #1499) 01/28/2008 | Hi Mary, that was great! Hope you get lots of comments from your group. Unfortunately I don't have a mic right now, but I'll certainly leave a message when I get back home. Um abraço, Monica | Monica Veado #1506 (Response to #1505) 01/28/2008 | Hi Ronaldo, the same thing happened to me last year! :-) I had started a thread with other Webheads, discussing 'adapting novels to the big screen' and, to my surprise, there have also been a few contributions from other Chinswing users. It was really interesting. If anyone would like to join in and make a comment, here's the link:http://tiny.cc/moviesnovels Um abraço, Monicahttp://projectplatypus2.blogspot.com | Sharon Betts #1510 01/28/2008 | I love chinswing and plan on having folks play with it in week 4 if they don't start before then. Thank you for your example. I left my mic at work, but will test it out tomorrow | Return to topVoice and Video Tools MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1496 01/28/2008 | Dear Teresa: Your two euro cents?? My God, I cannot imagine what would be your contribution of an euro!!!! Your contributios are unvaluable, your shared experiences make us all grow. I have a lot to do to catch up though I will explore all the links you provided. Thanks for being there!!! God bless you. Love: Maru | Nergiz #1597 01/30/2008 | Hi all Does any of you have VoiceThread pro? I really like it bu Is it worth paying $30? Is there an alternative which is not that limited (the free version of VoiceThread is limited to three threads). Thanks for your help in advance. Best Nergiz | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1603 (Response to #1597) 01/30/2008 | Hi Nergis I don€ ¦´t have the Voice Thread pro version. I really don€ ¦´t the need to have it. You can create a post and have a very long threaded discussion without paying. Later you can delete that and make a new one. Besides that, there are other tools for free threaded discussions, like chinswing, for example. Jos€ ¦é Ant€ ¦ônio | Sharon Betts #1616 01/30/2008 | Nergiz, I know that in the US you can get VoiceThread pro for free as an educator. Just click the Go Pro button, then the educator link at the bottom of the window that opens. I thought that was world wide - does anyone know? Without pro, you can only do 3 active VoiceThreads. Sharon | Nergiz #1630 (Response to #1616) 01/30/2008 | Hi Sharon Thanks a lot for the tip. I've checked it out immediately but it says it's for "k-12 educators" and asks for school name and address. I don't work at a school. Too bad! I really liked Voicethread. Best Nergiz | Nergiz #1631 (Response to #1630) 01/30/2008 | Jos€ ¦é, thanks a lot for your tip with Chinswing. It seems to be a great simple tool for discussions and I will sure use it (I've just signed up). What I like about Voicethread though is that you or your students can for example upload a picture and tell a story or describe the picture. You could even give a presentation with it and ask students to do the same. A lot of potential there. Also, in Voicethread you can keep it private or just give the password to whoever you want. I'm not sure but I think with Chinswing it seems to be always public. I have to try it out. Thanks a lot once again. Best Nergiz | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1634 01/31/2008 | Hi Nergis, I am gald you liked Cninswing, it is a good tool. One of the things I like about it is that many times you just post a thread there for you and your students and other would just join in and give their opinions. I agree with you that voicethead looks better and you have more of a whole picture of everyone posting thier comments and, as you said, the fact taht yu can also upload images makes it really nice. Kind regards. José Antônio | Evelyn Izquierdo #1652 01/31/2008 | Hi dear all: I joined Chingswing this morning and could hear some Bawers' discussions. How interesting! What a great tool! I love it! Thanks, Evelyn | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1659 (Response to #1652) 01/31/2008 | H Evelyn, Chinswing and Voicethread are great tools. It is good to know you are trying so many different tools and applications. That is the spitirit. Hugs Jos€ ¦é Ant€ ¦ônio | Return to topWebcast Return to topePortfolio minjungj #1546 01/29/2008 | Hi all, I am recently interested in ePortfolio in ESL and EFL. Does anyone here who knows good research papers on the topic? Best, Min Jung | Evelyn Izquierdo #1559 (Response to #1546) 01/29/2008 | Dear Ming: I recommend you to visit Dr. Helen Barrett's wiki at http://eportfolios.wikispaces.com/. That helped me a lot. I also invite you to visit my wiki. It's about text-typology e-portfolios created by my undergraduate students.http://ingles2componentedocente2007.wetpaint.com/ Warm greetings from Caracas-Venezuela. Evelyn | Hala #1548 01/29/2008 | Hello, Min Jung, Check this onehttp://electronicportfolios.org/blog/ Hope you will find it useful Hala | Ramona Dietrich #1549 (Response to #1548) 01/29/2008 | Hala, Wow! This link has loads of info on e-portfolios (a very hot topic). Thanks for sharing. Beijinhos, Ramona | Monica Veado #1557 (Response to #1549) 01/29/2008 | Dear Hala, great blog about e-portfolios, thanks for sending the link! Um abraço, Monica | Return to topBlogs Natalia Malkina #1587 01/30/2008 | Hi, everybody ! I am very much interested in blogging and would like to start a blog of my own. My classes start next week and blogging could become a very important part of the course. there are so many of them Blogger Edublogs Motime wordpress and more Which one to choose for my blog I don't know. My Question is What factors should I consider when choosing a place to set up my blog? Thanks a lot Natalia | Monica Veado #1590 (Response to #1587) 01/30/2008 | Hi Natalia, you've raised a very important question, there are indeed many different bloghosts and the blog you create is going to depend on various aspects. For instance, what is the purpose of your blog? Are you going to post your students' work there? Are you going to create one special project and have all students working on it together? Are you going to post extra class activities? Are you going to do all (or most of) the posting yourself or would you like your students to post too? I find Blogger more intuitive and easier to start with when students and teachers have little or no previous experience with blogging. I've started using WordPress and Edublogs recently and the blogs look great, but it took me a little longer to figure out how the platforms work; once I got used, though, it worked very well. Are you going to create one class blog or would you like your students to create their own blogs and have them all linked? I find it easier, more motivating and more collaborative to have one class blog and get students to work together. Later they can start their own blogs. It also gives you more control as a teacher, especially when you have very young learners. The best thing to do is perhaps choose one of the bloghosts - they are all excellent - and create an experimental blog, play with it for a while and see how you like it. I'm a Blogger fan, but I try to create pages on different hosts to find out how they work; different aims may require blogs with different characteristics! Let us know if you need any help creating your blog once you've decided which host to use. Um abraço, Monica http://projectplatypus2.blogspot.com | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1592 (Response to #1590) 01/30/2008 | Exactly the same with me, Monica. I love blogger, but now I've started using wordpress and edublogs (mostly because many people seem to see those as superior when compared to blogger...) and I gotta admit that things are a little slower for me, until I get totaly familiar with these plataforms, I guess.... I think it is also a question of personal preference... Ronaldo Monica: I find Blogger more intuitive and easier to start with when students and teachers have little or no previous experience with blogging. I've started using WordPress and Edublogs recently and the blogs look great, but it took me a little longer to figure out how the platforms work; once I got used, though, it worked very well. | Nelba #1617 01/30/2008 | Sorry Bawers for not being on line ... I still have with problem conection. Can You believe it? When I need it most ! well, thanks José for your comment on BLOGGER and companies. I did not know that ... I am not a wordpress fan... but I will have to consider it. :) Warm regards, Nelba | Nina Liakos #1626 (Response to #1617) 01/30/2008 | One thing I like about Wordpress is that you can put your posts into categories, which Blogger doesn't let you do. See for examplehttp://englishpower.wordpress.com, where I have categorized posts according to level ( beginning, intermediate, advanced, all levels) and skill area (listening, speaking, reading, writing) or other rea (grammar, vocabulary). But like many others I have used Blogger the most and feel the most comfortable with it. Cheers, Nina | Nelba #1620 01/30/2008 | Hi, I agree with Monica that you blog will depend on what are you going to use it for, tech availability, etc. That is why I recommend Graham's article (in our suggested Readings) ... it makes you reflect on this topic. I also use blogger mostly because it is very user friendly and people find it easy "to start" exploring blogging...but Motime and Wordpress have some other advantages, too. Nelba | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1639 01/31/2008 | Hi Ronaldo, I think that is a great idea and will give participants an idea of pros and cons of each blog host. Let the combat begin. Abraços JA | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1660 (Response to #1654) 01/31/2008 | Hi Rita, It is never late for a good piece of advice. Everything you said makes a lot of sense to me and I am sure it will be helpful to the whole group. I think it wise to choose a blog host and stick with it, as you said. This allows you to see your online work in a more holistic, integrated way. I ahve browsed your blogs and allof them look really fantastic. Thanks for sharing. José Antônio http://thomasja.wordpress.com http://joseantoniook.edublogs.org | ronaldo.limajr@gmail.com #1638 01/31/2008 | I've shared a document with you called "Blogging combat": http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dft9v67j_21cfrhzzhm&invite=gjd62h7 It's not an attachment -- it's stored online at Google Docs. To open this document, just click the link above. --- Hey guys, this is the invitation to collaborate with the blogging combat doc. | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1637 01/31/2008 | Hey everybody! Here is Brazil there is a very popular magazine about cars called 4 Rodas (*4 wheels*), and, in every issue, they make a "combat" of two cars of the same category. The title of the articles are usually "PALIO vs. CORSA", for example. So I thought we could write about blogging spaces in this style. I have created a googledoc (http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dft9v67j_21cfrhzzhm) with my (limited) impressions and will send to the group in a few seconds an invitation to collaborate with this document, this way we can make the list of characteristics grow (since some people have more experience with this or that host than others). What do you think? I guess a good rule to get things organized would be: add items, but don't delete other people's items. Also, I've been playing a lot with pbwiki for one year, and a couple of days ago I started one wiki at wikispaces, so later a could open a wiki combat! That's it! Kind regards from Brazil, Ronaldo | Return to topGoogle Docs Nataša Bozic Grojic #1609 01/30/2008 | Hello everybody, I was wondering if anyone has used Google Docs in class. They were mentioned in the chat yesterday, so my question was whether they could be used like a wiki, since they can be changed by anyone who has access to them. My question number two: how do you use blogs and wikis for portfolio assessment. I know the question is very general, but I would be very grateful for any practical ideas. Finally, I will be away from 2nd to 9th February. I am looking forward to the trip, of course, but I won't have access to the Internet for a whole week. Will I be able to catch up when I come back? I love the seminar and I don't want to fall behind more than I have to. Thank you in advance. Natasa | Nelba #1615 (Response to #1609) 01/30/2008 | hi, Natasa: Yes, you can use Google docs in class as a wiki. I have used it in a project with Rita and it works fine. Sure, you will be able to catch up with BaW08 after your trip. Bawers are always ready to help ;) No experience with blogs and wikis for portfolios assessment :( Nelba | Return to topRSS Daniela #1621 01/30/2008 | Check on my new post on how to use RSS to help students organise their favourite blogs on one page! You can also watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU for more details on RSS and how it can be used to keep track of your favourite blogs (I hope you like Ugly Betty, too :)) http://dvmunca.blogspot.com/ | Monica Veado #1624 (Response to #1621) 01/30/2008 | Hi Daniela, using RSS to keep track of our favourite blogs, wikis and websites is a great idea and a wise thing to do - it's impossible to visit our favourite cyber-addresses regularly, and we never know when something new will be posted. Thanks for the link to the YT video 'RSS in Plain English' - you can also find it in our wiki http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Videos together with many other interesting videos on web 2.0 tools. I see that you used Bloglines with your students: http://www.bloglines.com/ It's a great aggregator (check our wiki for more ideas) http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Tools I use Feedblitz on my blog. It allows you to receive updates directly to your e-mail, which is sometimes quite convenient. You can see what it looks like going to my blog http://projectplatypus2.blogspot.com and checking the sidebar under 'subscribe to our blog'. Um abraco, Monica | Daniela #1625 (Response to #1624) 01/30/2008 | Dear Monica, thanks for the feedback - I also checked on your blog - it looks awsome! I will subscribe to it and do the same thing with my blog - great suggestion! | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1632 (Response to #1625) 01/30/2008 | Hi Daniela, Your post on RSS is great. I have never watched Ugly Betty, because it is generally at a time I am busy, but I watch a lot of TV. I find it really relaxing. About RSS, I think it is rreally the best easier way to keeptrack of what we like to read about and it keeps us informed of what is really going on. Thanks for sharing. José Antônio | Return to topWikis Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1650 01/31/2008 | Hey guys! I've also created a wiki combat document for us to write positive and negative points about wiki hosts http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dft9v67j_22g2fg8439 I've only used pbwiki and wikispaces so far, so feel free to add more items to these and/or add other wiki hosts. I believe these documents (blog combat and wiki combat) might be of great use to everybody if many people contribute. I'll send the invitation to contribute in a few seconds. Regards from Brazil, Ronaldo | Monica Veado #1662 (Response to #1650) 01/31/2008 | Hi Ronaldo, that was a great idea! I'll join the discussions on blogs and wikis this weekend. Like you, I've been using PbWiki and Wikispaces, and they both have some very good features. Um abra€ ¦ço, Monica | ronaldo.limajr@gmail.com #1651 01/31/2008 | I've shared a document with you called "Wiki Combat": http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dft9v67j_22g2fg8439&invite=gh4qvv9 It's not an attachment -- it's stored online at Google Docs. To open this document, just click the link above. --- Come and help! Ronaldo | Nataša Bozic Grojic #1655 01/31/2008 | Thank you, Jose Antonio for fixing my link and for your kind words, both here and in my blog. You are right, both my blog and my wiki are still babies. Everything is so new and so fascinating. Natasa | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1661 (Response to #1655) 01/31/2008 | Hi Natasa, You are welcome. It is always a pleasure ot read so many different views on blogging and the explosin of creativity in this group. Cheers Jos€ ¦é Ant€ ¦ônio | PBwiki User #1656 01/31/2008 | Hi! Check this out. I've set up a PBwiki, a quick website that lets multiple people edit it, and I want to invite you to join mine. This link will take you to the wiki and allow you to create and edit pages, add to discussions, and upload files. https://maiziea.pbwiki.com/shared.php?aph=0 Sent by PBwiki on behalf of maizie@zahav.net.il | Nina Liakos #1678 02/01/2008 | Hi, Maizie! I went to your wiki (one has to already have a pbwiki account, which I do) but I was unable to edit it because I need a password to do that. Nina | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1684 (Response to #1678) 02/01/2008 | Hi Maizie! If you would like anybody to see your wiki, you should go to settings (top right), then click on public/private (menu on the left) and choose to make your wiki public, this way everybody can see your wiki (if it is private, only pbwiki members can see it). Now, if you want other people to edit your wiki, then you have to send them the kew you create for that. Hope to have helped! Regards from Brazil, Ronaldo | Return to topBookmarking Angelika Carlson #1690 02/01/2008 | Thanks to everyone who has been sharing their interesting links! I very much appreciate this. They all look good and I always want to explore them in more detail "when I'll have some time.." Apart from finding the time, this also requires a good filing system, something I find rather difficult to create. Some links, like podcasts, I file according to learner level. Yet, many links seem to fit more than one category...I then decide to start a subfolder but when I actually need the site, weeks or months later, I cannot find it again because I don't remember what I called it. Might anybody have a good workable system that helps you find your favourite links again. I have already tried using del.ici.ous but I just end up with too many tags and can't find the forest for the trees. IE "Favorites" works a little better, but even there I have too many folders. Trying to get organized, Angelika | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1696 (Response to #1690) 02/01/2008 | Hi Angelika, The best way of filing all those links is bookmarking. I use one called delicious http://del.icio.us/ This is a website that allows you to bookmark all links you find interesting. You can tag them with as many words as yu feel like and then access them by clicking on the categories you wish to consult. The advantage is that you will be able to access them from any computer. This is my delicious account http://del.icio.us/joseantoniook take a look to see for yurself. This is called social bookmarking and in my opinion is revolucianary. You have no idea of how much I have learned with this tool Hope I could hlep José Antônio | Sharon Betts #1702 02/01/2008 | Angelika, I just started using Buzka.com I really like it as a teaching tool and actually find myself going their before my extensive del.icio.us site. You can see the one I started at: http://sharonbetts.buzka.com/ | Isabel Teixeira #1710 (Response to #1702) 02/01/2008 | Dear Angelika, Blinklist is also abery good bookmarker.You can try it at http://www.blinklist.com warmly, Isabel Isabel Cristina de Araújo Teixeira | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1717 (Response to #1710) 02/02/2008 | Hi Angelika! There are three main advantages (in my opinion) of using some kind of social bookmarking (like del.icio.us or blinlist) instead of IE favorites: 1. You can only access you favorites folder from your computer, but your bookmarkings are available online, so you can easily access them from any computer with internet access. Also, if your computer crashes, you lose all your favorites folder... 2. When you start adding too many pages to you favorites folder, you might get lost, in the sense that your classification system may be one when you're adding the page, but another when you're searching for it. Tagging, on the other hand, allows you to classify a certain page with all the possible classifications, making it easier to find the page when you want it. Let me give you an example, suppose you have the folders "education" and "blogs" in your favorites. Then you come accross edublogs, for example. Where would you classify it? And most importantly, would you remember where you classified it when you look for it? Now, if you tag edublogs both "education" and "blogs" (and more!) it is easier to find it later. 3. It is *social*. It means that you're sharing your classification with the whole world. If you go to del.icio.us front page, for example, and search for "pronunciation", del.icio.us will show the sites that have the most "pronunciation" tags, this is people classifying the internet, pretty cool, huh? Hope to have helped! Regards from Brazil, Ronaldo | Monica Veado #1720 (Response to #1717) 02/02/2008 | Hello Angelika, Ronaldo has presented three excellent reasons for using social bookmarking sites. I've been using del.icio.us and despite its poor visual appeal (couldn't they make it a bit more visually interesting?), it works really well for me. I also have an account in Blinklist, but for some unknown reason I occasionally have problems adding sites and they end up not showing on my list... Another great thing you can do with del.icio.us and other tools of this kind is to create networks (using the tab 'my networks') and follow what other friends have been adding to their lists. It's very practical! Um abraco, Monica | Return to topLive Sessions Return to topNew Poll baw08@yahoogroups.com #1476 01/28/2008 | Enter your vote today! A new poll has been created for the baw08 group: On which of the following geographic areas of the planet do you live and work? (this will help us plan a session convenient for your time zone) o North America o Latin America o Europe, including UK, Contiental, Eastern, etc o Middle East o Africa o Asia o So. East Asia o Indo/China/Japan o Austral/Asia and New Zealand To vote, please visit the following web page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baw08/surveys?id=12710636 Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups web site listed above. Thanks! | Return to topGraham Stanley Dafne #1502 01/28/2008 | Dear all, You are cordially invited to attend another live session. This time our guest speaker is Graham Stanley who will be talking about blogs, wikis and podcasts. The session will be at WiZiQ, tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan 29 at 21:00 GMT This is the link to get in the virtual room: http://www.wiziq.com/tutorsession/session.aspx?JuX%2bgH% 2b2Gba1prbUu56KofeozDiay9EAMzU4BLwnkqlXU1XYPDIxsvHa18fH8zYeOOC4g0AVbGw %3d You need to register (free). The room will be open 15 minutes before the session. We suggest you register to WiZiQ before the session. This is the URL: http://www.wiziq.com There is also a link to the room from our live sessions page at http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Live_Sessions#Week3 I have created a table in our database section for those who will be able to attend the session. Thanks, and hope to see many of you there! Daf | Dafne #1503 (Response to #1502) 01/28/2008 | Since the URL is too long, it would be better to go from our live sessions page. Daf | Dafne #1504 (Response to #1503) 01/28/2008 | Well, it is me again ;-) This is the tiny URL to the session with Graham: http://tinyurl.com/2sf8m8 Daf | Dennis Oliver #1530 01/29/2008 | Hello, Dafne--and everyone. I greatly look forward to the meeting with Graham Stanley. It's bound to be both fun and full of useful information, I'm sure, on blogs, wikis, and podcasts. Sessions in WiZiQ are also a lot of fun--and a good source of ideas on how to use this learning platform for our own individual purposes. Dennis in Phoenix | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1531 01/29/2008 | Hi Everyone, Just a reminder taht we will have a live session with Graham Stanley today at 19:00 GMT (remember that there is a clock on top of our wiki page http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/ displaying GMT time). Like Dennis has just pointed out in his reply, we will be using a different conference host Wiziq and, as he said, it is really interesting to work with it. The URL for the conference is http://tinyurl. com/2sf8m8 . Please remember to add your name to our database for the session in the yahoo group. Looking forward to meeting you all there Kind regards José Antônio | Ocsovszky Zs€ ¦óia #1534 (Response to #1531) 01/29/2008 | Hello JA, I am a bit confused :-( thats a different session from the previously announced one, which supposed to be at 21.00 GMT at WIZIQ? Under the link you gave the starting time is: You are cordially invited to attend Graham Stanley's session on "Blogs, wikis and podcasts at 21:00 GMT on Tuesday, Jan 29. Don´t miss it! The room will be open 15 minutes before 21:00 Daf on behalf of the BaW08 team When actually the session will start? Thank you! Zsofi | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1532 01/29/2008 | Hello everyone, Jus a correction. Graham live session today is at 21:00 GMT, not 19:00. I am sorry for the mistake. Looking forward to seeing you there. Kind regards Jos€ ¦é Ant€ ¦ôniohttp://thomasja.wordpress.comhttp://joseantoniook.edublogs.org | Dafne #1535 01/29/2008 | The session will be at 21 as previously stated Zsofi :-) cheers, Daf | Sally La Luzerne #1545 01/29/2008 | Hi Daf, In order to attend Graham's session, I guess I need to become a member of WiZiQ. Is that correct? I also see a tour tab. Is it important to take the tour before attending the session? Still struggling along and trying to take it all in :-) Sally | Dafne #1547 01/29/2008 | Yes, Sally, you need to register, and if you take the tour great :-) hugs, Daf | Sharon Betts #1563 01/29/2008 | I was greatly enjoying WiZiQ this afternoon with Graham S. I wish I didn't have to leave so early as the chat was excellent. I must listen to the recording. | Monica Veado #1564 01/29/2008 | Hi all! Those at WiZiQ today had a wonderful opportunity to learn and discuss the world of blogs, wikis and podcasts with our very special guest speaker. Thank you so much Graham, for another great presentation! We now invite you to share your impressions, comments and thoughts by visiting our blog:http://baw08.wordpress.com/ For those who could not make it, had to leave early or would like to go through the session again, a recording will soon be available, so stay tuned! ;-) Um abraço, Monica on behalf of the week3 moderators | Dafne #1565 (Response to #1564) 01/29/2008 | Hi everybody, Yes!!! it was a fabulous session :-) Here's a page I created for this session. You will find the slideshow and the recordinghttp://baw-08.pbwiki.com/GrahamS Cheers, Daf | Monica Veado #1567 (Response to #1565) 01/29/2008 | Dear Dafne, the wiki page looks great - I linked it to the blog post! :-) Um abraço, Monica | Isabelle #1569 (Response to #1567) 01/29/2008 | Hi Daf ! I wasn't able to attend the session because the computer at work didn't allow me tpo log on to WiziQ. I've been listening to partof the recording and watching the slideshow, but I was just wondering if it was possible to get a glimpse of what was being said in the chatroom as well, since a lot of people were actively participating, giving comments and ideas about wikis, blogs and podcasts. Thanks a lot ! Isabelle | Dafne #1570 (Response to #1569) 01/29/2008 | Dear Isabel, I am really sorry. I just went to check the recording, and it seems that with the changes they have made to the platform, now the chat is not recorded. In the past, you were able to read all the conversation in the chat. It is really a pity because it was a very interesting conversation, with lots of questions and comments about what Graham was saying. sadly, Daf | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1572 01/29/2008 | Hi Monica, Wondeful session. I really loved it and already posted my comment on the blog. José Antônio | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1573 01/29/2008 | Hi Dafne, I am just listening to it righ now. The recourding is so clear. Thanks a lot for sharing it with us. José Antônio | Graham Stanley #1574 (Response to #1573) 01/30/2008 | Hi everyone, Thankyou all for coming along last night - I had a great time, and it was great to see so many enthusiastic participants. WizIQ is such a great tool too, and very easy to use. I'm going to do my best to join you for some of the other sessions. Thanks again, and enjoy the rest of BaW2008! All the best, Graham | Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1575 (Response to #1574) 01/30/2008 | Thank "you", Graham! It was a wonderful session, with great activity in the text chat area, but it seems we didn't get it in the recording. :-( Why couldn't WiZiQ be perfect??!! Daf, Graham's wiki page looks great! Thanks. Hugs, Teresa | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1607 01/30/2008 | Thanks Monica! It was a terrific session! I learned a lot, my eyes were wide open. The comments, links, ideas and sharing in the chat box are gold so I will listen to the recording to extract all the juice. Love: Maru | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1608 01/30/2008 | Thanks Daf! That recording is a treasure. Love: Maru | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1610 (Response to #1608) 01/30/2008 | Hi Graham! Thanks for sharing your experience with us, I also had a great time and learned a lot. I will post my comments on the blog. Indeed it seems very easy to use, I would like to held a session to practice. Could you tell me please how to book a space to do so? Love: Maru | Return to topLive Webcast Elderbob #1701 02/01/2008 | Lee Baber and I are doing some live webcast centered around bringing music into the classroom in the EVO 08 experience. We thought that some of our speakers would be interesting to all of you, so we are issuing an open invitation to anyone in this group or in the new BAW 08 group to join us. The information you need is below. Join us. Lee Baber's new Live WebBridges (http://musicbridge.com/live) site is up and running and to celebrate, we are bringing in Dr. James Frankel as our first guest interview. You can also get to the Live area by clicking on the "Live" tab at the MusicBridges Drupal(http://musicbridge.com/). Dr. Frankel is the Managing Director of SoundTree(http://www.soundtree.com/welcome.asp), the educational division of Korg USA(http://www.korgusa.com/korgusa/index.asp), a registered Professional Development Provider for the State of New Jersey, a teacher with more than 15 years of teaching instrumental and general music at the elementary and middle school levels in New Jersey where he has incorporated music technology throughout his teaching environment, author of over 50 wonderful articles on music and education, an Adjunct Faculty member at both Teachers College Columbia University and Montclair State University where he teaches courses on music technology, and creator of The Music Technology in Education blog(http://jamesfrankel.musiced.net/). Take some time to peruse some of his work at his archive at the Dr James Frankel homepage(http://www.jamesfrankel.com/). What an awesome educator and music promoter. We are so lucky to have him consent to an interview. Again, we will be webcasting via Lee's Live WebBridges (http://musicbridge.com/live). Just go to the page, and click on the arrow in the EdTech Talk Ustream window on the right or text chat into the text chat box (just choose a username, no password is required). Everything is pretty self explanatory. Dr. Frankel will make a presentation and answer some interview questions from Elderbob and Lee, and then you will be invited to log in on Skype and ask questions or make direct comment to Dr. Frankel. If you miss the live session, we will also be recording it, and will try to get it back online on the following day, so everyone will have an opportunity to hear Dr. Frankel. I hope to see you all there. IF you have any questions about the applications, email or Skype either me or Lee, and we will do our best to make sure you have a satisfactory experience. Elderbob | Return to topInteresting Return to topLinks/Resources Monica Veado #1486 01/28/2008 | Hi everyone! Here's an interesting website containing Jane Hart's directory of learning tools with more than 2,000 links (so bookmark it and take your time to explore everything!). Some of them have been voted 'top tools', so you may want to start there...http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Directory/index.html Um abraço, Monica | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1525 01/28/2008 | Thanks Monica! I will look it up, soon I hope!!! Love: Maru | Silvia Colombo #1533 (Response to #1525) 01/29/2008 | Thanks for sharing this useful directory which I've just bookmarked. I've been looking at your blog! Beautiful indeed!, with lots of interesting topics Cheers, Silvia from Argentina. | Mary #1528 01/29/2008 | Some links from the educon2.0 conference in Philadelphia last weekend This is a web page of some tools that one of the presenters at the educon2.0 conference shared http://teachingeverystudent.blogspot.com/2007/06/free-technology-toolkit-for-udl-in-all.html http://educon20.wikispaces.com/search/view/ustream the ustream links from the educon conference http://readwritethink.org/resources/index.asp web resources for teachershttp://success20.pbwiki.com/ talks about inclusion of the struggling student http://www.storyofstuff.com/ the story of stuff http://www.webcastacademy.net/webcaster-kit (this one was from the webcase academy skype chat which I watched during the lunch break) | Dennis Oliver #1542 01/29/2008 | Hi, Mary. Many thanks for the forwarding the links from Educon (message #1528). These online resources will be particularly useful for me since I'm also a Webcast Academy intern. Although I did an acceptable audio intro and a two-way telephony recording and made a number of blogposts and comments during the previous WA session (Class of 2.3), I want to do new versions, so I'm currently lagging behind. I'm sure that your Educon links will help me a great deal as I do the above. Again, many thanks! Dennis in Phoenix (I've not included your excellent links because of their length.) | Monica Veado #1553 01/29/2008 | Hi Silvia, thanks for visiting my blog! :-) Jane Hart's directory is very comprehensive, I'm sure you're going to find lots of interesting tools to explore. Um abraço, Monica | Monica Veado #1554 01/29/2008 | Hi Mary, thanks for sharing the links! I've bookmarked them to explore more carefully later! Um abraço, Monica | Monica Veado #1663 01/31/2008 | Hi everyone! If you're looking for podcasts to use with your students, here are two interesting links:http://www.oculture.com/2006/10/foreign_languag.html Open Culture offers podcasts in different languages, with lots of different topics (check the sidebar on the right)http://www.eslpodcards.com/index.php Podcasts focusing on different aspects of English-speaking countries. Hope you enjoy them! Um abraco, Monica | Daniela #1669 01/31/2008 | Blogs are wonderful free tools teachers can design to meet the needs of their particula syllabus, curriculum, students' learning styles and personal teaching philosophies. My students like our ESL class blog because it incorporates a variety of tools they are using EVERY day in and outside class. This is a list of 5 "must-have" tools I put together and recommend to any ESL teacher who wants to use blogs as a tool rather than as a simply instructional media: http://dvmunca.blogspot.com/2008/01/5-must-have-tools-on-your-esl-class.html What are your top 5 Must-have blog tools? | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1671 01/31/2008 | Hi MOnica, Very good sites. Thankss for sharing. José Antônio | Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1677 02/01/2008 | I know the topic of the week is wikis, blogs and podcasts, so I'm not sure my comment will make much sense here :-( Anyway, I'd like to tell you about my experience with online tools. Last year I started a yahoo group (I don't know what category they fall into) so that the students at our institute could choose the videos they wanted to work with in their video classes (we generally use music video clips with adolescents and young adults because that's what they definitely enjoy the most) The idea was for them to write a short paragraph about the video they wanted to see. The video was then entered in a poll created before every video class for sts to vote their favourites. We found that being able to choose the material they would work with was highly motivating for the sts plus their writing skills improved a lot as a consequence of having to "go public" and learning from each other. Then we added other features like files with exercises I prepared using Hot Potatoes, folders with pieces of writing by the sts, photos and links. Well, here's the link. http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chooseyourfavouritevideo/ Unfortunately, you won't be able to see all the messages because I decided to delete the ones that didn't belong to the latest poll because they found it a little confusing to see so many messages. Last month, I also started experimenting with blogs and created one meant to be a sort of meeting place and communication line for the teachers working at our institute. For some reason, I can't access it now. Well, talking about tech problems, I have to dash to post this (I started trying last night but couldn't do it) because my internet connection is on and off all the time for God knows what reason :-( | Monica Veado #1688 (Response to #1677) 02/01/2008 | Hi Mary, the idea of inviting students to choose the videos they want to watch is so brilliantly simple and effective, isn't it? Not only are the learners happy to be able to do so, but they also feel empowered and motivated to learn! These are simple things we can do in class that can make a world of difference in the way we teach and learn. Thanks for sharing your experience with us! Um abraço, Monica | Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1689 02/01/2008 | Thanks, Monica. I'm glad you liked the idea. About visiting your project, it was my pleasure. I've already bookmarked it :-) | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1692 02/01/2008 | Hello Mary, Interesting experience this one you told us about. I have never used yahoo group for clas projects. It is true that giving students the option to choose materials increases their motivation. One thing that I don´t know if you did in this project would be having them posting their writing in a wiki or a blog. You said you deleted some of their comments because they would find it confusing. I agree with you that comments in a yahoo are difficult to follow, especially for yaoung learners. I myself have some trouble coping with threads in yahoo groups. Again, a good idea to see comments and make sense of them is to create different blog posts and then students would be able to understand whta is going on. Your comment makes a lot of sense. We talked about yahoo groups last week and we are discussing blogs write now. About the tech problem, we have had our share of them. I sometimes get really mad at my PC because sometimes the sound is too low just when I amtrying a new application, or it is crashing and I have to re-start it to be able to finsh something I was doing. These machines have a life of their own. Thanks for sharing. Please let us know how we can help setting up your blogs, wikis, or podcsts. Kind Regards José Antônio | Sharon Betts #1703 02/01/2008 | Hi there, I believe what you did was start an actual social network through a Yahoo group. Great project, I enjoyed browsing. Sharon | Dafne #1785 (Response to #1784) 02/03/2008 | Innovate (www.innovateonline.info) is published bimonthly as a public service by the Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University and is sponsored, in part, by Microsoft. The articles in the February/March 2008 issue, guest edited by Cathy Gunn and Susan Patrick, offer a range of studies that contribute to an evidence-based framework to sustain further innovation in online teaching and learning. Innovate-Live webcasts, produced by our partner, ULiveandLearn, allow you to synchronously interact with authors on the topics of their articles. In the first article of this issue, Susan Lowes focuses on the "trans-classroom" teacher who works in both face-to-face and online classrooms, and attempts to track how such teachers make shifts in ideas, strategies, and practices that constrain or improve their practice in either venue. See http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=446&action=article Her webcast is scheduled for March 26 at 3:00 PM EST. Rayenne Dekhinet, Keith Topping, David Duran, and Silvia Blanch studied a primary school program that linked English-speaking learners of Spanish with Spanish-speaking learners of English. Their study provides insight on how Internet technology can be leveraged to enhance language learning. [Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=479&action=article ]. Their webcast is schedule for March 26 at 11:00 AM EST. To what degree do online learning environments sustain high levels of engagement in students? Pu-Shih Daniel Chen, Robert Gonyea, and George Kuh discuss the implications of their study of the engagement of distance learners versus their campus-based counterparts at U.S. four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities. [Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=438&action=article ]. Their webcast is schedule for March 26 at 2:00 PM EST. Julie Foertsch and Morton Ann Gernsbacher describe the principles of effective education and evaluate their value for online instruction by assessing an online course on autism against each of the principles. [Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=434&action=article ]. Their webcast is scheduled for February 22 at 2:00 PM EST. Len Annetta, Marta Klesath, and Shawn Holmes describe virtual learning environments and the use of avatars to foster social presence in these environments as they examine how gaming and avatars are engaging online students. [Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=485&action=article ]. Their webcast is scheduled for February 19 at 1:00 PM EST. Next, Lydia Arnold examines the learning concepts incorporated in an online bachelor's degree focused on experiential learning and examines the benefits and challenges integrating learning into the student's workplace in order to improve student engagement. [Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=494&action=article ]. Her webcast is scheduled for February 19 at 11:00 AM EST. We end the issue with a new feature for Innovate: Reid Cornwell's multimedia interview column titled Perspectives. This month's entry features a discussion with Tony Gardner-Medwin about certainty-based marking, a computer-based assessment system that scores answers to objective questions based both on the correctness of the answer and on the student\'s assessment of his or her certainty that the answer is correct. [Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=552&action=article ]. Their webcast is scheduled for February 19 at 12:00 PM EST. You may register for webcasts athttp://www.uliveandlearn.com/PortalInnovate/. Webcasts will be archived and available in the webcast section of the article and in the Innovate-Live portal archive shortly after the webcast. All times are Eastern Standard Time (New York). You may use the world clock athttp://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ to coordinate with your time zone. We hope that you enjoy this issue of Innovate. Please use the discussion board within each article to raise questions or provide additional commentary. Your comments will be sent to authors for their response, which will become part of the record for their article. Also, please forward this announcement to appropriate mailing lists and to colleagues who want to use IT tools to advance their work and ask your organizational librarian to link to Innovate in their resource section for open-access e-journals. | Return to topSharing Monica Veado #1518 01/28/2008 | Hi all, have you been working with blogs, wikis and/or podcasts with your students? Share your ideas and links with the rest of the group here, we'd love to hear about your projects! Um abraço, Monica http://projectplatypus2.blogspot.com | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1526 (Response to #1518) 01/29/2008 | Hi Monica and all, I am a big fan of blogs and I have some for different purposes. One of my main blogs is the one that always appears on the bottom of my e-mails. It is mixed and I use it with various groups with different levels. I believe this approach brings diversity to blogging and builds a large audience. http://thomasja.wordpress.com Under this umbrella blog, I have some activities such as storytelling. Students worked on a project called Beaver Dam last year. They had to retell classic fairy tales. I asked them to illustrate their stories and posted them on the blog. Check them out. http://thomasja.wordpress.com/category/beaver-dam-stories/ http://thomasja.wordpress.com/ Stories told after we started learning the passive voice. I also use blog as a follow up to topics discussed in class. I like this kind of activity because it allows them to improve their writing skills while expressing their own ideas or talking about themselves. They love reading what others have written. Under the tag class topics, there are posts of lots of students from different levels. http://thomasja.wordpress.com/category/class-topics/page/2/ I also use blogs as sort of personal diary. Some examples I love going to the movies and writing something about how I saw that particular movie. I used to do that a lot before blogs had been invented. Last week I decided to keep a blog on that. Check it out and leave a comment if you want.http://moviegoer.edublogs.org/ Reflectins on learning and the learning process. This is a blog I started last year when I took BaW07 and it always comes back to life in January ( I wonder why). Feel free to comment http://joseantoniook.edublogs.org/ Finally, another blogging host [actually this is similar to twitter and this kind of blogging is being called microblogging and I discovered it in Carla Arena´s page who found out about it in GladdysBaya's page (both of them Webheads in moderating and coordinating B4ed)]. I thing this one is better for posting reflections and sharing new tools. It doesn't allow comments and it is better than twitter because you can post longer texts and it allows audio, video, etc. And you can subscribe to your friends Tumblr and follow up his activities. It is a good way of sharing activities http://joseantoniook.tumblr.com/ My two Brazilian cents Hugs to all from a cludy Brasilia morning José Antônio | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1527 (Response to #1526) 01/29/2008 | Hello again, Just two more cents, I mean sites Ablog I have for my adult students http://topflex.wordpress.com/"> http://topflex.wordpress.com/ And Wikis, a great tool for collaborative projects. This is one I joined in with a group of teachers from Brazil and Argentina coordinated by Carla Raguseo. Students made movies using Dfilm. If you click on students' names you will see the films they have made. On the side bar you have other groups participating in the same project. This was huge http://cartoonfestival.pbwiki.com/Class+74+-+CTJ+-+Jos€ ¦é+Ant€ ¦ônio Have a great day José Antônio | Sharon Betts #1539 01/29/2008 | My favorite wiki project now is an open international group (about 10 - 14 years old) who are starting to share cultural experiences at:http://classroombraids.wikispaces.com Sharon | Ocsovszky Zs€ ¦óia #1541 (Response to #1540) 01/29/2008 | Sharon, I can not open this web. Can you check if is right? Thank you Zsofi | Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1556 01/29/2008 | Hi guys, here are the links to the blogs I have already used with students: general blog for adult advanced students: http://my5a.blogspot.com - writing project (many webheads helped me with this and I'll present about it in New York - EV Fair): http://my3b.blogspot.com and http://355north.blogspot.com - Brazil-Argentina project (with Carla Raguseo): my5b.blogspot.com and http://6thteen.blogspot.com/ - LatinAmerica-Russia project (with Lena and Kate): http://ruslatproject.blogspot.com (check out the video I did with my students and Erika Cruvinel: http://tinyurl.com/32ueyp Regards from Brazil, Ronaldo | Jose Antonio da Silva #1579 01/30/2008 | Dear all, After the great session we have with Graham yesterday, it is time to start creating, customizing, and sharing our blogs. I know many of you are already playing with them. I have seen very nice blogs from some participants who have shared them with us. So, something good to do is sending a message to this mailing list with the URL and also posting them to our wiki page called TOOLS CREATED BY PARTICIPANTS http://baw08participants.pbwiki.com/Tools-participants We would love to see how you are applying what you have been learning this week. If when trying to set up your blogs you have any question, just ask to the group and someone will help you quicker than you can imagine. Finally, I just want to say that one of the reasons I like blogs is that they are very easy to change. All blog providers have lots of templates with different colors and with a clikc of the mouse yu can give them a new look. Kind Regards José Antônio | Monica Veado #1581 01/30/2008 | Hi all, I got this link at another EVO session and thought you might find it interesting: 'Ten habits of bloggers that win'. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/03/ten-habits-of-bloggers-that-win.html"> http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/03/ten-habits-of-bloggers-that-win.html Um abraço, Monica | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1600 01/30/2008 | Hllo Monica, Very interesting link indeed. There are lots of posts and important informatin to read I have delicioused it already. Abraços José Antônio | Monica Veado #1582 01/30/2008 | Dear all, sorry, my last post had a broken link. In fact, the whole website is great, with very interesting and useful information for teachers, so I think it's worth having a look at http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ On the right side you can find 'My most valuable posts' with very good tips on how to use blogs and wikis with your students. Um abraço, Monica | Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1583 01/30/2008 | Thanks, Monica! Interesting advice on blogs. Hugs, Teresa | Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1584 01/30/2008 | Dear friends, Hoping to spark some curiosity and new and brilliant ideas from you all, here are, I'm very proud to say, my two award-winning curricular and extracurricular blogs with my YLs in the 2005-2007 school years, together with the fabulous collaboration of many BaWers. -- CALL 2005-2007 http://call05-06.motime.com (curricular blog with a post in the first page that includes the different tools I used) -- Have Fun with English! 2 http://fwe2.motime.com"> http://fwe2.motime.com (extracurricular blog) This school year we have two new blogs, though they keep the same name. They are for my two 5th grades. -- CALL Lessons 2007-2008 http://call07.motime.com -- Have Fun with English! 3 http://fwe3.motime.com You're very welcome to leave comments in this year's blogs. If so, please include your name and country, so the students can locate you in the world. BTW, I create a new set of blogs when I get a new group of students. I believe that they feel more ownership this way. Hope you enjoy them! Hugs, Teresa | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1599 (Response to #1584) 01/30/2008 | Hi Teresa, Beautiful blogs. Congratulations. I browsed them and listened to some of your studens audios. It was a great experience to listen to their voices. They sounded so enthusiastic about learning. Thanks for sharing this with us. José Antônio | Nina Liakos #1612 01/30/2008 | Awesome article by Vicki Davis! Such useful ideas, so clearly articulated! Thanks for sharing this, Monica. I've bookmarked it. | Nina Liakos #1613 01/30/2008 | I've observed that many of you are posting broken links on purpose or writing out urls and email addresses to prevent their being hotlinked, e.g. nina.liakos AT gmail.com. I suspect there is a very good reason. Can someone tell me why? Nina | Kat Urbaniak #1614 (Response to #1613) 01/30/2008 | I'm not sure why people would want to post broken links but writing out your email address makes it harder to be gathered by spam-bots since they often search for the @ sign. Kat | MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1618 01/30/2008 | Thanks Teresa! Be sure that I will check them! Love: Maru | Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1681 02/01/2008 | Thanks for the link, Monica. I've also been moving around your blog "projectplatypus2" I simply love it, the way the different activities are organized and presented, the links to listening exercises and quizzes... Great! | Cristina Costa #1732 02/02/2008 | Dear all, may I share with you a great blog by a young-in-spirit-and attitude-blogger? http://amis95.blogspot.com/ Enjoy. It is in Spanish, but hopefully you will be able to get it! Not sure how great the online translation applications are....:-) Cris | Jose Antonio Da Silva #1736 (Response to #1732) 02/02/2008 | Hi Chris, What a blog! Really fantastic. This tells us that it is never late to learn. I have met teachers who were in their ealy foruties and think it is too late for them to learn how to use technology. This blog is certainly a source of inspiration for all of us as teachers and students. Thanks a lot for sharing. José Antônio | Dafne #1740 (Response to #1736) 02/02/2008 | JA, don´t talk about age, please ;-) warm hugs, Daf | Sally La Luzerne #1749 (Response to #1740) 02/02/2008 | Cris, Thank you for sharing the blog! What fun it was to look at! It gave me inspiration and some Spanish practice! Sally | Angeles Berman #1755 02/02/2008 | Age is not as important as attitude. Not just from this woman but the grandson (so cuteeeeee) that opened a blog for her and have enough time to spend with her writing her thoughts. Both of them are admirable :-) | Cristina Costa #1758 (Response to #1755) 02/02/2008 | dear Angeles, you have just said it all. it is all about joining everyone's strengths and come up with a cross-generation project which just make me think we are in the right tract. ICT as a means to an end can indeed be an effective way to bridge such differences. Cris | Monica Veado #1765 02/03/2008 | Dear Cris, what an inspiration this lady is to all of us! She shows us that we are never too old to learn new things and make the most of what life gives us! Thanks for this fantastic link! Um abraco, Monica | Return to top
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