Broadband makes tiny town an English-teaching hub

TEN SLEEP, WY–The nearest Wal-Mart is two hours away, and only foul weather, a deer in the road or a Washakie County sheriff’s deputy would slow down anyone with a mind to drive there faster. Yet Ten Sleep, population 350, is just as connected as full story

Using Asynchronous Audio Communication (AAC) in the Online Classroom:

JOLT–Facilitating learning online requires an evolving set of teaching skills that embrace Web 2.0 technologies. Asynchronous Audio Communication (AAC) may bridge the virtual “communication divide” between instructors and students. The purpose of this study was multi-faceted: first, to assess students’ and instructors’ satisfaction with asynchronous audio full story

Moving Teaching and Learning with Technology from Adoption to Transformation

EDUCAUSE–Information technology has been an important part of higher education since the development of the lantern slide in the mid-1800s. However, occasions in which the academy has been transformed by technology are rare. Viewed in a historical perspective, these occasions can be considered as a series of three epochs: the online public-access catalog epoch; full story

Get that accent right with Bangalore’s English teachers

BANGALORE, INDIA–At first glance, one would mistake Sadhana Govindraj, 32, to be practising English pronunciation with a headphone attached to a computer assisting her at her home in the uspscale Jayanagar neighbourhood of south Bangalore. She is, in fact, teaching her students miles away to speak English the way it should be spoken. full story

Virtual Reality world used to teach language

COLIMA, MEXICO and AMMAN, JORDAN–If you’re trying to learn a new language and nothing seems to work, many people will suggest the full-immersion treatment. That way, there is no choice but to learn the language. If you’re looking to try the method without moving to a foreign country, the answer may be just around the bend. full story

(Critical) history of ICT in education – and where we are heading?

UNESCO BANGKOK—The use of computers in education is much more a series of failure than success stories. I agree with Erik Duval that in general, on a large scale, the impact of technology on the way people learn has been minimal. In open distant learning and military training (simulations) there are examples of success, but these models do not fit very well into the school and university full story

Can video games encourage reading?

THE GUARDIAN–The New York Times has reported how authors, teachers, librarians and publishers are embracing video games in order to attract young readers. The Rings of Orbis game, for example, is intricately tied to PJ Haarsma’s series of science-fiction novels, which players have to read in order to navigate the game. Now the debate has begun about whether games are legitimate full story

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites Of The Year

LARRY FERLAZZO–I have begun creating “The Best…” lists, highlighting what I think are the best educational websites each year. All these sites can also be found on my website, along with thousands of other categorized links. Direct student self-access links to all these resources will soon be available on my website. You can read about this plan here. full story

Trying to get them to use modal verbs while they’re being chased by a bear

BABBEL BLOG–Todd Bryant on language learning within the online game World of Warcraft. Why did you start using World of Warcraft in the classroom in 2006?
I think I started to think about games whenever Sims Online came out ….I don’t know if you remember it or not. It didn’t get released in Europe, because it was such a huge flop. full story

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES MOBILE-COMPUTING TRENDS: LIGHTER, FASTER, SMARTER

LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGY–We are moving into a new era of mobile computing, one that promises greater variety in applications, highly improved usability, and speedier networking. The 3G iPhone from Apple is the poster child for this trend, but there are plenty of other developments that point in this direction. The Google-led Android phone will make its appearance this full story