Computer Lab Photo Album

Link to the album: http://voicethread.com/view.php?b=9474

Hi, girls!

I've finally posted our photographs on the blog. This time I'd like to introduce you to a new tool that has been recommended by several LWC memebers: http://voicethread.com/

It's another photo sharing site, but it allows the visitors as well as the authors to leave comments very easily and to start threads or discussions about the photographs. Simply charming!

If you want to give it a try, simply click on Type to write a comment or on Record to leave an audio comment. The registration process is very simple.

I look forward to listening to your comments soon!

Jornadas

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July 9th, 2007
More than a month later, here's my attempt to report my experience at the Congress:

The Conference on Applied Technology in Language Teaching was held at the School of Languages of Córdoba University from May 21st to 23rd. This congress brought together more than 150 First and Foreign Language teachers from all over the country to share experiences and discuss the most important issues related to online learning, blended learning (a combination of face to face instruction and distance learning), and the integration of new technologies into the language classroom.
Since most of the presenters and attendees taught languages in a higher education setting, most presentations dealt with the pedagogical concerns and the impact of distance learning at this level. Many professors focused on the specific features and functions of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE), especially on a new open source course management system (CMS) called Moodle, to which most universities are switching.
In this context, Professor Fred Kemp’s video conference, sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Buenos Aires, made a significant contribution by introducing new concepts related to the impact of the Internet in our knowledge society and the challenges it poses on education. He pointed out that in a knowledge-saturated society, teachers have the vital role of teaching students how to select, classify and interpret relevant information by helping them become critical readers and consumers. In addition, he referred to a number of computer-mediated communication tools, such as blogs, wikis and podcasts that are allowing our students to interact with the world and have a real audience for their writing.
Another important contribution was that of Nik Peachey (British Council) who gave a workshop on the use of a virtual classroom called Nicenet and a presentation in which he shared web-based resources for EFL teachers. He also talked about the importance of Communities of Practice and presented some of them such as Webheads in Action and our group, Learning with Computers. After the presentation I approached Nik and thanked him for helping us spread the word about our community among Argentinian teachers.
On the whole, it was a very enriching experience. I met Foreign Language teachers from all over the country who shared their excitement and successful experiences, but also their fears and failures . I noticed there's still some apprehensiveness and resistance to change as well as great uncertainty as to the role of technology in education. As a matter of fact, I even felt the discussion was somewhat anachronistic at times compared to the things we experience in our online communities. However, I was thrilled to be able to take part in that discussion and express my point of view. Before that, I really wasn't sure I could make any valuable contributions to the congress, so it turned out to be quite a challenge.
The big paradigm shift is underway and it feels just great to be a part of it.

Video for 2nd Year

Vidipedia - Wow!

http://www.vidipedia.org/Main_Page

The first editable digital video encyclopedia. It seems it is still giving its first steps since there aren't many videos, but it already looks promising, with relevant and interesting material.

And here's my favorite video (again!) about the Web 2.0 in the Technology page (the one Monica Veado found in You Tube). A digital tapestry...



Update July 2007: Final Version (in You Tube)

Write to my blog!

Dear all,

I have just found this amazing tool. http://writetomyblog.com/ is a web based word processor for Blog users. I think this would be a great solution when students work with blogs at the computer lab. Let's see if it works!!!

BTW, I found this tool at http://www.go2web20.net/. Already suffering from FOMS(=fear of missing something)? Don't panic!! We'll never be able to keep up with the web!!! ;)

Stationery Vocabulary

Click on the photo to see the picture dictionary

stationery-cvr, originally uploaded by elidafitti.

I gave Flickr a try and I could blog this photo and vocabulary in. First I opened an account at Flickr. Then I uploaded a photo from the computer and labeled the pictures by clicking on the Add Notes button, chose its layout for the blog. I finally granted access to Flicker to publish my photo on the blog.

Experimenting with photos

Computer Lab
Originally uploaded by CarlaYR.

Flikr is a tool that allows you to store, organize and share your photos on the web. Among many interesting features, it lets you annotate your photos by selecting and adding notes to specific parts, making it possible to create a picture dictionary. (See I Didn't Know You Could Do That with Free Web Tools in Berta's blog).

Here goes my first attempt:

Click on the picture to see the Pictionary.

Any other ideas on how to use this feature?

Ready to give it a try?! :)

Welcome to the Blogosphere!

Dear girls,
It’s been only a few days since this blog was born and we already have lots of friends who have given us support and encouragement, sharing resources and helping us to get started.

How is this possible?

This tool we are using, called blog or weblog , is a kind of user-generated website, consisting of individual posts or entries displayed in reverse chronological order, which allows interaction with readers through a comments section in each post. This particular blog host, Blogger, has special social networking features, i.e. ways of interacting with other Blogger users. If you look at the comments section you’ll see that each person’s username (in blue) is linked to that person’s profile where his or her blogs are displayed, making it easier to contact people with similar interests.

So, let’s say that once in the Blogger “neighborhood”, you can easily learn a bit more about your “neighbors” and “visit” their “blogspots”.

That’s exactly how I came across Berta’s blog, My Spot in Cyberspace , where she writes about the different tools she tries and displays her own “experiments”. One of her posts particularly called my attention: I Didn't Know You Could Do That with Free Web Tools, where she shares information she found on possible educational applications of some well-known photo tools. I liked it so much that I immediately wanted to give it a try!

So, in order to make yourselves at home, you can start surfing the blogosphere and meeting other ELT bloggers in the “neighborhood”.

Although most of you won’t see this post until Tuesday, our “back to school day”, I wish you a blogorific (=fantastic) weekend. ;)

Hugs,
Carla

A Sandbox for Teachers

When I first came up with the idea of setting up this blog, I just wanted a place for all team members to experiment without the common fear of “spoiling” things. Therefore, we needed an open and friendly space to try things out, while giving our first steps into team blogging. Then, I remembered the sandbox feature in Wikis (another kind of collaborative tool).

According to Wiktionary the first two entries for sandbox are the following:
1. A box used for holding sand, for the purpose of young children playing in it.
2. (Wiktionary jargon) On many Wikis, the sandbox is a page where users are free to experiment with codes without destroying or damaging any legitimate content.

The blend of these two meanings perfectly summarizes the purpose of this blog: to play, experiment and reflect as we discover, share and apply the potential of the Web 2.0 tools to our classes.

Open or Closed?

As soon as I learned about the new feature in Blogger which allows us to restrict the blog to be viewed only by blog members, I thought that option would be a good idea in this case for shy members or first time bloggers in our group. However, as I have learned by taking part in different communities of practice, blogs are ongoing conversations with the world. In the new web, knowledge is built collaboratively, so allowing teachers from all over the world to take part in our experience would give us a unique opportunity to be part of this growing community of educators ready to take the challenge of integrating technology in education. Anyway, this will eventually be for group members to decide as we plunge into this new blogging experience.

EVO Sessions

Finally, I’d like to point out that this idea was born while taking part in two TESOL EVO (Electronic Village Online) Sessions: Blogging for Beginners (B4B) and Becoming a Webhead 07 (BaW07). I’d like to thank all moderators and participants for their immense generosity and their valuable help and inspiration. Special thanks to Gladys, Claudia, Carla A., and Erika (the Blogging Team) for allowing me to learn and collaborate with their group.

Let’s start Blogging then!!

The Computer Lab Team

(Click once and then place the cursor on each photo to see the name)