The Digital Schoolhouse

Attitudes About Education

2010-09-27T18:09:00.000-04:00

What should education teach our students? Are leadership skills important? Does reading, writing, and arithmetic prepare our students for the future? Or, are other skills necessary.

Please share your views with this online survey.

Rave New World - The Reading Room Project Writing Practice

2010-09-13T17:21:00.001-04:00

Chapter 1 introduces us to a world that is both different from ours and similar to ours. Addiction, embedded medical technology, the unemployment zone, etc. Do you like this world? How is it similar to our? How is it different? Does this world have a Big Brother feel to it?

Rave New World - The Reading Room Project Vocabulary (Chapter 1)

2010-09-13T16:35:00.001-04:00

Chapter 1 introduces you to 71 S.A.T. words. I've listed them in alphabetical order. Review a few each day to begin your improvement of and mastery of your English vocabulary.

A

abashed, abhorred, adept, adroit, aggrandizement, annihilated, argot, ascended, asinine, audibly, azure

beseeched, bolted, branded, bustle

capitalized, coerced, cognizant, compelling, corroborate

distressed, docile, dread, dutiful

embedded, elite, endorsements, exasperation, expurgated

fastidious, flourished, forbearance, frenetic, furrowed

gleaming

iconic, imperious, implement, incompetent, ingenious, ignorance ,induced, insouciant, interceded, inured, iridescent

liability, linger, luminous

muster

nationalization

obscure

perfunctorily, peruse, phlegmatic, ponder, precise, probe, prosaic, pulchritude

recidivist, reconstruct

sedate, stunted, supplication, synesthete

taciturn, trepidation, tried

vice, vivacious

Rave New World - The Reading Room Project Life in 2157

2010-09-13T15:45:00.001-04:00

This story talks about life in the future, life in the year 2157. What will life be like then? Take a moment and share your views here.

Rave New World - The Reading Room Project Introduction

2010-09-13T15:35:00.003-04:00

Rave New World

It's the year 2157, and every pleasure that doesn't turn people into dutiful consumers has been classified as an addiction and outlawed. Jaden Emory's job is to find out people's hidden addictions—and root them out. But when rebellious raver Ally Fayre enters the picture, it's Jaden who becomes addicted...to her.

- http://www.sparknotes.com/satfiction/ravenewworld/

That's the premise for Rave New World. It's the future and consumerism is the way of life and maybe even the way of government. Read the first chapter. Subsequent posts provide questions and other opportunity for you to learn new vocabulary and practice your writing

The Reading Room Project

2010-09-09T17:49:00.004-04:00

The Reading Room Project is a place to learn new vocabulary, improve your reading skills, and practice your writing. SparkNotes is an independent publisher of study guides. The study guides include a set of free S.A.T. vocabulary novels that are designed to help you learn the words that comprise the verbal section of the S.A.T. The Reading Room will provide self-study questions and vocabulary quizzes based on each chapter of the various vocabulary novels. You will also have the opportunity to write short essays based on different chapters. Your essay will be published here where I and other students can provide you writing tips to improve your writing.

Startup Idea - Zip Buses

2008-12-15T09:39:00.002-05:00

I think someone should start a Zip Bus-type company to compete with public transportation. In Boston, the buses are crowded and often late. Why not have competition?

Zip buses or other types of buses running on alternative energy would be the way to go. We need to resolve our fuel dependency. Add wireless access, make the buses comfortable that accommodate to people's riding habits.

Any thoughts?

What new instrument would you want for Rock Band/Guitar Hero?

2008-12-15T09:32:00.003-05:00

What new instrument would you add to the Guitar/Rock Band Hero series?

Rock Band Hero/Guitar Hero is one of the best music education programs around. The other day at lunch, my friends and I were discussing other instruments that could be added to this series.

Conductor Hero was suggested for those that would like to experience conducting a symphony hero. We also thought of Bagpipe Hero since one of the people at lunch plays that instrument.

What new instrument would you add to the Guitar/Rock Band Hero series?

Time For Giving

2008-12-13T16:07:00.002-05:00

It is the time for giving. If finances allow, please consider the following 3 organizations.

Kiva

ModestNeeds

Heifer International

Technology Picks 2008 - eduFire

2008-12-13T15:20:00.004-05:00

Online education has always been a passion of mine. I felt ecstatic when I could teach ESL using Skype (one of my all-time favorite technologies).

eduFire is a great learning platform. It provides live audio and video for teaching. In full disclosure, I teach for them. However, regardless of my involvement, it is a great site. I've taught on all the online platforms and I believe that this is the best site.

The majority of classes are language-learning related but other topics are available. Can't find the class you want? Suggest it on one of the forums and somebody will offer to teach it.

eduFire works on a simple concept- teachers charge the student a rate for a lesson and eduFire takes a small commission. The best feature of eduFire - great people and a great community.

Technology Picks 2008 - Mimeo

2008-12-13T15:06:00.002-05:00

I love the concept of working from anywhere and I love any technology that makes working from anywhere easier. One company that accomplishes this is Mimeo.

Mimeo allows you to write a document on your PC and then have that document printed in quantity anywhere. No need to worry about completing a document and rushing to the photocopy store.

In their own words,

"Mimeo.com is the innovator of online, on-demand document printing and distribution. Founded in 1998, our mission has always been simple: To delight our customers with the fastest, easiest, and most reliable way to print, manage, and distribute documents.

We understand how important documents are to your business and that you might have to make last-minute changes, ship to multiple locations, or share document ordering with your entire company. Most of all, we know that your printed materials reflect you and absolutely have to be perfect in quality and delivered on time. Mimeo.com's simple online ordering process gives you complete control over how your documents are produced— which means you can be confident you'll make the right impression, every time." - www.mimeo.com/aboutus/

Online Political Conferencing

2008-09-21T16:09:00.002-04:00

The Internet influences politics in many ways. Not surprisingly, it has shown its strength as a money machine.

Political blogging has given ownership of the press to anyone who chooses to publish. Some of the writing is excellent and much of it is just a rehash of sound bites and rants and raves. Political bulletin boards are the same. Some of the boards provide excellent debates while others are threads of rants and raves.

Anonymity makes it easy for anyone to say whatever they want. There is no accountability. User names mean nothing!

However, technology is always in flux. Web conferencing software has the potential to change this. The webcam option provides someone from hiding behind a user name. The voice option also removes some of the secrecy.

This technology can be valuable to candidates. They can use it to provide information to their managers from regional to local levels. This information can then be disseminated to the voters.

Bottom up conversations can also make use of this technology. Local leaders can have town hall meetings and pass this information upstream.

I have a wiziq account where I can host private web conferences. My free account allows me to invite up to 50 participants.

I want to explore how we can use web conferences to discuss issues and candidates. If you are interested, please let me know what you would like to discuss. Once enough people respond, we'll determine an appropriate time and I'll set up a conference and post the link on this blog.

I look forward to conversing with all.

Classrooms on Cell Phones

2008-09-12T23:29:00.005-04:00

Learn English as a Second Language using your cell phone. The initial version of Classrooms On Cell Phones is live.

It's free! Sign up and share your thoughts with us.

Sincerely,

Alan

ESL Via Cell Phone

2008-09-11T21:49:00.000-04:00

I am exploring using the cell phone as a platform to teach ESL. The cell phone is the Internet/communications device that everyone carries in their pocket. Text messaging, email, Internet access . . . all available from your cell phone. I am looking for volunteers who want to receive free ESL tips via their cell phone. I promise that you will not receive more than 1 text message per day, most like no more than 3 or 4 a week. I would also like to explore email access via cell phones. For example, www.dailylit.com provides a nice service emailing book chapters via email. Many books are free of charge. I'm just interested in feedback to see how well this platform will work. Sincerely, Alan

The Cell Phone as an Education Platform?

2008-05-15T19:05:00.004-04:00

I teach adult immigrants English as a Second Language. I want to use more technology but most of my students don't have computers, or Internet access, or email addresses. However, all my students have cell phones. This got me thinking. Could I use this platform for educational uses?

The simplest way would be to use text messages. My students could text message me a question and I could answer it. Of course, text messages are limited to 160 characters. I would have to forgo spelling in many instances, but if I could answer their questions, it might be worthwhile.

UPOC is a service that allows me to broadcast a message to a group. I'm experimenting with this service by broadcasting a grammar tip of the day. UPOC limits messages to 120 characters.

Another option is the multimedia messaging service that allows you to send multimedia (photos, video, audio, etc.) from your cell phone to other cell phones. This method might be useful to send short pronunciation videos or audio, or "one minute" lessons.

Technology is always advancing. Cell phone plans will offer more services at basic prices and hopefully, the cell phone platform will open. Google is working on this with their "Open Source Platform."

If done right, the cell phone could be the next educational platform.

Learning and Music

2008-05-14T13:20:00.003-04:00

I am very interested in the relationship between learning and music, or in other words, using music to help learning. The Internet has made this task a lot easier.

One popular method for teaching English as a Second Language is to use lyrics from songs. There are websites that display lyrics for just about any song. At times, you can learn about a song's history from Wikipedia.

There are many sites where you can purchase music. One method that I like is to use the original version of the song and then purchase an interesting cover version from iTunes or Calabash Music. The students have the opportunity to listen to different phrasings of the same lyrics.

Another area of using music for learning is the Mozart Effect. This theory states that listening to classical music can enhance one's learning abilities. I have mixed views about this theory. I believe many types of music may help learning. I think listening to and following a long jazz or rock solo, or listening to classical music may help you develop better concentration and analytical abilities. Rap and hip hop are a great way to explore language and rhythm.

Music is just another language. Following a long or complex piece and understanding its relationships can't hurt.

There are also recordings from the Relaxation Company that are suppose to help with learning. These recordings use alpha and beta waves embedded into musical compositions.

I majored in music in college. I find it interesting how music can enhance one's live and how people react to music. Please share your thoughts with me.

Some of My eHow Articles

2008-05-14T00:04:00.000-04:00

I’d like to share some articles that I wrote for eHow.

Here is a quick music theory article I wrote.

How to Create Major and Minor Chords in Any Key

Avatars

2007-11-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

I have been writing about avatars at a blog I set up where I work. While I'll continue to post here, if you are interested in avatars, please check out http://geometricinformatics.blogspot.com/ .

Sincerely,
Alan

Giving

2007-09-25T22:00:00.000-04:00

I want to invest in others. Being able to give money to those that need it is great. There is only one obstacle that is stopping me from this goal - I'm not rich. My luck! Not having enough money stops me from investing in others!

Kiva (kiva.org) allows me to accomplish this goal. It gives me the opportunity to be a partial investor in a business or businesses. In their own words,

"Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back."

Let's look at a make believe example.

Carla lives in Brazil. She makes blankets and want to start a business selling them. She needs $500 to buy a space and buy shelving for her store.

Kiva allows you to loan Carla money in increments of $25.00 You can loan her $25, $50, $100, and so on. Others can also loan her money.

Carla pays her loan back to Kiva who in return pays you. There is no interest. This is not a traditional investment where you make money on the loan.

I think this is a great idea. However, action talks and bullshit walks! It is easy for me to write about this organization, but why not put my money where my mouth is! I made two fifty dollar loans.

I made my first loan to an electrician in Paraguay. I chose this business because I wanted my first loan to go to a person from either Central or South America; I teach many students from Central and South America. I've become close to the people from these continents. Here's Martin's story.

"Martin is 45 years old, and married to Bernarda Roja. The couple have three children: the oldest is 20 years old and is a university student, their other son is 16 and is studying at middle-school. Their youngest daughter is 11 and is still in primary school.

In his youth he worked in the Yacyreta hydro-electric plant, where he was able to accumulate capital through saving his money through much personal sacrifice and then establish his own workshop for car electrics. Now he has 20 years experience in the business. His wife cares for a store that operates from their own home which also generates extra income for the family.

One part of the loan will be used to buy spare parts related to his business, which can be obtained for a better price if bought in bulk, and the other part of the loan will be used to purchase merchandise for the grocery-store. In this way, they will increase the family’s income and consequently its members quality of life."

My second fifty dollar loan went to a lady in Nigeria. Healthcare is a vital issue. Here is Mrs. Comfort Eseneh story.

"Mrs. Comfort Eseneh is a 58 year old woman, who has a chemist shop (pharmacy) for the care of people in her community. She is married with seven (7) children, and lives in Benin City, Nigeria. She hopes to get the loan amount of $400 for business improvement, i.e., buying more drugs for sale. She has been in this business for 2 years."

Kiva has an excellent repayment record. They do thier due diligence. Here's some more info from their site.

This can be a great school project and a way to teach students about giving. Teachers can incorporate geography, social studies, and other topics related to the country where the business person lives.

You make your payment with a credit card or through your PayPal account. At the checkout, Kiva will ask if you want to make a 10% donation based on your loan to them. Kiva takes no money from the loan. All of my $100 is split between Martin and Mrs. Comfort Eseneh. I donated 10% to Kiva ($10.00 based on my loan).

More Thoughts About Online Education

2007-09-12T21:33:00.000-04:00

Teaching online is a very popular concept. I use it to teach English as a Second Language. Skype or any Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) program is essential. Most instant messenging programs (YahooIM, MSN Messenger, etc.) offer this functionality.

There are other Internet technologies that are also useful. User groups or message forums (Google Groups for example) are popular. The teacher begins a “written discussion” and the students contribute. These groups are similar to blogs where the blog author starts a conversation and readers share their comments and thoughts.

Blogs and wikis are great for year-long projects. The class or teacher chooses a topic, for example, the weather. Students can write about how the weather affects their community, weather in other countries, learn about hurricanes, and so on. They can also take pictures of interesting weather-related or weather-affected events.

You may want your students to create a blog about their community. They can attend town or city government meetings and other events. Its a great way to get them involved in the community.

Blogs are great for showing how students’ writing improves over time. They also teach writers about discipline. Having to write 3 or 4 interesting entries a week is a great skill, especially for students that want careers in journalism.

I love wikis. A wiki (like Wikipedia) allows students to collaborate. They can edit existing material or create new material. This tool allows students to create “their own textbooks.” For example, an English class can write their own “grammar book” or a history class can write a “book” about the American Revolution, based on the material they learn from class and student assignments.

Technology provides many opportunities for education. Like any tool, book or website, the learning value depends on how well the tool is used.

Are Newspapers Dead?

2007-09-11T19:54:00.000-04:00

Print versions of newspapers are not doing as well compared to their online counterparts. One of the problems is that print newspapers are static; web versions are dynamic. Reading Tuesday's print version is basically a rehash of Monday's online version.

Is there a future for print versions of newspapers or are they dead?

I'm optimistic and believe the print version is still alive. Internet access is not ubiquitous. Reading a newspaper online is not always convenient. How many people read online while taking the train to work? How many people do the crossword puzzle online while at the local coffee shop?

Blogs and Newspapers
BostonNOW incorporates blogging as a way to make its newspaper more relevant. This paper allows you to create a blog and your posts appear immediately in the online version. BostonNow features some of these blog entries in their print version.

This method may prove successful. However, I believe it has more potential if BostonNOW focuses on news from Boston's neighborhoods. This is a great way to get the best from bloggers. Use bloggers to learn what the heart of East Boston thinks, what the issues are in Dorchester, Roxbury, and South Boston, and so on. National news is important but if I can read it in the Globe why do I need BostonNow!

BostonNow needs to include bloggers from the college community. College newspapers usually have an edge and I'd like to read some articles from tomorrow's journalists.

Wikis and Reader-Written Newspapers
Wikipedia has an "In the News" section. Why not combine a wiki and a newspaper to have a reader-written newspaper. A wiki newspaper makes it easy to keep news stories up-to-date. It provides an easy way to write and to contribute. Like BostonNOW, make a print version available.

Here are some wiki-style news sources.

Newspapers as NonProfits
Some people suggest that the future of newspapers are to become nonprofit organizations. Making a newspaper a nonprofit appears to have some benefits. I think it makes the newspaper a more community-oriented voice. I'm not sure how this affects advertising but it is a concept worth considering.

National news is available anywhere. You can read any major daily, domestic or international, online. Local and alternative news is harder to find. This is where print versions can make a difference. Local news affects your daily life. It is the story of your community. It matters!

Please share your comments with me.

The Future of the Print Version of Newspapers

2007-09-07T17:14:00.000-04:00

I am a newspaper junkie. Since I was a child, I've loved newspapers. Unfortunately, the print version of newspapers are not doing as well compared to their online counterparts. One of the problems is that print newspapers are static; web versions are dynamic. Reading Tuesday's print version is basically a rehash of Monday's online version.

So what is the print version to do? Is there a future for print versions of newspapers or are they dead?

I'm optimistic and believe there still is a future for the print version. Internet access is not ubiquitous. Reading a newspaper online is not always convenient. How many people read online while taking the train to work? How many people do the crossword puzzle online while at the local coffee shop?

I’ve created a forum on Cospire to discuss the future of the print version of newspapers. This will be an ongoing project. Click here to read and share your views.

Cospire

2007-09-06T15:39:00.000-04:00

I found an interesting site, Cospire, that is part blog, part community, part wiki, and part knowledge base. The concept is simple - share knowledge with others. You begin as if you were writing a blog entry - write the text and create some categories. You set editing privileges, allowing others to just read your entry or allow them to edit it. You can also upload documents to a particular entry.

The benefit of this application is that it provides a great way to collaborate on a topic. For example, you may want to research an idea for a business, gather information for a lesson plan, research a political candidate or cause, etc. You write the initial idea. Others contribute. In addition to the shared information, others and you can attach Word documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and other documents.

In their own words,

" Cospire is a knowledge management (KM) system that implements 2nd generational KM concepts into a web application environment. Unlike most solutions for sharing knowledge that are one-dimensional such as wikis, forums, and document management systems, we wanted to blend multiple technologies together to create an application that would really facilitate knowledge sharing in an online, asynchronous environment. By coupling the features of wikis, forums, DMSs and social sites together, we developed a solution we feel truly will motivate people to not only share knowledge, but create and improve knowledge as well."
- www.cospire.com/koviewer.aspx?id=10169

The best way to get a feel for this product is to play with it. Give it a try.

Corporations and Public Education

2007-09-06T12:54:00.000-04:00

I read an interesting article in Fast Company, a business magazine. It discussed corporate involvement in public schools. It featured a new high school in West Philadelphia, Philadelphia's School of the Future. Click here to read the complete article.

This is an interesting and certainly a controversial concept. Corporations argue that students don't have the skills they need to work in today's businesses. However, public education should never be a production line for just job training. It is important that students learn critical thinking, the skills necessary to deal with the many unknown situations that will be part of their lives, and an appreciation of the arts, literature, civics, some philosophy, and the other subjects that many don't think are important.

Business and technical skills are also important. There is more to word processing than just entering text, more to spreadsheets than just adding columns of text, and so on. Students definitely need technical skills to compete and some basic business skills are also important.

Is it a good idea to let Microsoft into the public education system? The skills they teach are important. However, will these students transfer their Microsoft Office skills to the free, open source OpenOffice, or will they become slaves to Microsoft technology. My experience in the technical world is that many people become accustomed to the software that they learned and do not switch to other products.

Click here to view a list of companies that provide resources to public schools.

Corporations in public schools are an interesting concept that is not going to fade. Many believe that this is one way to improve public education. What are your thoughts?

Learning More About Alice

2007-09-04T14:17:00.000-04:00

I completed the second Alice tutorial. The language is geared toward story telling. You create objects in a world and give them actions to perform. These actions are called methods. Here is an example.

Tutorial 2 creates a story about a bunny that is sleeping. A cell phone rings and wakes up the bunny. The bunny gets angry, jumps on the phone and breaks it.

The tutorial world includes objects. Some of these are:

world.bunny
world.cell phone

You create methods (actions) that in this case, define what the bunny does and what the cell phone does. Here are some examples.

world.bunny sleeping
world.cell phone wakes bunny
world.bunny squashes phone

A method's actions are defined by selecting actions from drop-down menus.

I like this language because it is very conversational. It is a great way to teach programming. Students think of a story and then create the objects and methods to tell the story.

Beginning Communicate With Alice

2007-09-03T18:16:00.000-04:00

I just completed the first Alice programming language tutorial. This language is an educational tool that helps people learn programming basics by creating virtual worlds.

Alice allows you to manipulate 3D objects. You can move them and make them perform different actions. You communicate with objects using methods. Objects define an entity, for example, an ice skater. Methods make them do something, for example, skate forward, spin, and so on. Here are some example.

IceSkater.prepare to skate
IceSkater.do simple spin

IceSkater is an object. As the name suggests, it defines an ice skater. The methods are prepare to skate and simple spin. The prepare to skate method gets the skater ready to skate while the simple spin method makes the skater perform a spin.

This type of programming language will be useful in my ESL class. I'll create some objects and methods and introduce the students to vocabulary related to the story. The students can then write a story telling the object to perform different actions (methods). I think this will be a fun way to get students to write and engage in conversation.

Looking at Alice

2007-09-01T17:35:00.000-04:00

I'm looking at Alice to find an easy way to introduce students to story telling and virtual worlds. Alice is a programming language geared to teach children and college students how to program. I believe Alice will be useful in my ESL classes. In their own words,

"The focus of the Alice project is now to provide the best possible first exposure to programming for students ranging from middle schoolers to college students." - www.alice.org

Alice also proposes to make programming more accessible to women. Again, in their own words,

"Sociological barriers are far more complex. Alice addresses the specific needs of the subpopulation of middle school girls. By supporting storytelling, an intrinsically motivating activity for middle school girls, Alice will make programming a means to an exciting end." - www.alice.org/whatIsAlice.htm

Alice is ideal for group activities. Groups can work together, create an virtual world, and write a story. Each group gets writing experience. The groups read each other stories that gives them reading and speaking practice. The groups and I will ask each other questions about each environment and their characters. This will give the students the opportunity to think in English and respond in English.

I'm excited about this product and will post more about Alice in future entries.

Teaching Online - Trying to Define a Price

2007-08-30T22:59:00.000-04:00

I teach English as a Second Language online in addition to my regular classroom. I use Skype for voice communication and use a virtual office to display what is on my computer desktop. For example, I can display a PowerPoint presentation, talk, and control the slides. The students see what I am doing on my machine on their machines. This is especially useful for my students in China; it gives them the opportunity to see websites that the Chinese government bans.

Click here to read the complete article.

Puritan's Guide to Second Life

2007-08-30T12:56:00.000-04:00

Second Life is a virtual world, an online representation of cities, communities, etc. Many colleges and universities are using this environment to provide online education. While doing research for another project, I found Puritan's Guide to Second Life an interesting blog about this topic.

Here are some interesting links from this blog. To begin, a humorous entry about education in general.

Puritan's Guide to Second Life provides a wealth of information. Please take the opportunity to read this blog.

Learning Finance

2007-08-29T15:56:00.000-04:00

Expensr is a neat, free financial tool. It is an online program that allows you to organize your expenses and your savings. It is similar to Microsoft Money or Quicken but also gives you the opportunity to anonymously compare your spending or savings traits with other groups of people. For example, I spend X amount per month on health insurance. What do other people between the ages of 25 and 35 spend on health insurance?

Expensr is an excellent tool to help teach basic home finance. I teach adult immigrants English as a Second Language and basic "life survival skills". This program provides me an easy way to teach students how to create a budget, how to categorize expenses, read pie charts and other basic financial information.

They can see how their spending habits compare with others. This is a great way to discuss finance, spending, saving, and for them to gain a sense of their financial habits.

Hopefully, once they understand the basics of home finance, they will create their own Expensr accounts and begin managing their own incomes and expenses. Since this program is web-based, they can use the computers at their school, library, or wherever they have access to the Internet.

I plan to create an account for my personal use and look forward to integrating Expensr into my curriculum.

Making a Difference

2007-08-28T19:02:00.000-04:00

I found a newspaper that is making a difference. It is the Times Daily of Florence, Muscle Shoals, Shettfield, Tuscumbia, and Northwest Alabama.

I'm an educator, technologist, and writer. I love newspapers, especially local newspapers, those that serve a specific community. The Times Daily found an excellent way to serve their community and make a difference with their information packed article about literacy!

Education in many communities is a topic of contention. Too often, they are political and and not too educational. This article however, provides interesting information and useful links. It discusses literacy and ways of teaching it. It also hints at changing views of literacy.

"Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society."

As a part-time ESL teacher, I found the world literacy rates useful. It gave me a better picture of my students. Most of my students are adult immigrants from Central and South America, where 10% to 15% of their populations are illiterate.

Of special interest to me was the section about teaching literacy. It contains pertinent information and links that explain:

comprehension
decoding
fluency
guided readings
phonics
phonological awareness
reading recovery
vocabulary
whole language

This article ends with a comprehensive list of useful links.

The newspaper industry is changing especially as it tries to find its niche online. This article is an excellent example of how to make this transition. Please read it. You will find it useful.

Sincerely,
Alan

Teaching Writing

2007-08-27T12:25:00.000-04:00

I'm putting together a writing program for my fall semester's class. I've written some ideas in my blog that my Internet students read on MSN Spaces. This is one of the few sites my Chinese students can read; the Chinese government doesn't censor MSN (Microsoft has a strong presence in China).

Click here to read this post.

Skype and the Digital Classroom

2007-08-25T14:58:00.000-04:00

Skype offers an excellent way to provide online classes. This service is called Skype Prime. Using your Skype account, you charge for your teaching or consulting services.

I think this is an excellent addition to online education. Blogs, email, bulletin boards, and so on are great. However, often you need voice communication. You can only express so much with writing. If you are teaching a language course, voice-to voice communication is essential.

If your clientele are international, or your business focuses on specific parts of the United States, use SkypeIn to purchase phone numbers in different countries or in different parts of the United States.

I've begun experimenting with these services. I'll keep you up-to-date with my progress and hope this information helps your teaching or business needs.

Sincerely,
Alan

Thinkature

2007-08-23T13:51:00.000-04:00

A reader from another blog of mine pointed me to an interesting program called Thinkature. This program allows you to collaborate and share ideas with others through clustering. Click here to read about clustering. The program is worth checking out; it's free.

The program ran slow on my machine, but give it a try. You might find it useful.

Please take a moment and check that reader's blog, On The Go. It contains nice daily observations. I know my ESL class will enjoy reading them.

Sincerely,
Alan

10 Myths About Learning to Write

2007-08-23T13:14:00.000-04:00

I found a great article that provides some interesting information about learning to write. 10 Myths About Learning to Write gets it right.

Reason number 4 - "You have to know what you are going to say before you begin writing" is very interesting. As they correctly state in the article, it is a myth. The article continues by saying that writing helps you think.

How true that is! Whenever I need to plan something, whether it be a class plan, a business idea, activity, etc., I begin to write. It makes me think and answers many of the questions and issues that I would never think of otherwise.

I took a videography class while in college. I remember the professor saying, "If you can't write about your idea, you can't tape it." I wish business people would write and develop their ideas before putting them into action. It would save many startups grief and money.

This is an article that all writers, teachers, students, everybody should read.

Sincerely,
Alan

Moblogging

2007-08-21T19:34:00.000-04:00

The best way to become a writer is to write! write! write! The more you practice, the better you become. Many people keep a journal. It gives them an opportunity to write their personal thoughts on a daily basis.

I like using the Internet; I like sharing my thoughts with my readers. (Well, I believe some are reading this blog.) One way to use the Internet to blog daily is to moblog, to blog from a mobile phone. This is a great way to write daily, especially when a computer may not always be available.

Moblogging is fun and easy to do. Any phone that allows you to send emails will work. MSN Spaces makes it easy to blog from your cell phone. Other sites are available.

The nice aspect of moblogging is that it makes you think. Usually, you do not have a spell checker. The screen is small and the keyboard is small. You choose your words carefully.

Moblogging is fun. It lets me write every day wherever I am. I often moblog to my MSN Spaces site. Not always, but often. Click here to view this blog.

Sincerely,
Alan

Online Writng

2007-08-20T16:01:00.000-04:00

Writing is an important skill. Whether you communicate through email, are creating a Web site, a blog, wiki, or use multimedia, you need words.

What is the best way to write? Practice! Write! Write! Write!

How can the Internet help? I find online groups or bulletin boards to be useful. I post at least one entry per day in an online group or blog. This discipline makes me a better writer.

I will look at many sites that help you to write. However, one of the easiest ways to begin online writing is to join some online groups, for example, Yahoo, Tribe, Care2, or Google. Join groups that interest you. Post at least one entry every day.

What should you write? The best way to begin is to answer questions written by others. You can also post your own questions and write short commentaries. People are supportive and you'll make friends and create a following.

Starting a journey can be easy or hard. Either way, it requires that first step. Take it! Write! Write! Write!

Writing

2007-08-16T19:37:00.000-04:00

Creative writing, descriptive writing, business reports, instructions, etc. Writing is important and certainly a major aspect of the Internet. Videos are great, everyone likes pictures, and audio can define an atmosphere. However, it is words that tie everything together.

The next few blog entries are going to focus on writing. As a teacher, my main responsibility is to teach my students writing. They need to improve to move to the next level. I'm going to have them blog and share their work with other ESL students and teachers.

How does the Internet teach writing? What sites and tools are available to help with creative writing? Technical writing? Narrative? I'll also look at blogs and wikis to see how collaboration can improve writing.

Sincerely,
Alan

Bulletin Boards

2007-08-15T21:16:00.001-04:00

The Internet offers many ways to teach and to present information. One standard method is the bulletin board or user group. There are a multitude of them. Two very popular ones are Google Groups and Yahoo Groups.

They are easy to use. You have two options: either write a topic, or respond to someone's topic. For example, I am interested in learning how to write a composition; I write the following,

I am new to writing. Can anyone give me some tips?

Somebody reads your question and writes the following answer.

Here are three simple rules:
Begin by telling your reader what you are going to write about.
Write.
End by telling them what you just wrote.

Others can respond with their advice. Answers are sorted in chronological order.

Bulletin boards are nice because they are accessible regardless of your method of Internet access. They can be accessed by dial-up or by broadband. This is important; not everyone in your audience will have high-speed Internet access.

I've experimented with a few bulletin boards to teach English as a Second Language. They are:

Sincerely,
Alan

Curriki

2007-08-14T19:30:00.000-04:00

Curriki is a resource that provides free learning materials. It contains a wealth of materials ranging from Algebra to Zoology. As their motto states, Curriki is a Global Education Learning Community. It contains a wealth of information divided into eleven categories:

Arts
Career & Technical Education
Education Technology
Foreign Languages
Health
All Resources
Language Arts
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies, and
Uncategorized

All information is available free of charge. You can also write and create your own educational materials to share with others. Publishing formats include PowerPoint slides, Word documents, zipped or compressed files, PDFs, web documents, and wiki documents. Let's take a look at some of the offerings.

The Math section contains 642 documents. I took a quick look and found these interesting topics.

Antarctica Project - In their own words,
"Antarctica, like all units developed by the Middle-School Mathematics through Applications Project (MMAP), is based on new thinking about mathematical applications. Traditionally, applications were something that came at the end of the chapter, in the form of a few of those dreaded word problems, where students practiced the algorithm they'd just learned to do. That is not the kind of application you will find herein. Instead, each application is a 'slice' of the real world that has potential for engaging young people in mathematics, rather than a list of mathematical skills to be learned. Students work within a scenario with a problem that encourages them to create and analyze designs. These scenarios provide plenty of opportunities for mathematics to be used and learned along the way."
Vedic Math - In their own words,
"Vedic math is the ancient mental calculating system from India. Most of arithmetic through calculus can be done mentally or on one-line with this system using 16 formulae. This site includes tutorials, including a number of YouTube videos, to get you started. It's amazing!"

The Foreign Language section provides 110 offerings. Here is a small sample.

Lesson Plan Template - In their own words,
" This is the lesson plan template for users creating this type of resource in the Currikulum Builder."
Learn French With a Thriller - In their own words,
" A methode to learn French online for free. You have to help an inspector to solve a criminal story."

As previously mentioned, there is a wealth of content available. Review some of the subjects that interest you and share them with us. From time to time I'll do the same.

Sincerely,
Alan

Creating a Lesson Plan (Using the Interet)

2007-08-13T21:14:00.000-04:00

I am teaching my ESL students about American sports and they are teaching me about soccer. This entry shares some of my ideas about how I used the Internet to create a lesson about sports.

I listed a variety of sports on the white board during class. Some of these included the 4 that come initially to my mind: baseball, American football, hockey, and basketball. Naturally I included soccer, a standard staple for a class with international students. I also mentioned rugby, skiing, tennis, golf, and to get the class talking, dancing.

One of the ladies in class asked if dancing was a sport. That question was the beginning of my lesson. What is a sport?

My journey began at Ask. I typed, "What is a sport?". Ask helped me refine my search as shown in the image below.

I clicked on the link, "What is the definition of a sport?" I learned that a sport is a physical activity governed by a set of rules and a sport must have a definite winner.

Depending on your class and its resources, you may want to place this information in a PowerPoint presentation, web page, Word document, etc. I placed this information in both a Word document and in a wiki. A wiki is a program that allows people to collaborate on a set of documents. The most popular wiki is Wikipedia.

Next, I defined some sports and included images, and included multimedia in the wiki version. That is the beauty of the Internet. You can make documents come alive. You can express your thoughts using video, audio, and images!

Creative works never die. They evolve and grow over time. I believe that the same is true of online documents, whether they be web pages, blogs, wiki, etc. Click here to see this work-in-progress wiki.

Sincerely,
Alan

QuickMaps

2007-08-12T14:39:00.000-04:00

In the previous post, I blogged about Google Earth. By chance, I found an interesting program that compliments the benefits of Google Earth. QuickMaps allows you to quickly and easily annotate Google maps. This is a great tool to create interactive projects for class. Not only will teachers find this tool useful, but students will enjoy using it for geography, social studies, history, and other projects.

I began experimenting with QuickMaps in a wiki that I am using for an ESL project (facts about Mexico and Peru maps). Click here to view the maps I created.

Click here to view the complete wiki.

Sincerely,
Alan

Google Earth

2007-08-12T14:22:00.000-04:00

Google Earth is a fun program to play with. Type in a country or city and this program displays beautiful satellite maps of that locale. I thought it would be interesting to see how this tool would work in my ESL class.

I typed in the locales of the original countries of my ESL students. They loved it! Their faces beamed with pride when they saw images of their homelands! It was a great way to get the students into a conversation.

Google Earth is worth exploring. I am going to take some time to develop some lesson plans to use this tool in class. It is a great starting point to create a virtual Where in the World is Carmon Sandiego? game.

I also joined the Google Earth community. I took a quick look through the Google Earth Educator's forum. Here are some ideas that may be useful in class.

Sincerely,

Alan

TeacherTube

2007-08-12T13:24:00.000-04:00

TeacherTube is similar to YouTube, except that it contains only educational content. In addition to ESL, some other subjects include: high, middle, and elementary school subjects, world languages, fine arts, writing, reading, math, etc. Here are some interesting ESL videos I found on TeacherTube.

A Japanese Festival - www.teachertube.com/view_video.php

Cat Chase, An ESOL Video - www.teachertube.com/view_video.php

There are a lot more - www.teachertube.com/search_result.php.

As previously mentioned, TeacherTube provides a complete range of subjects. Here is a sample.

Enjoy,

Alan

YouTube

2007-08-12T12:07:00.000-04:00

YouTube provides a rich variety of educational videos for both students and teachers. I was curious to see what was available for English as a Second Language teachers and students. Here are some interesting finds.

How to Write a Basic Essay - www.youtube.com/watch

Teaching Prepositions of Location - www.youtube.com/watch

ESL Error Correction Technique - www.youtube.com/watch

ESL Teaching Tips (Great for those that teach children) - www.youtube.com/watch

Rock Talk - This is a promotional video but it is interesting - www.youtube.com/watch

Web 2.0 & Language Teaching - Very informative for anyone that wants to use the Internet for teaching - www.youtube.com/watch.

What other subjects are available? I decided to search for Math videos, foreign language learning (I chose French), and History. I looked at a variety of videos geared for parents, teachers, and students.

Math

French

History

There are a multitude of other educational videos on YouTube. Search, learn, and enjoy!

Sincerely,
Alan

Welcome

2007-08-12T11:50:00.000-04:00

Welcome to The Digital Schoolhouse! This blog highlights the use of technology for teaching. It discusses technology found on the Internet, programs, and toys. Articles are written for the teacher, parent, and technologist, information for learning both in the school and the house.

Always feel welcome to post questions and comments. We look forward to having conversations with teachers, home schoolers, parents, and whomever else is interested in learning and sharing their opinions about using technology for teaching.

Sincerely,
Alan