From Erin Lodes...

"I also like the forward-thinking message of social bookmarking, which suggests that being savvy in the way you collect and organize information is most important. Educause’s “7 Things You Should Know About Social Networking” shares that “Tagging information resources with keywords has the potential to change how we store and find information. It may become less important to know and remember where information was found and more important to know how to retrieve it using a framework created by and shared with peers and colleagues” (Lomas, 2005). The message here is a good one for 21st century teachers who are diligent about demonstrating to their students how to be connoisseurs of what the internet has to offer."

RenaJ said...

This is so important for people to understand. It is one of the keys to why education needs to change. Students don't need to memorize all the information. They need only know where to look and how to analyze it for validity! Great post, Erin!

BP23_2009104_Mango Lauguages' Response to Michael's Post

BP#11_20091021_Web2.0_tools_R&B_Mango_Languages

This Web 2.0 tool, Mango Languages, seems like it is a great tool, however it violates my "rule number one: it is not free! Being in education has defiantly made me a bit conflicted. On the one hand I do not mind paying for good applications, however, if I plan on using them in the classroom I want them to be free as I do not want to limit the students' access be using something that they cannot use at home (forcing them to buy the product).

Mango Languages currently has only nine language packs for English speakers trying to learn a new language, and also has 3 foreign languages to English. This is a major limitation even though the nine languages are probably the most common ones that students would choose. Mango Languages uses a simple slideshow format to walk the learner through lessons including pronunciation, color-coding the parts of speech for visual learners and constant review for mastery. I did find that this software was a bit too redundant, however that may have just been because it was lesson one, which is all you can demo for free.

Access to the full version of Mango will allow the user access to not just up to one hundred lessons in the chosen language, in some cases, but also grammar and culture notes to help gain a better understanding of concepts and cultural differenced within the chosen language.

Having an account with Mango Languages also allows you to access your lessons from any location, however the charge is steep. A three month subscription will run the user $160 per course and a twelve month subscription is $345. The one very nice thing about this is that it seems to be available at many libraries, and after searching near my home in Florida; I found that it is, in fact, registered in the three libraries in my area.

image from Mango Languages. Retrieved October 20, 2009 from:http://www.mangolanguages.com/lesson/view/5


Posted by Michael at 11:58 AM
1 comments:

Beverly.Cornell said...

Hi Michael -

We truly appreciate you taking the time to talk about online language learning and especially our program.

Language learning is on the rise and having people like you share their thoughts on the available resources helps spread the cause.

I understand your concern for a free system. You are correct, we have a consumer purchase program but most people use the Mango Languages system for free through their local library. Our language program is currently offered to 40 million people in the U.S. via remote access through the internet at no charge from their local libraries. Users can visit http://mangolanguages.com and enter their zip code to find the nearlest library that offers the language services. If we are not available at a library a patron should request us and that will encourage availablity.

I did notice you are located in Germany and while we are expanding, right now we are only in North America and Australia. We hope to come to your area soon.

In addition, we have exciting news! We are coming out with 20 languages and 14 ESL programs by the end of this year. We will continue a strong new product, language and feature roll out throughout 2010.

Lastly, We love our librarian clients and patrons, we hope to continue to serve them for many more years.

Beverly Cornell
Social Media Director
Mango Languages
October 23, 2009 10:06 AM

BP22_2009111_Jill_Davis_QuoteFromBlog

One of my favorite quotes from my superintendent, Alvin Wilbanks, is "Technology will not replace the teacher, but teachers that use technology will replace teachers that do not." Teachers need to let go of the control of providing information and teach students how to search and question and share information. I believe technology is a wonderful tool and a teacher is a wonderful reflection board and a course director. Good education requires a marriage between students, technology, information, and teachers. The 21st century is here - and I like it!

Jill Davis

This morning's inspiration:)

"I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go." Langston Hughes One of the great ripple makers:) Thank you Mr. Melvin:)

Music Educators - Posted comment by Tom McNamee

This comment was posted by Tom McNamee. I think this is a great idea for music educators!!

For your general music classroom, it would be fun to allow students to blog on their favorite current music. As they discuss what they like and don't like, you could chime in and explain musical aspects that you want them to be studying. I think letting them dig into the music they listen to would really be beneficial, because they would buy into it. It's like tricking them into learning what you want them to know.

I would let them go "wild" for two weeks, then have them review the blog posts of others and start making connections. For instance, if a lot students liked a certain artist, make them examine why. Is it the lyrics, the beat, etc. At the same time, they would be practicing their communication skills. They could even post picture and maybe sound clips.

Good luck with it and have fun!

Gerald Buss_ BP2_2009102_SocialBookmarking

Social Bookmarking in Action! Thanks Gerald!

I began using Delicious.com for one of my academic teams about four years ago. The team of ten students was given just a topic to research and then the day of the match they would be given the actual question that related to the topic. We always struggled with the time and effort it took to share resources. When left to their own devices the students would waste too much time surfing the internet and then in the end they would have to print out pages upon page of useless information just to get at a few bits of information. When I discovered Delicious and its ability to offer one URL that the students could access all of the bookmarks, everything changed. In additon by researching other users bookmarks we greatly increased the amount of reliable research. With all of the students adding bookmarks we soon had a tool to greatly enhance our performance.

Lina Valery_BP2_2009101_Anti-Teaching

I’m working on my forth master’s class in the Education Media Design and Technology program at Full Sail University. Through each class I have been learning new ways to improve my teaching practices and I have also become more aware of the compelling need to incorporate technology into every educational endeavor.

Learning is a 24/7 – 360 degree state of being. What does this mean? To me this means that learning is not exclusive or limited to the buildings and classrooms that hold these students. The key to education is to motivate students to learn from everywhere and at all times. As educators we can begin to motivate students by speaking their language, addressing their personal intelligences, creating a positive learning environment, and by giving them the real world tools to turn old world facts into useful and interesting material. In his article, Anti-Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance, Michael Wesch writes “create a learning environment more conducive to producing the types of questions that create life long learners rather thank savvy test-takers.”

Howard Gardner’s concept of Multiple Intelligences cannot be ignored. Learners have clear strengths and weaknesses when it comes to assimilating information. As teachers we need to present information in a way that will be captured by all learners. The traditional form of education, lecture and test, will not do this. Technology is a time and cost effective way to address these diverse learners effectively and the use of Personal Learning Environments (PLE) can give students a real world learning experience. Students can now take the material they are being taught and research ways to relate it to their own lives and interests. For example, in a blog post by Dr. Holly Ludgate EMDT program director, there is a video that presents ways to give literary classics new life; through technology, students are gaining interest in reading the classics!

While I don’t think technology in itself is enough and I am not a proponent of exclusive virtual leaning, especially not in elementary school. I do think that incorporating technology in every subject should be mandatory. We cannot continue to teach students with traditional methods when the world they will be working in will be anything but traditional.

21st century schools need to incorporate multiple intelligences, brain-based learning, 2.0 tools, blogging, motivators for learning beyond the classroom walls, diverse testing methods, and teachers should be trained on how to use course management systems as well as be allowed to implement these with their students. With the influx of so many educational exclusive sites, greater safeguards are becoming more prominent within these systems.