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Monday, March 28, 2016

Technology in Education

http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/technology-in-education/index.html

Technology is everywhere in education: Public schools in the United States now provide at least one computer for every five students. They spend more than $3 billion per year on digital content. Led by the federal government, the country is in the midst of a massive effort to make affordable high-speed Internet and free online teaching resources available to even the most rural and remote schools. And in 2015-16, for the first time, more state standardized tests for the elementary and middle grades will be administered via technology than by paper and pencil.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

5 tips to improve your critical thinking - Samantha Agoos

Every day, a sea of decisions stretches before us, and it’s impossible to make a perfect choice every time. But there are many ways to improve our chances — and one particularly effective technique is critical thinking. Samantha Agoos describes a 5-step process that may help you with any number of problems.

What is one advantage of critical thinking?





What is the first step (of five) in the critical thinking process?

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Video 4



I have been teaching languages for over 40 years.
I taught Polish as a foreign language in traditional settings at the Wroclaw University of Technology for about 41 years. I have been teaching English to speakers of other languages for over 25 years.
In 2000, I became an American Citizen.
In 2010, I started my online adventure mainly on WizIQ. Since that time I have been using technology in my classes.
I have been training in both face-to-face and blended learning arrangements.
Overview
Are you unsatisfied with your level of Spoken  English?
Do you want to become a forward-thinking speaker and reach to a great extent fluency?
Is joining English meetings very challenging? Is it difficult to participate and communicate efficiently?
If so, my course is for you!

Target Students
·       Are you nervous about communicating in English with foreign colleagues?
·       Do you have a good command of English, but feel like your flexibility may be lacking?
·       Would you like to learn how to sound more natural when making small talk and discussing problems?

·       Do you feel the need to improve your conversational skills?

Friday, March 11, 2016

Halina's Coversational English Online Course



Welcome to Halina’s Conversational English online course
A bit about me.
I have been teaching languages for over 40 years.
I taught Polish as a foreign language in traditional settings at the Wroclaw University of Technology for about 41 years. I have been teaching English to speakers of other languages for over 25 years.
In 2000, I became an American Citizen.
In 2010, I started my online adventure mainly on WizIQ. Since that time I have been using technology in my classes.

I have been training in both face-to-face and blended learning arrangements. 

Monday, March 7, 2016

The Elephant, The Rider and the Path



A commonly held belief is that human behavior is the result of rational decision making based on available information. A closer look into the science of behavior reveals the powerful role our emotions play in our decision making process. In this animated video we look at the behavior change process using Jonathan Haidt’s analogy of an elephant, a rider, and a path.

Technology and the teacher’s personality



Teacher extraordinaire Mr Keating appears as the epitome of the charismatic teacher – one that his students are sure to remember long after their school years are over. Way over the top as this might be (though I am sure that, whatever we may say, many of us would love to feel we are a little bit like Mr Keating) it is only natural to ask ourselves: does the personality of the teacher matter in this Brave New World of technology and on-line courses?
As teachers we are in the business of influencing people. How can we do that? It helps if we imagine each individual as a big elephant with a rider sitting on top of it (a metaphor first used by J. Haidt 2006). The elephant is our emotional side; it is big, strong, somewhat impulsive and not as predictable as we would like it to be. The rider is our rational side; it can guide the elephant and the latter usually allows itself to be directed by the former (but if there is a disagreement, we all know who we should bet on! J )
So how can we influence people? There are 3 ways: a) We can motivate the elephant; this is what charismatic teachers do – they inspire their students, and this clearly works best in a f2f context. b) We can direct the rider – appealing to the logical part of our students and telling them what to do. This can work equally well in a f2f and an online context. c) We can shape the path down which the elephant and the rider will walk (an idea first proposed by Heath & Heath 2011 – click here to watch a 2-min clip). By careful use of choice architecture (see Thaler & Sunstein 2008), we can ‘nudge’ the duo in the direction we would like them to go. * An on-line environment is ideal for such an approach. However….
References:
  • Bloom, P. (2008) Introduction to Psychology. Yale Courses, You Tube
  • Haidt, J. (2006) The Happiness Hypothesis. London: Arrow Books
  • Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2011) Switch. London: Random House
  • Lieberman, M. (2013) Social. Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Thaler, R. & Sunstein, C. (2008) Nudge. Michigan: Yale University Press