Localization: Taking eLearning Above And Beyond!

Localization: Taking eLearning Above And Beyond!:

Want to know if Localization can revolutionize eLearning? Check why Localization is the next big eLearning revolution and take eLearning above and beyond.

Education is coming out of the walled classrooms and crossing all physical barriers to empower hard to reach learners in the form of eLearning. But for the exponents of eLearning, it is important to understand that in order for this model to succeed, we cannot have a “one-size-fits-all” concept. The internet has melted the geographic barrier, but has it melted the language barrier too? English is still the most preferred medium of instruction for eLearning course developers, but in order to improve its efficacy, an eLearning course must be localized to suit the needs of the remote learner. While translating to native languages is one aspect, the power of localization can also be broadened to include the concept of on-demand learning. This article attempts to explore how localization can be the next big revolution in eLearning.

In its traditional definition, localization means to adapt a particular product to suit the linguistic and cultural sensibilities of a particular audience. When it comes to creating eLearning courses, developers are still using English to reach to a global audience. This is evident in the result of a Google search of “Top eLearning courses” (the results point to all English learning courses). But English is only the third spoken language in the world. Localizing a course to Mandarin, Spanish, or Hindi will give any eLearning course a mind-boggling number of audiences. 

http://elearningindustry.com/localization-taking-elearning-beyond 

Future Ready Leaders Trailer

Personalized Professional Learning for Future Ready Leaders 

Blended Teaching vs Flipped Teaching

Blended Learning vs Flipped Learning

By Halina Ostańkowicz- Bazan

According to Horn and Staker, blended learning is:

“Any time a student learns, at least in part, at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and, at least in part, through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace. The modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.”

The most significant piece of the definition is the “element of student control” highlighting the flowing instructional models to enable improved student-centered learning, giving students greater than before control over the time, place, path, and/or the step of their learning tracks.

Blended learning offers a balanced approach, focused on redesigning instructional models first, then applying technology, not as the driver, but as the supporter, for high-quality learning experiences that allow a teacher to personalize and make the most of the learning.

The technology helps to supply instructors with data, expand student choices for educational resources and learning materials, and deliver opportunities for students to practice and to exhibit the high-character performance.

Broadly speaking, I am for blended learning, which means taking advantage of both traditional f2f techniques and possibilities presented by new technologies.

Flipped Classrooms generally provides pre-recorded material (video or audio) followed by classroom activities. Learners watch the video before or after the class, this happens outside F2F meetings. Thank’s to that classroom time can be used for interaction, such as Q@A sessions, discussions, exercises other learning activities.

This is the perfect way to “invert” doings in the class with activities outside the teaching space.

Flipping is not just about video and technology.

Moreover, technology does not replace good teaching. It enhances good teaching.

Flipping helps us to get the best use of class time. It is a methodology that permits the instructor to involve students intensely in the collaborative community and produce a shared problem-solving workshop.

My students very frequently have to find some info, largely online, and in class, they present materials on a specific subject. We use it as a foundation for deeper analysis and actions.

Sometimes, instead of giving lectures, I call for scholars to watch chosen PPT, videos or podcasts at home, so when we gather in the course of work, we are able to concentrate on the debate, as well as interpretation of the problem.

In my point of view, there are some significant ways to involve students during a lecture such as short demonstrations, surveyed by group debate as well as PPT lecture, followed by expounding, discussing and particularizing the material.

I am convinced that dialogue is necessary for my Polish History and Culture lectures. I take advantage of novel methods to build up active learning skills and to encourage students toward further learning, or else to mature students' thinking skills. For most of my learners, the techniques I use are fresh. They come to study in Poland from all the Globe and the majority of them are not used to blended learning as well as flipped classes.

They have to be talked into active learning and taking the responsibility of their own knowledge. My role as a teacher is to be a learning coach, mentor and a source of support as well as inspiration.

Flipping provides students opportunities such as; interactive questioning, mind exploration, answer “why this is important for me to recognize this?” and student-created content.

During my language classes, I also use flipped methods because I believe in learning by researching as well as having fun while studying.

Wolff, Lutz-Christian, and Jenny Chan. "Defining Flipped Classrooms. “Flipped Classrooms for Legal Education. Springer Singapore, 2016. 9-13.

http://www.inacol.org/news/what-is-blended-learning/

http://www.christenseninstitute.org/blended-learning/

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.

Easter Traditions 2015

 Easter is coming with all Polish customs and traditions.

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?AIt’s a process that helps us make only large, important decisions
BIt’s a process that helps us make only small, unimportant decisions
CIt’s a process that helps us create hidden issues, bias and manipulation
DIt’s a process that helps us reveal hidden issues, bias and manipulation

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

AGather information
BApply information
CFormulate questions
DConsider implications

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/5-tips-to-improve-your-critical-thinking-samantha-agoos

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?

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. 

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

Language Learning Theories

This is my latest video.

Neil young- Harvest moon lyrics

Learning Language Theories

This is my latest video.

Phil Wade Interviews: Chris Ozog

Phil Wade Interviews: Chris Ozog

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....: Teaching English Adults

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....: Teaching English Adults: When we decide to teach adults, the awareness, as well as comprehension of whom we teach and what we teach, is essential here...

Teaching English Adults

When we decide to teach adults, the awareness, as well as comprehension of whom we teach and what we teach, is essential here.

1)     Adults do not want to waste the time.

Some adults take language courses because of a job requirement while others have their specific goal to attain (such as a language exam or a professional interview ).

Adults expect direct, practical benefit. All of them will raise the similar questions

·        Why,

·        What for,

·        How,

·        Who (is my teacher?),

·         What else could I achieve instead?

·         Is the time well spent?

All lessons must have a clear outcome, perhaps even a practical takeaway. It is necessary to define specific profits at the end of the lesson and associate the benefits to the individual learning purposes.

2)     Adults are reflective learners; they think about

·       what is challenging or where I require more support

·       individual learning strategies and self-evaluation

·       maintaining a sense of responsibility for learning and achieving goals  

3)  Motivation is varied, and flexibility is crucial.

Teachers have to be flexible and ready for different approaches, wide-ranging content or even unconventional paths to lead to the same goal.

Creating a context for meaningful learning is one of the tasks.

4) Mature students feel the need for direct benefit as well as dominant language skills.

·        Learners are looking for a solution to an exact problem at hand, immediately.

·       The fundamental question is: “What should I do to get this to work?”

·        Mature learners usually want to accomplish a particular task, or at least, see a noticeable benefit for the future.

·       Adults want to use language for a real-world reason.

5) The different abilities of adult learners are evident.

I am against using grammar tables, linguistic terms and other abstractions in language teaching. However, if they can help the grown-up learner why do not explain the grammar rules?

Fiddler on the roof - If I were a rich man (with subtitles)

The song is broken into four verses, with a bridge between the third and fourth and a chorus sung at the beginning of the song, and after the second and fourth verses.
Musically, it is written in a Jewish klezmer style.
Through the first two verses, Tevye dreams of the material comforts that wealth would bring him. Sung boisterously and comedically, Tevye first considers the enormous house he would buy and the needless luxuries he would fill it with, including a third staircase "leading nowhere, just for show," then the poultry he would buy to fill his yard.
Tevye switches his attention to the luxuries in which he would shower his wife, Golde, in the third verse. He talks of servants to alleviate her workload, fancy clothes for her pleasure, and mountains of food. The song is sung in the same boisterous, comedic style.
The music and vocals intensify during the bridge, when Tevye starts lamenting his place in the community as a lowly milkman, and considers the esteem and importance that wealth would bring him.
In the final verse, Tevye softens as he further considers his devotion to God. He expresses his sorrow that the long working hours he keeps prevents him from spending as much time in the synagogue as he would like, and how wealth would allow him to spend less time working and more time praying and studying the Torah, and finally asking God if "it would spoil a vast eternal plan" if he were wealthy.
A repeated phrase throughout the song, "all day long I'd bidi-bidi-bum," is often misunderstood to refer to Tevye's desire not to have to work. However, in an interview with Terry Gross, Sheldon Harnick said he basically made up syllables that he thought would give the effect of Chassidic chanting. The first person to play Tevye, Zero Mostel, then replaced the syllables Harnick had written with ones that Mostel thought would be more authentic

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....: My FB presence

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....: My FB presence: https://video-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xlf1/v/t42.1790-2/12569898_1074411319255830_771761741_n.mp4?efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6ImxlZ2FjeV9zZC...

My FB presence

https://video-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xlf1/v/t42.1790-2/12569898_1074411319255830_771761741_n.mp4?efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6ImxlZ2FjeV9zZCIsInZpZGVvX2FwcF9pZCI6MTY4NzE4MzQzMTUxNzU4MH0%3D&oh=e79ef7bb75b3f194a968cdc369844048&oe=56B3CE58

My FB's video

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....: Language Learning Theories

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....: Language Learning Theories: Learning Theories There are 12 learning theories: •     Constructivism •     Behaviorism •     Piaget's Developmental ...