Are dictionaries changing to become more phrase-based rather than word based? There are now a number of ways to look up the meaning of phrases online that make me to think that the very nature of (online) dictionaries is changing. Paper-based dictionaries let us look up one word at a time, whereas online search tools allow us to enter strings of words.
Language classes account for a relatively limited amount of the student’s learning – and much (perhaps most) of the learning is done informally, out-of-class. So, how can we as teachers change what we do in lesson to better support what the learners are doing out-of-lesson?
This blog post is a set of notes of my thoughts about out-of-class learning and how it can be supported by in-class activities. The video shows me explaining a mind-map of these ideas, which itself is available as a photo so that it is easier to read.
Several people in the Dogme Yahoo discussion forum have attempted to give greater shape to the idea of Dogme teaching using web 2.0 technologies (“Dogme 2.0”). Graham Stanley has suggested formulating “vows” for Dogme 2.0 similar to the original Dogme model. Here are my thoughts on what some guiding principles for Dogme 2.0 could include.
Methodological Guidelines
In “Dogme: Dancing in the dark?” Scott Thornbury sets out the original guidelines (“vows”) for Dogme. The below guidelines for Dogme 2.0 draw on these Dogme principles to suggest an approach appropriate to a web 2.0 world. As such they focus on the areas where 2.0 technologies are changing our relationship to knowledge and therefore our approaches to learning.
Enabling conversation: technology can enable dialogue, broadening the range of participants, or deepening the conversation by involving others.
Content co-creation: materials stimulate conversation, but the content for the lesson is driven, indeed created, by the students themselves. Collaborative tools (such as wikis) can encourage students to work together to create the lesson’s content.
Locality: mobile devices can help students relate to their current location, through photographing, filming, audio recording or writing descriptions relating to where they are. A Dogme use of mobile devices helps students to better relate to their immediate surroundings, or to places that are important to them.
Connections: strengthening communication with others (near or far) to facilitate connectivist learning that involves not just individuals but also broader networks or communities.
Relevance: the internet is used to ensure greater relevance of the subject matter for the learner. Students are able to find more specific information and connect with networks that are more suited to their interests.
Voice: online publishing (be it text, audio, images or video) allows learners to be heard and included in specific and yet global discussions.
Identity: students have space to express themselves and in so doing to focus on different aspects of their identity (perhaps in Second Life or by participating in different online networks or communities). Students develop language skills that are relevant to them as individuals, through exploring their identity and relationship with the world.
To give some background to these suggestions, I discuss below some related concepts with respect to Dogme.
Talking with Graham Stanley last month and seeing Pierre Moussy’s G2 Android smartphone in action got me thinking more seriously about mobile learning for languages. Some of the G2 phone’s features make use of augmented reality, which seems to fundamentally change (indeed improve!) the possibilities of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL).
This blog post is an attempt to sketch out some initial thoughts on how Augmented Reality Language Learning (ARLL) could be used in a student centered way. Both Task-Based Learning (TBL) and Dogme approaches seem to offer guidance, as do the experiences with Virtual World Language Learning (VWLL). The focus here is very much on mobile access to geo-tagged Wikipedia (Wikitude) and location-based social networking (Google Latitude and BrightKite).
Avatar Languages has yet to develop ARLL lessons, so this blog post merely looks at what may well be possible.
What is Augmented Reality? AR is the combination of real-world and computer-generated data so that computer generated objects are blended into real time projection of real life activities.
Wikitude – An Immersive Wikipedia Wikitude is a program that overlays information in Wikipedia about physical places onto the camera screen of a mobile phone.
Wikitude places markers and summaries on the screen exactly where you can see the relevant building or location. These markers also link to the relevant Wikipedia article, which then opens up in the phone’s internet browser (via a 3G connection).
The range of 3D virtual options is getting wider by the week and many of them are browser-based, which makes it much more accessible than Second Life or Twinity, where the 3D environments are accessed via separate programs. 3dxplorer is another browser-based solution…
Two months ago I wrote about a couple of projects to move avatars using hand and body guestures. Well, now Second Life avatars can be controlled by just moving your body and hands. As this YouTube video below shows, the 3D webcam from 3DV Systems has been connected to the 3D virtual world Second Life so that your avatar’s movements are made purely by moving your body (no need for mouse and keyboard).
At Avatar Languages we have started to encourage students to add to Wikipedia articles. We have chosen Simple English Wikipedia, which is a version of the online encyclopaedia that is written in a simplified style of English for non-native speakers. (more…)
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