I wish to you all a merry merry Christmas and a really happy 2008!
lunedì 24 dicembre 2007
domenica 9 dicembre 2007
Personal Learning Environments
What is PLE??? I had never heard of it before! Every lesson we discover something new! Last week we spoke about Persoonal Learning Environments. It is based on the idea that we never finish learning in our life and, especially, that we learn from each context! As I saw in Bloggingenglish studies (Cross, 200) have shown that only 20% of our learning actually takes place in institutional contexts whereas the remaining 80% takes place outside of the classroom in different periods of one’s life; I completely agree with this idea and I also think that a person's ability - more or less in all fields - cannot be judged just by his/her formal studies. You can have the most important degree but if you don't learn from other experiences, spaces, people, you are not so wise. PLE permits to create your personal map in order to have a clear idea of your learning spaces and means!
As far as language is concerned, this is my Personal Learning Environments :
I have founf five different areas for my language learning: People, formal learning, experiences, storing information, gathering information.
PEOPLE:
In this area I list all the people with which I generally speak English. This aspect is very important because to
think of knowing a language and actually speak it, are two different things! Unfortunately, I don't speak often English here in Italy but I think that we should make use of all the occasions we have!
FORMAL LEARNING:
In this area I put all the formal moments in which I trained my English. As far as University is concerned, I specified the most important areas in which I improved my English. I also included my thesis because, doing it, I learnt a lot from language point of view too!
EXPERIENCES:
Life is full of experinces which are like a treasure for our knowledge! Here I put travels, thanks to which I spoke a lot and I come into contact with real language and life situations, work, and learning from my own mistakes!
STORING INFORMATION:
Here I list the tools which help me to store my important information.
GATHERING INFORMATION:
In this area I list all the other means by which I improve my English. They are songs, movies, books, podcasts, the Internet and so on. I think they are very important for me because they help you in learning by having fun!
That is all!
Bye bye!!
As far as language is concerned, this is my Personal Learning Environments :
I have founf five different areas for my language learning: People, formal learning, experiences, storing information, gathering information.
PEOPLE:
In this area I list all the people with which I generally speak English. This aspect is very important because to
think of knowing a language and actually speak it, are two different things! Unfortunately, I don't speak often English here in Italy but I think that we should make use of all the occasions we have!
FORMAL LEARNING:
In this area I put all the formal moments in which I trained my English. As far as University is concerned, I specified the most important areas in which I improved my English. I also included my thesis because, doing it, I learnt a lot from language point of view too!
EXPERIENCES:
Life is full of experinces which are like a treasure for our knowledge! Here I put travels, thanks to which I spoke a lot and I come into contact with real language and life situations, work, and learning from my own mistakes!
STORING INFORMATION:
Here I list the tools which help me to store my important information.
GATHERING INFORMATION:
In this area I list all the other means by which I improve my English. They are songs, movies, books, podcasts, the Internet and so on. I think they are very important for me because they help you in learning by having fun!
That is all!
Bye bye!!
venerdì 30 novembre 2007
In Internet we trust...or not?
http://giavasan.diludovico.it/archivi/images/Needle.jpg
When I have to search something on the Web for academic purposes, such as writing an essay or similar, I'm usually a bit sceptical about what I find because on the Internet there are too many things, to many authors, too many articles, too many ideas! The problem - but also the beautiful aspect of the Internet - is that anyone can publish or write something and the reader cannot easily understand if the information is trustworthy or not. If one day someone want to frighten all the world with an invented information, he/she has just to write something on a Web site!!! The same is for the information we search: are they serious or not?
Usually, when I look for information on the Web I check the author of the site: if it is an association, a well known personality or just someone unknown. I admit that the look of the site influences my idea about its seriousness. If I see a well structured site and, on the other hand, a simple and not accurate page, I choose the first one. I don't usually loom if the author is clearly shown or if there is his e-mail. Sometimes I look at the last up-date of the page, but not always.
The sites which I visited on this topic gave me some interesting points on which I should think the next time I'm looking for something on the Web.
For example, I had never thought to the possibility of looking at the Document Uniform Resource Locator (URL), including an institutional identifier. Moreover, I had never looked if there is a bibliography or if there is the indication of the source of the information. Another interesting point I had never thought about is what the purpose of the site is, or who the audience intended is. I think these are important things because we have to have a critical eye before to accept everything from the Web.
I found this site http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html which I think interesting and it contains, on its URL ".edu" so it indicates that it is an educational institution. Try to have a look at it!!
lunedì 26 novembre 2007
a video for me..
Hi! I want to be sincere with you: it is really difficult to find a video for me in this period...it is not one of the easiest periodS of my life! So plese, don't consider this video a representation of my personality, but simply something I need in this moment! I have to be strong!!! So sometimes I listen to this song to find strength! I'm sure I will be better in a few time!
In the future I will search a video that represents me..for example something to laugh or something that recalls the fact of staying together with lots of people...for the moment...I need to be STRONG ENOUGH!! ;)
see you!!
In the future I will search a video that represents me..for example something to laugh or something that recalls the fact of staying together with lots of people...for the moment...I need to be STRONG ENOUGH!! ;)
see you!!
domenica 25 novembre 2007
Youtube
What do I think about Youtube? I don't know...if on one hand I can say that it is funny and interesting because you can find videos about everything, on the other hand I think it is not so useful because there are so many stupid videos.
One can spend a lot of time in searching a video he/he needs before to find the right one because there are too many videos...probably there should be a control system or something similar (I'm not an expert of Youtube so I don't know if it is already so). However, it is also a mean of communication and every kind of people can publish something on it so..probably I should erase my prejudices!! If you want to have fun and if you have time, it is the right place!!
Obviously you can also find interesting and good videos on it but, for this case, TeacherTube is better! Here you can find very interesting videos who teach you something...every kind of topic, every kind of level! I really like it!! For students like us, there are
some interesting videos for language leaning but there also many other interesting topics!
We have discovered a new tool that can be useful for our English...at the end of this course we should speak as well as a mother tongue speakers!!!;)
See you!
One can spend a lot of time in searching a video he/he needs before to find the right one because there are too many videos...probably there should be a control system or something similar (I'm not an expert of Youtube so I don't know if it is already so). However, it is also a mean of communication and every kind of people can publish something on it so..probably I should erase my prejudices!! If you want to have fun and if you have time, it is the right place!!
Obviously you can also find interesting and good videos on it but, for this case, TeacherTube is better! Here you can find very interesting videos who teach you something...every kind of topic, every kind of level! I really like it!! For students like us, there are
some interesting videos for language leaning but there also many other interesting topics!
We have discovered a new tool that can be useful for our English...at the end of this course we should speak as well as a mother tongue speakers!!!;)
See you!
domenica 18 novembre 2007
help!
Hi!
I have problems with photos...I cannot publish them on the blog! Probably is because they are on my pc but how can I put them on the Internet??? If someone can help me, I will be happy!
thank you!
Elisa
I have problems with photos...I cannot publish them on the blog! Probably is because they are on my pc but how can I put them on the Internet??? If someone can help me, I will be happy!
thank you!
Elisa
English Podcasts
Hi guys!
This week we discovered the world of Podcasts..I had never heard them before, but now we have another mean of learning! I spent lot of time in the world of podcast and, at the end, I chose these three sites:
http://www.oculture.com/2006/10/foreign_languag.html
http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/
http://epnweb.org/
The first one contains lots of interesting material for the learning of English with audio files but the thing that I mostly like are "audiobooks". I think that they are very interesting and useful and one can put together his/her love for reading with his/her intention to improve his/her English.
The second one gives several podcasts on different topics and you can choose your level. However, it gives also worksheets, vocabulary tasks etc only for members.
The third has a great number of podcasts too and they are divided for level and subject. The negative thing is that, sometimes, some podcasts have problems and I could not listen to them. These podcasts are mostly created by teachers so, I think the quality is good.
In my opinion, podcasts are useful but they should be always followed by exercises on the text, so one could effectively check his/her skills.
That's all
Elisa
This week we discovered the world of Podcasts..I had never heard them before, but now we have another mean of learning! I spent lot of time in the world of podcast and, at the end, I chose these three sites:
http://www.oculture.com/2006/10/foreign_languag.html
http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/
http://epnweb.org/
The first one contains lots of interesting material for the learning of English with audio files but the thing that I mostly like are "audiobooks". I think that they are very interesting and useful and one can put together his/her love for reading with his/her intention to improve his/her English.
The second one gives several podcasts on different topics and you can choose your level. However, it gives also worksheets, vocabulary tasks etc only for members.
The third has a great number of podcasts too and they are divided for level and subject. The negative thing is that, sometimes, some podcasts have problems and I could not listen to them. These podcasts are mostly created by teachers so, I think the quality is good.
In my opinion, podcasts are useful but they should be always followed by exercises on the text, so one could effectively check his/her skills.
That's all
Elisa
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