Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Education World ® Professional Development Center: Curriculum: Copyright Law and New Technologies

Fair use is a challenge to enforce. With the rising textbook prices and the use of technology, teachers can complement or supplement readings with a variety of learning resources and presentations that contain a plethora of scanned materials, links and visuals. Below is a link to relevant article on this issue of do's and don'ts we may all find useful:

Education World ® Professional Development Center: Curriculum: Copyright Law and New Technologies

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Amazon.com gets into the movie business

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/17/amazon-studios-movie-producing_n_784683.html



Amazon.com Gets Into Movie Producing With New Site, Amazon Studios

1938 War of the Worlds

H.G. Well's War of the Worlds


War of the worlds (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.war-of-the-worlds.org/Radio/
The Mercury Theater. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.mercurytheatre.info/


Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences | Edutopia

Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences | Edutopia




Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books: New York.
Gardner, H. (1997). Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences. [video]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-howard-gardner-video

Secret History of the Credit Card on PBS

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Wikipedia's gender gap?

A study by the United Nations University and Maastricht University found that less than 15 percent of women are Wikipedia contributors. This is a relevant topic to follow as a comparative review of wikipedia entries suggests gender disparity in how topics are addressed. For more details about the study, visit the Collaborative Creativity Group.

Check out the New York Times article "Define Gender Gap? Look up Wikipedia's Contributor List.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech from Oslo, Norway





Full text of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34360743/ns/politics-white_house/from/toolbar

Saturday, January 22, 2011

For Publishers, Who Are the Gatekeepers of Social Media? - emedia and Technology @ FolioMag.com

For Publishers, Who Are the Gatekeepers of Social Media? - emedia and Technology @ FolioMag.com

The following article discusses how social media is affecting publishers, editorial content and advertising strategies.
A statement in the article suggests that media should enable comments when utilizing social media so viewers can have an interactive experience. People who read newspapers are "fed" current events and do not have the opportunity to react or post their reflections, except if they send an letter to the editor. Social media has changed this and enabled engagement between consumers of the media and mass media. Should, then, interaction be a requirement of e-media?

Thursday, January 20, 2011

50 years ago today....President Kennedy 1961 Inaugural Address





John F. Kennedy gave an historic speech on January 20, 1961. His words still illustrate strength, determination, hope, a call for unity, respect and leadership.




For a transcript of this speech, visit:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkinaugural2.htm

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

bush 9/11 speech



The power of rhetoric is recognized in notable speeches whose message and influence are longstanding. Former President George W. Bush addressed the nation on September 11, 2001. His words helped to reaffirm confidence in his leadership at a time of great distress and extend hope to a shaken populace.

Michael Ferson is the speech writer responsible for this address (Smith Davies, 2005, p.221).

A powerful quote from this speech: "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

References

September 11, 2001 Address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFV9uYeJkOQ&feature=player_embedded

George W. Bush 9/11 Address to the Nation (2001, September 11). American Rhetoric. Retrieved from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911addresstothenation.htm

Smith Davies. (2005) Speeches that changed the world. Smith-Davies Publishing Ltd: London

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Back to work, Back to school- Fall 2010

Copyediting can be intimidating for students who are uncertain about their writing or proofreading skills.  Honing this command takes discipline and practice. Whether or not the goal is to become a professional copyeditor, everyone stands to benefit from developing this ability.


More on the NewsCopyediting blog.

Best wishes to all.
more2come
aSalas

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Glossing and L2 Learning

Glossaries are indispensable to readers of all genres, but they are especially useful in vocabulary building and reading comprehension, particularly for second language (L2) learners.  Glossing a language by utilizing interactive and engaging exercises and tools can help L2 learners advance their comprehension proficiency.

GLOSS (Global Language Online Support System) offers students a variety of  situational online opportunities to learn a second language. Glosses on this site are organized by content areas such as culture, society, economics, science, technology, and the like. Similarly, the types of activities for each content area are available in a range of proficiency levels and include text and multimedia options. Assessment questions, such as multiple choice questions,  are based on the content provided to self-test comprehension. The sites also provide correct responses with feedback. Within each situational exercise, for example, if you check off French - society and culture- students can read about the francophone community or listen to a news report about “deadly winter fires and fire prevention measures” while learning about ongoing and past tense events.
L2 glosses such as the one highlighted can complement instruction, and underscore Vygotsky and Krashen’s second language theories that are supportive of social experiences and monitor feedback as effective teaching and learning modalities.

...for the moment
aSalas

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Learning with Morrie

Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie is a wonderful book to learn and discuss human development and communication. Published in 1997, the book has sold more than 14 million copies. A close friend and kindred spirit, Eva, gave me the book as a gift years ago, and as I read it recently, I appreciated friendship even more. Morrie’s aphorisms (as well as his love of music and dance) resonated with me on many levels as I pondered philosophies and realities about relationships, life and forgiveness.

The book is a pleasure read. As a teacher of communication studies, I could not resist underlining phrases and earmarking pages that could help me exemplify to students various theories, stages and characteristics of human communication.

Reading about death, never mind the idea of a slow and suffocating demise, is arguably depressing. Albom’s approach and Morrie’s courage and wisdom, however, reaffirm living and hope. Relevant and revealing discussions about faith, marriage, work, friendship, fear, ambition and desire are presented in a manner than all can relate. No matter an individual’s cultural, academic, or professional background, or even one’s social, political or economic status, Tuesdays with Morrie’s reality check levels the playing field.

Several reflective quotes from the book:

“when you learn how to die, you learn how to live”

“…And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it.”

“ They will only envy you…only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.”

We all have the potential to learn vicariously. This book offers many noteworthy lessons. Inspirational.

...for the moment...


aSalas

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Blackboard Launches Mobile Education Platform in Mexico

Blackboard, a widely used course management platform, also offers students and educators additional convenience and portability through its mobile technology. Users can access their classrooms through their iPhone®, iPod Touch® and Blackberry® devices.

Campuses already using this mobileEdu solution are:
Duke University, Stanford University, Kean University, La Sierra University, Medical College of Georgia, Seton Hall University, Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, University of California, San Diego, University of San Diego, and the University of Washington.

Most recently Blackboard Launches Mobile Education Platform in Mexico.

Interested? -- http://www.blackboard.com/mobile

...for the moment...
aSalas

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Perception

The 1957 film "12 Angry Men", directed Sidney Lumet and produced by Henry Fonda and Reginald Rose,  is an excellent presentation for the study of perception and its influence on communication.

Set mostly is a jury deliberation room, the 12 jurors must decide the fate of a juvenile who was accused of murder. Throughout the film the 12 men display a variety of moods and emotions. They argue, speculate, contemplate, disclose, conspire, reflect, tire and experience personal victory and defeat.

Observation, discussion and examination of the characters and their interactions offer lessons in understanding perception, perceptual constancy, fundamental attribution error, the role of self, and symbolic interactionism.

Even in black and white, this classic still manages to hold students' attention.

...for the moment...
aSalas

Sunday, February 7, 2010

New Media

In addition to organizing syllabi, developing lesson plans and assessments, how to incorporate and effectively use tools in the classroom is a question educators ponder routinely. Accoutrements go beyond the use of DVDs, animation, images, Youtube videos, peer review, group work, PowerPoint presentations, discussion boards and the like.

Second language acquisition (SLA) presents additional challenges in that students strive to engage and learn in a different language. Considering language-learning theories of Lev Vygotsky, Noam Chomsky and Stephen Krashen, the level of student interaction contributes to the success of the experience.

For example, Lev Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) proposes that social interaction, that can be inferred as a level of immersion, affects how language learning progresses and evolves. Noam Chomsky, whose talks about universal grammar continue to inspire discussion and argument, posits that individuals share a predisposition to language learning that is genetically endowed. Consequently, one could deduce that placed in a non-native language learning situation, learning is inherently possible. Lastly, Stephen Krashen's multi-pronged SLA theory combines naturalistic and classroom activity approaches to learning and acquisition.

Given these concepts, an environment that could offer students all of these provisions could, arguably, positively affect second language learning. Second Life , a 3D virtual environment on the Internet, could be considered for this task. As participants, students would have access to uniquely integrated social and instructional networking opportunities in the second language they could practice as they learn.

An opportunity worth exploring -- n'est-ce pas?
...For the moment...

aSalas