Mr. Duncan's English Course: Lesson 1

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Connecting with e-Learners Through Podcasting

Okay, today is a little bit different. And the reason is; I've found an article that may catches your interests so nicely...and it's about the benefits of podcasting to e-learners.

Connecting with e-Learners Through Podcasting

July 20, 2010

Online instructors often struggle to find ways to connect with students on a consistent basis through a means other than written discussion such as forums and emails. In an online learning community where students are primarily reading a body of course material, the goal of an online instructor is often to establish a sense of connectedness between the student and the material. Words in a textbook or PowerPoint presentations do not provide enough engagement to ensure students are actively participating in their learning, therefore it is crucial to use additional modalities to facilitate connectedness.

Podcasting offers an opportunity to connect with students and enhance the instructor-student interaction. It also provides an avenue for instructors to meet students at a time most convenient for the student with information that can be repeated as often as the student needs. Students already use various types of mobile devices, which provide access to the most current news stories, weather forecasts, movie trends, and restaurant reviews. Being able to add on-the-go course content and guidance related to textbook readings would resolve the "non-interaction" that occurs between students and their online instructors, as well as greatly enhance an instructor's "visibility." Busy students want to receive information through a convenient delivery method... enter the RSS feed. The utilization of an RSS feed captured in a podcast allows instructors to "push" course content out to the students instead of students needing to search for information.

By definition, a podcast is a series of digital content files that are released as episodes through the use of Web syndication or RSS feeds. The files can be audio or video, and—if crafted carefully—can create an environment similar to a face-to-face classroom, but with the advantages of availability, accessibility, and repetition. The podcast can be played over and over again until comprehension is achieved. As modern learners experience an increasing demand on their time, podcasting can facilitate a more flexible, mobile learning option.

The Journey to Connect: A Case Study As a teacher of online pathology courses, I have come across instances that present perfect segues into possible podcasting topics. Traditional textbooks use strategically placed "think about" questions throughout each chapter to force the reader to review the material in manageable segments. This format provided a perfect template for the webisodes. I began the episodes with a brief discussion of the assignments for the week. The bulk of the episode consisted of me answering the questions posed throughout the chapter of the textbook. This methodology provided the students with time to read each section, answer the question on their own, and then play the podcast to hear my answer. I used a "disease of the week" to wrap up each episode, choosing conditions that were not covered in the class but were of professional interest.

P.S. This is only the first part of this article, the next part'll be about the concept development, theme choosing and developing and advancing plan...stay tuned.

What is Blog?

Well, well...Let me talk about something else apart from English thingies today. It's about a thing that we always see it on cyberspace; everyones use it and it'll mean they're out of trend if they don't! You can write everything you want on it, publish it, and even make money from it. Oh, of course...I think I almost forget something; you can stay in touch with your friends by using this thing too. I think you finally know what I'm talking about, right? It's the thing that calls "Blog"!

So what is blog anyway? The only crystal clear definition for this thing will be 'the personal journal' which you can use to speak your mind on everything you want. And there'll be no matter if it's about your everyday life, technologies, teaching topics, games, cartoons and even surprisingly sensitive topics like politics and religions if you dare enough to put them on your blog.

The thing that I'd like to highlight for the blog is, every blog entry has its own message box for everyone who cares to leave messages or speak, or even share some ideas with the blog owner. It is a good thing if you ask me, because the visitors can stay in touch with the blog owner by this mean.

Is it difficult to make a blog for your own? Of course it is! but that was the good old day, since the making of the blog requires the same methods to make as the original webpage. That's the reason why you have to learn how to decode the html codes, javascripts, and other codes essential to make wonders. However, the answer for how difficult nowadays will be "No!" The making of the blog today is as easy as counting 1 to 3 now and that's why the softwares like WordPress and Moveable Type come into actions; the main instruments that can effectively eliminate the difficulty of how to make a blog. All I have to say is: try it if you're an enthusiastic blogger...

As I've said before, there're so many people all over the world have their own blogs and use them in various ways to reflect their own personalities, sharing ideas and even spreading news for others to hear. What a fantastic thing, that is!

And because of all these things, the blog has already become one of the most important media as those from the TV, newspapers and other published media, radio and videos.

Blog is a website, the website that serves as one's online journal, with message boxes and links to related sites attached to it. And that's all what the blog really is, case closed.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Somethings about ESL and ESOL

To be honest: Even though I try not to give a damn to these two terms, but I still cannot refrain myself from talking about them...And it's because I'd been given birth in the country that doesn't use English as a native or second language, but viewed by fellow countrymen as an other language in which hurts my feeling so badly; hey, it isn't because of I don't like being a Thai or using my native language, but I'd already found my passion in English language long, long time ago! As soon as I could read and write my own language, to say the least...

Well, let's throw that dramatic moment away for a while. We're going to discuss about somethings that lie within ESL and ESOL, right? Then let us waste no time. But remember; all that I've written are purely come directly from my head and my own perspective. So, read them with your unbiased mind, but constructive ideas are always welcomed. I always like to talk with clever and open-minded people, you know?

Okay then, let's get to the bottom of this topic right away. Let me talk about the thing that called ESL first....it's funny that I always pronounce this 'word' like 'ea-sle' all the time. But it's in fact an acronym for [E]nglish as a [S]econd [L]anguage. It's a term, a term for an English course in classes of so many countries that use English as an second language. For example: India, Malaysia, Jamaica, etc. All those had been once a part of the former British Empire, have classes that contain ESL programs. ESL classes also say that their target language is the most important, only second to their native ones because it can switch back and forth to speak with either fellow countrymen or occupiers' officers; it's their official language. Even though the British Empire had already ceased its supremacy, those once occupied countries still retain the ESL programs. Hey, I think their decision to think about English is still their second language is nicely profitable to them. The first profit is they can speak more than one language: the bilingual...this word describes itself well enough. I think I have no need to give any further explanation for this thing. But hey, this advantage is exactly the same to the ESOL as well as an opportunity for those who attend either the ESL or ESOL class; an opportunity to practice their language prowess in real situations which is an another advantage. Sounds intriguing, right?

Let's move on to the another one, the ESOL. This is an acronym for [E]nglish for [S]peakers of [O]ther [L]anguage...I'm afraid about the fact that the definitions of ESL and ESOL are exactly the same, but the ESOL is way more specific than the ESL. The reason is the classes involving the ESOL is widely used in the British Commonwealth and Irish schools (in an exception of Australia), while the ESL classes are generally originated and located in the U.S., Canada and Australia. Even though the calling names are different, but the approaches and the goal are still the same...

Well, that's all for Something about ESL and ESOL. I'm a bit disappointed though, for Thailand doesn't applied such courses to the main structure of foreign languages learning system except the EP courses. Speaking of the EP courses, they've proven to be effective because most students are interested in English language at the first place!

Wow...I'm afraid my second personal column is pretty rough now. but I'm still only a beginner, you know? By the way...I'll improve my skill in column writing for my next story...

Friday, August 13, 2010

Why Do We Have to Learn English Language?

Hello.

This is my very first 'column' for my blog, and the very first column ever written in my whole life. And what is it about? The title describes itself really well...

Let us waste no time then...I bet you know this thing very well. It's about: "Why do we have to learn English Language?". The reason is short and simple for me; because the English language is an official international language right now! You can see through this reason easily if you guys use computer and are roaming around the cyberspace; this language is spreading around like air that filling in the Earth's atmosphere. You must admit that this language is necessary, especially nowadays. Ignoring it is like a suicide, if you ask me.

So how do we need to do in order to be good at English language? Hah! this question is so typical when talking about this topic. What should you do? The first and foremost thing you need to do is to 'change'. Just change your attitude about English language; you shouldn't think of it as an another subject that you need to learn, but to think of it as if it's one of the parts of your body. Why? The reason is parts of body are very essential for keeping your life going and must be practised, or you'll end up like a useless one.

So...keep up with it, keep practice until you are well-versed with this language. I can say that it is more than profitable once you mastered it. And you have to prepare for some wrestles that may hurt you too, but if there's no pain, you'll gain nothing from it. And learning English language can't escape this rule as well...

P.S. Maybe I've missed somethings that might be interesting enough to be added to my column...and it may be the thing that called vocabulary. Because of every languages, including English, encourage us to learn their words as many as possible to make wonders on using their languages in various ways. So, if you have no knowledge on vocabulary, then you have nothing to work with the mechanics of the language...

Based on the youtube video clips that I've put on top of my blog, see it for yourself...