Pros and cons of selected apps for adult learners of English

I’ve blogged about fun, productive apps on Ask Auntie Web, and posted a summary about technology in teaching a while ago, but check out apps all the time to ponder their overall usefulness. When assessing learner tools I ask: What does it actually require the learners to do linguistically (that they could not do equally […]

Phonology 101

On our course Patricia introduced us to two great sites to help with phonology. First, there’s the excellent online typewriter, the Phonemic Character Keyboard, which is based on the comprehensive IPA character picker, two tools which, taken together, are just what you need to be able to write a post like this! Then, there’s the […]

Riddles upside down

A man went on a trip on Friday, stayed for 2 days and returned on Friday. How is that possible? Answer: ¡ǝsɹoɥ ɐ sı ʎɐpıɹɟ What has 4 wheels and flies? Answer: ¡ʞɔnɹʇ ǝƃɐqɹɐƃ ɐ What did the fish say when he hit the side of his glass bowl at 50 miles per hour? Answer: […]

Animoto: Men with beards

Just testing some edutech tools this morning, this is my first attempt with Animoto, which lets you make free 30 second animated slideshows. I’m picking up on a topic I wrote about two years ago. – Do you recognize all of the bearded men in the pictures? Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com. BTW: […]

Dorothy Parker: Superfluous Advice

http://annehodgson.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/dorothy-parker.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIan James presented a lovely recording tool, Vocaroo, on his blog, and I’ll be using it in online courses. But here on this blog, dear reader, it’s an easy way to record yourself and to practice your pronunciation. Listen to my recording to help with the more difficult words. […]

Martin Dougiamas, father of Moodle

Great interview with Martin Dougiamas, father of Moodle, at Moodlemoot in Bamberg: “Moodle is really a system of control. The web 2.0 is very much about complete freedom and openness and lack of privacy. And Moodle is obviously oriented to what institutions care about, which is about walls and protected spaces, and this just allows […]

Moodle for multiple choice

Using ICT for communication in teaching is great, and it’s what hooked me to adopting technology as a professional focus. It’s the “personal” quality of Web 2.0 tools that opens up new kinds of learning. But systems really shine when they are allowed to be, well, systems. In teaching they need to be well-designed to […]