So Much to Learn...So Little Time

What goes around comes around.

NB IT SEEMS THE EMBED FILM DOESN'T WORK, BUT THE "INTERNET ARCHIVE" LINK TAKES YOU DIRECT TO THE FILM.

I am sure each and every generation of teachers feels it is unique and faces its own problems. Ours perhaps being how to use technology to complement teaching in the classroom, or increasing levels of indiscipline. BUT as with music very little is ever new, just slightly different. Check this film from the Internet Archive to see what I mean.

Mr Grimes, an authoritarian type teacher learns how to deal better with his students and get them working for him by using what would in this day and age be termed Assessment is for Learning Techniques (ok so no traffic lighting but having student elicit answers themselves).

I came to this archive via Mr M's Video School blog, in particular his post about GLOW. Thanks Mr M. And what an ace resource this Internet Archive is. For free as well.





Technorati Tags: internetarchive, adamsutcliffe, videoschool, teaching

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Spinvox - voice to text service

"Hello Blog. This is my first attempt at using SpinVox. Tired of using the telephone to post Blackberry to ___ to to make posts to the blog. You can also make memos and you can also blast multiple respondents. Let's see if it works."

spoken through SpinVox

I really like Liz Kolb's blog about using mobile phones as tools. I have been meaning to investigate the things she mentions in this post for some time. However I came to a slight impasse when I discovered that the application (Jott) for using a cell phone to post to blogs, or make memos etc as a voice call was restricted to the US.

Being a super duper researcher I googled "jott uk" and came up with the name Spinvox as a uk equivalent. So just for kicks I though I'd try it out.

First you sign in. Good news is that there are 10000 free accounts on the go at the moment so get it while its hot. When you sign up you decide on the services you want to use:

• voicemail - ensures you get your voicemail messages as a text (not worth it for me, being billy-no-mates)



• memo - call in things to remind yourself and they come up as an email



• blog- speak direct to your blog. Say your message and up it comes



• blast - send a message to multiple recipients



• social networks - speak in your SN wall updates



• text - speak an sms (not yet available)



• messenger - something about when the phone is not available (also not yet available)

Once you are registered you get an email detailing the telephone numbers to call (from your registered mobile). It also gives you a PIN, which you can change at anytime in your account.
You might have to add an email address to your mobile settings for your blog. I didn't for Typepad.
To post to my blog I called the number given (normal landline BTW so useful if you have a price plan) entered my PIN and spoke. The quote at the top is pretty much what I said, except for the bit in the middle where I kind of lost my train of thought and fluffed my lines a bit.

This is the email memo I sent myself. I didn't mess this one up.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

If some of the features of this service remain free I would like to see it linked in with Google Calendar or other calendar apps or even some of the other organisational applications mentioned in Liz's post.

I can imagine that the blog thing would be great on class day trips to places of interest. Kids could phone in their thoughts to their class blog.

 

Technorati Tags: spinvox, lizkolb, cellphone, mobilephone, tool

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And then there were 3

Last week Yanick and Aicha were joined by their older brother, Raoul. They are very happy about it and the house is now a very noisy place.
This was Raoul's first ever experience of snow. Unfortunately it didn't stick around long enough to go sledging.
I now have my work cut out; supporting Raoul with learning English whilst maintaining his French, supporting Yanick in his excellent progress in English, whilst trying to ensure he doesn't lose his French, trying to ensure that Aicha also learns both; and then I have to go back to work in March...for a rest.



Technorati Tags: adamsutcliffe

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Say " I lurrrve you" in many tongues.

From Afrikaans to Zulu, express your feelings on Feb 14th in another language and impress your loved one...maybe.

Ways To Say I Love you In All Languages via kwout

Technorati Tags: valentines

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Come In International Edublogger 21. Where are you?

I am officially International Edublogger No. 21. My badge is at the top of the blog to prove it. I came across the International Edublogger Directory on a comment on a Student 2.0 post. Being curious I had a look and followed the instructions to add myself to this as yet relatively small directory.

Edubloggers are actively invited to submit their details for admission. At the moment for me it is another way to promote my blog. I am really hoping I will get more readers from it...how vain of me.