List of Over 500 Web Tools for Language Learning & Teaching
In celebration of the 500th link added to our list of Web Tools for Language Learning & Teaching, my co-curator and I invite you to use and contribute to the site! Betsy Lavolette, PhD candidate, Second Language Studies, Michigan State University Susan Pennestri, Instructional Technologist at the Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship, […]
Concerto – Open-source Online R-based Adaptive Testing Platform
On Thursday, February 27, I’ll be talking to the Faculty Learning Community on Language Learning in Online Environments here at Michigan State University. The topic is Concerto, a testing platform that I used to collect the data for my dissertation. It is made available by the Psychometrics Centre at the University of Cambridge. I’m using this […]
Teaching Japanese for Kids
I’m blogging about the content of the Japanese for Kids course I’m teaching, primarily for the kids’ parents. The content might be of use to someone who is also teaching Japanese to kids.
Useful links for LLT 361
I will be talking about CALL as a guest speaker in Dr. Peter De Costa’s LLT 361 class, Second Language Learning, at MSU on November 14. I’m planning this as a mini workshop on the following tools, including some activities that could be done using them and the connections to SLA. All of the tools […]
Multimedia learning object from pedagogical grammar course
Time to show off a little. You can check out one of the multimedia learning objects, aka interactive presentations, from a course that I developed and taught between 8/2012 and 6/2013. The topic was pedagogical grammar for undergraduate pre-service teachers of English as a second language. If you really really like it and want to […]
Learning to write for Facebook
This post accompanies an in-class teaching presentation that I will give on 10/3 in my second language writing class. Writing for Facebook Use The Wall Machine to teach Facebook-style written communication. Examples Teaching ESL writing Ben Franklin Avengers Shakespeare After showing students some examples, try the following instructions: Your friend posts the following on your […]
SDoI: Chapter 5: Analyzing Learners and Contexts
[This is the sixth in a series of posts about Dick and Carey’s The Systematic Design of Instruction. Want to read an overview and my thoughts on Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 before proceeding?] This chapter is about characterizing learners, the context in which they will be performing, and the context […]
SDoI: Chapter 4: Identifying Subordinate Skills and Entry Behaviors
[This is the fifth in a series of posts about Dick and Carey’s The Systematic Design of Instruction. Want to read an overview and my thoughts on Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3 before proceeding?] It’s been a while (okay, more than a year) since I posted about the previous chapter, but I have […]
Learning vocabulary using Rikaichan and Google News
One of my frustrations as a learner of Japanese has always been the amount of time lost to looking up unknown kanji. By the time I have found the right reading and the right word, I’ve forgotten what the surrounding context was, and I have to reread the sentence or paragraph. Online dictionaries certainly help […]
Goodbye, 2010. Welcome, 2011!
Working via the Internet defined 2010 for me. Although I wore many different hats as an independent contractor, all of them allowed me to do almost all of my work from my computer, here in Indiana or from various other places I traveled during the year. A couple of highlights: I began working as a […]