Blended Learning – ELTJ
19th July 2010Delighted that the next Key Concepts in ELT in the ELTJ is on Blended Learning.
You can access this here: Blended Learning.
Enjoy!
Music for podcasts
18th July 2010One of the most popular sessions on the PSA Blended Learning courses is on how to make your own podcasts. Recording and editing voice is straightforward. Adding music is also easy to learn. However, the question that arises with music is always the one of copyright.
Most people know that if you use a clip from a song by your favourite pop singer then you are likely to be in breach of copyright rules. This doesn’t mean you have to dig out your old Stylophone and tamborine and record your own. There’s lots of music available on the Web which is covered by the Creative Commons licence. The folks who have written and recorded these tracks are more than happy for you to use them or parts of them as long as you follow the rules of the licence and give them due credit.
Here’s a ready made list of Pod-safe instrumentals from the wonderful Free Music Archive to get you started. Have fun!
Disaster in the Gulf
14th July 2010……………happiness in the classroom. The latest Macmillan business English e-lesson is now online. Be slick, and download it NOW. Oil’s well that ends well….and the petroleum giant is nearly there in terms of damage limitation…..
Like all great current materials, use it NOW!!!
New website
14th July 2010Our new look website is being designed up as I type…and it already is looking fabby….cannot wait to see it uploaded…..
Change at the top – e-lesson
7th July 2010In case you missed it due to glitches in the blog, Pete’s most recent e-lesson is available here.
It’s on the life and times of the man retiring from his position at the top of the British supermarket giant Tesco.
Paper books vs. e-readers
7th July 2010A recent survey suggests that it is faster to read a book on paper than using one of the popular e-readers on the market.
The environmental blog TreeHugger was skeptical about this and had a closer look at the research.
The jury is still out but it is worth bearing in mind that new and better e-readers are hitting the market every year.
The blog is back!!
7th July 2010Hello there. Our blog is back after a slightly extended technical hiccup. Sorry if you’ve been trying to drop by and catch up.
Hopefully everything works fine now and, as a side-effect, I’ve learned a bit about fixing and restoring databases – which is good.
Thanks for reading.
BESIG Rome
24th June 2010Here is a graphics-lite version of the PowerPoint for the session:
at the BESIG summer conference in Rome.
World Cup Fever: e-lesson
17th June 2010What’s the goal of your next lesson? Hopefully, not to fumble your lesson plan……maybe, fluency: to discuss whether a ball is round? Listening: the dulcet tones of the vuvuzela? Numbers practice: fewest goals scored? Functions – the language of regret: If only Green hadn’t…..?
Anyway, if football’s the name of the game, then why not tackle the latest e-lesson from Macmillan, which is called World Cup Fever. It takes an economic angle, and asks whether it is beneficial or not to host this great sporting event…….Enjoy (if such a thing is possible in the cock-eyed world of the beautiful game).
Tools for the 21st Century Teacher: free eBook
16th June 2010Came across this free eBook from Michael Zimmer. Thanks to Chris Stanzer for the original tweet, and the free technology for teachers website.
Volcanic lesson
14th June 2010In case you missed the recent e-mail from Macmillan, please find the recent e-lesson on Vocanic Ash which erupted into the world of business English causing travel mayhem.
Schools and agents
7th June 2010The headline reads: Access is still the biggest problem for mobile learning in the business English classroom.
Although proving effective, new technologies in the business English classroom still have many challenges associated with access in some parts of the world – according to leading experts in business English.
For the complete article, which reports on the recent World of Work virtual conference, see: Schools and agents.
DELTA Development blog
26th May 2010We have just added the DELTA Development blog to our blogroll. Enjoy…..
World of Work virtual conference – Cambridge
23rd May 2010Did you miss it? Fret not….you can now view it by folloing this link on the UCLES site.
Pre Conference event – Bielefeld
23rd May 2010Looks like a great day is being lined up in advance of BESIG this autumn in the vicinity of Bielefeld….
Event 1: Gavin Dudeney on Digital Literacies
Event 2: Pete Sharma on Business English materials in the digital age
Event 3: Rita Baker on Business English training: the need to shift from outside-in to inside-out
Looks like being a great event. More to come on this on our Events page
Business Issues
19th May 2010Wow – a cracking issue of the latest Business Issues has just landed on my doormat. Read sage words from the joint co-ordinator, Paul East, who is also (incidentally) a Director of PSA. Interesting stuff from sooo many writers …. Maurice Claypole, Barry Tomalin, Cleve Miller, Evan Frendo, James Schofield, Bob Dignen, Sheila Thorn, Jamie Keddie…..:-)
On the tech front, Karenne Sylvester writes about authentic videos and also suggests some interesting blogs. Just in case you were mildly perturbed that it may have disappeard, your favourite Learning Technologies page is there in all its glory, written by Barney Barrett & myself….and (as if all the above ain’t enough) the photos of the authors & contributions throughout are most sexy. Beg, steal or borrow a copy now……………….
Cantabrigia
12th May 2010Cold and sunny, a perfect day to revisit my Alma Mater. Great morning meeting and then the Virtual Forum, which went well. Always amazing to see those names of participants logging in from all over the world - in this conference, especially from Europe & South America – & also great to see names of professionals who I know or have met in real life or virtually. It went smoothly on the tech front and was a hugely interesting experience. If you missed it I’m sure there’ll be a recording going up sometime on the Cambridge ESOL website. Thanks for the invite and super to speak with such professional colleagues. Off to see if wikipedia really exists in Latin…..
Cambridge World of Work virtual conference
11th May 2010Details of tomorrow’s event are up on the Cambridge ESOL website. Looking forward to driving over there tomorrow….
English UK Plenary – impact of new technology on business English
9th May 2010A great day in London yesterday. Really enjoyed Ian Badger’s opening plenary & fellow PSA Director Byron Rusell’s session.
Here are the graphics-lite versions of my plenary Power Points, plus a two-page Word document – the session worksheet & handout:
No time for questions (it was a plenary) so please post any questions you may have had here – a nice use of technology! Enjoy Sunday……
Cambridge World of Work Virtual conference – 12th May
6th May 2010Next Wednesday’s World of Work virtual conference schedule is as follows:
The impact of new technology on language teaching, learning and assessment - Pete Sharma
An observer’s reflection of the 2009 World of Work Forum – Russell Whitehead
Learning & Technology for the Workplace – Gavin Dudeney
BULATS Online – The Global Benchmark – Deshini Chetty
The digital business English classroom: thoughts from the chalk-face – Carl Dowse
Perspectives on technology: Workplace English teaching, learning and assessment - Panel discussion
I hope you’ll be able to attend (virtually) and I look forward to returning to my alma mater……