Today's Learner is.....

After reading the article and watch videoes, I came up with an interesting analogy to illustrate today's learner. A learner is like a farmer. The reason why I think this analogy is interesting is that Connectivism has been brought up along with the development of techonolgy, but I compare a learner to a farmer who may be far away from the computer techonolgy. I grew up in a farm and I helped my parents with working in the farm so I know pretty well how they work.

First of all what a farmer does is planting seeds and harvesting later but the farmer will gather much more produce than he plants. Planting seeds is like making network. If a learner constructs network(planting seeds), the learner will learn much more knowledge(harvesting farm produce). In Siemens' video Networking is the Learning(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpbkdeyFxZw&feature=PlayList&p=3E43054A8703F57A&index=4), he mentioned that adding a nod to a network increases entire network exponentially.

In addtion, the farmer cannot gather produce unless the farmer does keep sound relationship with nature. This fact is connected to one of the principles of connectivism that is mentioned in the article. In the article, he wrote "Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning. " (Sienmens, G. 2005, Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age) Therefore the learner can learn more knowledge when they keep staying in the network and working on the network building.

EFL Classroom 2.0 - Social Networking Group

When I started searching for the group I would be interested in, I typed 'EFL' in the search engine because that's where I would like to be working in the future after graduation. Then I found out this group called "EFL Classroom 2.0". Its URL is http://eflclassroom.ning.com/index.php

This is really big networking group having lots of members and materials.

First of all, as a learner in English teaching and English language, there are a range of materials that I can use in order to improve my language skills. For example, in the homepage, there is "
Daily English Lesson" showing vocabulary and how it is used in the context.

In addition, as a teacher in EFL classroom, there is various materials regarding reading, listening, writing and speaking. Also the types of materials are various from videoes, reading materials, and so forth. Therefore I can gather some ideas from them or even I can use them in my classroom as well.

Lastly, I think I can get some advice from members whenever I have problems in my classroom. It's possible because there are teachers from different countries and have more experiences than me. Especially when I have multicultural classrooms I think I can find a member from a particulare country and ask heror him to get information about his or her culture.

Ban Ki-Moon

Ban Ki-Moon is U.N. Secretary General and he is Korean.
Here is 10 Questions and Answers from TIME magazine.

Q1) Can the U.N. play a proactive role in th economic crisis we are witnessing right now?
Sekari Vaidy SUNNYVALE, CALIF.

A) The goal of the U.N. is to promote harmonious development throughout the world. We welcome industrialized countries' stimulus packages, but at the same time they should never lose sight of the plight of billions of other people, the poorest of the poor.

Q2) What can individuals do to halt the global climate crisis? Carl Sack, VANCOUVER

A) Climate change is the defining issue of our era. For individuals, changing life patterns is very important. Turning lights off when you go to bed. Using water in a sparing way. There are about 1.2 billion people who do not have access to safe drinking water.

Q3) Once he takes office, what's the first thing Barack Obama should do regarding foreign policy? Gilberto Coker OBREGON, MEXICO

A) I hope the next Administration will continue what the Bush Administration has been doing. I would like President-elect Obama to make the Middle East peace process a priority and take over the climate-change campaign, in which the U.S. has not been actively participating.

Q4)How will you take action on the ruling Burmese junta for crimes against humanity? Zam Kham SANTA MONICA, CALIF.

A) When Cyclone Nargis hit, I told them that while the international community was ready to provide humanitarian assistance, they must look to the future of their country through democratization. I'm willing to visit Myanmar again to urge them to accelerate the process and release all political prisoners--particularly Aung San Suu Kyi.

Q5) After the Mumbai attacks, would the U.N. intervene to prevent a total war between India and Pakistan? Arjun Gajulapalli NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y.

A) While I urge that the perpetrators be brought to justice, at the same time this issue should not affect the relationship between India and Pakistan. Pakistan should fully cooperate in the investigation. And India should try to resolve this issue peacefully.

Q6) The U.N. has not been able to stop genocide in Sudan. It allowed Rwanda to happen. Why is it so hard for the international community to do the right thing for the people of these countries? Carlos Moran, ROCKVILLE, MD.

A) First of all, the U.N. has been doing its utmost to maintain peace and security in Sudan. It was tragic and regretful that the international community was not able to prevent the genocide in Rwanda. We must not repeat this. We must learn the lessons of history.

Q7) Now that President Bush is on his way out, do you think the U.N. should hold him accountable for the war in Iraq? Nikunj Sanghvi SUGARLAND, TEXAS

A) The U.S. and her people have made great sacrifices for the peace and security of Iraq; at the same time, the international community should support the Iraqi people so they can enjoy genuine freedom, peace and stability. Let's not discuss what happened in the past too much. We should learn from the past and do more for the future.

Q8) The U.N.'s legacy has been tainted in recent times. What are you doing to reform it? Azad Kariem, ARBIL, IRAQ

A) My goal is to make the U.N. more transparent, more accountable, more effective and efficient and professional. I think we have made significant progress in that regard.

Q9)Which previous U.N. Secretary-General inspires you the most? C.J. Cervantes, AUSTIN, TEXAS

A) In terms of mission and principles and the way he showed his commitment to peace and security, Dag Hammarskjöld has always been my role model. I would do anything in my power to preserve peace and protect human rights.

Q10) Will the U.N. have the same fate as the League of Nations? Warren Chan, KUALA LUMPUR

A) No, I don't believe so. If there were no U.N., I would have proposed we create one--in which we can discuss all the challenges, all the noble goals and ideals of humanity.

Three ways of of using blogs in classroom!!!

When I was studying English from middle school to university, the term 'blog' didn't even exist. Now, blog and blogging is a kind of common word, especially for the young. I think the early stage of blogging was for sharing information and having cyber version of life for some people, now it is used as a tool for teaching and learning languages.

The first way of using blog is for teacher to share information, knowledge and even materials. Through blogging, teachers can make community so that they can communicate even from long distance. So teachers are able to gather real time information and live experiences from all over the country, even all over the world. Also teachers can ask for advice and give advice regarding teaching or learning. In that way, teacher can expand their knowledge and skills on teaching.

Secondly, I can use blog with my students. In my practicum class, the professor showed me how to use blog with his students for reading class. He has his own blog and he also had students create their blogs in order to share one another's blogs. He posted assignment on the blog so that the students can visit and see. In addition, he also can check their homework and students are able to see their classmates work. It makes the teacher's job easier because the teacher doesn't have to make all the copies to share in the whole class. So it enables the teacher to save energy so that saved time and energy can be used for more productive ways such as preparing more materials or giving more detailed feedback.

Lastly, the blog can be used to build better rapport between the teacher and students. As I learned from the last semester, the better relationship between the teacher and students, the better learning process can be happened in the classroom. Through blog, the teacher and students can share their personal lives, they can get to know each other more. Therefore it can be a tool to learn one another better.

I am sure that there is more than three ways of using blog in learning and teaching process, I am really looking forward to reading my classmates' opinions too.

The First day of blogging

It was not my first time to have a blog, but it is my first time to blog.
Few years ago, I made my blog in Korean website but I never took care of it. So there's nothing on my blog. However, I am kind of excited to have a blog and going to post many materials about teaching. At the same time, I am happy to have community which means my classmates. I am really looking forward to blogging.