Introduction of a Blended Learning Program

2006-06-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

Comenius Conference

Vienna, 23 June, 2006

Net English - e-Learning with a Difference

2006-06-20T23:12:00.000-07:00

Comenius Conference

Budapest, 7 April, 2006

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2005-03-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

What is ChatterBoxing? To the Teacher 1

Quite easily ChatterBoxing is the most important type of exercise from the very early life of the Group onwards. The single aim of the exercise is to give Students a direct experience in effective human communication.

Very important useful by-products of the exercise are

the possibility for the Students to practise all the four main skills, i. e. listening comprehension, speaking, reading comprehension, and writing;
the possibility for the Students to build this sort of exercises into their other types of learning; and
the intensive milling / mixing effect all across the Group.
Method: 6 to 8 different bits of information are distributed in the Group [ 1 for everyone]. After a quick, silent gist-reading, group-members pair-off and 'teach' their pieces of information all across the Group and 'learn' everybody else's piece of information in rotation.

Group-members in speaker roles
gist-read,
describe,
paraphrase, and / or
demonstrate.
Group-members in listener roles give free attention, and take notes.
The exercise helps Students in fluency, deep understanding, and their growing resolution of information.
Warning: it takes some time for the newcomer to get to like this exercise since it is something they have never done before.

What is HotSpot Reading? To the Teacher 2
A pair or a triplet of Students co-read and discuss any sort of study-material distributed by the Teacher / Trainer. They stop reading at loaded words, or expressions, or data, or bits of information, i. e. at HotSpots, and spill out whatever crosses their mind.
If they know it and it produces a new thought, or it links in an old association, that's why.
If they don't know it and it raises a good question, that's why.
In this way the activity involves students in their own learning. They are allowed to tailor their own progress, and to learn at their own pace.
They are given the opportunity to ask questions, and to stop and test their learning en route.
The whole session is like an extended conversation that forms a two-way communication link, and there is a measure of symmetry between the peers.
The behaviour of the peers becomes concerted, and cooperative, and it is directed towards a common goal, i. e. synthetic understanding, soon followed by analytic understanding.
What peers learn here is not learned as a subject. It is learned as a revelation with a concern element in it.
What is JigSawing? To the Teacher 3
JigSawing is the combination of HotSpot Reading and ChatterBoxing; the combination of 'here-and-now', and reflection on past experiences.
Students pay as much attention for the experience as possible, both for external exents and for their internal processes.
Attention for events external to ourselves correspond with what we can label 'observation skills'.
Attention for external processes and behaviour corresponds to what we call 'self-awareness'.
Active listening when in triplets To the Teacher 4
Besides lending your listening ear to the two more active members of the triplet and watching the body-language, pensive clues, etc. accompanying the information-flow, you can also practise listening to your personal, guardian 'inner voice'.
Silent 'free attention', aka 'credulous listening', can be conveyed as
encouraging, i. e. without demand,
supportive, i. e. without judgement, and
empathic and emotionally warm, i. e. without criticism.
What is the aim of this Blog? To the Teacher 5
I have four main aims with this WebLog and they are as follows:

I want to give a chance for my own students who want to further practise the materials we have learned together,
I want to give a chance for my students to extend their skills coming from our speech-culture towards their literacy skills,
I want to give a chance for anyone else, teachers and students alike, to copy our examples and use them as they like, and

I want to induce teachers and students alike into writing better materials than this.

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Introduction of a Blended Learning Program

Net English - e-Learning with a Difference

Hello! Welcome to my blog.