Showing posts with label TEFL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TEFL. Show all posts

Teaching English Online: Tara Benwell and MyEC

I was just going through some of the great sessions from the Virtual Round Table last week to catch up on what I'd missed and while on over there, saw a posting about one of the sessions I did attend at the time and which, if you're interested in teaching online but aren't sure where to start, would really like to point you towards. 

The session was with Tara Benwell of MyEC who works with English language learners from all over the world: almost 25,000 of them!  

She sets up monthly blog challenges for them to write, administrates their discussions and also helps them develop computer skills and develop learner autonomy.

One of the best things about MyEC - if you're a teacher as well as a learner is that you're welcome to go onto their site and set up your own group - there are many, many other groups to join in as well.    Many of their members frequently write their own blogs so you can quickly offer your services in terms of general feedback or correction (when/if they ask for this).

So basically if you've been hedging on whether or not you'd like to start teaching online, doing an Masters in Edtech/TESOL and you'd really like to have a free space, a kind of 'sandbox' to test out on strangers who are really keen to learn... or you want to work out whether teaching online is for you before diving in with  creating your own site (or even, like me the reverse, you'd like to see how tasks you set with real students work with total strangers)  then you should definitely watch this video and join their site.  

If you have any questions, Tara is super approachable, she tweets at @TEFL and her page on the MyEC page is here, the creator of their site was Josef Essberger.


Good luck!
Karenne

p.s. Let me just share with you a blog post from one of their members (displayed here with permission):

29 Top Tweets in #TEFL 2010-Sept-08

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It's been a busy summer I tell ya, I've hardly had a spare minute to do the thing I love most... i.e. blogging and hanging out on Social Media.  Nevertheless, after a week of spending time with two lovely twitter ladies, Shelly and Marisa, on an island in Greece (photos coming soon, I have to figure out how to get them off the Prada as my digital camera packed up and I was forced to use the camera phone...) am beginning to surface and catch up on the rather long task list...   so here are some of the links which have been flying around the rather transient 'verse - the stuff I favourited, visited, enjoyed and recommend to you - the stuff I grabbed while lurking here and there but which I'm hoping you'll enjoy finding again too :-).



Teaching English as a Foreign Language:  


*Issues in our industry


Can't wait for part 2! RT @kenwilsonlondon BLOG POST - Motivating the Unmotivated - Part 1 http://bit.ly/bYBxPaFri Aug 27 16:05:05 via web

***please note URL change: http://kenwilsonelt.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/2465/



Sorry to tell you, but if your students are bored, its your fault http://wp.me/ptcfd-6o #education #edchat #publicspeakingThu Aug 19 17:07:48 via web


...just in time, Trtistan's post is, while we all gear up for classes and the conference season begins :)))



"Most of our classrooms were built under the assumption that info is scarce ..." http://bit.ly/bdG3EG #edreform #edtech gr8 post by @EnglishFri Sep 03 09:08:52 via RSSFlashg




RT @FlyontheCWall: good common sense regarding classroom control http://ow.ly/2A6O2Mon Sep 06 15:35:40 via TweetDeck


*Teaching English Tips


Great series of interviews on Innovations in Teaching http://bit.ly/96iHGr - podcasts include @Harmerj and @thornburyscottSun Sep 05 07:50:29 via TweetDeck






RT @kalinagoenglish: via @PrestwickHouse How to Spell http://bit.ly/cTZViG -> Loved it. Thanx! :-)Thu Aug 26 11:55:02 via TweetDeck






General English


RT @ddeubel: Reasons to use current events in the class. God bless Dewey! http://bit.ly/cYFvbbMon Aug 16 12:50:46 via TweetDeck



The TEFL Times » Teaching factual writing: purpose and structure http://bit.ly/8YgJgTThu Aug 26 10:31:30 via web



Alternatives to writing book reports after reading http://bit.ly/cZZyY5Thu Aug 26 09:04:25 via TweetDeck


Business English/ ESP


Do u have European Business English ss who need 2 practice listening 2 Indian Accents = http://www.ndtv.com/video #besigFri Sep 03 09:44:05 via web



The TEFL Times » Who qualifies to monitor an ESP course: a content teacher or a language teacher? http://bit.ly/dgKBEhThu Aug 26 10:33:08 via web


Tech Tools + Teaching


RT @gcouros: So helpful: New Teacher Tech Survival List http://bit.ly/blRVnXFri Sep 03 03:15:57 via TweetDeck

...excellent tips! One to bookmark for sure, thanks Rick




Google Brings Voice Calling to Gmail http://bit.ly/9mtpiY via @mashableWed Aug 25 17:08:18 via twitterfeed



RT @NikPeachey: 39 web based resources for vocab development http://bit.ly/b43amF #efl #elt #edtech #esol #tesol #eslSun Sep 05 15:59:40 via TweetDeck



Podcast directory for educators, schools and colleges http://goo.gl/JJUk #podcast #edtech #ntchatWed Aug 25 16:19:48 via web






MYBLOG Webtools to enhance LISTENING: This afternoon, I presented a session about sites to help students improve t... http://bit.ly/aa3RjcFri Aug 20 22:26:33 via twitterfeed





Mainstream Educational Links of Interest  


Damage to language teaching 'irreparable' - Education News, Education - The Independent http://bit.ly/a2fUuXThu Aug 26 07:45:03 via TweetMeme



RT @englishraven: Larger class sizes can result in better education http://bit.ly/aCsASP #jalt #eflThu Aug 26 01:12:01 via TweetDeck



RT @ShellTerrell: RT @gcouros: Elizabeth Gilbert on nurt. creativity | Video http://bit.ly/bmbNXo #edchat #edreform - Lovd it! Thnx Shelly!Mon Sep 06 05:19:30 via TweetDeck



Digital Storytelling in Plain English. Using them as a digital explanation. Found on @wfryer 's blog http://goo.gl/aoPAFri Sep 03 18:07:41 via Shareaholic



Just commented. The post is worth your read >> The Impact of Awards (via @gcouros) http://bit.ly/aZvkpY #edchat #cpchat #educationTue Aug 24 22:07:22 via HootSuite




Frowns, Smiles + Laughs



RT @theteachershub: Article from BBC News - Is multi-tasking a myth? http://ow.ly/2ulHsWed Aug 25 16:02:00 via TweetDeck



More shock-horror from the NY Times: "Attention spans evolve and shorten": http://nyti.ms/aTDvaFSun Aug 22 08:29:49 via TweetDeck



RT @cbsiskin: @dudeneyge @daisybundle Why can't they tweet and chat over a pint at the same time?? - Cos NOBODY can multitask, remember?Thu Sep 02 19:56:44 via TweetDeck




If historical events had Facebook statuses (absolutely hilarious!) http://ow.ly/2uY73 via @researchgoddess and @lisibo | Big LOL =)Thu Aug 26 08:21:08 via TweetDeck



Wow! What a great day! After 18 months a teacher has finally asked me how to set up a blog. Is this the thin end of the wedge? #successFri Sep 03 08:57:23 via TweetDeck


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Best,
Karenne

The ELT Blogosphere: May 2010

On Friday 28th, 2010 I came home after a really hard day of teaching to find out, via Twitter, that Kalinago English has been chosen as Bab.la's #2 Language Teaching blog!   It's truly an honor and if you're one of my lovely readers or friends or family members who voted for me thank you very, very much!

In fact what I discovered also, once I recovered and looked at the Lexiophiles' round-up was that a whopping 15 members of BELTfree, an online community dedicated to ELT bloggers, made it into the top 100 and, as the group's mistress (moderator) I am even  prouder of this than my own prize.

The thing is, for those who have been following my conversations on Um, I hate to ask, on principle I tend to have reservations about contests of this nature.  

From a marketing perspective, it is important to have these sorts of badges on our blogs - it's part of social proof if you will, which is why we wear them, but what happens whenever these awards occur is that inevitably other blogs of similar or even higher quality are omitted - perhaps they don't have a significant number of contacts who can vote for them, or they weren't able to suck it up and toot their own horns (trust me, there is a certain loss of face involved in doing that) but it doesn't mean that their work has no value or isn't appreciated.

These monthly (or bi-monthly when I'm knee deep in other projects) come without any sort of shiny badge** to put on your blogs...  it's just me Karenne Sylvester, fellow TEFL teacher telling you, my blogging colleagues and professional readers: here's the quality, I've traveled throughout the globe to find it, have saved the best of the best posts I read and organized them for you - so go read and go enjoy!


(Sorry it really is a bit of a bumper edition this time 'round - forgot to publish April's due to IATEFL and the Carnival and some of the posts were just too good to decide not to... so it's probably best to use this list as an online magazine index and choose  to read the ones which sound most up your street!    Or come back later...)

**do you  want me to make a nice shiny badge? Or would you like to make me one that I can share with the stars below? :-)

To catch up posts from this blog see:
Kalinago English summary


In the ELT Blogosphere

TEFL industry

Methodology, Pedagogy, Linguistics

Teaching English as a Foreign Language


On Technology

Lessons using technology


Lessons without "technology"

Hidden Gems (Posts from the Past)

Introducing New ELT Bloggers on the Block
    Old Bloggers on the block: Why not pick one of these and put it into your google-reader, decide to read all of their posts and comment frequently and encourage them in their new style-writing process...


    And if all that wasn't enough...

    See you next month!
    Karenne
    image credit: Planet Earth Remix

    20 Top Tweets in #TEFL: 2010-May-12

    Tweets I've favorited, visited, commented on, enjoyed and/or recommend in some way...


    Teaching English as a Foreign Language:  

    Issues/News in our industry


    RT @iateflonline: Clicks & bricks help Congo teachers join the global ELT conversation http://bit.ly/cA0hL1Sat May 01 12:31:58 via TweetDeck



    RT @MacmillanELT: We have completed a full overhaul of our anti-bribery compliance policies and procedures. http://ow.ly/1HIatThu May 06 14:24:53 via TweetDeck



    RT @paulmaglione: How English erased its roots to become the global language of 21st century. #efl #elt #esl #tesol http://bit.ly/aq7kNiSun May 09 12:23:38 via TweetDeck



    @hoprea Every Sunday we discuss ideas related to language learning and teaching #ELLCHATSun May 09 18:42:53 via TweetGrid



    Lake School of English, Oxford, is recruiting EFL teachers for July and August summer courses https://www.englishinoxford.com/Sun May 09 12:50:15 via web





    Teaching English Issues, Tips /Lessons

    Young Learners + Teens




    Nice games to teach Internet Safety http://bit.ly/rwZS9Sun May 09 12:48:25 via TweetDeck



    Newsround: Outstanding news resource site for learners aged 9-15 http://bit.ly/cvNESIThu May 06 15:16:46 via TypePad




    General English Adults




    New intermediate English lesson on our blog: UK Politics/General Elections http://esolcourses.blogspot.com/ #esl #esol #beltfree #englishSun May 09 17:31:31 via web



    Darfur is Dying - Critical thinking/educational game for change: http://su.pr/1BU4MD #games #education (via @missiontolearn)Thu May 06 17:04:25 via Su.pr



    RT @vale24 Teacher zones: Dictionaries zone #ELT CUP @CambridgeWords: Lesson plans, worksheet etc for... http://bit.ly/943C0ESun May 09 17:59:38 via web


    Business English




    BESIG Webinar: The best teaching resource? Our students? http://ht.ly/1IMx3 Online mini-conference for business English teachers #besigSun May 09 16:00:10 via HootSuite


    Tech Tools + Teaching





    Top 10 Wordle Lessons for the Classroom http://goo.gl/fxml #eslMon May 03 14:20:51 via web



    via @NikPeachey Create Quick Interactive Activities http://bit.ly/bZMDYK #beltfreeSun May 09 09:56:35 via twitterfeed



    RT @tombarrett: 28 Interesting Ways to Use Audio in your Classroom http://bit.ly/9L2D9t <-Love the "Interesting Ways" Series!Sun May 09 18:49:36 via TweetDeck




    Social Media




    Tell-All Generation Learns to Keep Things Offline via #NYT http://ow.ly/1IM46 #facebookSun May 09 15:16:15 via HootSuite



    RT @livesofteachers RT @OzMark17: The Guardian:'Why Twitter is the quickest way from Q 2 A' http://bit.ly/8ZT0YP (very interesting research)Sun May 09 19:57:38 via web




    Mainstream Educational Links of Interest




    Podstemic: Changing the Face of STEM Education with iPods http://bit.ly/aDf65u #edtechSun May 09 20:45:27 via TweetDeck



    "(One of) The Duality(ies) of #Edtech " ( http://bit.ly/cUsFgR ) #edchatSun May 09 21:06:06 via twitthat




    Frowns /+ Smiles


    Twitter sometimes makes me feel like this - http://bit.ly/b5wKXKSun May 09 12:49:21 via web



    =)RT @JordiJubany: The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. W. A. WardSun May 02 20:28:50 via TweetDeck



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