Online Dictionaries and the Advanced Language Learner

Conversation between myself and C, an advanced English tele-student.

C: My client in Amsterdam asked me if I use an online dictionary.

Me: Really, why?  Did you ask why she asked?

C: Yes, she said sometimes I use really strange words in my emails.

Me: (laughs gently)  Are you using Leo?

C: Is that a bad dictionary? Do you know a better one?

Me: Leo's good but  I usually use Google Translate.  Well, sometimes.

C: I should talk around the words when I don't know them. (repeating a former instruction of mine)

Me: Yeeh..es - that's a very good strategy.

C: But, sometimes that takes too long.  I would prefer to know the right word.

Me: I understand.

C: I can't learn the right word if I never find it out.

Me: What about an English-English online dictionary? Like Macmillan - that's a good one, it even does pronunciation. And they have a nice blog - I must remember to feed that into our Ning.

C: But if I don't know what the word I want to say is, in English, how can I search the word I want?

Me: There is that! (laughs out loud).  You could try a thesaurus?

C: That takes too long, it's the same problem with using the Leo, I still won't know the word I want.

Me: Mmm.

C: I can't know the word if I don't ever learn it.

Me: Yes.  Hmm...that's why we're having these classes but I know exactly the way you feel.  Sometimes when I have to deal, in German, with my taxes or do stuff to do with my business...  I need an online option too.

C:  Does it work for you?

Me: I don't know - no one tells me when I use strange words.  But I think what your client is noticing is the old fashioned words.  Leo gives you all sorts of options and that includes words that aren't wrong, they're just not... not said anymore.  To be honest, I'm probably doing the same thing as you are. 

I have a good German-English dictionary on my desk but these days I tend to be too lazy to look in it - it's just so big and heavy.

C: What's tend?

 Me: (quiet panic, hesitation).. um, tend is like attend, like pay attention but in this context, I mean more that... I mean that usually I am too lazy or that often I am too lazy to look in my heavy dictionary.

C: It is quicker to use Leo.

Me: Hmm.  Yes, you tend to use Leo when you're stuck for a word. But your client thinks it sounds strange.

C: What about if I talk around the words with you and then you tell me what the right word is?

Me: We can do that.   You can also copy and paste your emails into your blog - just take out the confidential details but I can look specifically for the words that don't fit your context and I'll give you feedback on those.

C: I would like that.  I can store them in my blog.

Me: Exactly.  And when you have enough - I know Google Docs Spreadsheets has a really cool program - all you do is put these words in a list and we can also add the words from our Google Doc feedback sheet - then you can make a game to play at home. 

C: Yes!  I want to do that.  You have to teach me how to make this game.  Did you have a nice week?  Did you finish your article yet?

Readers, have you ever been in this sort of situation? 

What do you think the best way would be for me to handle C's advanced level vocabulary acquisition without really knowing what words she specifically needs to use beforehand in these emails?  To be honest, I fear this (the above, waiting for the words to emerge) might actually be a really long process. 

How do you handle mass-vocabulary acquisition?  As you know by now, being a dogme teacher, I tend not to be too fond of presenting random lists to be learned off by heart without context... Still, I'm in a quandary - isn't there a way for me to deal with this?  Do please share your top tips...

And by the way, are you pro- or anti- dictionary usage in the classroom (online or otherwise)?   Why?



Useful links related to this posting: 
Jason Renshaw: The best compliments are complements
Scott Thornbury: A is for Attention
Google Docs Educational Gadgets
Inside Google Translate
Internet may phase out Oxford Dictionary

Best,
Karenne
education

Noodle Casserole

Carola's Vegetarian Casserole

I'm sure most of you already do this, especially if you're an ESOL teacher with lots of students from all over the world, but just in case you haven't yet - sharing students' recipes, even with Business English students can be great fun and an interesting way to check if they know the different words for types of food they like in English; phrases for food preparation  and giving instructions.   

I used to do this activity a lot in Ecuador when I lived there, it was part of our "Concentrating on Conversation" Friday course and once a month we'd have sessions in the kitchen together.  

(We also played Casino on other days, but that's another story)

Yum!Yum!

Now that I work online a great deal, I've also tried applying this activity to our community platform too and recently, Carola (who I've never met - she's a tele-student) wrote this incredibly easy and very delicious recipe for me:

For the recipe, you need the following ingredients:

250 g pasta (e.g. Penne)
2 bell peppers (I like the red and yellow ones best)
1 zucchini
1 onion
some olive oil
1 clove of garlic
250 g cream (perhaps you can use soy cream, here - I am sorry, but I have not found any noodle casserole recipe without cream...)
a tablespoonful of tomato puree
salt
pepper
chili
herbs (basil, thyme)
250 g cheese (slices or grated) (e.g. Gouda)

Cook the pasta (see instructions on the package for the exact cooking time).

Cut the onion, wash and cut the bell peppers and the zucchini. Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the onion together with the zucchini and the bell peppers - just for a short time, the vegetables have to be "al dente".

For the sauce:
Mix the cream with a tablespoonful of tomato puree, add some salt, pepper, chili, and herbs (e.g. basil and thyme), and a clove of garlic cut in small pieces (or you can use a garlic press). You can also add an egg to the sauce, if you like.

Now put the pasta in the casserole, mix with the fried vegetables and the sauce and cover it all with some slices of cheese or grated cheese.

Put the casserole in the preheated oven (at a temperature of about 180 °C) for about 20 minutes.

Then enjoy your meal! :-)
I would say that the recipe is for about two to four persons (depending on the appetite..).   As I have already told you, what I like best about this recipe is that, when you have guests, you can prepare the casserole, put it in the oven, clean up the kitchen, and then all you have to do is wait till it's ready, i.e. you don't have to do much more cooking when your guests have arrived.

The other thing is that you can vary the recipe as you like, e.g. use some other vegetables (for example, leek or spinach). 

I hope you like the casserole! Looking forward to hearing from you! :-)

Cooking with students, whether it's in person or on a community/ blogging platform is a lot of fun , a good learning activity and a great sharing experience.

Silke's Cherry&ChocChip Cake

Some things I've noticed since turning this into a digital exercise is that my students get the chance to practice writing out instructions and reviewing their language mistakes and errors more than once (not quite the same as them bringing in the food to cook and telling us how to do it in person - although the benefit there is that a lot of emergent language occurs at the same time); looking up the English words for ingredients online, sharing preferences with each other and of course, adding photos afterward to show how their recipes turned out is a good bit of fun social-media silliness which can help them to remember the experience of the language!

Have you done any cooking with your (online) students?  How did it go?



Useful links related to this posting:
More lesson ideas

Best,
Karenne
education

Google for teaching adults how to describe statistics

Google is just so useful, isn't it?  But did you know that you can get your adult Business English students looking for their own data, specifically relevant to their own interests, projects and responsibilities?

 For fun, drag the yearly scroll bar!

This incredible site, Google Public Data Explorer, offers statistics from the World Bank, Eurostat, OECD and also includes several more country-specific-options as well (Australian Bureau of Statistics, US Bureau of Labour Statistics and much, much more).

Most of the charts are completely customizable and although the fun factor, when messing about on the site trying to decide just how to present the data, is high (you can change years, colours, countries and layouts),  the very real potential for pedagogical application is even higher!

Screenshots can be taken of each data set, printed, turned into jpegs and inserted into PowerPoint/GoogleDoc presentations, however, what I like best is that the charts can be easily embedded directly on to your students' own blogs/pages/ wikis, Nings or any other learning platform you're using to teach with.

For fun, hover over the country names!

What can you encourage your students to do?  

• Give them the link to the site or show in class if you have internet access.
• Ask them to review the options and to personally choose a set of statistics that they are interested in knowing more about or that they need to know about for their own work/study.
• Show them the various options for presenting information: globally vs. the country they're in/ doing business with/ countries they're interested in knowing more about.
• Encourage them to then work in teams (comparing their preferred data sets).
• Tell them to create essays, blog posts or presentations researching and exploring the reasons which explain the data they'd found.

What language could you use this website to practice?

• the langauage of describing statistics
• expressions for trends and changes
• numbers and financial English expressions
• comparatives and superlatives
• range of past structures and present tenses
• predictions for the future
• asking and answering critical questions about the world we live in

Previously on Kalinago English, posts related to this posting:
Why use Google?
More lessons tips for ESP:Financial
More lessons tips for Business English Adults

Useful links
Statistics for a changing world
Search Power
Google Docs presentation on ways to use the Public Data Explorer
Blog about stats (lots of great tips)

Best, Karenne
education

15 Top Tweets in #TEFL: 2010-Aug-16

Links I've recently favourited, visited, enjoyed and/or recommend in some way...

Teaching English as a Foreign Language:  

Pedagogy /Methodology/Linguistics 

How the internet is changing language - http://bbc.in/95XmAoMon Aug 16 10:37:23 via TweetDeckShaunwilden
Shaunwilden

Teaching English Tips + Lessons

Young Learners + Teens

Reading: "English Raven: Great news! Free Boost Teacher's Guides from Pearson Longman"( http://twitthis.com/is7ga8 )Sat Aug 14 17:52:24 via TwitThissabridv
sabridv

"Bloom's Taxonomy Book Review Questions" http://j.mp/aJ4IKo (via @larryferlazzo )Great source...thanks for sharing!Sun Aug 15 11:54:07 via Social.comMegan Palevich
mrspal

Tech Tools + Teaching

"Professors Look at the Brain Unplugged... how heavy use of technology changes how we think and behave": http://nyti.ms/akG1RbMon Aug 16 11:05:05 via TweetDeckScott Thornbury
thornburyscott

RT @vickyloras RT @russell1955 http://bit.ly/bWtKR3 New training videos on using Windows Movie Maker great for #elt #Edtech #beltfree #tesolSun Aug 15 06:52:08 via TweetDeckSue Lyon-Jones
esolcourses

In the Flickr of an eye | Mike Harrison's Blog http://bit.ly/aq34GvSat Aug 14 14:58:51 via TweetMemeEva Buyuksimkesyan
evab2001

new blog post: using location-based services in the ESL classroom http://bit.ly/c5DN4s #mlearning #ESLTue May 25 05:48:05 via TweetDeckDavid Read
dreadnought001

Social Media

Reading: "Pages * Home 10 More Twitter Faux Pas To Avoid When Building Your PLN "( http://twitthis.com/4urt3y )Sat Aug 14 18:14:16 via TwitThissabridv
sabridv

free ebook on social networking in TESOL. http://bit.ly/apkgmTMon Aug 16 07:07:10 via webDavid Deubelbeiss
ddeubel

RT @douglasi: Facebook's Zuckerberg Admits "Mistakes," Says He'll Address Privacy Outrage This Week http://bit.ly/9MjCDoMon May 24 05:43:26 via Twitter for iPhoneNeal Chambers
nealchambers

Blogging

RT @GuyKawasaki: 34 typographic sins http://tinyurl.com/2vxco4hSat Aug 14 22:26:13 via TweetDeckMarisaConstantinides
Marisa_C

Mainstream Educational Links of Interest

Students learn more, behave better, more engaged if #teachers are not fixated on exams http://gu.com/p/2j277/ip #education via @nickdennisSat Aug 14 04:57:08 via Twitter for AndroidDoug Holton
doug_holton

Reading: Teaching Parents Digital Citizenship at Katy ISD: http://is.gd/co912 Just like our Parent Coffees, but with students presenting!Tue May 25 05:31:58 via NambuKim Cofino
mscofino

If you haven't yet, check out the new post - When Diversity isn't Diverse. http://bit.ly/cadZRIMon Aug 16 11:32:51 via TweetDeckBrooke
SpeakSpanglish

Frowns, Smiles + Laughs

RT @courosa: The Bechdel test for women in movies http://is.gd/co6tS #feminism #hollywood #mediastudies #equality (that's pretty shocking!)Tue May 25 04:52:50 via TweetDeckDarren Elliott
livesofteachers

You may also like:

• ELT Guide to Twitter
• New TEFL teachers on Twitter
• More blog  posts on "Life in the Twitterverse"
• The Best of the ELT Blogosphere
  
• Tweets saved by Shelly Terrell
• Tweets saved by Larry Ferlazzo

Best,
Karenne

Think!

The last couple of weeks have been ridiculously busy: both professionally and personally and I have hardly had a moment to come up for air.  Lots of life being juggled and lots of balls falling...

Still I have been missing writing my blog dreadfully and in a micro -guilt ridden- slot at the Gym today, between classes, a rant brewed and brewed... so, just quickly, gonna let off some steam about thoughts and thinking about the use of tech in the classroom here...

especially, so that the very next time, I see this sort of nonsense being tweeted or ReTweeted I'll have a handy blog link to send in response...

If you never asked, in fact it never occured to you to question what the pedagogical and economical implications of this is/was

let alone the vast environmental impact,

then what, exactly, do you think is being said/clarified/proved/implied/assumed by saying...

I fear the push towards online is economically and not pedagogically driven. #edchatTue Aug 10 16:45:31 via SeesmicBill Genereux
billgx

Now, Bill, I'm really sure you're a super nice guy - in fact your Twitter page reads that you're a geek too.

You and me: well we're in different fields of education so it's probably a bit or perhaps even way unfair of me to rant on my blog incorporating your #edchat tweet... (and I did read through the entire page of your relevant tweets to find context and will openly admit you, indeed, asked some hard-hitting questions) but thing is, in my own field... we're bogged down by these sort of random, un-thought-through statements and by golly, they do so annoy me to the nth of the nth degree...

Educators: think!

What leads a questioner to the place in which he decides to make such a bold statement? What is he hoping to prove?  Does he have an objective, based on his own needs or a personal agenda  - why is there even a question in asking about where the pedagogy in technology lies?

What do tools, what have tools ever, had to do with pedagogy? Is a pen a better tool to process and write an essay? Why?  Why not?  What is going on around us in the world today?  Why is there, currently, a push towards online learning?  

Who uses computers?  Why does anyone use computers at all?   

What qualifies quality of instruction?  Is location really any kind of factor?  Why? How have today's classroom architectures led us to where we are today - what can be taken from that and what can be improved upon?   

What is education?   Is it only the movement of knowledge from one being to another being? How do we learn?  Is learning meant to be just, merely, the rote memorization of statistics soaked up or is it meant to create more questions or solutions? 

Are we meant to assume, when reading statements of this ilk, that online courses are all created by  a bunch of people sitting in a room who couldn't give a toss about things like hitting educational targets, that they're  a bunch of suits whose primary purpose is to make or save money?  And if so, how do we educators move them beyond the bottom line? 

What opportunities do we have to direct the learning approaches for the systems created?

What are the benefits, problems, consequences of training students online?  

What is lost? 

What is gained?

Can we establish a clear balance?

Will online courses ever become better and more pedagogically sound and critical? Will they be  better structured than those provided F2F because they remain not in the hands of one instructor but in collaborative teams involving the learners themselves? Or is the concept of crowd wisdom, a daydream only? 

Will online courses be cheaper or will they wind up being more expensive? 
Why or why not?

Are online courses really more convenient to learners? 
Why or why not?

How much autonomy is required to learn in an online environment - as opposed to in a classroom setting?  

How do educators keep learners motivated enough to stick to their course?  Are motivational factors the same online as live?  Why?

How do we train teachers to work online?  What skills, aside from digital literacy, will they need?

What will be the consequence of having a large body of teachers who are simply not able to teach in an online environment?

Will their employment opportunities reduce?

Will the socio-demographic change:  what are the employment opportunities of students who have been trained online versus those who have not, what skills will either have that the other won't have?

Where are we heading...

Where is our tomorrow?

Ask... 

answer... 

ask... 

answer... 

ask...

answer...

We are educators, it is our duty to question.

But...  do you mind, can we please do more than fear monger about the scary-monster-tech-beast, really, now because that tactic's best left to politicians, isn't it - let's answer those pressing questions, let's ask many more - can you think of some I've missed?

image credits:
Stuttgart Der Denker by hmobius Flickr.com
Pen and Paper by Road Dog on Flickr.com


Best, Karenne
education

Happiness is...

 1.  the surprising, unexpected, acts of kindness from strangers.

  You are a very beautiful person, Miss ALiCe_M : I love my picture,
it's going into my happy-memories-box

2.  Hearing or reading things which solidify the way you think

#rscon @alexfrancisco quoting @daviddeubel eflclassroom 2.0 - the future of teaching is learning (wicked quote, must remember 2 fav 4 me 2)Sat Jul 31 20:10:57 via TweetDeckKarenne Sylvester
kalinagoenglish

'The thinking teacher is ....no longer someone who applies theories, but someone who theorizes practice' Edge, quoted by KumarSat Jul 31 14:32:29 via TweetDeckJeremy Harmer
Harmerj

3.  Having one's work/words appreciated by peers

Participate in Karenne's edublogging poll http://bit.ly/aCnaal @kalinagoenglish Thanks for a gr8 session this morning! #rscon10Sat Jul 31 13:10:54 via webMegan Palevich
mrspal

Blogging is "just simply one of the necessary steps in the future of written communication" from @kalinagoenglish #rscon10Sat Jul 31 12:54:54 via TweetDeckMelissa Edwards
mwedwards

Gr8 participation of @kalinagoenglish! I really got impressed of how she handled the presentation. Wish I can have the slides soon #rscon10Sat Jul 31 13:06:08 via TweetChatMilton Ramirez
tonnet

No matter what anyone else says about Social Media, having & being a part of a global Professional Learning Network is mostly about living happiness.


K

Thoughts on being an Edu-blogger

Today when people ask me what I do,

the first thing I say is

I'm an Edu-Blogger.  

Then I might add...

I write Kalinago English and on it I discuss issues related to teaching English as a Foreign Language, put up  free lessons plans every now and then, I talk about what's going on in my classes, waffle on quite a bit about dogme, do you know what dogme is?  I'm most proud of having a running series featuring amazing women in our industry - those are mostly guest posts from other bloggers, and sometimes I rant on about textbooks (not fond of them, me) but quite often I'll show how I use/d a particular computer application/ program or web 2.0 tool in one of my classes. 

Then, inevitably, one of the people that I'm talking to, in an after-work business suit, will say something like

So... do you make money from doing that?

and I'll blush and mumble something about how not everything in life has to be about money, you know. 

But then, because I have my pride and don't want him to suddenly think that 2010's answer to being a loser is being a blogger, I'll confess, of course, that  well, with regard to the moola, it's not so cut and dry, nope there's no income directly, but...   thing is, sometimes people do go on to my website from the blog and sometimes they buy my materials there but I tend not to "market" that very often (almost never) so most of the traffic on that particular site actually tends to come from Google, from countries and teachers who are non-native English teachers.  

And yes, well, of course I've gotten some paid writing work based on a lesson I did (Susan Boyle led to Working with Films).

At which point MrBusinessSuit begins to roll his eyes.

But, yeah

I have a topsy-turvey life:  my hobby (teaching) pays the bills and my job's a mind adventure.

There's something to it, tho'

There's something to all this work done by so many of us.

Where it's going, who knows...

EduBlogs, who offer various platforms designed specifically for the practice of EduBlogging,  list on a banner trailing across their website that there are

517, 432

Blogs 

written by teachers,

for teachers

for teacher-trainers

for students

and
with students.

To be honest, given this extraordinary figure, it does seem a really good time right now, to sit down, to stop, to take a pause, to look at this really quite astonishing and amazing development.   

I've decided to do this, partly on here but also, mainly, by specifically offering guest articles to my fellow Edu-bloggers  because it  is, in my humble opinion, working with your community that is one of the most, one of  the absolutely most essential parts of becoming and being a blogian: 

blogging is not just about one person 

who says that blogging is 

either this or that

but what the wider community, 

made up of each
of its individuals, 

says it is.

Blogging, or what I refer to with my own students as the digitization of paper, represents an incredible realizable step towards the democratization of education.

We're on an adventure.

It is teachers who are talking to teachers. 

Globally.

 images based on a poll of 137 EduBloggers June 2010

And although this new series is specifically aimed at giving advice to the NewbieBloggers, based on the reading I did before I dipped my toes in, based on the successes and failures I've had along the way, delving into some of my strengths, revealing my own weaknesses ... telling you exactly how I managed to build a blog that gets so many visitors, has won and been nominated for so many awards, reaches an incredible global audience through versions of some articles rewritten for the academic journals in my field -  even though I'm just a TEFL teacher and EdTech teacher-trainer, really, who had no "special" personal or professional connections prior to hitting the page.

It is also an invitation to you, those of you who have more experienced voices, to disagree with me, to add your own pennies' worth in the comments on various posts (no zumping the theme tho').  

It is an invitation to share your knowledge with your community.

Useful links
Carnival! (27 bloggers writing on EduBlogging, 2009)

Blogging, chatting, discussions online: (we're still just writing on cave walls)
IATEFL 2011:  The ELT blogosphere symposium (call for YOU to join me as a co-presenter)
Recorded Presentation on Edublogging at the Reform Symposium July 31st, 2010

The Guest Posts

Glossary of EduBlogging Terms, Mike Harrison's Blog
Glossary of phrases and expresssions based on the word blog, Sue Lyon Jones's blog

The Dogma of Edublogging, Nick Jaworksi's blog

The Best Kept Secrets of Highly Successful Edubloggers
Part 1 Shelly Terrell's blog
Part 2 Janet Bianchini's blog
Part 3 Berni Wall's blog
Part 4 Monika Hardy's blog 
Part 5 Anne Hodgson's blog (coming soon)

Also on its way...

• Lords of the Armchair (coming soon, on Jason Renshaw's)
• Comparing EduBlogging platforms (coming soon, on Marisa's Constantinides')
• Blogging with students (Barbara Sakamoto's)
• Blogging tips to share with students (Tara Benwell's)
• Why do Edu-Bloggers quit? (don't know yet, but help me out with this poll...)

What do you think?  Are there any topics in particular you'd like me to cover?


Current Poll



Best,
Karenne
education

image credit: Artemis blogging, after Rembrandt by MikeLicht NotionsCapital.com

The ELT Blogosphere, IATEFL Brighton 2011

Major Announcement!!!

My proposal to host a symposium at IATEFL, Brighton next year has been accepted!!!

This post is actually a call for your papers so that you too can become a part of this event and help host the conversation.

Here's a rough draft of what the five presentations will look like:

The ELT Blogosphere

1. Blogging within a community: (me)

From a handful of early adopters in 2003 to over 200 TEFL teachers blogging by mid-2010, we'll be looking at the writers who are driving the ELT blogosphere.   Where are they based?  What are they discussing, who visits their pages and comments on their posts?  Why do they spend so much time on them - what motivational factors are involved in keeping a personal web log and updating it daily, weekly, monthly?  
   

How do these bloggers find, connect and support each others personal growth?  Why?

2. Blogging as Teacher Tinkering: (you?)

In Tessa Woodward’s 2010 plenary, she raised the point that motivated teachers continue experimenting throughout their entire careers.    This presentation will look at how TEFLers share their philosophies about teaching, with other teachers via their blogs, and how they exchange approaches  and experiment with tools and technology in their classrooms.   

How and what lessons do they have to share?  

How has blogging become a part of their personal professional development?

3. Blogging as Teaching (with or for students): (you?)

More and more teachers are involving students in the process of keeping personal notebooks online instead of traditional paper.  How are teachers leaving homework and post-task activities for their learners?  What impact does this have on their autonomy?  How do teachers involve their language learners in writing for an audience?  

What problems have they faced? Is it possible for e-community leaders to motivate thousands of globally non-connected students in writing challenges?  What methods do teachers use to track and correct their own students’ work and how do they find subjects which will keep them motivated, writing across differing ages and backgrounds?  

What happens when students take on an ownership of their own blogs?

4. Blogging: Audiences, Reputation, Marketing & Money (you?)

By 2009, a number of publishers, global institutions and VIP authors began to notice the value in the two-way communication which blogs represent and they began joining in.   Does blogging have any influence  over brands or professional author reputation?  How do teacher-trainers and authors continue instructing after a presentation or conference?   

What negative implications can poorly chosen communication strategies represent to their global regularly reading audience? 

Does blogging lead to any kind of financial reward?

5. Taking the Issues to the Blogs: (you?)

From 2009 to 2011 a number of bloggers began to write about the harder hitting issues in the TEFL industry: pay, pensions, NNEST vs NEST, gender and racism in ELT.   What were some of their posts about and what were the responses of their readers? Did they take things too far?   

Should the blogosphere simply be touchy-feely diary style type of place (a love-fest) or does controversy and politics play a role in dealing with issues, reaching consensus and initiating action?

How to become a special part of this event

Would you like to be one of the presenters?  I am hoping to choose 4 bloggers who'll have around 20mins each to talk on their special area of interest + about 10minsQ&A with our audience...  so if you're keen, could you please make your submission directly to IATEFL (who will send them on to me if you have fulfilled their requirements)?  

And don't forget to entitle your presentation with one of the above draft topics (not fixed - if you have a better idea  or you would like to expand the subject and go in a different direction, don't hesitate to submit  this idea) and do kindly remember to mark on your submission that you would like to take part in the symposium!

Speaker Guidelines

DEADLINE :  17 September 2010

More details on the IATEFL Brighton Conference 2011 (here)

In the meantime, even if you would not like to present, are there are any subjects or questions you would like us to talk about when we're there?

Let me know your thoughts!

Best,
Karenne
education

image credit: Women of WiFi, after Caillebotte by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com on Flickr

Paid 2 Tweet?

It had to happen, didn't it?

I mean it's hardly surprising, now is it?

Money and the need for money always winds up affecting, tainting everything:

Coolio! I just became an affiliate for TOMS shoes. Nice to promote something with a cause behind it - http://bit.ly/cY51db (aff link)Wed Jul 21 21:33:39 via SeesmicChris Brogan
chrisbrogan

And although, sometimes, I think... well... that wouldn't be so so bad, sit in my pyjamas all day and all that - paid to tweet and work the hallways of Facebook?


I guess I'm not the only,

not the only one...

RT @pascalvenier: ...Perhaps I should tweet for a living. Do U know of any global brand who would hire a professional twitteratti?Please RT.Wed Jul 21 20:33:52 via EchofonCristina Costa
cristinacost

But the thing is...

right...

As long as it's obvious.

As long as it's not hidden.

Something just off the corner of dark grey.

After over a year being on Twitter, I guess I don't have a problem with company tweeters, especially when they're upfront about what they're doing (it's a bit annoying they're so incredibly self-centered but you get used to it - they just don't get that special word "social" in the words social media).

And some of them have indeed really made giant steps towards reaching out to Tweeters.

Some of them wear their faces.
Some of them still hide behind their company logos.

But hiding behind someone else's face?

I mean hiding behind the company logo enables them to use more than one person to communicate directly with so if you're a company, I guess, and you've got lots of employees, I guess why not?   But when you load up a face in order to present an image of your company as being personal and in touch  then, pretty much, you should probably make sure then that you are your face.  

Not having time to tweet isn't an excuse to con others.

Let's look at what Chris did there, up above,  I can trust that. 

I trust Brogan, after all he's been a good voice to follow along my entry into the 'sphere and along the road into the world of Social Media.  He's a very hard worker.  I trust him because what he does, is always right there: smack-dab in the sunshine and let's face it, a man's gotta earn a living and all that.

He added that signpost: aff link at the end of his tweet.

So if I go on to his link, it's my choice.

If I click I know that I am consciously going to click on something he's making money off of. 

But if someone I really trust in education gets paid to socially network and the story behind that isn't in the open,  it's just well, really-very-on-the-down-low... then there I am, clicking on links innocently and.... mostly ending up, probably, in the beginning, on items of authentic information but then... slowly, slowly getting recommendations about an xyz course, then I'll start ending up somewhere else on someone else's site promoting some product or service and um, uh, um... 

I will be spammed.

On my home turf.

From my Twitter or my Facebook Friend.

When I find out that this action of his was instead, actually, paid work, then well, here I am thinking that he's using me and a whole lot of other people, really.

Do the words unfriend and unfollow and block spring to mind?

I mean just what are all these online friendships - is it, is all this connecting and getting to know each other, just a way to get money from others?  Just a way to use people?   I don't want to be MissInnocentEduTwitterIsaLoveFest but I sure do hate to say it - I sure do hate to be conned...

Having the Net Advantage is not meant to be taking advantage of other people via the internet.    Or is it?

What are your thoughts?

Where are we?   Where are we heading today as social media explodes and the multitude of educational companies enter with two left feet...

How do you feel about teachers being approached by various educational companies to become their chief tweeters; to retweet links to their  PLNs?

Do you think there should be a code of ethics in place?   A requirement for transparency?

Can't we add the hashtag #paid or #sponsored or words "aff link" to these tweets too?

Or do these tweeters and their employers simply not trust us and our intelligence?

Go on, tell me:

Do you think I am just a really old-fashioned Caribbean girl who simply doesn't get it and there's actually, really, no longer any need to exist in a world that has a moral backbone?

Sigh.


Best,
Karenne
education

p.s very important clarification for those not on Twitter but read my blog:  the post above of the Tweet from Christina is a RT (a ReTweet) of another tweeter's musings and it does not signify that either she or the original tweeter would actually contemplate doing this activity themselves.
PLN = personal/professional learning networks (group of teachers who connect globally on Twitter and various social networking sites). 


If you enjoyed this post, you may also like these:

The English Language Teachers Guide to Twitter
In the space of 140 characters
Thoughts on Friendship
Thanks for your ReTweets 
Facebook and the Edu-Marketers
Face on or Face Off

and from out in the blogosphere
Mike Harrison's post on Facebook & Friendship

On Going Public by Dudeney
Prestwick House shows how it's done by Jason Renshaw

elsewhere
Social Media Education: how?

and my favorite slideshare, updated
What the F* is social media NOW by Marta Kagan