Monday, January 31, 2011

CO11 Free Online Conference on WiZiQ - Feb 4-6, 2011

Welcome to the annual live online conference (CO11). You are cordially invited to participate at the live online conference on the weekend of Feb 4-6, 2011.

The conference will be of interest to educators, administrators, students, and community members who value the importance of integrating technology into the curriculum to improve instruction and learning. Online learning involves various skills on the part of the instructor and learner. These include social and communication skills, social networking, independent learning strategies, critical and higher order thinking skills, creativity, and effective online and face-to-face facilitation. In addition, there are many challenges that educators, administrators, students and community members face.

The theme of the conference is, connecting online for instruction and learning that goes beyond the classroom. Presenters from around the globe will discuss the following topics:

  • Connecting online to improve instruction and learning: Online learning and instructional experiences
  • Experiences with the use of technology in face-to-face and online classes. What worked and what didn't work for you?
  • How do you use technology to promote your online workshops, consultation, and communities?
  • Research conducted on e-learning
  • Books written on e-learning

For more information and the entire speaker schedule click here: CO11 Free Online Conference 2011.

Where our visitors come from ….

The last 10 months have seen visitors coming from ever corner of the earth. As we can see from the ClusterMap below we have visitors from the middle of the Amazon jungle to the smallest islands in the Pacific Ocean. From London to Tirana and more. Dr Rod’s English Blog has a worldwide appeal.

Blog 2010-2011

Thank you to EVERYONE who is helping to make this resource a success.

Current Country Totals
From 11 Mar 2010 to 17 Jan 2011

United States (US) 6,045
United Kingdom (GB) 1,737
India (IN) 1,320
Canada (CA) 1,105
Australia (AU) 747
Malaysia (MY) 666
Hong Kong (HK) 628
Philippines (PH) 515
Saudi Arabia (SA) 500
United Arab Emirates (AE) 487
Indonesia (ID) 447
Egypt (EG) 378
New Zealand (NZ) 368
Singapore (SG) 352
Cyprus (CY) 332
Pakistan (PK) 308
Thailand (TH) 288
Maldives (MV) 260
Sri Lanka (LK) 253
Kuwait (KW) 224
Spain (ES) 200
Argentina (AR) 198
South Africa (ZA) 185
Germany (DE) 182
Vietnam (VN) 175
Qatar (QA) 165
Macedonia (MK) 164
Turkey (TR) 151
Kenya (KE) 134
Italy (IT) 125
France (FR) 115
Korea, Republic of (KR) 90
Nigeria (NG) 89
Jordan (JO) 87
Oman (OM) 81
Brazil (BR) 78
Botswana (BW) 75
Mauritius (MU) 75
Taiwan (TW) 73
Poland (PL) 72
Mexico (MX) 68
Japan (JP) 67
Romania (RO) 66
Bahrain (BH) 63
Norway (NO) 61
Russian Federation (RU) 61
Switzerland (CH) 60
Brunei Darussalam (BN) 60
Greece (GR) 54
Zimbabwe (ZW) 54
Netherlands (NL) 52
Bangladesh (BD) 50
Ireland (IE) 49
Seychelles (SC) 45
Tanzania, United Republic of (TZ) 42
Colombia (CO) 42
Ghana (GH) 41
Croatia (HR) 41
Iran, Islamic Republic of (IR) 39
Peru (PE) 37
Jamaica (JM) 36
Algeria (DZ) 34
Albania (AL) 34
Bermuda (BM) 31
Cambodia (KH) 30
Namibia (NA) 29
Trinidad and Tobago (TT) 28
Uganda (UG) 28
Yemen (YE) 28
Czech Republic (CZ) 27
Sweden (SE) 27
Israel (IL) 27
Serbia (RS) 25
Malta (MT) 25
Portugal (PT) 24
Ukraine (UA) 23
Hungary (HU) 23
Belgium (BE) 23
Slovakia (SK) 22
Bahamas (BS) 22
Tunisia (TN) 21
Sudan (SD) 20
Malawi (MW) 19
Denmark (DK) 19
Ecuador (EC) 18
Morocco (MA) 17
Panama (PA) 17
Costa Rica (CR) 17
Lebanon (LB) 17
Europe (EU) 17
Palestinian Territory (PS) 17
Chile (CL) 16
Nepal (NP) 16
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (LY) 16
Georgia (GE) 15
Finland (FI) 15
Gambia (GM) 14
Bolivia (BO) 14
Macau (MO) 13
Zambia (ZM) 13
Azerbaijan (AZ) 12
Swaziland (SZ) 12
Bulgaria (BG) 12
Uruguay (UY) 12
Mongolia (MN) 12
Armenia (AM) 10
Belize (BZ) 9
Puerto Rico (PR) 9
Ethiopia (ET) 8
Austria (AT) 8
Dominican Republic (DO) 8
Iraq (IQ) 8
Lithuania (LT) 7
Venezuela (VE) 7
Fiji (FJ) 6
Rwanda (RW) 6
Uzbekistan (UZ) 6
Netherlands Antilles (AN) 6
Guatemala (GT) 5
Latvia (LV) 5
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BA) 5
Barbados (BB) 5
China (CN) 4
Jersey (JE) 4
Mozambique (MZ) 4
Luxembourg (LU) 4
Cameroon (CM) 4
Monaco (MC) 3
Honduras (HN) 3
Guam (GU) 3
Kazakstan (KZ) 3
Isle of Man (IM) 3
Belarus (BY) 3
Cote D'Ivoire (CI) 3
Angola (AO) 3
Iceland (IS) 3
Madagascar (MG) 2
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the (CD) 2
Papua New Guinea (PG) 2
Guyana (GY) 2
Tuvalu (TV) 2
Djibouti (DJ) 2
Myanmar (MM) 2
Lao People's Democratic Republic (LA) 2
Cayman Islands (KY) 2
Sierra Leone (SL) 2
Cape Verde (CV) 2
Senegal (SN) 2
Slovenia (SI) 2
Moldova, Republic of (MD) 1
Guernsey (GG) 1
Anguilla (AI) 1
Benin (BJ) 1
Liberia (LR) 1
Togo (TG) 1
Somalia (SO) 1
Mali (ML) 1
Nicaragua (NI) 1
Suriname (SR) 1
Samoa (WS) 1
New Caledonia (NC) 1
Lesotho (LS) 1
Reunion (RE) 1
Tonga (TO) 1
Vanuatu (VU) 1
French Polynesia (PF) 1
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VC) 1
El Salvador (SV) 1
Turks and Caicos Islands (TC) 1
Virgin Islands, British (VG) 1
Bhutan (BT) 1
Syrian Arab Republic (SY) 1
Gibraltar (GI) 1
Asia/Pacific Region (AP) 1
Virgin Islands, U.S. (VI) 1
Saint Kitts and Nevis (KN) 1
Eritrea (ER) 1
Saint Lucia (LC) 1
Northern Mariana Islands (MP) 1
Niger (NE) 1
Antigua and Barbuda (AG) 1
Holy See (Vatican City State) (VA) 1

English Sentence Analysis Software

Ardian Deari has brought to my attention an excellent program where you can practice your syntactic rules! This software helps you to write and analyse sentences, clauses and phrases. It is based on English Sentence Analysis (book) by John Benjamins. Also available at Free Book Spot with this link.
For downloading this please click here: English Sentence Analysis Software.

Book details:

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Written by two instructors at Groningen University (in the Netherlands), this text guides the student of English through the intricacies of sentence structure. The authors have maintained a stringent and rather advanced level of analysis throughout: one learns the grammatical terms for all types of indirect objects, for example. A CD-ROM is include



Product Details

  • Paperback: 245 pages
  • Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Co (October 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 155619661X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1556196614

Charge of the Light Brigade–New Publication.

Received this interesting update from author Roy Dutton about his books on the historical aspects of ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ so if you have been inspired by the poem, check out the facts!

Click here to find out more about ‘Forgotten Heroes … The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Roy Dutton.

New to all of this, just want to tell everyone about the books I have written on the Charge of the Light Brigade & Charge of the Heavy Brigade.

http://www.medalcollector.co.uk/index.php

School of Educators–Resource

The online School of Educators is a tremendous resource for teachers, parents and students alike. Best described by founder and editor in chief Vishal Jain …

Education synonyms being breeding, civilization, coaching, cultivation, culture, development, discipline, edification, enlightenment,improvement, knowledge, nurturing, teaching, training, tutoring etc. It encompasses many things which in short mean an overall development of a student.

Success of a nation depends on education of its people. Education has to be at the core of national development agenda. School education is perhaps the most important basic element of education system as it lays strong foundation for further learning.

The learning and development of one teacher will translate into better education for thousands of students. With this in mind, School of educators focuses on bringing forth innovative resources that help educators, administrators, principals and teachers in delivering better quality education to their students and to manage their Schools / colleges professionally.

Vishal Jain
Editor in Chief

Visit SCHOOLOFEDUCATORS today and subscribe (free) to their newsletter.

Do you have an iPhone? Then look here ..

EducationApps of London is a fantastic resources for those with iPhones and some other Smart phones.

George Burgess has created a series of applications to help students revise and prepare for their different exams. From the UK 11+ through to AS Level and beyond. EducationApps is a fast growing company with new offerings appearing every month.

Visit EducationApps web site and discover the resources available and I strongly recommend that you book mark it as a favourite on your internet browser.

For more details contact EducationApps or George directly.

The Times Literary Supplement.

Perhaps one of the best resources for reviews and critiques of recent literature is the London ‘Times Literary Supplement’.

Explore the different sections:

Explore The TLS

Who is ‘AskEric’?

This is one of the best resources for anyone associated with education. I strongly recommend this as a great place to start your research.

About the ERIC Collection

ERIC provides unlimited access to more than 1.3 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials, with hundreds of new records added multiple times per week. If available, links to full text are included.

Within the ERIC Collection, you will find records for:

  • journal articles
  • books
  • research syntheses
  • conference papers
  • technical reports
  • policy papers
  • other education-related materials

You may also search special collections from the What Works Clearinghouse and the Regional Educational Laboratories.

Who Uses ERIC

ERIC users include education researchers, teachers, librarians, administrators, education policymakers, instructors and students in teacher-preparation programs, parents, the media and business communities, and the general public. The user community conducts more than eight million searches each month through the ERIC Web site and commercial and non-commercial sites.

What's in ERIC

Journals in ERIC

ERIC indexes education journals, the majority of which are peer-reviewed. Most of these journals are indexed comprehensively - that is, a record for every article in each issue is included in ERIC. Some journals are indexed selectively - that is, only those articles that are education-related are selected for indexing.

Journal records typically include bibliographic data (author, title, date, journal citation, publisher) and an abstract, or short description of the work. A small number of journal publishers also make the full text of an article available at no cost directly through this Web site. The majority of journal articles need to be obtained through library print and electronic holdings or directly from the publisher. To aid in the finding process, ERIC includes Find in a Library and/or Publisher's Web site links at the end of every record with an ISSN number.

Other Materials in ERIC

In addition to the journal literature, ERIC indexes education-related materials from a variety of sources, including scholarly organizations, professional associations, research centers, policy organizations, university presses, the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies, and state and local agencies. Individual contributors submit conference papers, research papers, dissertations, and theses.

Records for these materials typically include bibliographic data (author, title, date, source), an abstract, or short description of the work, and a link to the full text in PDF format. ERIC appreciates the individuals and publishers who have given ERIC permission to display the full text at no charge. For most materials from 2004 forward, if full text is not available in ERIC, links to the publishers' Web sites and to libraries that may have the full text are provided.

Identifying and providing full-text access to this "grey literature" or "fugitive literature" is one of ERIC's signature strengths. Grey literature provides searchers with a wide variety of important information about education. Diverse in format, it ranges from informational materials to very substantive, rigorously researched and reviewed documents, including research syntheses, conference papers, and policy reports. All materials are reviewed and selected in accordance with the ERIC Selection Policy ERIC Selection Policy.

Getting Started with ERIC

The ERIC Web site allows you to search education-related bibliographic records any time at no charge. A growing number of full-text materials are becoming available in the ERIC Collection as PDF documents in ERIC or via links to library holdings and publishers' Web sites.

  • Use the ERIC Web site's Basic Search or Advanced Search tools to search the ERIC Collection.
  • Use the Thesaurus to identify appropriate words and phrases from ERIC's controlled vocabulary for precision searching.
  • Use My ERIC to manage your search criteria and search results, save searches, and track your online submissions.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Congratulations to Jasmin! ... and the many others whom this site has helped.

This morning I received a wonderful letter from the mother of one of the hundreds of thousands of people who have used the web site over the last two years. I want to share with you Jasmin's mothers comments but also to invite you to offer suggestions for the next step in Jasmin's English advancement....

Hi,

Firstly THANK YOU for such an excellent website - it has been essential in helping my daughter pass her IGCSE English - she got an A (Home schooling).


Secondly, your advice would be really appreciated. We are looking at writing AS level English in May/June this year. She only needs one AS level but will be taking art too. SO we would need to really do intensive English - can you recommend a good distance learning site? Most of the online courses require a year to 18 months!

In appreciation

Nicky.

Well here is the challenge readers. Can you help Nicky find a good distance delivery site that can offer an intensive AS English program in 6 months? Quite the challenge however thousands of people each week come to this site for its resources - perhaps one or two of you are already using distance delivery and can add a comment here for Nicky to review. Contact Nicky directly here.


Congratulations to Jasmin and as I have said before this site tries to gather together the very best available online so that our students can find the information, ideas and examples in one place.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Second Semester 2010/2011 Year

I am back for the second semester after a 6 month break in Kenya and throughout Europe. I will now be with you all at SEEU for the next 3 -5 years. Our schedules will be posted later this week and I encourage you all to register. I will list my classes once I know them.

This year I will be starting a debate club and hope that our team will be able to participate in the University Debate Championships both around Europe and the world. Currently no Macedonian University is participating at the international level so this will be a goal for us all. Johana and Andrew will be helping me from the university as well as a good friend and experienced debate coach and judge Mite from Skopje.


OK, looking forward to seeing everyone.