Mar
8
New Blog
March 8, 2011 | about this blog | 4 Comments
This blog has moved to :
www.carlaraguseo.wordpress.com
Feb
27
Professional Development and E-learning
February 27, 2010 | E-learning, Web 2.0 | 10 Comments
E-duTraining, which offers educational services, development and training in foreign language teaching, was launched this morning at SBS Rosario. The event opened with Graciela Castelli’s academic talk, in which she stressed the importance of reflection and ongoing professional development to keep our practice relevant and updated.
She characterized the cycle of reflective practice as shown in the figure below and pointed out the convenience of e-learning for teachers with a hectic schedule and a growing list of academic demands.
After the break, Verónica de la Encina presented a variety of online professional development courses for teachers and translators and I had the pleasure of introducing my brand-new Web-enhanced Language Learning (WELL) Online Course.
It was also a pleasure to share the event with e-duTraining staff members Carina, Lorena, Damián, Valeria, Beatriz and Lucía.
Special thanks to Silvia Schnitzler for her IWB training!
Looking forward to the challenge ahead!
Jun
20
Towards E-learning 2.0 in ELT
June 20, 2009 | about this blog, E-learning, scholarship | 7 Comments
Yesterday we had the pleasure of giving a presentation called Towards E-Learning 2.0 on ELT with Jesica Bassani at the III SBS Conference for English Language Teachers Blending and Bonding. We analyzed how we can build communicative online learning environments based on the principles of the Web 2.0. It was an amazing experience and we got a lot of positive feedback from the teachers who attended the session. Here’s the Power Point presentation and the links to some of the tools we mentioned:
Voicethread
MobaTalk Comment System
Skype
WiZiQ
May
27
Once Upon a Time There Was a Computer Lab …
May 27, 2009 | computer lab, Web 2.0, Workshops | 3 Comments
My interest in ICT started in 2004 when I was offered to work at the brand-new computer lab that was going to be installed at my language school the following year. I literally started from scratch doing online searches for ready-made material. As I moved from basic point-and-click activities to more sophisticated listening exercises, I knew I was giving my first steps into an environment full of potential for language classes but that at the same time entailed a new approach to learning and teaching.
Combining endless web exploration with deep educational theory, I first learned about the scaffolded pedagogical design of webquests in 2005. Later, TESOL EVO 2006 sessions helped me discover the power of the Web 2.0 through blogs and wikis. I now coordinate a team of seven teachers designing and delivering computerlab sessions. In these four years we’ve designed sessions for more than twelve levels of children, teen and adult courses. I’ve also carried out a variety of online blog exchanges and projects with both my lab students and my regular classes.
Although at present the sessions are delivered only by the computer lab team, I’ve always felt that all teachers should be able to design activities for their own classes, so in 2007 I organized the first computer lab workshop and we’ve held training sessions every summer since then. Little by little, we see new colleagues overcoming their initial resistance and after three years most of the staff have attended the workshops and are at least familiar with and have started using some web resources with their classes at the lab.
We still have a long way to go until technology becomes fully integrated into language classes, but we can be sure we are going through the paradigm shift and it feels great to be a part of it!
Eternal thanks to my computer lab mates, the real pioneers! (in order of appearance!) Elida Fittipaldi, Leda Siburu, Patricia Stanley, Jesica Bassani (the e-learning diva!), Verónica Miranda and Natalia Furlán.
First published on ARCALL Blog March 10, 2009
Mar
24
Obama 2.0 for ELT
March 24, 2009 | Web 2.0 | 3 Comments
About a month ago, I mentioned this to some colleagues at my workplace when we were talking about the wide array of authentic material the web offers for EFL students, so imagine my surprise when I found this article by Simon Buckland. However, while Mr. Buckland refers to the richness of the new President’s rhetoric, which allows for deep language analysis, I was pointing out the fact that the new administration has refreshed the official website of the White House with a 2.0 style! The renewed presidential site has a frequently updated blog citizens can subscribe to and also includes weekly video addresses by Mr.Obama himself. This clearly shows the extent to which the new technologies are shaping communication and the way we relate to each other, increasing transparency, even at governmental level. In addition, by using constantly updated authentic resources we are giving new relevance to our language classes and the old phrase that says that the whole world (wide web) is a classroom!
Oct
26
Digital Storytelling: More than Words
October 26, 2008 | computer lab, Web 2.0 | 3 Comments
With the advent of the new digital media, the millennial practice of storytelling can take a compelling turn in the 21st century language classroom. It is a great way of integrating the four skills while fostering creativity, collaboration, cross-cultural understanding and sharing. It simply turns language alive!
Last month, I had the pleasure of putting together a collaborative article called Cartoon Festival: An International Digital Storytelling Project for TESL-EJ with two dear online collegues, Mary Hillis from Japan and José Antônio Da Silva from Brazil, about our experience during the “Learning with Computers” Cartoon Festival . Mary started a Google Doc where we worked on the drafts under the supervision of Vance Stevens. Besides helping us reflect on the project, it proved once again the power of the Web 2.0 to harness international collaboration and professional development .
You are all kindly invited to read it!
Jun
30
TICs y Lenguas
June 30, 2008 | E-learning | 3 Comments
Having been an active participant in the English speaking edublogosphere for some years, I also feel the need to connect to Spanish-speaking edubloggers. After attending Rosario BlogDay, joining Edublogger Argento, and taking online courses in my L1 for teachers of different foreign languages, I became aware of the growing community of Argentinian educators who are integrating technology into their classes. In spite of being able to share knowledge, events, tools, information and, most importantly, our cultural identity, there was still something I could not share with many of them: my blog, simply because it was in another language.
I really treasure this space, not only because it witnesses my learning adventures and my professional development, but also because it allows me to connect with EFL colleagues all over the world and build virtual networks of collaboration. However, at a certain point, I also feel the need and the responsibility to help spread those networks f2f. I know that there are still very few EFL teachers in my area that would commit to such a venture, but what if we invited other (foreign) language teachers, of Spanish, French, Portuguese, etc.? Then, the network would be stronger, allowing diversity while focusing on the special interest of language teachers, and in our mother tongue, letting us also become a part of the general educational community.
So I thought a team blog would be a good starting point. I contacted Griselda Sassola, a teacher of French who’s been working with ICT for a long time. We’ve started a blog called TICs y Lenguas (ICT and Languages), which intends to be an open space for discussion and interaction. We are going to invite teachers to publish their posts as authors and we have also set up static pages for announcements and resources.
I know this is going to be a long path, but we’ve already set the ball rolling!
May
24
Mate&Blogs
May 24, 2008 | blogging, Web 2.0, Workshops | 7 Comments
A spin-off of RosarioBlogDay, MateyBlogs, the first collaborative blogging workshop in Rosario, took place today at CEC combining one of our dearest Argentinian traditions with the 2.0 spirit.
After three brief presentations conducted by Fernanda Rubio, Francisco Sanguinetti on how to integrate mutimedia content, and Federico Aikawa, who shared some practical blogging tips, we divided ourselves into three groups to share experiences and discuss questions with the coordinators. Surprisingly enough, I was in a group full of teachers! 
I was especially glad to meet Gabriela Spadoni and María Sabina Codarín, Edublogger Argento members, after our failed f2f meeting last night.
The wrap up presentation was in charge of Federico Picone who discussed the importance of social networks and other Web 2.0 tools.
Some tools that were mentioned:
Gickr
Luna Pic
Photoshop Express
Twitxr
Alianzo
Once again, it was great to meet such an enthusiastic and diverse community of ArgenBloggers face to face.
See you all at the next MateyBlogs!
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Photos
