This is presentation I created based on one made by George Siemens in 2006 and other podcasts, articles by Siemens, Stephen Downes and others. This is presentation will be given at the 11th Braz TESOL National Convetion in Fortaleza . I am a psychologist that became and EFL teacher. As a psychologist and a teacher, the learning process has always attracted me. I always like to think about what is inside the black box. I have always enjoyed going beyond warm ups and cool downs and thinking about how learning happens. So, I was amazed and fascinated the first time I heard George Siemens speaking about connectvism in his onthologic presentation (and still like to listening to it while driving on my car radio). In my opinion, this theory makes a lot of sense when it tries to explain the way people learn.
The idea of learning/knowledge not residing in one place and being distributed across our social networks and our brains is especially perceptible for those involved in online e-learning communities of practice. In these environments we perceive the notion of knowledge being distributed across a network. We live and have lived in a networked world. Networks have always existed. They are just more prominent now with the widespread use of computers. Hope you enjoy the presentation.
What motivated me to present on PLEs was my experience with e-learning. I first heard the term on Teemu Arina´s magnificent presentation Serendipity 2.0 and saw that it had something to do with the way I had been learning for the past two and a half years. While reading for this presentation, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that PLEs are not a tool or an aggregator, but a way of aggregating learning, a way of morphing the tools, people, machines around your own personal learning. So, PLEs are defined largely by the learner and his learning goals.
The idea of PLEs, as I see it, is connected with mobile learning. However, we have to be careful not to connect the idea of mobile learning and PLEs with expensive technological devices. Mobile Learning is a combination of two words and both of them should be given equal weight. Mobile learning, if the second word of the expression is given its value, refers more to the learner than to the device or technology. Mobile learning has to do with being able to learn anytime and anywhere.
This presentation discusses the challenges related to being critical in a space with such an abundance of information as the cyber space. Adopting an approach of enquiry in such a space is a way of deconstructing reality and creating meaning. The way Critical Literacy (CL) views language is likely to promote a more meaningful dialogue among students if teachers use such approach in creating content using multimedia. I truly believe that blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other web 2.0 tools provide a space for conversations that can take the classroom to the outside world. I recognize that sometimes it is a challenge to develop classroom activities with the CL approach without deviating so much from curriculum, but there is always a way and it is worth trying. A departure from textbook views and away from the predictable text interpretations will foster a more critical view of the world and will throw some light into important issues. Listening to learners’ voices is a way of having learners as content creators instead of content regurgitators.
I do not think that what is happening to the planet is the sole responsability of companies or governments. I think we as individuals have contributed our share when we do not take action against these things or when we ourselvels pollute our streets and parks.
A volunteer is someone who gives time, energy and talents to others, expecting nothing in return. Volunteers must have an open mind, be willing to embrace wisdom learned from others and also let the experience of volunteering lead to personal inner growth. Volunteers realize the importance of time and kindness. With the wide range of opportunities, volunteers have the freedom to find an organization that best suits their needs.
A volunteer is someone who gives time, energy and talents
A volunteer is someone who is willing to learn
A volunteer is someone who has the freedom to choose
The session on Critical Literacy taking place in Brasília was really an inspiring event. Let me share some of the things I reflect on during and after the event. First we had the idea of deconstructing what we know, what we think we know. It is annoying sometimes to be placed on this position where the things we think we know for sure are just our perspectives into something and that others might have a different perspective. More than that is the fact our perspective is not even long lasting. Their nature is temporary and feeble and we do change our minds along the way. On the other hand this perspective of being in such a mutant stage frees us to be what we really are. But this freedom comes with responsibilities and brings with it new responsibilities towards ourselves the others.
Dear students,Correcting compositions is a task that requires great effort from your part and from the teacher’s as well. The guide we give you in class is really helpful. Many of the corrections you will have to make will be just a matter of changing word order or other simple measures. Other times, however, you will probably need to consult a dictionary or do some kind of research in other sources. The guide below is intended to be a short cut to help you out when you need to this. I hope it is useful to you and I am open for suggestions to improve it and for helping you out with any difficulties you may find.
- Insert herelextutortype the word select “start with” and click on “search concordances”. you can also use VLC. This one will give you a list of words with the words coming before and after it.-
Use lextutor also for word families, say, tell, ask, / However, but, although.
- If you want to see examples using the word just click on the word link to see a larger context.
- To view synonyms or antonyms (wrong word) consult a thesaurus just type the words and you will see lots of related synonyms and antonyms. You will discover that a thesaurus is a really useful tool.
- If the problem is punctuation you can check The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. This is a good way of knowing about punctuation and the rules to use commas, periods, colons, etc.
- When the issue is spelling search google.com just type the wrong word and the search will come with the question “Did you mean _______?” With the probable correct answer, just click and check.-
The session on Critical Literacy taking place in Brasília was really an inspiring event. Let me share some of the things I reflect on during and after the event. First we had the idea of deconstructing what we know, what we think we know. It is annoying sometimes to be placed on this position where the things we think we know for sure are just our perspectives into something and that others might have a different perspective. More than that is the fact our perspective is not even long lasting. Their nature is temporary and feeble and we do change our minds along the way. On the other hand this perspective of being in such a mutant stage frees us to be what we really are. But this freedom comes with responsibilities and brings with it new responsibilities towards ourselves the others. 
