PLN Competencies

PLN Competencies

Filed under: Coaching,MOOC — Steve LeBlanc @ 1:28 am 

You don’t have a strong PLN (Personal Learning Network) the moment you show up at the right group, even if it is the perfect fit for your particular interest. Admittedly, finding a group of folks who share your passions can offer support, guidance and quick tips for simple challenges. For example, finding the right quilting group for a lone quilter can be a dream come true.

But what if your passions are not so neatly contained? What if your interests are broad and interdisciplinary? Specifically, what if you just can’t find a group that shares your varied interests? You could join different groups for your different interests or even create a new one. That works fine for discrete fields, that is, until you start to ask cross-cultural questions no one else in that group is interested in.

A strong PLN is not just a group of people, any more than a strong college education is the particular college you went to. A friend of mine had this to say of his Harvard degree: “The classes I took were not what made my education so valuable. It was more about the friendships I made and the radically different world view I acquired while there. Things I used to think impossible became matter-of-fact, almost mundane.”

via sleve.wordpress.com

Be sure to read the whole article. This is just the teaser and tip of the iceberg. I think it clarifies "network" as opposed to "environment," although making too much of the distinction gets in the way of understanding and using. The short version: network is part of your learning environment but not its totality. Shorter version: both are resources (of any kind) that you learn with and/or from.

The corollary is that you can learn by following passively (lurking) but you will always learn more when you participate actively.

more PLENK: learning as exploration

From a PLENK2010 live session, organizer and Canadian educator Stephen Downes compares learning to exploring a city

Language learning methods

Here's an interesting article titled "On the mortality of language learning methods" that discusses how methods for learning foreign languages appear, prosper, disappear, and then reappear.

Over the past century many different methods or approaches have been applied to the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Since the 1960s, for example there has been a shift from approaches that concentrate on learning grammar, vocabulary and on translation, to approaches the emphasise communication, especially speaking. The same thing also happened in the second half of the 19th century.

Much research has been undertaken into language learning and teaching, but as far as I can discover, no single approach or method has been found to work significantly better than any other, in spite of claims to the contrary by the inventors, founders and promoters of particular methods and approaches.

Moreover, each new development in technology, whether it be the phonograph, radio, television, computer or internet, is expected to transform the way people learn languages. However this doesn't necessarily happen.


le plus ça change, plus ce la même chose! = the more things change, the more they stay the same

Study Habits

Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits is the title of a very useful article that has just appeared in The New York Times. It's worth a full-read, but here are some points that struck me in particular:

Vary What You Study

Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example, among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time. Musicians have known this for years, and their practice sessions often include a mix of scales, musical pieces and rhythmic work. Many athletes, too, routinely mix their workouts with strength, speed and skill drills.

Learning goals and levels

I send this to new students applying to the class. The article + quizzes from About ESL (http://esl.about.com)is very appropriate for students thinking about joining a class. Understanding reasons for studying English and learning goals help prepare for starting a new class.

But you still need this understanding and to reflect on why you are studying English and what your goals are. They may not be the same as when you joined the class. Following these tips will help you understand your English learning strengths and weaknesses so you can continue to get the most out of this class.

The Most Important Question: Why?

how to learn a language

How to learn a foreign language is the million dollar question, but actually there is no magic answer. Many factors should be taken into consideration, as well as tools useful for learning a new language. The good news is that there are methods and techniques to use.

Language Components	Language Tools
Vocabulary Grammar Writing Listening and Speaking	Memory Practice Motivation

Learning to Learn: Study Skills

 Study Guides & Strategies http://www.studygs.net/
Online learning Elements Overview - Outline and cluster map http://www.studygs.net/online/online.htm
How to Study http://www.how-to-study.com/
Study Help http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/stdyhlp.html
Study Skills Links http://www.stthomas.edu/academicsupport/helpful_study_skills_links.htm
Handouts http://www.stthomas.edu/academicsupport/handouts.htm

Whole Brain Learning

Overview - The Brain

The Right Brain - 2 and the Left Brain - 1

• The left hemisphere (1) is concerned with logical and analytical skills
  An example of a left brain ESL EFL activity is the studying of first the simple past and the present perfect followed by an exercise in which students need to choose whether to use the simple past or present perfect. Example: Jim _______ (not/see) that film yet.
  

• The right hemisphere (2) is the center of visual, rhythm, "artistic" abilities
  
  An example of a right brain ESL EFL activity would be an exercise in which students need to recognize patterns in a set of pictures. Example: Look at these four pictures. What do they seem to have in common? What is different? Using color coding when writing sentences in different tenses on the board.
  

The Reflex Brain - 3

• Stimulated by activity, the reflex brain (3) makes sure the brain has the oxygen it needs to function well.
  
  An example of a reflex brain ESL EFL activity is any game that includes physical activity. Example: Acting out the present continuous in a guessing game.
  

The Limbic System - 4

• Links memory with emotion and is stimulated by "self investment" i.e. personal involvement
  
  An example of a limbic brain (4) ESL EFL activity is any activity that requires personal emotional investment Example: Describe to your partner the most difficult decision you have ever had to make. NOTE In my opinion, this is an area in which teachers need to be very careful. Asking students to divulge personal secrets, while engaging them emotionally and possibly serving long term memory, can be very risky business!
  

The New Brain - 5

• The new brain (5) is the area of the brain that creates new material
  
  An example of a new brain ESL EFL activity is any activity that asks students to take concepts learned and process the information to come up with new and unique uses. Example: Poetry and essay writing. Students are encouraged to extend their knowledge of English into creating something "new".
  

Language Transfer: Ten Languages

The lists at the link below give details of ten languages and the features that may transfer to English and thus cause errors for the ESL writers who are native speakers of those languages. Some of the error types may be more common at beginning levels

http://www.csulb.edu/~rmclaug/en317/1_plan/esl_tips/transfer.html

Getting started with peer review

What is peer review? How will it help you improve your reading and writing skills?

Peer reviews, where students read drafts of their fellow students' essays in order to make suggestions for revision, are common in first-language composition pedagogy. This technique fosters the idea that writing is a process of communicating to an authentic audience. How beneficial are peer reviews for ESL composition students? Many ESL students report that peer reviews help them revise their drafts. However, some students say that their peers were not able to give useful advice. These students' responses suggest that peer reviews can be helpful to students during the drafting process, but that students need to learn how to become successful critics who can evaluate writing and make good suggestions. Learning how to be an effective peer reviewer takes time and effort. It is not automatic. Learning how to look at someone else's writing also teaches you how to look at your own writing. Peer review also helps you become a more careful and insightful reader.

Here's more about peer review for you to read.

Before you review one another's writing, however, you must first read articles in English and then respond in writing to your reading. We'll start with a "reading response," which is mostly a commentary on & personal response to a reading. A reading response briefly summarizes the main ideas and comments on them, giving the reader's opinion and impressions. I'll post guidelines and links for both reading reflections and for peer reviewing.

First, let's pick several topics to read and write about. Then I will look for links to articles - essays, editorials, analyses, etc. on those topics. The pieces we start with should be short and not too difficult to read. I'll post links to a selection of articles or essays for everyone in the class to read. You can't comment intelligently on what your classmates write unless you have also read the piece they are writing about. We can also discuss and comment on the readings before you write your reading responses to specific articles. Discussion shares ideas and helps you think about what you read. Sharing ideas and impressions about reading also helps you write about what you read.

What topics should we read about? One topic could be on child rearing or early childhood development. Perhaps another could be on labor, globalization, or the environment. What else?

We don't want too many because that might be too much reading. Reading commentaries all on the same piece does not seem very interesting. Having 3-4 topics for you to choose from and short pieces for you to write at least a couple of well developed paragraphs about seems reasonable.

Everyone needs to read all of the pieces. You can't comment on what a classmate has written about a piece unless you have read the piece too. Those writing reading responses will pick just one piece to write about. Some of you are just starting out in the class and not ready to write much. I still expect you to read the articles the others are writing about. I also expect you to comment on what your classmates have written.

In closing - read the peer review handout and think about topics. Post your comments on the handout and your topic suggestions as comments to this post. Please do not post them as new messages.

How do good readers understand what they read?

How do good readers understand what they read? Reading researchers Pressley and Wharton-McDonald identify the following cognitive or thinking processes used by skilled readers.


Before reading:

• Good readers have clear reading goals.
• Good readers overview the text in order to determine whether the text is worth reading, identify goal-relevant sections of the text, and develop a reading plan.

During reading:

• Good readers generally progress from beginning to end of the text.
• Good readers give differential attention to information that is relevant to their goals.
• Good readers sometimes jump forward and backward to find particular information and to clarify confusions as they arise. They are aware of confusions because they monitor as they read.
• Good readers anticipate what might be said, updating their predictions and hypotheses as they read.
• Good readers relate prior knowledge to the ideas in the text and relate ideas in the text to one another. They revise old ideas and make inferences during reading.
• Good readers sometimes use strategies as they read, for example, to determine the meanings of unknown words or to remember particular ideas.
• Good readers demonstrate passion for certain ideas presented in the text.
• Good readers construct interpretations and conclusions as reading proceeds.

After reading:

• Good readers sometimes reread or re-skim the text just read.
• Good readers sometimes attempt to restate important ideas from the text. If notes might help later recall, they take them.
• Good readers continue to reflect on the text after they have finished reading.

In summary, the authors describe skilled readers as strategic, metacognitive, and motivated, and present evidence that these more active readers understand what they read better than less active readers.