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Image source: cheeadp.com I read a nice piece in The Globe and Mail this morning (courtesy of @Ronald Beach), in which the author, Margaret Wente, stridently puts forward the case for flexible delivery of higher education. In We’re ripe for a great disruption in higher education, she argues that: The digital revolution will make higher [...]

The striking thing about this infographic is not just the stunning penetration of Twitter, but also LinkedIn. It is also interesting that the bastion of tradition in the US higher education sector, Harvard University, has the greatest reach in terms of its social networks. Among the challenges noted, is that it is not enough to [...]

It was S.T. Coleridge who made the observation that ‘the willing suspension of disbelief’ is required for the enjoyment of poetry, novels and the dramatic arts — I also believe this is a requirement in education where role play takes centre stage. Role play is the bridge between theory and reality and, done properly, constitutes [...]

Source: toonpool.com

An insightful article by American author and lecturer Alfie Kohn criticises the use of number and letter grades in school, which, according to Kohn, motivates students to seek better grades rather than knowledge.

Kohn suggests several ways to derive more authentic ways of assessment, including having teachers develop a set of criteria for assessment using students’ input. Kohn also suggests alternatives to grades, such as written comments by teacher to student, or having students evaluate one another in student-led conferences.

Having a well-functioning social network is well and good for boosting productivity and creativity. But some quiet reflection is equally effective at times when you cannot hear yourself think above the continuous carcophony of COMMENTSTweetsDiggsLIKESPings.

After reading this excellent article on the virtue and value of solitude, carve out one minute (yes, you can do it) and simply immerse yourself in your quiet place.

 

 

Born and bred in Singapore, I started learning both English and Mandarin on this island that is widely known as the ‘little red dot’ on this earth. Although my journey into Bilingualism lasted for more than 12 years, I have to admit that I still struggle trying to read the morning Chinese paper (ZaoBao).

As I reflect on the reasons for my struggles, it dawned on me that my failure to master the language was due to the simple fact that I learned the language only to obtain a credit in Chinese for my “O’ Levels.  It was as simple as that.  I did not truly immersed myself in the Chinese language or learn to love it.

Our Prime Minister Mentor, Lee Kwan Yew mentioned in his book ‘My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore’s Bilingual Journey’ that his ‘class master was friendly and approachable’ and that his English improved enormously under his tutoring.  I wished it was the same for me and had it been so, my Mandarin would have improved by leaps and bounds.

Unfortunately it was not so and therefore I became disinterested in the Chinese Language as soon as I achieved my goal in getting a credit for my Exams.  I recalled being called upon to read or recite for the class.  It was indeed not an easy task and my classmates would help me each time I hesitated or struggled.  During some other lessons such as ‘ting xie’ (spelling) , ‘mo xie’ (dictation) and ‘zuo wen’ (composition) I was no better at it.  The only reason I passed my Chinese Test was through regurgitation.  I had little understanding of what was taught to me except to give the ‘right’ answers.

However, when I started teaching in a bilingual setting, little did I know that my Mandarin was improving by leaps and bounds. Over the last 15 years, I would have gained much confidence learning Mandarin in a meaningful setting and now able to communicate, read, write and use Mandarin creatively.  My Mandarin colleagues from China and Taiwan and some from Singapore became my ‘friendly teachers’.  It has been a time of learning without any pressure – just listening to the stories and songs they teach the kids and also the daily words and phrases they’ve used to explain, describe and clarify. I was living Mandarin every day.

Mr. Lee Kwan Yew’s brilliant move of putting Singapore on this bilingual journey over the past years have made many preschools conscious of allocating larger part of the school’s schedule to the teaching of Mandarin.  Schools have invested heavily in engaging professional consultant to improve curriculum content and to determine the best practices.

Other than core Mandarin Programme, some schools are offering additional services like preparing children to be benchmarked against international standards.  Parents must realized that this is not a race to the top but rather to take steps to understand that we want the children to learn and love the language for life and not simply to obtain certification in proficiency at such an early age.

Learning to be meaningful and long lasting must be fun. This ‘Mother Tongue Project’ as I called it has taken another turn in the ‘little red dot’ place where I live.  There is now a great rush for parents to get their little precious ones to attend a total mandarin immersion programme. (thesundaytimes January 8, 2012 lifestyle section: Raising a bilingual kid))

I have a good sense that this will work against the child.  Being overly anxious to ‘force’ their children to learn Mandarin in an artificial environment will mean that their children will lose out on another language. I am still in favour of BILLINGUAL IMMERSION in the true sense… the way I have experienced it!

Habs’ GM apologizes to fans upset new coach doesn’t speak French

Published Monday, Jan. 02 in the Canadian Press

 ….. said Cunneyworth’s interim status would be re-evaluated at the end of the season….. “We’re disappointed and we’re sorry if we offended anybody by hiring someone who is not bilingual right now……..

The interim coach said Tuesday he is working on learning French and hopes that significant strides will be made by the time the decision is made on who will be behind the bench next season.

Cunneyworth vows to learn enough French to keep Habs coaching job

Published Tuesday, Jan. 03, in The Canadian Press

”I’m working hard to pick up the language as much as I can and as quickly as I can….. ”Hopefully that will be the case by the time some of the decisions are made….

”It’s an ongoing work in progress. I’m not ignoring it in any way.

(image source)

 

According to The U.S. Department of Education (2009), students perform better in online courses than in face-to-face courses. The best performance, however, is achieved in hybrid courses that blend online and face-to-face learning. This is because blended learning offers:

• More time-on-task
• More control over the learning process
• Greater opportunities for reflection

These three factors of blended education can also benefit educators. Just because digital learning is student-centric does not mean the role of the teacher is diminished. Michael B. Horn, co-founder and Executive Director of Education of Innosight Institute, talks about why digital learning will liberate teachers.

Reference

U.S. Department of Education, “Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies”, prepared by Barbara Means, Yukie Toyama, Robert Murphy, Marianne Bakia, and Karla Jones, 2009

Virginia Tech professor John Boyer gives his World Regions class of 3,000 students a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity: A Skypersation (Skype conversation) with Aung Sun Suu Kyi on December 5, 2011.

Do read more about Boyer’s “disruptive” learning methods here.

I really enjoy this ad.  It gets my point across.

Michael Wesch of A Vision of Students Today fame gave a TEDx talk last year that I revisited the other day when I found myself (frustratingly) having to justify the case for authentic assessment. “But they’ll cheat won’t they?” is the classic response I get when I present the case for an open-book, open-web summative [...]

Speaking at the launch of the book “My Lifelong Challenge:Singapore’s Bilingual Journey’, Mr Lee Kwan Yew, made clear that he sees an increase in the number of student coming from predominantly English homes.  He articulated   his concern ‘that fluency in the mother tongue, especially Chinese, will decrease as a result of the growing dominance of the English language’.

With much concern, Mr Lee Kwan Yew will donate $2 million from the sales of his book: “My Lifelong Challenge:Singapore’s Bilingual Journey’, to his newly proposed S$100m bilingualism fund.

The Ministry of Education will match the fund dollar–for-dollar, up to a cap of S$50 million.

Present at the book launch, Educational Minister Heng Swee Keat mentioned that the ministry is currently reviewing guidelines on teaching mother tongues in pre-school.    This fund will go towards funding some of these initiatives, such as production of materials that may be useful for the pre-school years and for teacher training.

Donations for the fund has started rolling in from businessmen, foundations, and Mr Lee’s three children.

Before the fund is legally set up (tentatively in early 2012), all cheques and donations should be made out to “Singapore Press Holdings Limited” and mailed to the following address:

Attn: Clara Wong / Jasmine Wee

Singapore Press Holdings Ltd

c/o Straits Times Press Pte Ltd

English/Malay Newspaper Division

Mezzanine Floor, Information Resource Centre

Level 3, Podium Block

1000 Toa Payoh North, News Centre

Singapore 318 994

Lee Wei Ling (daughter of Mr. Lee Kwan Yew) writes about the language environment that she grew up in.  English and Cantonese from home, and Mandarin from age three, when she started school.  Just before she turned seven, she was equally fluent in English and Mandarin, and maintained her Cantonese.

After having tuition in Malay, for nine years, she was equally competent in spoken Malay.  From Pre-U 1 onwards until her second year at medical school, she rarely used Malay, Cantonese or Mandarin.  The long lapse in using the languages (Malay, Cantonese or Mandarin) made it difficult when she needs to speak in complex sentences.

But all is not lost for towards the end of her article featured in November 20, 2011 thesundaytimes, she recounted how being immersed in a Mandarin-speaking environment within one to two weeks, she can speak Mandarin fluently again and even started to dream in Mandarin.

English language, being the dominant language she uses at work and with friends, she established that her spoken Chinese has deteriorated with disuse, but it can be easily revived when necessary.

Posted in Brain and language learning:

…the ‘brain has some foundation already set’. It is difficult to forget a language that one learns as a child completely.

Thus I maintain the importance of early immersion.

The book that ‘recounts an important facet of Singapore’s history……This book describes fully accurately and clearly the background to these policies, helping us to understand why he (Mr. Lee Kuan Yew) did what he did’  will be launched next Monday at the Singapore Conference Hall.  The book which comes with a DVD of extracts from relevant speeches, will go on sale at major bookstores from 5pm next Monday 28 Nov 2011 at major bookstores.

I’ve been monitoring the nascent Occupy Education movement with interest over the last couple of weeks, not least because there are so many dimensions to it. The complexity of it all has been addressed far more coherently than I ever could over at Tenured Radical, but my crude interpretation is that it essentially revolves around [...]

Image source: tech-faq.com Joshua Kim wrote a nice piece in IHE a couple of weeks ago that posed some very candid questions about the future of Blackboard. This company is the Leviathan of the proprietary learning management system market, and suffers somewhat from Microsoft-syndrome on account of its market domination. Very few educators I know [...]

BY ELIZABETH DONALD – News-Democrat

Posted in BND.com    30 October 30 2011

 Extracted from the post.

 ‘Everything in Kim Cook’s kindergarten classroom has two names.

The calendar reads “October” and “Octubre.” The giant, colorful numbers along the wall are “four” and “cuatro,” “seven” and “siete.”

And the Pledge of Allegiance on the wall is in both English and Spanish.’

What’s more, a featured photo shows Kim Cook and another teacher using a team–teaching approach as they read aloud the same book in English and Spanish for students.  No denial that translating will help the child understand the story better.  I believe that when a child is highly interested (in the book), the child will assist himself in his understanding.

Learning to become bilingual as I see it would better be achieved in a total immersion classes.  That is to have two language teachers within the same class, caring and engaging in activities but never translating word for word.

Most of the children in the school that I work in speak primarily in English.

When a child joins the school, he may have difficulty following instructions and performing activities that are conducted in a second language.  However, this is only temporary, as the children will soon understand repeated phrases and instructions that are used within context and become confident speakers as exposure increases.

Reading on, Cook mentioned ‘Just as challenging can be working with families in which the children speak English fluently, but the parents do not’.

 I recall what one parent (a Caucasian) have shared: “though I don’t understand what my child is saying, but it certainly sounds like Mandarin’.   

 Nereida Avendano, director of the Latino Roundtable of Southwestern Illinois states: ‘children end up translating for their parents’.  This I should say is especially true as I have witness many such cases. 

The article goes on to talk about the challenges each district face in becoming bilingual (with the number of immigrants).

In Singapore, compulsory education from the age of 6 would see a child learning English as the first language and Chinese, Malay or Tamil as a Mother Tongue language.  Exceptions are granted on a case-by-case basis, stipulated by the ministry. 

The government is also constantly looking at providing the necessary training to better-equipped teachers. 

 Something that I wouldn’t agree less

 (Extracted from the article)

The best part of bilingual teaching, they say, is watching timid students frightened of their all-English surroundings come out of their shells and explore their new world…

 ………..”We see them come to us not knowing a word of English, and we watch it change over time and see what they can accomplish,” It’s phenomenal.”

Read the article Metro-east students — and schools — are learning to become bilingual

Latin American Student Association’s Annual Conference Fall 2011 at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA)

On September 29-30, 2011, Columbia University’s Latin America Student Association held its annual conference entitled “A Positive Outlook of the Region, Lessons Learned & Challenges Ahead.” The conference explored a range of trending topics including challenges and opportunities in education for Latino children in the U.S. and throughout Latin America, sustainable energy and overcoming conflict in transitions.

I had the privilege of sitting on a panel that focused on the critical issue of improving education for Latino children together with two distinguished colleagues including Adrian M. Fenty, the former Mayor of the District of Columbia, who became a national leader in urban education reform after changing the District public school governance structure and improving student test scores and graduation rates from 2007-2010. Fabrizio Alcobe-Fierro, Senior Vice President of Administration for Univision Networks, also joined us, offering his perspective as a creative industry leader overseeing all education and social initiatives for this global Latino media outlet.

This discussion regarding the challenges facing Latino children in the United States is vital given the growing role Latino children will play in America’s future. The data are striking: Nearly 25 percent of America’s children under 18 years of age are Latino, up from 17 percent only a decade ago. In 2009, 11 percent of the Latino population was under five years of age compared to only six percent of the non-Latino population.

Latinos are the country’s largest and fastest growing racial/ethnic minority, yet their record of college completion is significantly below that of any other major demographic group. The consequences for both the Latino community and for our nation are enormous. So, where do we start in the effort to empower long-term educational success for Latino children? Studies and research continue to provide the key findings that tell us a child’s earliest experiences establish the foundation for brain development and future success. Latino parents than any others to consider early childhood education imperative for their children’s success and our future.

Increasing awareness and understanding of the importance of early childhood education amongst Latino families is key.
Latino children have fewer books at home and are less likely to be read to than white children in households with similar demographics. According to La Raza, Latino children under five are less likely to attend early childhood education programs than white or African American children (50 percent compared to approximately 60 percent). The difference is even greater for Latino children living in poverty (45 percent compared to 65 percent). Developing strong partnerships between early childhood education programs and Latino families to ensure shared responsibility in supporting children’s growth and development, as well as ensuring access to quality early childhood education programs for Latino children is critical to successful education outcomes.

Programs need to support the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse children.
With Latino preschool enrollments declining between 2005 and 2009, early learning programs need to meet the needs of children who are English language learners (ELLs) by including experts on ELL in the development of state early learning standards and creating opportunities to expand the number of Latino teachers in early childhood learning.

By 2050, 30 percent of the U.S. workforce will be Latino. As the most rapidly growing ethnic demographic of the U.S. population, it’s imperative that Latino children have access to quality early learning programs that will give them the foundation to succeed in school and life. Ensuring access to quality early childhood programs for Latino children is critical not only to individual children and families, but to our entire nation.

Image source: 4.bp.blogspot.com Poor old Marc Prensky has come in for a bit of a bashing lately, and unjustifiably so in my opinion. First of all, he first used the digital native-digital immigrant typology 10 years ago. If one were to consider the extent to which digital literacy has advanced in this time, it is [...]

Image source: mobl21.com I spoke with a group of training professionals at a large company last week and, for the first time in a long time, I found myself presenting the argument that there is more interactivity in an online class than in a face-to-face (F2F) class. I’ve had to do this on many occasions [...]