Day 5


EFL537, Cohort#4
Day #5,  July 23 2010 
Welcome to FUN FRIDAY
 
Today, we will....
- experiment if one of my favorite internet tools (toys)
- catch up on Week#1 assignments
-  do a bit of preparation for week#2
- and enjoy some off-topic 'hang out' time.
The optional 'fun task' is Google Maps. Aside from being a really interesting way to look at our planet, there are a variety of ways that maps.google.com can be used for EFL education.   Today, though, we're just going to play with it and hopefully build a collaborative maps showing our homes and places we care about.  The EFl537 Cohort 4 collaborative map is here.
You can see some place marks I've already created on the map. I've added all of your gmail accounts as 'collaborators, so you can now add you own places of interest.
Here how to do so. Google Maps Guide
This is optional! There is no required assignment associated with Google Maps.  If you'd rather do other things, that's fine. Do not worry. 
If you'd rather spend the entire class today working on Week#1 assignments, please do so. .
You can work on any uncompleted tasks from Day 1,  Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4 including..
 -  daily reflections, 2  reading reviews, at least 15 properly tagged Delicious Bookmarks, and presentation tasks.
As far as preparation for next week, one thing you'll need to do is find your next two readings.   You must choose these for yourself and I hope that you can find readings of particular interest to you.
Some of the places you can look to find readings are the EFL537 Reading List, the LearningCall.net Readings Index, or  the Custom Search of CALL related journals. Before writing your Reading Reviews, please respond to this forum topic on EFL537.com.  It asks you to tell me about your topic and the readings you plan to review or if you're having trouble finding readings, it asks you to describe what you are looking for.  To respond, click Add new comment.  You can find additional information about Week#2 assignments on the Assignments page.
Off-topic' Fun Friday
Unfortunately, even on Fun Friday, there's never enough time to just hang out and chat with each of you as much as we'd like.  However , I would like to try and connect with you (as a group and individuals) as much as possible. Here are some possibilities.
-  if you have any questions for Jeff about anything, please feel free to post them in the Off-Topic Questions for Jeff Forum Topic. I will respond later with video answers.
- Use Audacity to record personal messages or group conversations about whatever you want and then upload them to EFL537.com (topics could include your weekend plans, home life, work life, hobbies, thoughts about the SNHU/VNU program or anything else of interest)
- try using one of these Karaoke sites to do some in-class Karaoke - Singsnap.com, Karaokeplay.com or Subingles.com.  (Lyricstraining.com is more of a quiz site in which you have to guess the lyrics)
- I want to be available for assignment related questions for at least the first hour of class, but after that we spend some time enjoying 'one-on-one' off-topic chat if you'd like.

You've done a great job during Week#1.
Your most important homework assignment today is 'Have a good weekend!'
Please do a good job with that homework :)

Happy Weekend,
Jeff

Assorted notes...  
  • Because the course has so much content packed into such a short period of time, I usually don't have time to comment on each of your individual assignments.  I feel bad about that because I can see that you all put a lot of effort and heart into them.  However, between preparing materials, answering questions, and just reading your assignments, I just don't have enough time to make a comment on each assignment.  This weekend however, I will be carefully reading through all of your assignments again and providing each of you with some cumulative comments and feedback early next week.
     
  • This weekend, I will be going to a my wife's family gathering in the countryside, so I will not be online quite as much as usual (it's a pretty big family - my wife has 5 sisters and a brother).  If you have any questions during the weekend, please post them in the How Do I...? forum and I'll do  my best to get online and check in as often as possible. It's likely, however, that I will be entirely offline from mid-afternoon Saturday until early afternoon Sunday, but will let you know in the Skype chat as soon as I'm back home and online as usual. 
     
  • Same thing I mentioned yesterday, but just another reminder. When you see me on skype and want to ask a question, please send me a skype text message before calling me.  I often get several calls as soon as I come online and it is difficult to manage.  During class I cannot always check each of your assignments as soon as you do them, but I'll do my best. When asking if I've seen something you've posted, always include a link to the post you are referring to.  You can do this by RIGHT clicking and clicking 'copy shortcut' as shown in the screenshot. Then paste the link into a skype chat or 'How Do I' post by clicking 'ctrl V'.  More information about this kind of basic computer usage skill in the Desktop Management Skills Training Guide and the 'power of RIGHT clicking' in this screencast.