Dr. Sarah’s favorite news of the week (Feb. 6-12, 2012)

February 13, 2012

Sarah Eaton speaker education literacy keynote social media This past week, there were so many great articles and resources that came past my desk that I was almost overwhelmed. To help you avoid getting overwhelmed, I’m dividing up my favorites of the past week into two posts: news and resources.

Here are my favorite news stories of the week, curated from my Twitter account.

Social media news

German police use Facebook pictures to nab crooks – by Alice Baghdjian, Reuters

Employers, workers navigate pitfalls of social media – My Joy Online

Study: Why Do People Use Facebook? – ReadWriteWeb

Texting, social media prove problematic for teachers across the country – Laura Graff

What Schools are Really Blocking When They Block Social Media – by S. Craig Watkins

Literacy news

Caution: Not Embracing ‘Continuous Learning’ has become an Occupational Hazard – QELA

Newfoundland group wants literacy plan from the province – The Telegram

Wilsonville launches early childhood literacy program, putting free books in the hands of preschoolers– by Rachel Stark, The Oregonian

Language learning news

Hearing Bilingual: How Babies Sort Out Language – by Perri Klass, New York Times

Bilingual children gain better focus, literacy skills: York U study – Exchange magazine

Schools join forces to rescue languages – by Amanda Dunn, The Age

Finer points lost in Google translation – by Mark Abley, Montreal Gazette

Education news

The Future of Work for High School Grads – by Jordan Weissmann, The Atlantic

Why Pay for Intro Textbooks? Rice University Announces Open Source Textbooks – by Mitch Smith, Inside Higher Ed

Teacher retention a growing Alberta problem – by Jeremy Nolais, Metro

Technology news

How Computer Games Help Children Learn – MindShift

Study: U.S. gaming population has nearly tripled in three years – by Stephanie Fogel, GamesBeat

General interest

Speaking Up Is Hard to Do: Researchers Explain Why – by Elizabeth Bernstein, Wall Street Journal

Labour shortage becoming ‘desperate’ – by Barrie McKenna, Globe and Mail

Want People to Return Your Emails? Avoid These Words  – Mashable

The Business Savvy Behind Nonprofit Success – by David LePage, Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Renewal

Related posts:

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 30 – Feb. 5, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 23-29, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 16-22, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 9-15, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 2-8, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 25, 2011 to January 1, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 18-24, 2011)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 11-17, 2011)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 4-10, 2011)

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Inspiring: Schools in Australia join forces to rescue languages

February 9, 2012

Sarah Eaton, speaker, keynote, second languages, literacy, Canada, foreign languagesIs the language program at your school gasping for its last breath? If so, you are not alone. Language programs across the globe are suffering from decreased enrollments, diminished interest from students and perhaps most frustrating, lack of money to keep the program going.

Schools in Victoria, Australia, have banded together to turn all that around after enrollment in language programs plummeted in the area. The stats look something like this:

Primary students taking languages in Victoria, Australia

1999 – 89%

2010 – 69%

Secondary students taking languages in Victoria, Australia

1999 – 54%

2010 – 41%

That is an alarming drop in enrollment. The new program, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), is slated to change all that. The initiative is so innovative, it made the local paper. The new program takes a content-based language teaching (CBLT) approach to second languages, teaching core subjects such as math, science and humanities in a second language. Schools will share resources and even share teachers, to ensure that children have access to the best quality learning experience possible.

The article reports that:

The government so far has funded 14 language clusters involving 102 primary and secondary schools across the state to trial the system over 18 months until the end of this year.

The languages chosen are Italian, Indonesian, German, Japanese, French, Chinese and Auslan, with schools offering one to three of those. Each cluster has a lead school that works to ensure standards are met and to co-ordinate the distribution of resources.

The government is also chipping in for 25 annual professional development scholarships for language teachers who want to upgrade their skills, and 45 scholarships for undergraduate students studying to become language teachers.

This is a brand new program, so there is no way to tell yet if it will be successful. What is inspiring though, is the collective commitment on the part of the schools and supported by the government, to make language learning a priority. The fact that they are also offering scholarships to teachers-in-training shows that they are not only thinking about today, but they are also thinking about tomorrow by investing in the education of aspiring language teachers.

Kudos to you, our friends in Victoria, Australia. You are finding creative ways to collaborate and turn a dismal and down-spiraling situation into inspired education for the 21st century.

Check out the original article, by Amanda Dunn, published in The Age.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on Inspiring: Schools in Australia join forces to rescue languages | education, language program administration, languages, second languages, Uncategorized, world languages | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 30 – Feb. 5, 2012)

February 6, 2012

Here are my favorite resources of the week, curated from my Twitter account.

Social Media Resources

The art of writing great Twitter headlines – Copyblogger

Social Media News

How brands can manage Facebook comment overload – by Jason Keath, Mashable

Tweet lightly: How social media could someday affect your credit score, insurance and more – by Geoff Duncan

Twitter’s censorship policy stirs up a storm – by Jessica Guynn

Honesty is the best policy: how to stop worrying and learn to love social media – by Marcus Body

The “cancelled future” generation has gone from apathetic despair to inspired action – Adbusters

Educational Technology

40 iPad Apps For Language Learners – by Sathishkumar

Audioliterate – Stream and download audio books – by Richard Byrne, Free Technology for Teachers

Technology Resources and News

Use Twitter to brush up on a second language – by Glen Gilmore, B2C

The worst Internet privacy scandals of all time – by Carolyn Duffy Marsan, TechWorld

Best apps and tools for serious photographers – by Kristy Korcz, GeekSugar

Why Game Designers Are Better Motivators Than Your Boss – by Bryce Christiansen

Literacy Resources

Valentine’s Day books to make your heart sing – by Gail Terp

Literacy and Language News

David Suzuki: Science literacy is good for society – by David Suzuki

Low literacy in Canada equals high costs – by June Striegler

Education News From Around the Globe

Teachers tell parents: ‘Raise your own damnded kids’ – by MamaMia

Teacher: I won’t ‘teach and shut up’ – by Valerie Strauss, Washington Post

“Coming out” at school – by David Weston, The Guardian

Britain’s (lack of) language skills are hurting international growth – Real business

Canadian Education News

Canadian schools ‘falling behind with e-learning implementation’ – Virtual college

Don’t shut disabled kids out of society – Andre Picard, Globe and Mail

Related posts:

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 23-29, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 16-22, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 9-15, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 2-8, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 25, 2011 to January 1, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 18-24, 2011)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 11-17, 2011)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 4-10, 2011)

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Share this post: Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 30 – Feb. 5, 2012) http://wp.me/pNAh3-1ds

Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

2 Comments | education, languages, Literacy, second languages, social media, teaching, technology, world languages | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Resource: Harry Potter in Translation: Making Language Learning Magical

February 1, 2012

Recently I did a virtual presentation for Idaho State University on how to use Harry Potter in translation to teach international languages. The presentation highlighted the Harry Potter in Translation project at the University of Calgary’s Language Research Centre.

The materials I prepared for the presentation included 5 lesson plans on how to use Harry Potter in translation in language classes.

You can check out the lesson plans here:

View this document on Scribd

You can see it in full-screen mode on Scribd here.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

1 Comment | education, languages, second languages, teaching, Uncategorized, world languages | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan.23-29, 2012)

January 30, 2012

Here are my favorite resources of the week, curated from my Twitter account.

Social Media News

Businesses grapple with evolving social media rules – by Rebecca Goldfine

Teachers warned over befriending pupils on Facebook – by Jeevan Vasagar and Martin Williams, The Guardian

Schools use social media to communicate with students, parents – by Kim Archer and Andrea Eger, Tulsa News

Teachers take to Twitter to improve craft and commiserate – by Emma Brown, The Washington Post

McDonald’s Twitter Campaign Goes Horribly Wrong #McDStories – Business Insider

Educational Technology

Four Creative Commons Photo Sites You Should Know About – from EdTech Ideas

14 Steps to Meaningful Student Blogging – Mrs. Ripp

Find and Translate 10,000+ newspapers – Newspapermap.com

Technology Resources and News

13 Everyday Technologies That Were First Imagined In Science Fiction – by Dylan Love, Business Insider

10 Tips for Building a Strong Online Community Around Your Startup – by Megan Berry, Mashable

Literacy Resources

Digital Literacy for Women and Girls – Alliance for Women in Media

At What Age Should Your Child Be Able To Read? – The Reading Corner

Literacy and Language News

Internet Promotes Literacy, Study Says – PC World

Learning a Second Language Protects Against Alzheimer’s – Fox News

Dissecting the bilingual brain- Insights of thinking in two languages… – EAL Teachers

International Languages Resources and News

Resources for Teaching Spanish – Language Links Wiki

Education Resources

10 great books to help you think, create, & communicate better in 2012 – Presentation Zen

Personalization vs. differentiation vs. individualization – by Barbara Bray

Education News From Around the Globe

Is Sweden’s Classroom-Free School the Future of Learning? – Good Education

Canadian Education News

Canada’s outstanding public school principals honoured by education charity – by Steve Mertl, Yahoo News

Related posts:

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 16-22, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 9-15, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 2-8, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 25, 2011 to January 1, 2012)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 18-24, 2011)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 11-17, 2011)

Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Dec. 4-10, 2011)

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Share this post: Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan. 23-29, 2012) http://wp.me/pNAh3-1de

Update – November, 2017 – This blog has had over 1.7 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on Dr. Sarah’s favorite resources of the week (Jan.23-29, 2012) | education, languages, Literacy, second languages, social media, teaching, technology, world languages | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

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