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August 31, 2005

Use A Language Program To Learn German

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A foreign language such as the German can well be learned if a person ventures out in searching for the right materials and resources that can help his learning experience. Using the Internet is a convenient way for getting ahead of others in many areas of technology and interests. Though some people still prefer learning German in the conventional way, there are actually a lot of benefits one gets by trusting the technological advancement of today’s age.

An example of the change from a traditional learning material such as books are language program software. These are most common today and can be found all over the pages of the Internet. Some websites even are dedicated to just offering a language program software. So, you will then ask, what is really a language software’s benefit and significance to a language beginner such as you are.

The German language is a popular European language and is one of the Romance language descendants that have been growing popular amongst individuals of the world which, of course already includes yourself. We are not saying that books are of no use nowadays, in fact, if it were not for books, we would not be as educated as we are today. What we are just trying to emphasize here is that using language programs for learning German is advantageous for a person who keeps up with his everyday schedule.

A German language program could contain most of your German learning needs. Since it so easy and convenient for distribution to interested buyers online, a language program may contain a combination of audio course (for pronunciation purposes), flashcards (for memorization), and the language software itself. The owner of the program for example, may still include other extras and bonuses for a language program. This makes it even more interesting of a deal for many eager beavers who want to really learn the German language.

It is actually beyond what a learner could expect if he uses a German language program. The benefits are eminent both ways. One is the convenience in getting it and second is the ease to how you learn it.

August 30, 2005

Use Peg Word For Memorization

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You have tried memorizing small group of words, perhaps 3 to 5 items at a time. But there will come a time when you’ll need more than 5 items to remember or even more than that. When you’re mentally unprepared to load your brain with information, there is a big chance you won’t catch up with anything. For this type of task, you’ll need to memorize information in large quantity and to do that; peg word method is just the right way to use.

Peg word method relates to numbers. This would mean that you need to link information in words with numbers. The way you do it is simple. When you need to remember certain information, let’s say a cinnamon bun, you need to associate it with a number in your peg system. In this case, we’ll take the number 9 equivalent to the item cinnamon bun.

In order to understand how a peg word method works, when you need to remember the item, just think of the number associated with the peg word, so given the example, you can create a peg word that rhymes with the number 9. Let’s make the word ‘pine’ as the number 9 peg word. In turn, for you to remember strongly the item cinnamon bun, imagine a pine tree with buns as its fruits. The association you made between the number 9, the peg word and the item you need to remember is evident by this time. You’ll never forget what number 9 could mean to you.

If you need to go beyond 10 numbers, all you need to do is to add a classification to the group of numbers. For example, everything between numbers 0 to 9 should all have the color green while the numbers from 10 to 19 should all have the shade of yellow and so on and so forth. This way, your thoughts won’t go astray in memorizing anything beyond the 10th item. You will still have a guide with the type of peg words you need to associate your items with which can help you remember.

August 28, 2005

Using Audio Books To Get Children To Read More…

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Would you liket to get your kids to read more? Audio books are proving to be a useful and enjoyable way for children to learn in a natural and entertaining manner. They show more attention and focus that is otherwise difficult to come by in the classroom.

Teachers and parents alike are using audiobooks to catch the interest of the “mp3 generation”.

Though some teachers have trouble accepting the fact that learing can be fun, a growing number say that such an approach can make learning more interesting for today’s youngsters who have never known a world without the internet, cell phones, text messaging, and playstations. In fact they say it can have kids learning in spite of themselves.

The audio format attracts youngsters because it’s considered a cool reading alternative, especially now that they can download a book direct to their MP3 players.

Audio books are providing a rich learning environment that can be used in innovative and engaging ways, supporting learning and appealing to the digital characteristics of today’s generation.

And when you think about it, the spoken word is how people have communicated and learned for centuries. It only makes sense therefore that when a new technology comes along that resonates with the today’s kids they tend to get hooked.

“It makes “reading” more interesting,” are some of the comments from young students. “You don’t have to listen to the teacher talk all the time. You don’t have to look at a book all day.”

The audio industry over the last decade has experienced tremendous growth, even as formats have moved from cassettes to CDs and now digital downloads.

“The rule of thumb over the years has been that the audio industry is about 10% of what the book industry is in size,” according to Jae Taylor of .audiodigitalbooks.com.

In fact, according to Mr. Taylor, “audiobooks have withstood the economic downturns of the retail book market better than books themselves.”

While children’s audio books remain a small segment of the overall audio book market, sales have been increasing over the years, following a general industry trend,” Mr. Taylor says.

Audiobooks are particularly helpful in studying for exams or in situations where you need to take in a lot of information. They also make things like learning foreign languages much easier.

In fact, the Commission on Reading report, entitled “Becoming a Nation of Readers” states, “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children,’ ”

Studies show that audiobooks help children increase their vocabulary and develop greater reading fluency because they can listen to books that they might otherwise show no interest in.

August 27, 2005

Using Flashcards In Improving German Vocabulary

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You might think that learning the German language is as easy as 1, 2, 3 or as difficult as climbing Mt. Everest. Whatever your disposition of the German language is, there are still ways that you can use depending on what is most comfortable for you. Speaking and understanding the German language can be done easily if you want it. No questions asked.

A very useful tool for learning a language are flashcards. Each card has one German word (or depending on which language you are trying to learn) written on it with the English translation at the back. It is considered very useful for the learner because it links easily to your mind and depending on how often you conduct mental exercises of the words. It’s similar to writing down words in a paper. When you remember words and write them down together with the significant point it projects, you create cues in your mind that help easily in remembering what German word it is related to. Just make sure that the words establish a point that you can easily recall which, could automatically cause yo to remember it even when you are not thinking of the word itself.

For example, the word der Pinsel means paintbrush in English. But since Pinsel sounds more like “pins” when pronounced, we can associate the word pins to Pinsel. By doing this, each time you think about pins, even when you are not trying to recall the German word of paintbrush, you’ll be able to link pins to Pinsel easily; without so much effort.

Words linked this way are commonly done in attempts of improving memorization and learning a foreign language. It is most effective to link an unknown and a completely unfamiliar German word to something that we have been used to all our lives using the English language. This is also the reason why using flashcards in learning foreign languages or in any attempt of improving mental ability is always considered one of the best methods. Next time you try to go over your German lessons, try using flashcards for the words and effortlessly establish a relation between the English and German words.

Using Powerpoint Presentations In A Language Classroom

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Using PowerPoint Presentations in a Language Classroom

If you teach in a language classroom (ESL or any other language really), eventually you will ask your students to do an in-class presentation. Presentations are a great way for students to showcase their abilities and gain confidence using their new language in a stressful yet safe environment.

In most situations, the purpose of asking a language student prepare and perform a presentation is so that they can demonstrate their abilities to:

• choose their topics

• generate ideas by brainstorming

• then logically organize and show they can

• make sensible relationships between them

• use intelligible English in front of an audience

• all within a specific time frame

These are all very important skills, for a language learner who intended to peruse a career in business or in academics. For most language students just being able to accomplish these tasks in a new language is a great feat in itself &ndash forget about complicating the process with posters and software like PowerPoint.

However, after nearly 15 years of teaching, I have found that the first thing students want to do is use PowerPoint. I think in most cases they feel that they will be more ‘impressive’. Regardless of the reasons, when students decide to use a software tool like PowerPoint, their focus changes from preparing a good presentation towards building the slides. As a result many problems crop up. Some of the most common traps you will see students falling into include:

• Including more text than needed

• Adding in distracting sliding visuals and sounds

• not practicing enough (because they use the slides as a crutch)

• reading slides word for word

• looking at the screen more than the audience

• having compatibility issues with the software

What so often ends up happening is that the technology gets in the way of the student putting on a decent presentation. Now I’m not blaming the technology here, the problem comes from lack of experience with both the technology and also with giving presentations. These problems are not limited to language learners by any means. Native English speakers who aren’t very experienced have very similar issues as well. However they can become a very bad combination for a language learner who is also trying to cope with language problems.

Regardless of whether you are a language student, or a native language speaker, you really want to avoid:

1. handing out the slides on paper, then

2. putting the same slides up for the audience to read and then

3. reading the slides out loud as your presentation.

This would simply be a waste of everyone’s time.

So should language learners use PowerPoint as a tool for giving presentations? Well I think the answer to that is a qualified ‘yes’. Before they do, they need to be reasonably comfortable with the language they are studying. Then they need to have some instruction/guidance in developing content and presenting it with PowerPoint. Once they’ve had that, they will be more capable of controlling the technology instead of being controlled by it.

Using Sports To Hook Students For Reading And Writing Comprehension

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Could a student get interested in reading and writing about sports? Stories, articles and video clips might be able to interest students long enough to read and write their own articles. AdventureZONEsports is a free website sports portal that allows the student to read, write and submit their own stories.

Most of us have heard over and over in the media that our students are lagging in reading and writing skills. It’s been said that poor writing skills is a problem for employers looking to hire graduates. Without these critical skills, it can be an unsuccessful future for our students. As a parent of three children, I have experienced it first hand. Trying to find the hook, to keep the child interested seems to be the biggest challenge.

Using the web as a resource is something many schools are adding to their mix. Integrating the internet into home school and the classroom may be worth a try. The internet has a huge amount of information resources and could help, if used wisely. A parent or teacher could post the internet address and bookmark it for the student. Provide a clear assignment choice of reading independently or in small groups as well as perhaps assign a writing task.

Students can become excited and proud to see their work featured and published! Many websites now offer the opportunity to publish stories, articles and even photos or video clips. We took the time to buy numerous sport domain names and created a portal web address to bring all of them into one place for free and easy access. AdventureZONEsports has language translation in place for English, French, Dutch/German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish and has stories, articles and video clips to watch about different sports. The website opens up to an article publishing page and links to stories and video clips on different sports. Once a story or article is properly written the article submit feature allows the student to become a published author. As the students skills get better and better, they can be proud and excited to show family and friends their online writing.

The sports collection consists of archery, ATV, basketball, cycling, dirtbike, dodgeball, fencing, iceboating, kayak, landsailing, motorcross, mudracing, rafting, rodeo, rowing, sandboarding, skateboarding, skating, skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoe, softball, squash, and waterski. Some of these sports are considered different or extreme and people of all ages can be interested and learn about sports that they have never tried. For example, how much do you know about landsailing, iceboating or sandboarding? In addition, there are sports such as basketball, cycling and winter sports that will allow the student a weekend assignment to participate by choosing one of the activities and create a written report the following week. The report can be edited, and submitted with author name for publication on the website.

There are currently stories, articles and video clips to keep the students attention. The best method of writing and submitting an article is to work on several drafts of the story before entering it into the submit page. To prevent spam all articles must be reviewed by a human editor first before appearing on the website. The student is notified as the story is published and appears on the website for all to view.

Using A College Federal Student Loan To Fund Your Education

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It is possible to pay for college with a federal student loan. This is usually referred to as post-secondary financing option.

Applying for a Federal Student Loan for College is quite simple providing you follow the instructions on the application form.

The federal student loan program helps college students and their parents meet the cost of pursuing higher education. The first thing a student (or prospective student) needs to do is to fill out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form. It is available online or from the Financial Aid Office at post-secondary institutions.

The application is free and a student will not qualify for a federal student loan for college unless this application has been submitted. Within 30 days after submitting the FAFSA application, the student will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) in the mail. A copy of the SAR is sent to the school the student is planning on attending.

Within two weeks after the SAR is received, the student will receive a letter from the Financial Aid Office of the school he or she is planning on attending. This letter will state how much financial aid the student will receive and how this financial assistance will be structured.

The award letter will indicate whether or not the student has been awarded the Stafford Federal Student Loan for college. If the Stafford Loan has been awarded, the student must fill out an application form in order to get the required promissory note. The student then signs the promissory note in order to receive the loan proceeds.

Once the promissory note is signed, it must be mailed to the office listed on the application form. It is a good idea to keep a copy of the promissory note for your own records. Stafford Loan recipients need to keep in mind that the funding offered is for one year only. A new FAFSA and loan application must be submitted each year.

If a student was not awarded a Stafford Student Loan, alternative sources of financing for college are available. It is possible to get financing for post-secondary studies from private sources. In the case of a person who gets approval for a Federal Student Loan for college but the amount of the loan is short of the amount of funding needed, this is a viable option. A private student loan center will be able to provide assistance to those people looking for alternate sources of financing for post-secondary education.

Using Story As A Teaching Aid

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It’s not that easy to tell a story well and especially not when it’s a long one. It needs a certain ability to keep children engaged while they are listening to words with no other props to hold their attention. Presenting a story well is an ability that many teachers have, but may find difficult. Story telling, unless you’re a natural and warm to the task, can be hard work. Nevertheless, it is a method of communication that has a special place in the education and development of children. A place that may not always be appreciated to the measure it deserves.

Children are surrounded by many stories these days, mostly on TV or DVD. There is never a shortage of the next tale to look at. The creativity of these productions makes the teacher, who uses words only to describe the scene and development of a plot, pale into insignificance. At least, it seems that way, unless one is aware of the value to be found in a word based approach in story telling against the flashy and shiny presentations of the entertainment industry; unless one realizes, as many people do, that children are quite happy to listen to a story well told. A good story is a wonderful way in which to learn about words and encourages the use of imagination. Neither words nor imagination feature greatly in an exposure to film or animation. There the ideas surrounding the story have all been unpacked and are presented ready-made. The children are taken up more with dazzle than with the depth that language and imagination can invoke.

Teachers are well aware of the importance of language in the development of a child. Therefore, they would be on the look-out for teaching aids towards this continually. However, there may not be that much available, especially not with longer stories. Where are the aids that focus on language without demanding of the teacher to become ‘the great story teller from the sky?’

A good story allows children to get involved with words and imagination. It can also help them in their spirituality &ndash meaning the recognition that as people they are spiritual beings. Story has been greatly used in human history as an introduction to the things beyond. In modern days with many people professing not to prescribe to religion the importance of the spiritual side of life is no less. For instance, might a person’s attitude have a spiritual rather than rational origin? After all, it comes from deep within and often resides well beyond the cognitive processes involved. How about love and hate; where does that come from?

Of course, not every story will lend itself to assisting in the spirituality of children. And if it does, the possible benefits remain mostly hidden unless the story is discussed as to its significance and meaning. Undoubtedly, children are well able to enter into helpful discussion when a story is of suitable quality. The benefits to English learning will depend greatly on the richness of the language used. The idea that children can only handle the simplest of expressions and otherwise will lose the gist of a tale simply isn’t true. Rather, it’s important to expose them to good English, that is descriptive and of a higher quality than the language generally used in conversations between people or on TV.

One may ask where story presentations that fit the above-mentioned criteria can be found.

There is a dearth in significant stories that aren’t produced in film or animation. In which the old story telling approach is used in a modern way. The only story in that category I know of, is the Eloise adventure recently published by Kid-Ebook using multimedia. It is available for teachers in English learning and discussions on life skills.

August 26, 2005

Using Technology To Protect Our Children At School

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Criminal damage, drunken behavior, stabbings, general anti social behavior and even the occasional shooting are just some of the things you might witness on the streets of the UK, across Safety at schools and making sure children and staff are safe and protected at all times is vital in the modern world. This article looks at how technology can be used to make our schools, kindergartens, colleges, nurseries and universities even safer places.

What’s the most important thing about schools and the education system? Depending on whether you’re a parent, a teacher, a school governor, a regulator or indeed a pupil attending the school the answer could well be very different.

However, one thing that virtually everyone will agree on though is making sure our schools, nurseries, kindergartens, colleges and universities are safe environments. So with safety a major issue in modern places of learning what steps can schools take to make sure their school is as safe as possible?

Here are just 4 ways in which schools, colleges and universities can now technology to make sure their children and staff are as safe as possible:

CCTV (Closed-Circuit Television)

The UK alone has over 4 million CCTV camera (one for every 14 people) so this method of security is now common place. CCTV is used for a wide variety of things but for schools the use of CCTV allows for the monitoring of property and people. A further advance in CCTV technology has seen the introduction of talking CCTV systems which give potential intruders or trouble makers a verbal warning. These types of systems can prove highly effective in schools to disburse potential trouble makers.

Security Lighting

With the dark winter nights now upon us and with children and teachers often starting and ending school in darkness (or dusk), having suitable lighting is very important. Security lighting can act by giving pupils and teachers more confidence by providing a well lit and safe environment as well as deterring would be criminals and trouble makers.

Intruder Alarms

Intruder alarms can work for schools as depending on the type of alarm you have it can alert other teachers, school workers, school children and/or the police. The result being whatever caused the alarm to be activated, stops. And the school premises, staff and pupils stay safe.

Two Way Radio

Mobile phone technology has meant it is easier than ever to stay in touch. However, mobile or cell phones suffer from cost and lack of coverage issues which means they aren’t used by many schools. Schools can however take advantage of modern Two Way Radio technology that allows teachers and ground staff to stay in touch wherever they are for just the cost of the actual handset. With no rental charges, no call charges and a robust and reliable way to stay in touch both on the school premises and on field trips Two Way Radio a must for any school with a focus on security, communication and safety.

Two Way Radios such as the excellent Kenwood TK3201 are ideal for schools as they provide them with an affordable and mobile way to stay in touch. And with school safe two way providers like Apex Radio System Ltd offering superb deals for schools, colleges and universities on school safe radio like the Kenwood TK3201 it has never been easier for schools, nurseries, kindergartens, colleges and universities to make modern technology work for them. And ultimately make all our children more secure.

August 24, 2005

Videoconferencing Goes To Kindergarten

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The empires of the future, says Winston Churchill, are the empires of the mind. He speaks justly. While in ancient times brute force was power, an educated mind is now a country’s most effective weapon. Clearly, there is a greater challenge than ever for teachers to come up with innovative means of teaching. One such innovation is videoconferencing.

Two-sided Jury

Experts believe there is generally no difference in learning through videoconferencing and learning the time-honored way, which is face to face and from inside a four-walled classroom. Students are exposed to the same amount of knowledge; teachers go through the same process of preparing their lessons.

The drawback to teaching through videoconferencing, however, is that it’s a medium ripe for abuse. Because teachers do not have to physically interact with their students, there is a higher risk of mediocre teaching strategies and style. The same is true of ineffective learning on the part of students, precisely because the teacher cannot physically and immediately gauge how blank a student’s stare is, for example, or how frequently the student had doodled on his notebook rather than take down notes.

Lessons from a Virtual Classroom

Essentially, videoconferencing is a good innovation to education because it democratizes access to knowledge. In fact, through videoconferencing, knowledge can be shared to any part of the world, no matter how inaccessible this place may be.

With the influx of technology in almost all aspects of life, more and more schools are offering online education. The surprising outcome is that there are now also more and more students who have come to accept this mode of teaching. In fact, visionaries predict that at some point in the future, videoconference will become a very vital cog in the knowledge wheel. It will replace the standard face-to-face teaching method. Teachers will be imparting real lessons - from virtual classrooms, in real time.

The secret to becoming an effective virtual teacher does not lie in how well you are familiar with video conferencing technology (although this knowledge is also a plus), nor does it depend on how well you enunciate words to beat the expected video-audio time lag. It all depends on that old standby: the lesson plan.

Writing the Virtual Lesson Plan

How, then, does one become a good online teacher? The secret is not just familiarity with videoconferencing technology but also continued adherence to a very old and often overlooked fixture of classrooms: the lesson plan.

There is a need for teachers to map out their virtual teaching strategy. In doing so, answering the following questions would surely help:

1. What do you expect the students to learn after each lesson?

2. How will you present the topic?

3. 3. What materials you will use to support the lesson? Will you be using visual aids or audio clips?

4. How long will the lesson be?

Videoconferencing in Schools Today

Videoconferencing, while already used by a few educators and learners, is still in kindergarten, as far as education is concerned. In time, however, it will go to school the same way that other innovations did. When this happens, learning through videoconferencing could prove to be not just be a novel experience but a rewarding one at that.

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