MOOCs

Massive                             
Open
Online                               [MOOC is a one way of learning]
Course

Personally, I like these courses, since they allow you to study at home and sometimes even on a free basis. I've never tried online courses before. I had enough training in school and university. Now I'm starting to think about trying a couple of courses.

Here  you can see some web sites, where you can find a lot of different courses:

https://www.canvas.net/
https://www.coursera.org/

As you can see, I've chosen biometric technologies course.

This site has a simple interface, so it's easy to maneuver here.

For more information, watch the video below

What is a MOOC?

Mobile technologies in education

Mobile phones are the permanent part of everyday life. On average, every person look at his phone 10 times an hour. So, it makes sense to start using mobiles in learning, instead of wasting your time surfing the Internet.

There are a lot of mobile apps, which allow studying in any place you want (but most of them require internet connection). In my previous messagess I'd mentioned some of really useful applications.

So, in my opinion, mobile applications have more advantages than the same apps for computer. Mobile technology helpes research  and allows quick and easy feedback. Students are able to carry around all their module materials, which reduce the need for excess notes or textbooks to be carried around during lecture times. Students can read their materials on their mobile phones during the lecture or even at home, laying on the bad.

Mobile technologies can be used in classroom by:
1) using audio recording features
2) creating videos
3) using QR codes
4) using live polling tools

I've never used QR codes before. Then I've known about the ability of easy internet connection. You just need to scan QR code on mobile which is connected to Wi-fi (without entering password). I don't think that QR codes are very useful for education.

Actually, almost every teacher of BSU appreciate using mobile technology. It really saves teacher's time. 

What is WIKI?

I suppose everyone's heard about wiki. Wiki is a web technology used for collaborative publishing on the web. The well-known example of wiki is Wikipedia.

A group of co-authors can freely add and change information on the wiki website: rewrite texts, add images, new texts, links etc. The wiki owner can restrict editing to a group of collaborators.

Unlike other publishing platforms wikis are:

• Heavily based on collaboration
• Non-linear and not based on time
• Are purely content-oriented

Wiki sites can be:

1) Encyclopedias (like I said, Wikipedia)

2) Corporate wikis are used to train new employees and harness the power of corporate synergy

3) Fan wiki sites are sites dedicated to specific field that excites a group of people (The Elder Scrolls Wiki) 

4) Educational wikis are mainly collective research projects. Focused around focused-oriented issues, these projects are typically developed by students and moderated by their teachers.

Free wiki tools:

• Wikispaces
• Wikia
• Zohowiki
• Wiki site
• WikiDot

As for me, I use wikis very often. Wikipedia helpes me to search useful information for my reports, essays and even when I want to know more about some questions. Such sites have advantages over the ordinary ones, 'cause it refers to a great number of authors. Information of wikis can be updated and that's a significant advantage.

Now I want to talk about Bookmarks. Everuone knows that it takes time to find some sites and useful resoures when you work in the Internet. Bookmarks can solve this problem. There are a lot of different services which can compare your favourite sites in one place. Here are Top Page, Diigo.com, Webstartpage, QMOS, Онлайн Закладки.

Here is the example of Top Page service:




I've got acquainted with these services,but, actually, I don't think I'll use one of them. Nowadays Google Chrome Browser can do the same things. I really like it.

Hi. At last seminar I've learnt about Survey Services. There were proposed several sevvices, such as My TextX, Twitter, Google forms, Socrative. I tried to work with Google foms and Socrative. Now, I really like Socrative. Last year I've know about Kahoot!. I've even prepared a small test for Student Scientific Conference. But, unfortunately, I couldn't share it due to Internet absence.

Well, here is screenshort of Socrative interface:

As you can see, it has a convenient interface, pleasant colors and simple decor.

You can view my Google Forms work in previous posts.

Hello!

Recently, I discovered excellent services for working with presentations. They are Prezi and Slideshare and Qwiki. Previously, I used only PowerPoint. Now I understand that you can make your presentations much brighter and more colorful, using a variety of services. A significant disadvantage is that some resources you are paid for. Today my favourite one is Prezi.

You can view my "Prezi" presentation:
https://prezi.com/view/zJ7vki69Vxj8Wp47S9pN/

Here's one example of PowerPoint presentations:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1U2qtSFIbA32zDxj5morIFyhG5XI2iBemindcYbpcRog/edit?usp=sharing

So, I think you can notice difference and it makes no sense to explain anything :)

3 tips for sounding like a native speaker

How's it going? Here I am...again. And again I'm talking about learning.

It’s not a surprise that language learning requires a lot of practice. It’s thought to be sooo boring, yah? So, you need to use different resources to diversify it. Okay... Now I’ll tell you more about resources that you'll probably like.

Firstly, let us say that language learning is divided into learning of vocabulary, grammar and phonetics. Everybody knows it. In our university, we have a number of courses that aimed at studying a particular paths.

Well, nowadays it’s inconvenient to use huge printed dictionaries, so we always choose electronic ones. The most popular of them “Translate.google.by”, “Translate.ru”, “WooordHunt”and “Multitran.ru”. I usually use “Google translator” and “WooordHunt” when I need to translate something.

When we speak about combined training (for example, vocabulary + phonetics) I can recommend you “Duolinguo”. There you can choose any language you interested in and do simple exercises on translation and pronunciation. Another similar application is “Memrise”.I mentioned it in previous post. I like it, but there’s one problem – for more effective learning, you need to purchase “Pro mode”. I use these apps to improve my Spanish.

I also recommend you to visit the Internet resource “myhappyplanet.com”. Here you can send and receive messages with native speakers, learn about cultures and languages through lessons created by its members, watch videos uploaded by its members in multiple languages.

At the moment, this is all I can remember. In fact, there are a lot of applications and programs for education. I only named those, which I actively use. Well, thanks for your time. See you again. Good luck!

Welcome again!

Today my talking point will be "CALL and language skills". You may think that it's rather boring to talk about it, but I'll try to porovide a very short spot of information.

At first, I should refresh the term "CALL" for you. It's a Computer Assisted Language Learning. In simple words it's a learning of a language by means of computer (the Internet, educational programs, etc.). 

Learning of any language in the world requires promotion of some skills.

These skills are:

1. Reading

2. Writing

3. Listening

4. Speaking

5. Pronunciation

Learner should impove his skills trough learning vocabulary and, of course, grammar.

There are a lot of educational programs which are able to raise the level of your skills. Almost everyone've heard about "Professor Higgins Software. It's an educational multitraker, which compares your ponunciation with pronunciation of a native speaker. In my opinion, that's a great practice, which stands along with a real talking.

Another example is "Memrise ". It's a growing in popularity application. I can say that it's one of my favorites. It includes variuos exercises on listening and writing. I think it's a good choice for beginners, 'cause there are offered several levels of  languages.

Today I've learned about "Rosetta Stone ". This software uses images, texts and sounds to teach words and grammar by spaced repetition and without translation. It has a big linguistic base, which makes it an exelent software for education. So, I want to try this.

Okay, I think it's good enough for today. Hope you've heard about these softwares or used it at once. Bye, see you next time.   

Hello everybody!
That's my first blog. To tell you the truth, I don't understand what to do here.Really. But I hope it will be enjoyable for me to work here. It's a new experience for me. Our teacher said that this blog will be helpful for us, so let's see.
Today I've learned about CALL. It's a computer assisted language learning.CALL is a process of learning language with the help of computer. I think, that it's very important for teacher to use such technologies nowdays,'cause it saves his time and energy. Also it can be more convenient for students to use some devices instead of writting down during the lecture. Computer,in this way, is a peripheral devices associated with term "computer", such as mobile phone,mp3players,notebook etc.
Our university gives an opportunity to use such devices at studies, which can increase our knowledges twice faster.
Well,I suppose that's enough for today. If you find any mistake in my post, write me back. See you next time. Bye!