Mark Powell on Web 2.0 technologies in language training

Mark Powell will be coming to the "Sprachen und Beruf" Conference in Düsseldorf (15-17 June 2009) where he will be delivering the keynote speech. In an advance interview with the organizers of the conference he was asked: "How are you using technology yourself at the moment?"

"Mark Powell: I am a huge fan of online video. YouTube is just the best thing on the internet and a gift from the gods to language trainers, as far as I am concerned. Because so many companies have firewalls and restricted internet access, it is vital to be able to download what you are going to use, but the range of business interviews, news features, presentations and movie clips is now so enormous, there is no need to buy a cheesy language learning DVD ever again! The secret, however, is having an equally broad range of techniques for exploiting online video without too much of a time investment on our part. Otherwise, at worst, it is just video for video’s sake and, at best, a huge amount of extra work for a tailor-made training session we may never be able to use again.

I also do a lot of one-to-one training, so for me it makes sense to work on things like e-mail writing and telephone skills using internet telephony like Skype. Coupled with a webcam, you have got the cabability to reformulate client output as they write, whilst multi-tasking in a semi-teleconference environment. Online whiteboards that allow you and your client to write on the same electonic document simultaneously, such as Skrbl.com, are also invaluable here. And free video e-mail like Eyejot.com is just great for phased role play activities, sending short video messages back and forth. What is more, all this kind of stuff is pretty much disaster-proof. I am no technological wizard, so if I can get it to work, it has got to be good.

(...) If we take the analogy of the language trainer as a personal fitness trainer, then online self-study (perhaps using quiz-making software like Qedoc, Quia and Quizlet) would be the food supplement regime and in-class technology (podcasts, video clips, PowerPoint slides, digital recording devices, etc.) would be the exercise machines themselves. But it remains the trainer’s job to put the clients through their paces, motivate them, fine-tune the exercise programme and assess progress."

The complete interview is here.

Spam, spam, spam

You may remember Monty Python's SPAM song...

"SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM... lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM"

The SPAM song was made shortly before spam or spamming on the Internet had really begun, but if you're unlucky, Monty Python's SPAM song may sound a bit like the contents of your inbox.

Btw, SPAM in uppercase letters is a strange kind of British luncheon meat which looks and tastes a bit like the even odder looking and tasting Leberkäs. Spam in lowercase letters normally means unsolicited emails.

Is there anything you can do to reduce the amount of spam you receive?

Well, your Internet provider probably provides a spam filter for 'free' and there are dozens and dozens of spam programs out there that you can download, some of which are also free, but the better spam filters usually cost a little.

If you are interested in downloading a spam filter, it is best to read some reviews about the program you want to download first, otherwise you may find that the program not only deletes spam, but perfectly legitimate emails that have been sent to multiple recipients.

One thing to avoid, regardless of which spam filter you use, is the setting 'automatically delete spam'. Spam filters cannot always be relied on to identify spam correctly, so it is best to tell the spam filter to send suspected spam to your junk mail or spam folder so you can check the contents of the folder for legitimate emails later.

Finally, don't forward spam that you have received, otherwise there is a very real danger that you may end up being blacklisted as a spammer yourself.

You may say that you would never forward spam, but I'm afraid a friend of mine forwarded a harmless, but stupid chain letter. My spam filter identified it as spam and all her subsequent emails went into my junk mail folder until I fiddled around and managed to add her email address to my safe senders' list.

Using Outlook's Calendar to 'invite' students

To follow on from Anne's post about arranging meetings using Doodle, let's look at how to send students an invitation for a lesson using Outlook.

I find this function is very useful for some groups and one-to-one students who cancel regularly or where companies have a policy that the have to be more than a certain number of students before the lesson can take place.

First, open Outlook and go to your calendar. If the lesson is already shown in your calendar, double click on it. If it isn't in your calendar you will need to add it by double clicking on the day the lesson will take place and adding the relevant details (Subject, Location, Start time, etc.)

Now click on the 'Invite Attendees' button at the top and add the email addresses of the students you want to 'invite' to the lesson.

When you have finished, click on send.

A copy of the invitation is sent to all the students and they then have three options 1) to accept the invitation, 2) to accept it tentatively and 3) to reject the invitation.

As soon as they click on one of those options, Outlook will send you an email letting you know whether they have time or not and if they accept, the lesson will be added to their calendar.

It's simple, fast and can sometimes saves you from a trip to a group of students who don't have time for a lesson.

A webbased email account

One of the basic tools you need on the internet is a free online email account that you can access from anywhere. An extra account is also good to have if you want to keep your "regular" email account free of online updates you have subscribed to, like newsletters or forums. Some of the providers you can use are Google Mail http://mail.google.com, GMX Mail http://www.gmx.net and WindowsLive Hotmail http://login.live.com. When you sign up, you can enable POP/IMAP to get those emails pushed from the online server to your email client, viz. Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail or Modzilla Thunderbird, on your home or office computer. However, keeping the online account separate reduces clutter.

When you register for a course in online technology that will take place in a media lab, you should have your online account information handy. The general procedure for using online platforms or tools is to sign up as directed, then pick up your "welcome" email right then and there from your online account server, and then to follow the login instructions. Being able to access your email account online is therefore essential.

Which online account provider do you prefer and recommend, and why? Any problems? Tips?