Comments on: In Denial… http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204 Feel Free to Use Any Gadgets You want Round Here... Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:53:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: That’SLife » Blog Archive » The Crapness Conceit http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204&cpage=1#comment-2914 That’SLife » Blog Archive » The Crapness Conceit Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:27:42 +0000 http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204#comment-2914 [...] always interesting to engage with and ponder. I’ve seen yet more of the Kool Aid argument [ for background, check here ]: “There’s a saying in the U.S. about people who uncritically embrace ideology as [...] [...] always interesting to engage with and ponder. I’ve seen yet more of the Kool Aid argument [ for background, check here ]: “There’s a saying in the U.S. about people who uncritically embrace ideology as [...]

]]> By: admin http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204&cpage=1#comment-2384 admin Tue, 12 May 2009 09:50:43 +0000 http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204#comment-2384 How true, Darren - how very, very true... How true, Darren – how very, very true…

]]> By: Darren Elliott http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204&cpage=1#comment-2383 Darren Elliott Tue, 12 May 2009 08:11:38 +0000 http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204#comment-2383 I take your point, but I think your colleague Ms. Hockly represents the kind of teacher who uses technology in interesting and viable ways. She, therefore, doesn`t require a beard. We all know people with beards are hiding something, and should be watched carefully. I take your point, but I think your colleague Ms. Hockly represents the kind of teacher who uses technology in interesting and viable ways. She, therefore, doesn`t require a beard.

We all know people with beards are hiding something, and should be watched carefully.

]]> By: admin http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204&cpage=1#comment-2376 admin Tue, 12 May 2009 06:47:18 +0000 http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204#comment-2376 Jamie, Yes indeed - he's had his judgement clouded by 'word addiction', the poor mite... I bet there are crisps in his beard too... Jamie,

Yes indeed – he’s had his judgement clouded by ‘word addiction’, the poor mite…

I bet there are crisps in his beard too…

]]> By: Jamie Keddie http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204&cpage=1#comment-2375 Jamie Keddie Tue, 12 May 2009 06:42:52 +0000 http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204#comment-2375 Have you ever seen the size of Johannes Gutenberg's beard? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg Don't know why he didn't keep it a bit more trim in his line of work. Anyway, he is one mad technojunkie who has had a bad influence on us otherwise sober language teachers, turning us into skimming- and scanning-obsessed freaks. Have you ever seen the size of Johannes Gutenberg’s beard?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg

Don’t know why he didn’t keep it a bit more trim in his line of work.

Anyway, he is one mad technojunkie who has had a bad influence on us otherwise sober language teachers, turning us into skimming- and scanning-obsessed freaks.

]]> By: admin http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204&cpage=1#comment-2371 admin Tue, 12 May 2009 05:45:03 +0000 http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204#comment-2371 Darren, thanks for your comments and I'm glad to see you're on my side, but you fall into the stereotyping trap yourself with your comment "some guy with a beard...". My colleague Nicky Hockly, herself a committed technology user in teaching and training, would not recognise herself in that description at all. She's never even attempted to grow a beard which, I admit given her chosen calling, is lazy at best... As for 'internet addiction', well - less said better. I know teachers who are addicted to 'tasks' but I don't make a big thing out of it. Darren, thanks for your comments and I’m glad to see you’re on my side, but you fall into the stereotyping trap yourself with your comment “some guy with a beard…”.

My colleague Nicky Hockly, herself a committed technology user in teaching and training, would not recognise herself in that description at all. She’s never even attempted to grow a beard which, I admit given her chosen calling, is lazy at best…

As for ‘internet addiction’, well – less said better. I know teachers who are addicted to ‘tasks’ but I don’t make a big thing out of it.

]]> By: Richard http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204&cpage=1#comment-2365 Richard Tue, 12 May 2009 00:29:37 +0000 http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204#comment-2365 Nice piece; it amused me anyway. Can I please have an interactive whiteboard? Amongst other things I'd like to just save all the vocabulary (lexis, if you will) that I write on the board during the lesson rather than scribbling it down frantically in the 2 seconds I have between classes (only to find it illegible later), or photographing it on my mobile and attempting to refocus the wobbly text before the following class. Technology is useful, goddammit, if you know what the hell you're doing with it. "Hey dude, this newfangled paper malarkey, can't see the future in it myself." (Mr. Short-sighted, approx. 100BC) Nice piece; it amused me anyway.

Can I please have an interactive whiteboard? Amongst other things I’d like to just save all the vocabulary (lexis, if you will) that I write on the board during the lesson rather than scribbling it down frantically in the 2 seconds I have between classes (only to find it illegible later), or photographing it on my mobile and attempting to refocus the wobbly text before the following class. Technology is useful, goddammit, if you know what the hell you’re doing with it.

“Hey dude, this newfangled paper malarkey, can’t see the future in it myself.” (Mr. Short-sighted, approx. 100BC)

]]> By: Darren Elliott http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204&cpage=1#comment-2360 Darren Elliott Mon, 11 May 2009 22:08:55 +0000 http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=204#comment-2360 I think you are being deliberately obtuse here...sure, there are plenty of old fuddy-duddys who are terrified of technology and rubbish the whole lot out of hand. But thee are also a sizeable minority of tech-geeks who get all wowed out about what they can do with their shiny new toys without stopping to think about whether it works FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING. Haven't you ever seen a presentation where some guy with a beard expounds on his great new application for thirty minutes and thought "yeah, but I could do that better with a piece of paper....". You probably haven't, but I have. As teachers, we are always looking for new ways to stay fresh and enthused...but we have to be careful that we don't force our enthusiasms on our students. It could be technology, or language through drama, or the silent way, or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I love technology and I use various tools with my students. I'm always looking for more..for example, although I'm not a second life fan now (crappy laptop) I've seen enough and read enough to know that it's time in the mainstream is coming. I'm on your side, but I think you have to recognise that these arguments AGAINST technology have some validity. Is it not possible that a teacher could have his or her judgement clouded by internet addiction? I think you are being deliberately obtuse here…sure, there are plenty of old fuddy-duddys who are terrified of technology and rubbish the whole lot out of hand. But thee are also a sizeable minority of tech-geeks who get all wowed out about what they can do with their shiny new toys without stopping to think about whether it works FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING. Haven’t you ever seen a presentation where some guy with a beard expounds on his great new application for thirty minutes and thought “yeah, but I could do that better with a piece of paper….”. You probably haven’t, but I have.

As teachers, we are always looking for new ways to stay fresh and enthused…but we have to be careful that we don’t force our enthusiasms on our students. It could be technology, or language through drama, or the silent way, or whatever.

Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and I use various tools with my students. I’m always looking for more..for example, although I’m not a second life fan now (crappy laptop) I’ve seen enough and read enough to know that it’s time in the mainstream is coming.

I’m on your side, but I think you have to recognise that these arguments AGAINST technology have some validity. Is it not possible that a teacher could have his or her judgement clouded by internet addiction?

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