6th International BelNATE-IATEFL Conference

"Teaching English as a World Language in the Information Age"
November 3-5, 2004
Minsk State Linguistics University - Minsk, Belarus

BelNATE Online Workshop

Sponsored by LearningTimes

BeLNATE website: http://www.ir.bsu.by/kel/Teachers/belnate.htm

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BelNATE Online Events Calendar

Every Sunday

 11:00
GMT

14:00
Local Time

 

BelNATE  in TappedIn

 Live online chat session for EFL teachers and specialists meets every  Sunday in Tapped In, beginning from September for informal discussion ( one  hour ).
  • To get there, login to Tapped In  http://www.tappedin.org and then type  /join belnate
  • Tapped In may not work if you go through a proxy server and the proxy hides your IP address. You need to contact your system administrator.
  • Here's what your system administrators need to know. If you are going through a proxy server, make sure that the proxy does NOT hide IP numbers of the machines that are attempting to connect to Tapped In. You can usually specify not to hide IP addresses just to Tapped In (and keep them hidden from other sites)*

         * Tapped In Help

Check out the Tapped In calendar of ASO events at: http://tappedin.org/tappedin/do/CalendarAction 

Some other  BelNATE Venues:

What you need on your computer

1 Download Yahoo Messenger. http://messenger.yahoo.com/messenger/download/index.html

Check out the following links and find out how to use Yahoo Messenger:                                                          

 Logging in and adding friends
How to Archive Messages and Retrieve Chat Logs
Initiating Chat and Starting a Voice Conference

To send live video feeds:

 Start Yahoo Messenger. Select the 'Tools' listing on the top of the toolbar. Go to the drop down menu and select the listing for 'Start my Webcam'. You will see a window appear with your video. Now people who have your Yahoo login name will be able to see your video.

You need a mic if you want to talk back and a web cam of you want to broadcast. You can hear and see us without these items!

2 In addition to this, we will try to  experiment with Learning Times.  To access the conference participants there, go to  http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes . Register, log in and come to the "Meeting Room"  which is at http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes?go=570543

Before you can launch Elluminate Live! session, you will need to download and install Java Web Start on your computer. Please ensure that you allow sufficient time to complete the download and installation before your first session. The link to the required software is available from the Elluminate website. You can obtain Java Web Start directly from Sun Microsystems at http://java.sun.com/products/javawebstart/

To start using Elluminate Live! take an online orientation session, which provides an overview of the main features or read the Elluminate Live! ™ Participant's Guide .

Things to do before the conference...

1 Visit our possible venues before the conference  to see which are working for you. But first, check our webpage  at http://www.ir.bsu.by/kel/collegebaytalk.htm  After that , try to create on-site chat groups. Please, invite teachers and students to take part in this project.

2 Save on your hard drives  university logos, your pictures and maps for everybody know who you are and where you come from.We'll ask you to paste  thumbnails of your photos  on the whiteboard!

Here's our plan:

On November 3 at 14:00 pm in Minsk or 11:00 am GMT Tefl Park Team will give a presentation on Synchronious Communication Tools, using Learning Times, Yahoo Messenger and TappedIn. Students will meet at CollegeBay Text Chat Room, which is at: http://textchat.homestead.com/textchat.html  

Possible guest speakers and presenters:

The time of the event will be reported later - tentatively November 4, 2004  14:00 p.m. in Minsk, or 11:00 a.m. GMT. This will take place at the PC Lab of Minsk State Linguistics University (  Building B - 104).

On May 24,2004 we got a message from Jeff Cooper. It reads "Very nice job getting the BelNATE room started...I've joined the group and will be happy to help in any way you would like me to". Read Jeff's article "Educational MUVES: Virtual Learning Communities" at  http://snipurl.com/netc1 

Webheads Online Presentations and Panels:

Teresa Almeida d'Eca, Buthaina Al Othman, Dafne Gonzales: " Starting a Blog" Panelists assist participants in creating their own blogs.

David Winet: "Motivation online - and off."

Abstract:  What motivates students to stay the course?  What makes them drop out? This problem, bad enough in offline, credit-granting, fee-paying courses, become titanic in online, non-credit-granting, online courses like StudyCom English for Internet. This presentation will talk about some ways StudyCom teachers have found to deal with the problem.

Vance Stevens, Susanne Nyrop, Dafne Gonzales: "Intro To Asynchronous Communication Tools"

Abstract: My presentation would not go into depth where there were other presentations dwelling on these subjects, such as Bee's on Blogging, but would compliment these and put them in a perspective of WHY educators would want to get themselves online (and once that was established, ok, then HOW?).  In other words, this would be an overview of the tools available and enough of an explanation with reference to further information to get participants started on any or all of them.

Teresa Almeida d'Eca, Barbara Dieu, Buthaina Al Othman: "We blog. What about you? Do you blog?"

Abstract: Among the collaborative and interactive tools on the WEB, CMS (content management systems) hosting blogs are those that have awakened greatest interest as they offer much potential in education and language learning. Not only do they allow personal control and the possibility to publish online but also to create communities of practice around projects and themes. Come and make your debut in blogosphere. During this one and a half-hour audio-conference workshop, three webheads from different parts of the world will introduce you to blogs, illustrate the different types and show you how they have integrated them into their everyday EFL practice. Time and connections permitting, we will start a blog together to continue interacting with you after the conference!

Elizabeth  Hanson-Smith: " Teaching Writing Online"

Abstract: A panel of international teachers will discuss their experiences in teaching writing online using resources accessed through a collaborative group, Webpages, blogs, interactive exercises, and other resources found on the Internet. Panelists will respond to questions from the audience via live chat from three or more different locations around the globe.

On August 30, 2004 Elizabeth Hanson-Smith created a Yahoo Group to help plan the WiA presentations at the Minsk conference.Webheads used this method to refine the schedule for the PCI at TESOL Long Beach.

Check out BelNATE_2004 at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/belnate 

On September 14, 2004 we got an email from David Winet , who runs  a site called Study.com which has been offering free online ESL instruction since 1996. 

"The purpose of the project,- writes David Winet,-  is to explore and expand the educational potential of Internet by offering free online instruction by volunteer teachers to students from all over the world, in order, in part, to facilitate the learning of English by students who might otherwise not have access to, or resources for, 'real world' and/or paying classes; and in part to identify: 1) the advantages and disadvantages of online education as compared to traditional in-class education, and 2) the optimal methods for instruction and learning within the online environment."

Dave is interested in  online learning/teaching both from a technical and  pedagogical point of view. What really motivates students on or off line would be the topic of his presentation on November 4 at 13:50 GMT.

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