Hi all!
How are you? Summer is coming, and I'm really happy about that! Unfortunately I'm working in an ice-cream shop, so during the weekends, instead of going to the beach, I prepare huge sundaes for hundreds of terrible children! :-D
I think this will be my last post about this English course and I'm really sad because I guess this is the VERY last English course of my university career! So this time I would like to talk about my Personal Learning Environment.
A PLE is literally our 'learning environment', our learning universe in which we find both formal learning (university courses, institutional education...) and informal learning. It is the collection of tools we use when we learn both guided by someone else or by ourselves. The name itself says that a PLE is PERSONAL, so there's no right or wrong but just the way you see it and just the tools you use.
This is the first time I sit down and reflect carefully on my PLE. I've always considered informal education a fundamental part of my learning experience, but developing my mindmap I was struck by the number of aspects I can relate to the informal environment of my education.
In order to collect all the tools of my educational environment I started with a brainstorming: I created a list of things I do or use when learning English without trying to organize it. That was a second step. I divided the tools into 6 categories: People, Web, Texts, Spaces, Audio and Looking for Information and divided them - except for Looking for Information- again into Formal and Informal.
At the beginning I divided the different aspects between formal and informal and then into minor categories, but then I realized that the most important aspect was the means and not the 'environment', being it formal or informal.
I have to say that it was not that easy. It took me a while to focus on the different tools of my learning experience and to organize them in a comprehensible way, but I didn't imagine it could be so useful. Now I know that ending my formal education doesn't mean ending my learning experience. There are a lot of tools I can use and I have to make the most of them to become a good informal learner! :-D
Well, I think that's all...
This time I cannot say 'see you next week' :-( but I hope I will manage to use this blog even once the course is finished because I really like it!
Good luck and keep on learning! :-D
Elisa
PS: I created my mindmap with FreeMind, another useful tool provided by the Internet. I guess it can be useful for a lot of purposes, so if you want to use it you can download it: it's free! :-D
Hi all!
How are you? We're almost at the end of this course and I have to admit that I've learned a lot! I've been reflecting on interesting things and learning how to use the different tools the Web provides.
On the other hand, I've rarely considered what happens to the info I put on the Internet. Yes, I know I shouldn't put personal info such as address and phone number and I have a good antivirus and firewall to protect my pc, but I've nevere really thought about this problem.
What struck me most was reading about Facebook Beacon. I didn't know anything about that and I was almost shocked by this way of using Facebook users' information. I'm a proud owner of a Facebook profile :-D but I thought it was pretty closed... Now I know that they're able to register my purchases or activities in other websites and publish them as a News Feed in my Facebook profile! I suggest you read this article because it's really illuminating!
Of course the solution is not to avoid using the Internet! I guess it would be almost impossible for me :-D! What I think is important is to start using it in a critical way. We should always consider some aspects:
- Be sure you have a good anti-virus and an active firewall to protect your pc;
- Don't publish personal information (numbers, addresses, credit card numbers...) on the Internet - be careful with Facebook...
- Always evaluate online resources. It is important both for research but also for protecting your personal information ( think about e-mail spoofing or phishing...).
Again, I suggest you read this site about identity theft.
Well, I think that's all for now! Have a relaxing weekend!
See you next week!
Elisa
Hi all!
How are you?
This time I would like to start with an question: have you ever heard about Google Docs? Let me tell you something about this useful tool!
Google Docs is another fantastic tool provided by Google. It gives you the possibility to have always your documents at hand because they are online! Forget about usb devices, e-mail attachments or things like that! You can open and edit your docs from any computer! I think it can be very useful for me: I often start working on a doc from my computer and then need to edit it from the university labs. This can be a problem because sometimes you're not allowed to use a pendrive or you cannot access to your e-mail account. Google Docs helps you solve these problems!
Moreover, Google Docs is perfect if you're looking for 'interactive writing': other people can edit the same doc - at the same time - and work on it to have a successful collaboration on the same piece of writing. This doesn't mean that anybody can modify your text: only invited people can see and edit your doc; it is private sharing.
Google Docs can be useful not only if you need to work on different computers, but also if you need to work with other people on the same doc. As far as I'm concerned, I think I would like to use it while writing my final thesis: it would be useful to share my thesis with my supervisor and it would be easy to get his corrections. True, reading a long text on a screen can be difficult, but it would save a lot of time and paper!
See you next week!
Elisa
Hello everybody!
In this post I want to talk with you about two different styles of citation: APA and MLA. I must admit I even didn't know that these styles existed! When I wrote my BA thesis I cited sources and wrote a bibliography, but I used what we can call a personal style. It was a way of citing I learned a coulpe of years ago. I was supposed to write an essay and we were told that it was a good way of citing sources, so I thought it would be good also for my BA thesis!
I didn't know two specific styles existed. I don't know if we have something similar for Italian but it seems to me that here in Italy we don't pay enough attention to the problem of plagiarism. APA and MLA styles are the answer to this matter: they tell you how to cite a source in a proper way, being it a in-text citation or a bibliography.
Even if they serve the same purpose they are a little bit different. Let's take, for example, the case of a reference list for some books. APA style suggests write the author's surname and then only the initial of the name. On the contrary, MLA style wants the surname followed by a comma and then by the complete author's name.
As far as the title of the book is concerned, if we decide to follow the APA style we should write the title in Italic while if we choose the MLA style our title will be underlined but not in Italic.
The two styles are also different for what the year of publication is concerned: according to APA, the year of publication should be written after the author's initial and divided from it by a comma. On the contrary, MLA puts the year at the very end of the citation.
If we want to cite an online resource the two styles suggest more or less the same technique, but MLA simply puts the retrieval date before the web address while APA specify ' retrieved .../.../....'.
I focused only on these two aspects of the two styles because these are the aspects that interest me more. Nevertheless, the two styles explain evey single aspect of citation; they give detailed instruction for every single situation of citation.
My style of citation for my BA thesis actually was a mixture of the two: I wrote the author's surname, then the initial of the name, then the book title in Italic and finally publisher, location and date. I thought it was a good style because it was complete and clear and I didn't find difficulties using it because it was pretty straightforward. Anyway, from now on I think I will use the MLA citation style because I like the emphasis on the book title and because I think is close to my 'personal' idea of citation so it will probably be more easy to use.
There's still a lot of work to be done!
See you soon!
Elisa
I was looking for something interesting for my thesis and through Google Books I found this interesting abstract. It is part of a book called "Southern Europe and the New Immigrations" and it is edited by Russell King and Richard Black. On page 138 Joanna Apap writes about the problems Maghrebi migrants have in Italy.
The text starts with a general introduction where the author clearly explains the aim of the chapter before starting with a in-depth analysis: the words "the focus of this chapter is mainly centred upon..." (Apap, n.d.) help the reader following the flow of ideas and the logical organization of the text. On the other hand, it is not possible to say that the text follows the hourglass structure because the reader can not identify a real conclusion. In fact, the last paragraph is called "Regional, local and private initiative". It doesn't bring the arguments to a close and, on the contrary, it addeds further information.
As far as logic is concerned, I think the text presents a logical flow of ideas. It is always clear how one sentence is related to the others. For example, on page 141 the author presents the problem of immigration and citizenship and she gives data and claims supporting her thesis. She uses the words for example, nonetheless, however in order to help the reader follow the logical flow of ideas through a sort of organized and fixed path.
This abstract can also be considered cohesive. The author makes a lot of references forward and back to the ideas she presents in the text. On page 143 she writes "thus recent estimates..." and then she points back to the same aspect writing "for example, an official estimates made...". Again, on page 145 she refers to differences between Italy and Spain and she writes "differences are particularly evident...". Then, she points back to the matter writing "one reason to this difference..." at the beginning of the next paragraph.
As far as writing is concerned, I think the article is pretty simple. Sentences are simple and not very long and the author doesn't use difficult or archaic terms. On page 145 Apap introduces the problem of spacial distribution of immigrants. The first sentence of the paragraph is the main idea. In this way, the reader understands what the author is going to speak about and can easily follow the flow of ideas. Apap writes "one reason for this difference might be the variation in the spacial distribution...". Then, she provides examples supporting this statement: " In Italy, immigrants are spread... In contrast, in Spain...".
Finally, I think the text is written for a specific audience even if it is written in a simple way and it can be easily understand even by non-experts. It provides specific examples and data that can be useful for research purposes and it is part of a book entirely dedicated to the problem of immigration. For this reason, the text is clear and fluent, but is rich of contents and it can be considered a scientific research.
Hello everybody!
Did you enjoy your Easter Holidays?
This time I would like to talk with you about IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) and plagiarism. We usually don't pay a lot of attention to this matter, but actually being able to avoid plagiarism and respect IPR is really important. So first, I would like to share with you some information about IPR. As you can see on Wikipedia there are different types of IPR: you're probably familiar with copyright and trademark, but maybe you don't know anything about trade secrets or patents. I think these concepts are a good starting point in order to improve your knowledge of the problem. If you want to know more about IPR I suggest you visit the WIPO Website: here you can find detailed information about IPR and an interesting pdf. about what IP actually is.
Now I would like to focus on the practical aspects of this matter: how can we respect IPR when writing? When using a source - for example in an academic paper - we should consider that the text we are referring to is a work of art and a creation of mind. For this reason, it should be properly cited in order to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism.org is a very useful site. Here you can find information on different types of plagiarism and on copyright laws, but most of all you can find important tips on how to avoid plagiarism when writing a paper and on how to make a good citation.
As far as I'm concerned, this point is fundamental: I'm not able to cite the sources I'm referring to in a proper way, or better, I don't use a specific style. This is something I should work on since I will have to write my final thesis. I suggest you visit this page from the Cornell University Library website where you can find a detailed description of the MLA Citation Style together with useful examples of it.
Hope I offered you an inspiring overview of the problem!
See you soon!
Elisa
Hi guys!
How are you?
I'm a little bit sad today because it's raining... I want the sun!
Anyway, this time I would like to share with you my impressions on an interesting and important aspect of the Web: the reliability of information.
When Sarah presented us this topic I suddenly thought about online resources. I almost always take for granted what is written in a 'traditional' book - it's published= it's true! - so I never thought about its reliability... I promise I will be more critic from now on...
On the contrary, reliability is an fundamental aspect of online resources. Just think about Wikipedia: everybody can publish or edit an entry... Even I - IO, ICH, YO, JE, WO - edited an entry, and of course I'm not what we can call an expert... You see how it is important to be able to evaluate the information you find on the Web.
When looking for online information I think it is important to evaluate and to check the following aspects:
- Who is the author ( his/her job, previous articles...)
- The domain ( .edu, .org...)
- The genre of the text (article, dissertation,...)
- The contents of the website and its layout (too many emoticons, advertisements...)
This is just what I think can be useful to get a general idea about the reliability of a source, but Purdue's Writing Lab and the website of University of Essex can help you with more useful and specific suggestions on how to evaluate an online resource. It is something everybody should be able to do if it is necessary to be sure of the reliability of a text.
Last lesson I also started to use Google in a more conscious way. I discovered Google Scholar, Google Books and Google Blogs. In the first one you can find online articles, dissertations, academic texts... It is very useful if you want to write your final thesis! Google Books helps you find the book you need; sometimes you can also read an abstract or a part of the text. Finally, Google Blogs helps you find interesting blogs in the jungle of the blogosphere. For example, I came across with The Bamboo Project. I suggest you visit this blog because it is a clear example of an authoritative blog... Blogs can be SERIOUS ;-D !
See you next week for another technological adventure!
Elisa
What a delicious discovery! I'm not playing with words, I just want to write something about social bookmarking and about Delicious. I had no idea what social bookmarking was, but this brand-new discovery opens up the door of a new world!
First of all, Delicious is a social bookmarking service. As far as bookmarking is concerned, it gives you the possibility to save and use bookmarks even if you are not visiting the Web from your computer. I must admit Delicious was a surprise, because I didn't even know this kind of tool existed...
But the best is yet to come, so let's talk about the adjective ' social'! It is not simply a matter of bookmarking! With Delicious you can share your bookmarks with other people! This means that Delicious can be considered a sort of library! Moreover, people sharing their bookmarks add to them specific labels - called tags - in order to identify the website, so everybody can easily find what they're looking for.
I visited some bookmarks my peers saved and I think this is a good way of sharing knowledge! Francesca, for example, saved a very useful website for ESL. It is an interesting website where you can find grammar or pronunciation lessons, but also jokes and proverbs. On the other hand, Sarah saved an 'academic' website, ESP-World, where you can read all that you need to know about English for Specific Purposes. It is a web-based journal and it is very useful if you want to see ESP from different points of view.
Enjoy Delicious, it's delicious!
PS: From now on in my posts I will use only personal images... I'm going to be original, so let's see what will happen...
Hello everybody!
How are you? This time I would like to talk about RSS and Feed Aggregators... What do you think about them?
You know, I was not interested in feeds... but during our last lesson I realized that they are quite useful if you want to stay updated on the blogs or websites you're interested in! It's like having someone always telling you that somebody added that post or updated that website...You don't need worry about losing important news or an interesting post because RSS does the job for you!
For this reason, I don't understand why sometimes it's impossible to find the little RSS icon... I mean, there are websites in which the RSS icon seems to be...hidden; it is very small or it is quite difficult to find... If feeds are so useful, why do we have to go RSS icon-hunting? If you want to know more about RSS you can obviously have a look at Wikipedia ;-D http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)
I also started to use Bloglines ( http://www.bloglines.com/ )! I think it is fantastic! It gives me the possibility to arrange all my feeds and to see new posts or news in one page without going to that website or that blog. Moreover, I can decide whether I'm interested in the new post or not simply by viewing the title, and I think this is very useful most of all for feeds of newspapers and news networks.
Now that I know both RSS and Feed Aggregators I guess I will use them to stay up to date with all the websites I'm interested in and not only for educational purpose. It is a useful and simple technology everybody can use... What are you waiting for?
Bye!
Elisa
This second semester is going to be very important for my language learning since it is my 'final occasion' to improve my English. For this reason, I have more than one learning target and I would like to improve different skills, for example listening, writing and spoken production.
I'm going to make a good use of the Internet, which I guess can be very useful most of all for listening activities. In fact, it is possible to watch TV programs or listen to the radio, and I think this is very useful if I want to get used to different types and styles of speech.
The Web can also be a source of information for writing tips. I was searching for a useful page about accuracy in writing and I found two interesting sites:
http://www.write-better-english.com/index.aspx
http://ezinearticles.com/?English-and-Foreign-Language-Compositions---5-Tips-for-Easier-Writing&id=1079901
Anyway, as far as writing is concern, it is also important to receive suggestions and corrections from my peers and from the Professor, so I will need some help in order to achieve my target.
Collaboration is also important for spoken production. I need to become more confident and fluent, so I'm going to make the most of the lessons and try to be accurate in speaking.
I made something of what I wrote in my learning target sheet but honestly I didn't devote so much time to my good intentions... Hope I will manage to do something more during the next weeks!
Bye!
Elisa
Hi!
This is my very first blog... I'm still a little bit... confused...I don't know exactly how to do this or that but be patient and you'll see, I'll become a perfect blogger! :-D
I think it will be a great opportunity to improve my computer skills and to start ' considering' another useful tool the Web is offering. I hope I will manage to maintain the blog after the end of the course, because I think it is perfect for a 'writaholic' like me!
I think this blog will help me becoming more accurate in writing, so if you want to comment on my posts, correct them, suggest how to improve the blog... feel free! It will also be the chance to start using an informal English or, better, to start using the right style for the right situation...
Hope you'll enjoy my journey through the English world!
Bye!
Elisa
