Monday, November 28, 2011

Trying to use new words....

From T.S. Eliot... as usual, how cleanly spoken ... with internal conversation with the poet

"Trying to use new words, and every attempt
Is a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure [A:or adventure]
Because one has only learnt to get the better of words
For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which
One is no longer disposed to say it. And so each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating [A:or adventure]
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling,
Undisciplined squads of emotion. And what there is to conquer
By strength and submission, has already been discovered
[A: and? What does it matter that the words have already been noted, written, published or inspired others. It is all about the writing, or the attempt... and the dialog]
Once or twice, or several times, by men [A: and women] whom one cannot hope [A: nor want]
To emulate -but there is no competition- [A: !!!]
...
For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business."

- from FOUR QUARTETS, T.S.Eliot
(As copied from the introduction by Wyatt Mason to Arthur Rimbaud: Rimbaud Complete)


Thursday, May 19, 2011

Some questions I have about using Web 2.0 tools in classrooms...

What models or theories of knowledge seem most coherent with Web 2.0 tools?

What theories about language acquisition/learning fit with the opportunities for learning afforded by Web 2.0 tools?

What kinds of knowledge will people need in the workplace in the 21st century?

How have Web 2.0 tools changed the way we access/use/build/share knowledge?

How can we most effectively use these tools in traditional classroom teaching in bricks and mortar buildings?

*** To whom does this all apply??? For people without ready access to computer technology (or the ability to use it)... has anything changed?

What percentage of people learning a second or foreign language will have access to Web 2.0 tools? Why or Why not?

How might these new tools change or reinforce what we know (or think we know) about language learning?