Graham Davies

Derek writes: The JFK section has turned into a "site within a site". While I can appreciate the interest that this topic has generated, it may also lead some visitors to perceive the Education Forum as being irrelevant to their subject area. I would like to see more postings on e-learning pedagogy, for example. The DfES in the UK is pouring vast amounts of money into e-learning (which, incidentally, is defined by the DfES as "using ICT" and does not necessarily imply distance learning), and I therefore believe that one of our major concerns should be how e-learning can really contribute to improved learning and teaching across the curriculum.

Liverpool - AC Milan: What a match! It was one of the most memorable and exciting football matches that I (as a rugby fan) have ever watched. Full of surprises and Liverpool deserved to win. As for the FA Cup Final, well Man United certainly came across as the better team, but... And what's this Glazer guy up to? Can't he speak? Football is a bit of a lottery, isn't it?

I maintain a site offering ICT training materials geared towards language teachers: http://www.ict4lt.org The module on creating websites (No. 3.3) has slipped steadily down the popularity list since the site was opened in 2000. It now occupies position No. 16 our of 16 modules. Does this suggest that language teachers already know all about creating websites and therefore don't need this information or does it suggest that creating websites is no longer considered a priority? The popularity list on the home page of the ICT4LT site makes interesting reading. The module on concordance programs (2.4) is No. 1, followed by the module on multimedia CALL (2.2). Now, I'm willing to bet that most of you who teach a subject other than modern foreign languages have never heard of a concordance program, but language teachers obviously regard such an application as important. This illustrates clearly just that ICT training has to be subject-specific in order to capture the interest of teachers. This was also the conclusion of the UK inspectorate OFSTED when they assessed the impact of the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) ICT training progamme that ran in the UK from 1999 to 2003. OFSTED pointed out that generic ICT training was often too technical and incomprehensible to the majority of teachers.

Try this site for free hints and tips on handling video: Oxford Digital Video: Training courses and resources: http://www.oxdv.co.uk They offer courses, but there's a lot of free stuff here too. Click on Site Map and hunt around. See also Digital Media Converter: http://www.deskshare.com/dmc.aspx

PowerPoint presentations, if properly produced, are an excellent way of enhancing whole-class teaching, e.g. in modern foreign languages we make a lot of use of audio-enhanced (with native speaker recordings) PowerPoint presentations and presentations that make use of animation to emphasise a tricky point of grammar, e.g. the way in which the main verb in German moves to the end of a subordinate clause. There is also a good deal of scope using PowerPoint presentations for interactive group work, e.g. in combination with interactive whiteboads such as those produced by Smart or Promethean, e.g. as exemplified in materials produced by the REvIEW Project (see below). However, PowerPoint presentations can be deadly boring - search the Web in Google for the phrase "Death by PowerPoint" and you'll see what I mean. Many, many PowerPoint presentations that I have sat through have paid scant attention to readable font sizes and colouor combinations. See: À Tantôt: A website that provides French and German online resources which are designed to be used in class on an interactive whiteboard. Resources include videos, starter and plenary activities, games, useful links and much more: http://www.atantot.com Promethean: http://www.promethean.co.uk Smart Technologies: http://www.smarttech.com Greenwich LEA: A useful article entitled "Interactive whiteboards - a luxury too far?": http://www.g2fl.greenwich.gov.uk/temp/whiteboards REvIEW Project: Research and Evaluation of Interactive Electronic Whiteboards, University of Hull in collaboration with Promethean: http://www.thereviewproject.org. Supported by NESTA FutureLab: http://www.nestafuturelab.org

Doug writes: Spammers target accounts ending in .co.uk because this suggests that the account holder is a UK business. Under UK legislation and US legislation (the CAN-SPAM act) that were introduced around 18 months ago it is OK for a business to promote its products to another business - at least that's the way I understand it. I believe the wording regarding the promotion of products and services via spam in both pieces of legislation is a bit of a cop-out, but someone please correct me if I am wrong. I had to close down my .co.uk address because of the amount of spam it was receiving.

Doug writes: Exactly, it's the 'pushing' or 'pacing' of the delivery of the broadcasts to a registered audience that makes podcasts different,. This the feature on which the pedagogical issues regarding the pros and cons of podcasts in a distance learning environment hinge. The PiE project, which focuses on modern foreign languages, is exploring these issues. Audio material is obviously an important aspect of technological aids in modern foreign languages, and always has been for as long as I can remember, dating back to my own learning experiences with a reel-to-reel tape recorder in the 1950s - which I found extremely useful for listening to recordings by native speakers and recording myself to hear what I sounded like.

Just a quick remark concerning the use of cutting-edge technology: Have you considered using "podcasts"? Podcasting is catching on in some areas of the curriculum. For a definition of podcasting and examples of podcasts for learners and teachers of modern foreign languages see the Partners in Excellence website at: http://www.pie.org.uk They call their podcasts "PiEcasts". Partners in Excellence is a consortium of schools in Scotland.

A contact form, with the email address munged (e.g. converted to the ASCII numbers), is quite effective at keeping spam at bay. The address can, however, still be detected by determined spam robots, but most robots just look for the @ symbol or take a chance by hitting info@ followed by a domain name. The WillMaster URL I gave earlier suggests different ways of hiding your email address from the robots. The amount of spam you receive also depends on action taken by your ISP to stop it before it hits you personally. I use three different ISPs: CompuServe, Force9 and Netalia. CompuServe and Force9 appear to stop a lot of spam en block, but Netalia lets almost everything through. Consequently, I have now shut down my Netalia address - actually it's still there but the mailbox limit is set to zero so everything bounces back automatically. My Netalia address is the one that the spammers wrecked. Recent legislation introduced in the EU and the USA has proved to be pretty ineffective in stopping spam. It's like dealing with the Hydra. We now have a situation where publicising your email address is bad for business rather than good for business.

My business email address was spammed out of existence in July last year. It normally received an average of 50 spams per day but this figure rose to 1000-plus per day when a spammer spoofed the address as its return address, so that we received all the bounces and irate emails from recipients of the spam. I therefore set up a new address, which is munged in a contact form offsite. My business address no longer appears at my website. Initial contact with my business by email can only be made via the contact form. Have a look at WillMaster's page for advice: http://willmaster.com/possibilities/archiv...020625001.shtml Since I set up my new address the spam I receive has been reduced to no more than five per day on average. In addition, I filter emails using MailWasher, which I have found to be very effective: MailWasher: http://www.mailwasher.net and http://www.firetrust.com I had to take similar evasive action at the ICT4LT site (http://www.ict4lt.org). Emails can only be send to the ICT4LT team via a contact form. I had to remove a bulletin board at the site because it was invaded by emails emanating from credit card fraudsters. You can view the ICT4LT contact form at: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_feedback.htm I now receive almost no spam via the ICT4LT site. Note: "Munge" (vb) = Mangle Until No Good.

So the Bluewater shopping mall has banned hoods and baseball caps: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4537459.stm I have mixed views about this: 1. Many of the troublemakers who congregate on the corner of our shopping precinct wear hoods or baseball caps. Some go one stage further and wrap a scarf round their mouths. The wearers of hoods, especially on a bright sunny day, have certainly been identified as a potential trouble by local shopkeepers, and older people often remark that they look intimidating. 2. I often wear a baseball cap (I brought back a nice souvenir one from Alaska last year) when I play golf, when I walk my dog on a sunny day, and when I go skiing. It keeps the sun and/or snow out of my eyes and off my bald head. I also have a Canadian Tilley Hat - even better protection against the sun. I was stopped by the bouncer at the door of a Yates wine lodge because I was wearing trainers. I managed to convince him that I did not intend to start a fight and explained that I had no other shoes with me, having just driven 30 miles from home to attend a colleague's leaving party. He let me in but asked me to keep my feet under the table. I think that Bluewater management has a point, but maybe they should concentrate on stopping groups of, say, more than four youngsters hanging around together rather than imposing a dress code. I understand that one of our local shopping precincts has succeeded in getting a Dispersal Order implemented to prevent large groups gathering. Large groups are not tolerated within 100 yards of the precinct. It seems to be effective. Next nasty trend to crack down on: Happy Slapping: http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,...1470213,00.html

So the Bluewater shopping mall has banned hoods and baseball caps: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4537459.stm I have mixed views about this: 1. Many of the troublemakers who congregate on the corner of our shopping precinct wear hoods or baseball caps. Some go one stage further and wrap a scarf round their mouths. The wearers of hoods, especially on a bright sunny day, have certainly been identified as a potential trouble by local shopkeepers, and older people often remark that they look intimidating. 2. I often wear a baseball cap (I brought back a nice souvenir one from Alaska last year) when I play golf, when I walk my dog on a sunny day, and when I go skiing. It keeps the sun and/or snow out of my eyes and off my bald head. I also have a Canadian Tilley Hat - even better protection against the sun. I was stopped by the bouncer at the door of a Yates wine lodge because I was wearing trainers. I managed to convince him that I did not intend to start a fight and explained that I had no other shoes with me, having just driven 30 miles from home to attend a colleague's leaving party. He let me in but asked me to keep my feet under the table. I think that Bluewater management has a point, but maybe they should concentrate on stopping groups of, say, more than four youngsters hanging around together rather than imposing a dress code. I understand that one of our local shopping precincts has succeeded in getting a Dispersal Order implemented to prevent large groups gathering. Large groups are not tolerated within 100 yards of the precinct. It seems to be effective. Next nasty trend to crack down on: Happy Slapping: http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,...1470213,00.html

I think the JKF case will continue to fascinate for many years. Unsolved mysteries always fascinate, but here we are dealing with a whole bunch of people who have a vested interest in hiding or revealing the truth. It is said that most people who were alive at the time of the JFK assassination can remember where they were when they heard the news. I was in a pub in Maidstone, Kent, having just come down from London where I was studying at the time. I went into the pub for a quick pint with a friend before going home to visit my parents for the weekend. The bar went very quiet as the news was passed around. Similarly, most people can remember where they were when the death of Princess Diana was announced. I heard the news from the cabin crew of the plane on which I was returning to England from a visit to relations in British Columbia. Now there's another unsolved mystery...

Andy writes: What I like about this forum is the cross-fertilisation of ideas. I am a modern languages specialist but I dip frequently into other areas, including history, and I have even found a long-lost relative who located me via a contribution I made regarding South Wales miners and the General Strike. History teachers should surely be interested in foreign languages. When I studied at London University in the 1960s, all history students had to have an entry qualification in a modern or ancient languaqe, and the history examinations included a paper in which they had to demonstrate their ability to digest information in authentic documents in a foreign language. I recall four of my friends taking papers in German, Latin, Greek and Swahili (the latter specialised in African history). One of them (the one who studied German) went on to become quite an authority on World War II. I think he wrote several articles on WWII, based on information gleaned from authentic documents in German. There is a new topic on podcasting in the E-Learning section (I started the topic). This is a new technological development that should be of interest to all of us. I must admit I am getting a bit bored with the endless correspondence on conspiracy theories and JFK. I would like to see a bit more on e-learning pedagogy and methodology, with lots of practical advice.

Thanks for a very informative reply, David. The Partners in Excellence project in Scotland has started creating its own podcasts (PiECasts): http://www.pie.org.uk See also http://www.ipodder.org and http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/ See the Languages ICT Forum for recent contributions on PodCasts: http://www.mailbase.org.uk/lists/languagesict-forum

I'm raising this topic because it has just come up in two discussion lists for teachers of modern foreign languages. What do people think of podcasts and the ways in which they might be exploited in different subjects across the curriculum? The technology is fascinating but, as usual, the key question of the usefulness of this new technology hinges on pedagogy and methodology.

When I was around 15 I wrote the following to my German pen-friend: "Ich habe einen Vogel" ("I have a bird"). I was trying to tell him that I had a pet budgerigar, but my little German dictionary did not contain that word. When we met around a year later, He pointed out that the phrase I had written means "I am crazy" or "I have a screw loose". But even when talking to other English native speakers we can get things wrong. As a student in Hamburg I went on a trip to Berlin with students from a number of different countries. A young American women was anxious about getting up in the morning in time for breakfast in the hostel in which we were staying, as she did not have an alarm clock. "That's OK", I said, "I have one. I'll knock you up in the morning." She raised her eyebrows in shock and said, "You'll do WHAT!" I only learned later that in North America "to knock someone up" means "to get someone pregnant". I wonder what she would have made of the old profession of "knocker up", i.e. people who went around the streets knocking street doors and making sure that workers get up in the morning in time for the early shift.

Well said, Audrey! Let's see what the new government does about it - but I fear we are in for more of the same. Languages have suffered as a result of the introduction of the performance tables. Headteachers are not well disposed to languages because, being skill-oriented, they require a larger number of hours on the timetable than a subject that one can simply read about. It's estimated by the Council of Europe that around 350-400 learning hours are required to achieve CEF Level B1 (which theoretically corresponds to GCSE). I compare learning a language to learning to play a musical instrument, namely you only develop the skill to a high level if you practise every day. Similarly, to be good at sports you have to practise regularly. I wonder if Beckham would have got where he is if he had not practised every day. But, as Audrey points out, knowledge of a foreign language also gives insights into foreign cultures and customs, and it raises awareness of one's mother tongue. One of the reasons why English native speakers are so sloppy is that they are often completely unaware of the way their own language works. I learned most of my English grammar from my German teacher at school.

Katherine writes about dreaming in French. I sometimes dream in German, especially when I am holidaying in a German-speaking country. Another strange phenomenon about language: I can usually remember the content of a conversaton that I have had with someone but cannot remember the language in which it took place. Obviously this only applies to situations where both of us can speak one another's language and habitually code-switch, often half-way through a conversation.

The Economics of the Internet? This is a sore point for me this week. Having left my daughter in charge of my business while I went on holiday, I returned to find that we had been robbed of 2000 pounds as a result of a very convincing transaction emanating originally from Nigeria but negotiated in response to emails sent via Australia and the Czech Republic. Essentially it was a case of credit card fraud. Watch out for this fraudster: BEN MARK 35 SHOKUNBI STREET OFF POST OFFICE ROAD MUSHIN LAGOS NIGERIA 23401 Two credit card transactions initiated by Ben Mark appeared to go through without a problem, but later we were informed by Barclaycard that the credit card numbers he had used had been stolen and the sums of money paid into our bank in respect of two transactions had to be paid back to Barclaycard. Note: Only the numbers of the credit cards had been stolen, not the cards themselves. A fraudster only needs to obtain the credit card number and expiry date, not the card itself. The fraudster is gambling on receiving the goods before the real owner of the credit card number notices that a fraudulent transaction has taken place. In such a situation the bank never loses; only the business that has fallen for the scam loses. Businesses have to be more and more careful about who they deal with and how they deal with them. I am informed by business colleagues who have suffered losses in a similar way that Nigeria is a no-go area as far as Internet trading is concerned.

Regarding Jean's email: We certainly have a weight problem in the UK. Children are more overweight than they used to be. I have the impression that young females are more likely to be overweight than young males. It is said that this has something to do with the curtailed timetable of sports activities in schools. Young men, however, are more likely to indulge in sports of their own volition, e.g. playing football or cricket at weekends. A lot is said and written about the ways in which we are affected by food additives. My elder daughter has been advised by her doctor to avoid farmed salmon, for example, as she developed a condition that may have been related to the hormones used as additives in food given to farmed salmon. I have suddenly developed an extreme allergy to all kinds of shellfish, having eaten shellfish for all my life with no ill-effects - and I know of two other people who have also developed the same allergy later in life. The medical profession can offer little as an explanation of why these things happen. We are what we eat, but what are we eating?

Andy writes: I think Andy has missed the point. As I have said or implied many times before I don't BLAME the children. The blame lies fairly and squarely on the adult population for allowing children to develop bad behaviour. But now that we have a problem we have to fix it rather than ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist, and if this means imposing stricter discipline standards, police action, etc then unfortunately this has to be done as a short-term solution. The longer-term solution is in the hands of ourselves and those we have elected to represent us. I interpreted Jean's post quite differently from Andy. There comes a point when the perpetrator has to be held responsible for his/her own actions. I am not sure exactly at which point this should occur - but it may be relevant here to mention the age of criminal responsibility. In some countries parents continue to be held responsible for the actions of their children up to what we might regard as a ripe old age. The age of criminal responsibility in England is 10. In Germany, however, it is 14 and in Belgium it is 18. Parents might act more responsibly if they carried the can rather than wringing their hands in dismay and saying "There's nothing I can do with him/her" and expecting other members of society (e.g. teachers, youth workers and the police) to sort out their problems. See: http://www.billofrightsni.org/hrc/responses/includeyouth.pdf

John writes: I researched the area where we now live very carefully in the 1970s. We enjoyed a long period of peace up until recently. There were a few problems with youths congregating at the local shopping precinct in the 1980s, but these were short-lived. Now (as indicated in my message as quoted by John) we are tortured every evening. On a recent occasion, while walking my dog at midnight, I passed a group of 10 youths still hanging around (drunk, of course) at the shopping precinct and watched one of them break away and cause damage to a neighbour's fence. I rang the local police and so did another neighbour who observed the incident from her house. The police reacted swiftly on this occasion and three arrests were made. The police informed me that one of the youths who was arrested lived in a town around 7 miles from where we live - so why has our area been singled out?

Andy writes: I get around quite a bit as a free-lance teacher trainer, and I have visited around 20 schools in London and the Home Counties over the last two years. I often arrive in the "twilight" hours, namely when the children are on the way home. I reckon that in around one third of the schools that I visited behaviour appeared (on the surface) to be good or acceptable. As for the rest... Kent is one of the areas where I have delivered training courses. The school that I visited there was highly respectable - but, as a Man of Kent, I am probably biased.

Andy writes: I don't need convincing. I'm already convinced by what I see and experience all around me that young people's behaviour is worse now than it was 35 years ago. Our town centre - in repectable middle-class Berkshire - is a no-go area on Friday and Saturday evenings. Binge drinking is the main cause of the bad behaviour - although the situation has got better now that CCTV has been installed at strategic points, now that all the pubs employ bouncers, and now that mounted police appear at chucking out time. The town centre pubs were a pleasant place to go for a quiet drink over the weekend when I moved into the area in 1972 - and the age-range was wider. Now I would double the average age if I walked into a town centre pub over the weekend. The situation began to deteriorate in the 1980s, got seriously out of control in the 1990s, and now - thanks to the measures indicated above - it's slightly better. Older residents remember the running battles in the High Street between gangs of Teddy Boys during the 1950s, but this was short-lived and peace was restored by the 1960s.