Kevin Ryan in Tokyo

Category: Uncategorized

  • New Text: Whodunit!

    Adam Gray and Marcos Benavides have collaborated on a textbook of mysteries for language learning called Whodunit.

    Whodunit?
    Whodunit? Mysteries for langauge laerning

    Published by Abax, this is one of the first creative Commons textbooks available. You can download it and pay what you think is the best price (shades of RadioHead or Pearl Jam).  After reading through the very interesting mysteries, I decided I would use it in 3 of my classes. I am most curious as to how it works in an average class in japan (at ShowaELC) and how it is different from my exceptional students and University of Tokyo. Will keep you updated, but this looks like a great text out of the box, easy to use and thorough. The paper edition comes with additional audio to round out the experience. I am going to have my students use both versions (paper and pdf), so they can get the entire experience. I will be adding supplementary materials to my Moodle on this topic as well, with 2-minute and 5-minute mysteries, and a tutorial on how to write a mystery.

  • Google Goggles adds translation


    Over at Mashable, they report that Google is adding translation to their new (still in development) Goggles, which can recognize objects and words. Designed for a phone with  a camera, it is a great way to get information.

  • MLA: Bibliographies: Books no longer standard

    Modern Language Association
    Modern Language Association

    From Ars Technica. Seems that even the conservative MLA sees the writing on the wall. No longer are books the standard for making a bibliography entry. Now you have to say which kind of media. Also, other arguments about how to quote a web page.

    The changes are part of MLA’s seventh edition of the Handbook, published last month, whose predictably soporific cover design belies the radical citation changes within. As Inside Higher Ed describes the changes, “print is the default no more” and the new edition suggests “that the medium of publication should be included in each works cited entry.”

  • Did you know?

    David Wiley thinks that the university as it stands will be irrelevant by 2020. He suggested we take a look at a couple of videos. Here is one of them.

  • New Reading, New Writing

    Will Richardson over at Web-logg-ed has a very interesting article about how new technology will change how we read. He points us toward an article in the Wall Street Journal by Steven Johnson, one of my favorite writers. Johnson talks about how the eBook will change reading, primarily through its ease of use, immediate access to an entire library, and linked information and sharing your thoughts in an ongoing discussion with friends and strangers.

    This linking and discussion takes place using web sites like diigo, or digg, or evernote. Annotating, marking up, adding comments in the “margins”, tagging and sharing. I think he is spot on. I can’t wait to get my Kindle.