A WIKI way of learning!

Hello everybody!
This week I explored the world of Wikis!
First of all, I asked myself the question:"What is a wiki"?

What is a wiki?
Reading and listening to the online video course by the Uni of Wisconsins I understood that a wiki is a web page that can be viewed and modified by anybody with a Web browser and access to the Internet.Any visitor can change and add the content of a wiki if they want. This means that wikis are:
-extremely collaborative and open-ended sites
-a tool for collaboration
-a discussion medium
-an important repository which can also incorporate sounds and pictures

Wiki Wiki Web
I also enjoyed to discover something about the origin of this term,which sounds like a sort of magic word.
The word Wiki is not an acronym but an Hawaijan word used as an alliterative substitute for quick, to avoid naming this social software quick-web. Ward Cunningham was the first person who named it.

The features of Wikis.
The audience of these collaborative websites is very wide and diversified:everyone can take advantage of wikis.
Usually their layout is simple and clear: sentences are quite short and parataxis is prevailing.
Moreover, I noticed that all the wikis I visited (Wikipedia, Wikibooks...) are available in different languages and full of hyperlinks: users can simply click on what they are interested in.
Generally speaking, I think that wikis are quite similar to a blog in structure and logic. However, in contrast, a blog is typically authored by an individual and does not allow visitors to change the original posted materials, only add comments to the original comment.
On the contrary a wiki allows anyone to edit, delete or modify content that has been placed on the website.
On Flickr I found this picture


It compares Blogs and Wikis.

I believe it is significant.What do you think?

During my trip on Wikisphere Ialso noticed that there are different Wiki communities on line. Some are public and useful for everyone, others are highly specialised (used for business and economic purposes for example) and very often they are private.

Here there are some wikis I found interesting for everyone:

-Wikipedia:the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

-Wikibooks:a sort of collection of free content textbooks.

-Wikiquote:a free online compendium of quotations from notable people and creative works in every language, including sources ,translations of non-English quotes, and links to Wikipedia for further information.

-Wikiversity: is a community for the creation and use of free learning materials and activities. It is a multidimensional social organization dedicated to learning, teaching, research and service.

-Wikinews:A free news source you can write!

The disadvantages of Wikis

Besides many advantages, this tool for collaborative authoring can also have some negative aspects. The fact that anyone is allowed to edit and delate content is a double-edged weapon. In fact, online vandalism threatens the software security: some editors of wikis might not have good intentions and others can be trolls.

According to Wikipedia, in Internet terminology, trolls are people who enter on established community and intentionally try to cause disruption; most often in the form of posting off-topic and insulting messages.

For this reason, wikis are often monitored to ensure that inappropriate language, spam and bad content are not allowed.

Furthermore, on the Web you can find a Wikiquette (it comes from wiki+etiquette).This refers to rules to follow to behave appropriately in order to become a good and responsible editor of Wikis.The basic rule is to have respect for the work of the other publishers.This means ,above all, that you have to be careful of the words you choose, trying to be never rude and ambiguous.And..what is important: avoid reverts and deletions whenever possible!

Why Wikis?

Thanks to Wiki-technology, everyone can become a publisher.Wikis address a variety of pedagogical needs and students can access and partecipate from every part of the world! These collaborative projects are a powerful tool for collection of data and reflection.

Anyway, just think about the importance of a source like Wikipedia, a multilingual encyclopedia written by volunteers,and you'll immediately understand the utility of Wikis!

Bye

Annalisa

Photo sources:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsepulveda/10834201/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamstanley/231632346/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bet3/175475379/

Here you can find my first podcast...



powered by ODEO


Photo source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/21852869@N00/61347411/

Ready to HEAR about PODCASTS?

What is a podcast?
A podcast is an audio file that you download from the Internet. After you download it, you can listen to it on your computer or an MP3 portable music player.You can subscribe to a podcast so that it is delivered to you automatically each day, just like a newspaper.

During my trip on podcasts' world I've found a quantity of websites which offer a number of podcasts that might be useful for our English listening practice.

1.English Listening language Lab Online.

As you can guess from the name of the site, this is a sort of English Listening Lab Online.Every week you can find new listenings about different topics. It is divided into four sections:Interviews, Mixer, Listening Games and Listening Points. I think it is well made and effective also because it offers comprehension activities, quizz games and transcripts for each podcasts.

2. NPR: Podcast Directory

Directly from American Radio NPR you can read and HEAR a world of news.Obviously they are constantly updated and you can choose among many subjects concerning business, entertainment, science, culture,health..

In my opinion what is important about this site is that you can test your listening skills with a reliable source material..For this reason, sometimes language can be difficult to understand but don't worry!..you can search for transcripts!

3.American Rhetoric:Top 100 Speeches.

If you want to take a leap into the past..please don't miss this site!

Here you can find 100 of the most famous American rhetoric speeches ever.These podcasts are not only effective in order to improve your listening abilities ,but also to remind you of American history: Martin Luther King, Kennedy, Malcom x, Roosvelt...

I was really thrilled to hear the famous "I have a dream!"...

Photos sources:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86721903@N00/181299748/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/acdbulls/168489903/

The genre of WEBSITES

Hello everybody!

This week we're dealing with the genre of websites: a mass communication medium that nowadays is omnipresent.

There are different types of websites. Each type has its specific features, its language and its intended audience.

We can identify two main categories of websites:
1.Personal websites: anyone can publish their own site for different reasons.
2 Institutional websites: they are put up by organisations, universities..to guide the public on the work they do and the services they offer.

However, it is a difficult task to identify the linguistic peculiarities of websites because there is a great number of personal websites on the Net(think about the variety of blogs for example) and there are no specific rules to follow..

For my analysis I've chosen these two sites:

A dictionary of slang is aimed at discovering English slang and colloquialisms used in the United Kingdom. For this reason I think the intended audience are advanced learners but also native speakers who want to know some specific and unusual expressions of their mothertongue.

The layout of the site is very simple and it's easy to orientate yourself; significantly the word SLANG it is presented in a much bigger font size than the rest of the text and placed at the beginning of the page.
The language used is quite informal.We can notice this in the brief introduction: "A monster online dictionary", "please take the time to read this.."
Besides the use of present simple, we find also the imperative ("try", "take the time"). In a certain sense this underlines the fact that the language is not so formal..

Moreover, we can point out the large presence of noun phrases used as hyperlinks (Back, search, home, site banners, copyright, bibliography...); also each letter of the alphabet is an hyperlink: clicking on C, all the slang expressions beginning with C will be displayed...

BBC Learning English
Looking at the front page of this site we initially come across the BBC logo. It is on the top of the page and indicates immediately the source and the nature of the site.

I think that in this case the intended audience it's larger and less specific than the previous one.
In my opinion, everyone who is interested in news, business, sports, entertainment..and everyone who simply wants to improve his/her skills in English can be the target audience of BBC learning language. This means that the readers are not only English students or teachers, not only mothertongue speakers but all people in the world..obviously the reasons for their choice of the site are extremely diversified...

In the centre of the home page we can see a series of images which are an ulterior resource to make the site attractive.
The layout is more elaborate than the previous site. Here we can find also a site map which prevent readers from getting lost.

As regards language, it is quite concise, formal and not difficult to understand. Generally there is a prevalence of short noun phrases and single words (words in the news, grammar and vocabulary, quizzes, news English...)

Finally there is an high level of intertextuality. In fact, there are numerous hyperlinks to other BBC related sites and to other sites for teachers and learners.


In conclusion we can assert that, although these two websites are similar for some aspects- the same degree of syntactic compression and the large use of present verb forms for example- they differ for others. BBC English learning has a totally different layout: it has pictures, many more links and contents!

bye
Annalisa

Photo source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juampe/19121593/

Social bookmarking: a DEL.ICIO.US surprise!!

I had never heard about social bookmarking before but now I have to say that it is a pleasant surprise.

Social bookmarking is a web service through which people can share their favorite sites with the rest of the online community. In this way you can contribute to widening the resources of this kind of shareable virtual space...
This system lets you save, tag and search for your own bookmarks and notes or browse and search for other users' links and tags.You can be open and share your links with others..moreover, social bookmarking is a way to find people with your same interests, to discover new interesting sites, to publish your own bookmarks...

I think that this activity is extremely helpful and useful: an effective resource, especially because you can create a real repository of websites which can help you in your English learning. It can also be a quick and easy alternative to search engines like Google ..
In fact, using del.icio.us, you can come across a smaller and more selected number of sites : in a certain sense, other people have done an initial scanning and judged the validity of particular sites..

Obviously they have to be critical and well-intentioned, otherwise this important advantage becomes a disadvantage ...

Tapping into my classmates' favorites, I've explored the following sites:

1. Dictionary of Synonyms Theasaurus (Francesca)
I think it is useful, easy and quick to use. I've tried to search the synonyms of different words (speak, good..) and I have to say that the result is extremely detailed and precise. Moreover, I've appreciated the fact that many synonyms taken from informal or slang language are included in the list and marked with an asterisk.
2.Spellcheck (Lucrezia)
Easy, clear and useful to avoid silly and irritating errors in your written language.
3.Common English Mistakes (Alice)
I think this site offers a large number of common English mistakes!
The section called Supplementary Pages with the contribution about "Commonly mispelled words" and "common non-errors"it is very interesting!
4.Blogging for beginners (Svjetlana)
Here you can find different definitions of blogs..always welcome because it helps to learn more about the Blogosphere.
5.Tulane University (Maria Chiara)
It's interesting to start discovering something concerning our "exchange activity" of next semester!
6.Newspapers of the world (Marco)
Great! An incommensurable resource to improve your reading skills..and not only in English!

That's all for the moment
Annalisa

Photo source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffhester/64964062/

To blog or not to blog?:That is the question!

As I have said before this is my first experience in the blogosphere ..
However, I think I have started to develop my general opinion about blogs.
My first impressions are positive!
Blogging seems to be a critical part of the learning process.It improves knowledge acquisition and helps to cement a concept in my mind.
Moreover, it gives me a permanent record of my thought process: when I need to come back to that information, I find it there on the Web, waiting for me...
I think that the act of writing a blog post could help to crystallize my understanding about some topics. Before posting something ,my thoughts on that topic are usually disconnected and scattered. After writing them, I find that my thinking has become something more precise and concrete.
Writing forces me to formulate an opinion and articulate ir in a coherent manner and to think critically about an idea.
Each time I post, it's a challenge to be creative and to come up with something that I think people will actually enjoy reading.
Furthermore, I love the tangible sense of community in the blogging world and I enjoy actively partecipating in. Anybody can write or comment on what has written another blogger: blogs allow a broad non-technical audience to publish news, information and opinions widely.
I'm excited that there are so many bloggers who are going to read what you think. For me this exchange of opinions and ideas is a very appealing part of being a member of this public circle of people!!
I think that before you start blogging, you should ask yourself: "Will my blog add something to my knowledge or is it just for fun?"..Well,..my answer to this question is: both things.
In fact, in my opinion, writing and above all reading blogs offers the important opportunity to deal with English language, or better colloquial English language. Sometimes it could be difficult to understand -especially because there are many colloquialisms and idiomatic expressions-but it is extremely useful!! There is not only formal English...: we should be aware that this global (maybe I should say globish!) language is always "in progress" ..like thecnology itself!!

Finally I would like to share with you (because I think this is what good bloggers have to do)some few lines ,which I've found on the Web.
They could answer to a simple question:"What do you think a blog is?"
I like this simile..

"A blog is like watching life from a log floating down in the river. You can look at what's ahead, glance to either side or contemplate what you've already passed".

Source: http://http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/library/what_do_you_think_a_blog_is.php

That's all for the moment
Annalisa

Welcome to my blog!!

Hello people!
My name is Annalisa , I'm an Italian girl who is attending her last year of "Foreign languages" at the university of Padua.
Welcome to my first personal blog!!
You know..I started blogging almost two weeks ago so I can say I'm a sort of new guest who is knocking in order to come in the large community of experienced bloggers.I really hope to make a good impression on you and to write something interesting!
So..if you want to say or criticize something, express your feelings or opinions..simply send me a comment!!
Everything will be received with pleasure!
kisses
Annalisa