Thursday 31 July 2014

T&L Summer Break 2014

It has been a hard year, but now it is high time to have a break and relax so we can face new challenges in September with energy and a positive mind.
Summer time mode, here we go!

Praia do Molhe, Foz do Douro, Porto - Portugal
Photo credits: Ana Figueiredo

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Lexical Distance among Languages in Europe

This diagram shows the lexical distance among the languages spoken in Europe. As I speak languages of Romance and Germanic root, I find Greek, right there in the middle, particularly tempting... What about you?

Diagram credits: Lingholic

Sunday 27 July 2014

The World Map for THANK YOU

I really don't know if I agree with the "cheers" as thank you for British English... But let's assume the other suggestions are accurate. The Portuguese "OBRIGADO/OBRIGADA" should also be shown for Portugal! Do leave your remarks for your language as well! Obrigada. :)

Map credits: Lingholic

Monday 21 July 2014

If you're missing London...


LONDON was shot by Alfred Marroquin in the UK while a small trip during the holidays. He wanted this short to be representative of London's diversity, culture and life. "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."- Samuel Johnson

Friday 18 July 2014

Web 2.0 Tools applied to Primary School Teaching

Teaching English, and even History, to Primary School children doesn't have necessarily to be primary and Web 2.0 technologies applied to class activities and tasks may well be the answer to put it together.

This cute and interesting video was created from drawings by primary school children from Shapla School and special effects by young people from the Renaissance Foundation.

On Saturday 31st May 1533, Anne Boleyn was taken in procession from the Tower through London to Westminster where she was crowned the following days, find out what happened on that day! ;)

Friday 4 July 2014

Happy 4th July!

Today, Americans celebrate their Independence Day.
Happy 4th July!
If you to learn more about this date, read here on T&L.

Image credits: WEBGRANTH

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy and ICT Tools

Many teachers use Bloom's Taxonomy and Bloom's Revised Taxonomy in developing and structuring their teaching & learning experiences. Bloom's Digital taxonomy is an attempt to marry Bloom's revised taxonomy and the key verbs to digital approaches and tools. This is not a replacements to the verbs in the revised taxonomy, rather it suppliments and supports these by including recent developments, processes and tools.
Many of these tools that are FOSS (Free or Open Source Software). Click here for a comparison between Traditional and Digital approaches.


So what is Bloom's Taxonomy?

Benjamin Bloom developed, in 1956, while working at the University of Chicago, a theory on Educational Objectives. He proposed 3 domains or areas:

- Cognitive - person's ability to process and utilize information (thinking), this is what Bloom's Digital Taxonomy is based on;
- Affective - This is the role of feeling and attitudes in the learning/education process;
- Psychomotor - This is manipulative or physical skills.

Bloom's Taxonomy is a taxonomy of activities and behaviours that exemplify Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS). Bloom's allows use to rank and structure different classroom activities and plan the learning process. In 2001, Lorin Anderson and others revised Bloom's original work, creating Bloom's Revised Taxonomy.

Bloom’s and Revised Bloom's give us a learning process:
- Before you can understand a concept or fact you must remember it;
- To apply a concept you must understand it first;
- To evaluate a process you must have analysed it.Each layer builds on the previous. The creative process naturally incorporates these elements. You must remember (even if you are learning as you go), understand and apply these principles and concepts, analyse and evaluate the success of your design, the process and concept.
However, we don't need to start at lower order skills and then build piecemeal throught the taxonomy towards higher order thinking like creativity. By providing a suitably scaffolded task, the lower order skills of remembering and understanding become inherent in the learning process. By challenging our students to be analytical, evaluative or creative, they will within these processes develop understanding.

Bloom's Original taxonomy
Bloom's revised taxonomy
Evaluation
(HOTS)
Creating
Synthesis
Evaluating
Analysis
Analysing
Application
Applying
Comprehension
Understanding
Knowledge
(LOTS)
Remembering

HOTS is an abbreviation for Higher Order Thinking Skills and LOTS for Lower Order Thinking Skills.
Bloom's Digital TaxonomyThis diagram details Bloom's Revised Taxonomy with some of the original verbs.

Diagram of Bloom's revised Taxonomy showing the flow and process of learning. - A Churches
If you want to learn more about Bloom's Revised/Digital Taxonomy, read here.

Web 2.0 Tutorials
Without a doubt one of the best resources on the web for web2.0 Technologies is the commoncraft show. Lee LeFever's productions are clear, simple and to the point; most of all they are "In Plain English". Here are the links: