[txt spkish and learning english?]

At The University of Toronto there is an interesting development in the teaching of English as a second language...using tv colloquialisms ("eat my shorts man," "how YOU doin'" "I'm wasted"). Though these examples don't exactly suggest an "intellectual quest", they do however help students pick up "real-life" English.

"You can have academic English down pat, but that doesn't help when a classmate says `Catch you later' or `Get out of here!'" says Damjanovic, who dreamed up the notion of teaching conversational English through shared viewings of popular shows, with a cram session first on the phrases the class is about to hear.

When Damjanovic moved to North America as a high school student, she spoke English yet had no clue what kids meant when they talked about getting "wasted" on the weekend.

"I thought, `Wasted what? Wasted time? Money?' But these little phrases mean a lot when you're trying to communicate on a day-to-day basis, and sitcoms are surprisingly rich."

Damjanovic is careful to note which phrases are considered rude, a distinction the students carefully write down."

Read the whole article here.

[learning on screen - part deux]

Another interesting session led by Sarah Jeans, University College for the Creative Arts - Farnham

(have been searching for links to all the speakers but oddly they aren't googleable...weird)

• the blending of industry and academia - why is it important
• challenging, current industry debates, fit for purpose and inclusive experience
• as an educational institute what do they offer a practising professional and how do they keep them engaged
• the student experience - raising expectations, first hand knowledge of trials and tribulations, current debates, integrating practise
• what some students say: "as he was particularly critical, people were put on the spot, and pushed to a higher level." "Not everyone wants to make the same type of style of film. As a result a lot of the film could potentially be a bit samey and nothing would be produced that was groundbreaking or very different..." (students commenting on Paul Watson's role in the classroom)
• difficulties for industry people coming into edu: scheduling, language, priorities, methods etc...

[learning on screen - york 2008]

Yay the National Science Learning Centre in York has wifi...and it's working!

I'll be blogging throughout the two-day conference when things of interest arise.

---

Simon Campbell-Jones, former Editor Horizon
BBC Horizon - History of a Science Television Programme

• importance of beginnings
• how do you fill 50minutes of lecture...without being boring when science is basically *boring* (at least in the mid 60s)
• "medicine is not a science"
• showed an early clip from Horizon dealing with "continental drift" (for all you geologists out there) - this programme led to further programmes on plate techtonics
  
• interestingly, Simon says he had to first understand the geology before being able to make a film about it, conceptual learning
• Horizon did the first test-tube baby film, first "Whisper from Space," first film on absetosis, first programme on hot-blooded dinosaurs and first film on aids but these were not just educational films but these were dramatic and visual
• need to challenge ideas
• question on why people *hate* maths - because it's taught like *gospel,* about abstract ideas because "2 and 3 make 5." Interesting clip of video of a teacher asking a little girl (looks about 6) to add 63 plus 7 and she writes it out and adds it up, correctly. But, when asked why the number 7 is placed under the number 3 and not under the number 6, the little girl, after some thought, explained "that's how my teacher does it."
• "explanation, interpretation, application, implication...."
• every observation is like a detective story, science (and learning in general) should be exciting
  

[3d tv interaction]

Interaction with tv looks set to change. Now, instead of the usual remote, tv watchers can interact with their shows (though who will support this and how hasn't yet been explained) with a wii-like object:

The Hillcrest Labs Home Interactive Media System combines a graphical, zoomable interface for television with a patented motion control technology called Freespace which senses movement in three dimensions and translates it into on-screen interaction.



Hillcrest has developed a prototype ring-shaped Loop remote control that is held like a handle. It takes some getting used to, but allows multidimensional on screen navigation by waving it in the air, rather like a Wii game controller.

“Hillcrest Labs has created an entirely new and potentially game-changing platform for television and other forms of home entertainment,” said Jamie Kiggen of AllianceBernstein, the firm leading the funding round, in which existing investors also participated. “By combining pointing with a graphical, ‘zoomable’ interface, their technology holds the promise to alter fundamentally how consumers interact with their TV and digital media.”

For more info see the original article on informitv and Hillcrest Labs here.