There is no longer any “normal” – disrupting ELT

May 26, 2012 by ddeubel

I’m all about ‘disruption” (to borrow Clayton Christensen’s term) and think this is the most potent role that technology plays in our society.

A disrupter thinks small and keeps moving. Large companies/groups are about sustaining and normalcy – the small can dress up in innovation and act quickly – revel in change. Technology in the hands of one man can upset the apple card and enable a fresh wind to blow and bring greater efficiencies, better learning and more freedoms. That’s the revoluton.

There are two parts to disruption that I play. One part is making things real, trying things and putting things out there – see my previous post about my successes and failures online – Muckin’ About. That’s only a partial list, I could add many more.

But another vital part of disruption is promoting the creation of products by the lowly individual AND the access to those products by the many. It is about open resources that allow us to put money into classrooms and learning and not the coffers of larger profit barons (and we know who they are). It is disruption through creating connections and access where before none exists.

But it takes time to change mind sets. Teachers will not even blink asking their students to pay large publishers $20, $30, $100. The pact with the devil is that by using the kings of publishing we are buying authority. Like Pascal’s quip that “a judge would not have his authority without his wig”, so too many teachers without a Pearson, Cambridge or Oxford textbook. But it is an illusion and will one day soon fall. In the meantime, I’m going to keep playing my part and getting others to see the emperor’s wear no clothes (and especially in language teaching where the real world is IT and not a text, where with video we now can bring the real world to our classes and can throw out the textbook).

The last few years I’ve produced many free materials for teachers. Ebooks or “tech”books. I’m often asked where a teacher might get them all. I’ve made partial lists but until now, had no definitive collection. So here it is, a definitive collection, each with a brief description. Enjoy. Download to your hearts content Support my work if you can by becoming an EFL Classroom 2.0 supporter for a one time, lifetime payment of $19.95. It all gets plowed back into my efforts to give power to the many and keep tipping over apple carts.

I’ll also mention here, though not a book, still pretty damn disruptive – The Free Basic TESOL Certificate course I created. You’ll even get a certificate after you complete it!

GET THE FULL PAGE OF FREE EBOOKS

We keep what we give

April 25, 2011 by ddeubel

I’m a confirmed, addicted, “sharer”. Been that way for years and I’m sure its caused it share of incredulity. Many people just don’t operate on and of the same mental construct – believing as I do that knowledge is not something created nor owned. It is air and for all. But that is okay – the world is beautiful because it is made of so many who are different. There is room for all of us.

I’m a confirmed believer in “We keep what we give”, education as a vocation. Meaning, that I get so much from what I do – that I’m in no need of any returns other than to be “in the mix” and sharing.

I recently got a flurry of wonderful emails from complete strangers. Coupled with the spring warmth, it makes me feel so grateful to be able to do what I do and connect with so many from around the world. That in sharing, I keep much more than I give. I’d like to share one of the emails, from a woman in Egypt writing about an ebook I shared and specifically one entry – My Egyptian Moment.

I want to share this with you because I want to do what I do – share with you the energy of this email and how it sparkles with the new force of connection we experience when we share, never knowing who might chance upon, use, be touched by, find meaning in – what we give. And in some miraculous way, us keeping so much from this process….

___________________

Hi David,

At last it’s you !! As a new member of this EFL Classroom 2.0 group, I didn’t know who is the admin of this great site !!! Until I got a message from this group sent to my e-mail, with links to April newsletter , a book about flashcards and a special book called (The unbearable lightness of being a teacher) !!

As an Egyptian EFL teacher, I would like to thank u soo much for this good book, and esp for the part called (My own Egyptian moment). WOW!! It’s very special, inspiring and motivating!!

I’ve shared the book and esp. this part with my colleagues. we all appreciate it !! We are really proud of our PEACEFUL revolution !! It’s very important and nice to see it in the eyes of other friends from other places in the world specially when it comes from a great teaching expert like you !!! As we have been thinking about our mission as teachers and how to teach our students the great lessons of freedom in these days which are full of unprecedented events!!! But, you did it in a universal way. Though it’s an Egyptian moment, but ur message from it is actually universal !!!

We really hope we can keep this great victory and let it spread in all aspects of our life !!!

I have even talked about ur book and this part of it in a radio program this morning and thanked you on air!!! They have even asked me to share the book on the program’s FB page ??? They even asked when will the cover copy of the book be available ??!!! Do you mind if i shared it with them on FB??!! What if any of my colleagues wanted to share comments or thoughts with u?? (I even wish we can talk with u one day!!)

By the way, i don’t agree with what u said about being selfish writing about ur own personal experience !!! It’s very important to share even the simplest moment as u say (Live simply, simply live) and specially when it comes from someone like you !!

Sorry for this long message , but as u can see we r still affected by the spirit of freedom and enthusiasm !!!!
Waitin for ur reply !!

(name) (EGYPT)

_________________

PS. Here is the ebook referred to. Download and share. Also, just got this email – which sort of relates to this post.
“Using Flashcards and Teaching English” is being tweeted more than anything else on SlideShare right now. So we’ve put it on the homepage of SlideShare.net (in the “Hot on Twitter” section).

Well done!

- SlideShare Team

………………………………………..

The unbearable lightness of being a teacher

View more documents from David Deubelbeiss

Sharing Yourself (Online)

December 31, 2010 by ddeubel

As a teacher trainer, one of the things I have trainees do many times, is to reflect on themselves and their accomplishments. Just this little bit of reflection sets a teacher on more solid ground from which to progress.

You can do this many ways. Many times, I get teachers to write out a mini educational philosophy (see mine in this post). It could be a series of reflections like my Zen and the Act of Teaching. However, I also think it good if teachers have the opportunity to share with others, “who they are” and online tools offer some great ways.

First, one caveat. Facebook is something I don’t recommend teacher’s using to share their online self. For many reasons but mostly for how complicated it is to control the flow of information on the site. I know others might have a different opinion but that’s my feeling after using it extensively. Also, cluttered and “too active” for this sort of thing.

One basic way to share oneself online is for teachers to fill out a profile online. This could be something extensive by way of making a website (try weebly for this!). Here’s my own profile website. However, you can also do something quicker by filling out an online profile. Here are some options for this, with my own examples.

1. Google Profiles: Probably the easiest and clearest. What doesn’t google do good? Here’s mine , the process is easy. You just need a gmail/google account.

2. FlavorsMe: You get a full page to personalize and share your online self. My example.

3. DooID: Probably for those with a more serious online presence. Nice, well designed “badge” with contact details. Also, a nice password can be given to selected information so not everyone can see it. My example.

4. LinkedIn: This is an absolute must for anyone making ELT a career. Post your resume and connect with likeminded professionals. My example and also, join our ELT Professionals around the World group!

5. Who Hub – interesting variation and interview yourself by choosing the questions and answers. Here’s my in depth interview with myself!

6. Other options: These offer a lot of different approaches to sharing yourself online. Retagr / Card.ly / Gravatar / DandyID

Teaching Recipes – A new place to get a teaching idea!

July 20, 2009 by ddeubel

teaching recipes

I’ve long been a fan of very simple teaching ideas – the basic core of all good teaching. My Lessons in a Can are part of that. Now however, we’ve got a new Web 2.0 resource which you can be a part of - Teaching Recipes.

The idea I came up with is to have a very basic site where teachers can share their lesson ideas. Just small notes to help other new or newer or just wanting to be re”newed” teachers. A place where you can easily search and get an idea and find inspiration. You can get the rss feed here on EFL Classroom – it’s in the right column and will show you the new and up to the minute recipes shared by teachers.

Dmitry, a fellow EFL Classroom 2.0 member helped me realize this. Please visit his page and say thank you! Or even check out his personal site. He is a teacher in the trenches who also is tech saavy and has a computer science background. A boon for us online language teachers! Thanks Dmitry.

Please visit Teaching Recipes and share your own delicious recipe! I’ll be seeding it with all the best ideas in my own brain and I urge you too, to help me build a better TEFL universe. Comment here on what you like, don’t like about Teaching Recipes, I’m looking forward to your comments and thoughts. Get cookin’!