Google Drive

Here is how you can start a joint presentation using Google Drive:

Class on 27 November

We met for the last time this year on Wednesday, 27 November. The topics were:

• Group discussions: What was your plan during the past four weeks? What did you do and what did you learn? Which tools have you used and how do you feel about them? Each group selected a "secretary" who wrote down the group's opinions and reported back to the class.
• We learned to use Skype for group discussions
• Reeta told us how to make a joint presentation using Google Drive.
• Groups made a working plan for the next two months.  One of the tasks for all groups is to start a joint presentation about their chosen topic.  Next time we will hopefully see some of them.
• Next lesson will be on January 22, 2014.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everybody!

Quizlet

You can access the Quizlet application via this link: http://quizlet.com

• Log in with your Google ID
• Browse ready-made exercises or
• Create your own exercise (instructions below and on the Instructions page)
• If you have joined the "Improve Your English with PEOPLE" class, it is visible in the left-hand column. There you will find all the exercises done by class members and added to the class.
• If you are not yet a member, you can click "Join or create a class", type the class name and click "Join".

Instructions:

Meeting on 30 October

The course met again yesterday, 30 October.  We discussed what the participants had done in the four-week period between meetings. The groups made learning plans for the next four weeks and posted them in their group blogs. Some work needed to be done on the blogs, so groups concentrated on that for a while.

There were requests to discuss the use of Skype and Google Drive for group meetings and collaboration, so we briefly looked at those.  Johanna and Reeta also presented a free online tool for vocabulary work: http://quizlet.com.

Homework:

• Continue studying according to your group's plan
• Study the use of Quizlet and try to make a vocabulary exercise. Add your exercise to the "Improve Your English with PEOPLE" class. The instructions for Quizlet are on the "Instructions" page in the course blog.

Join our class in Quizlet!

I have created a class for us in Quizlet. This will make it easy to share vocabulary exercises with other class members. Try it!

You can join the class via this link:
http://quizlet.com/join/PVqVbke2V

Third lesson

We met again on 2 October.  The lesson contained
- short reports from our study visit to Poland
- a discussion about some words and expressions in English
- a discussion about copyright regulations and adding material to your blog
- Blogger workshop: adding links to articles, structuring your blog, pages and posts, tagging
- a discussion about useful links to study English
- making a plan for the next four weeks of independent study

Homework

Just a small reminder: during the next four weeks

- study the links to exercises, news etc. in the course blog
- share some exercises/news with others in your group blog by posting a link
- try the news at http://breakingnewsenglish.com
- keep working with your group according to your plan

If you have questions and/or problems, please post them in your group blog.

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 Pienenä muistutuksena: seuraavien neljän viikon aikana

- tutki kurssin blogista löytyviä linkkejä harjoituksiin, uutisiin jne.
- jaa joitakin harjoituksia/uutisia muille ryhmäsi jäsenille linkittämällä ne blogiartikkeliin
- kokeile http://breakingnewsenglish.com -sivuston uutisia
- jatka työskentelyä ryhmäsi kanssa suunnitelmanne mukaisesti

Jos sinulla on kysymyksiä/ongelmia, postaa ne ryhmänne blogiin.

Good Exercise

I found a good exercise

Pictures from meeting in Lublin

Pictures from class

Second meeting

The second meeting of the Improve Your English course took place today, September 18. The four groups created blogs for themselves. You can access the blogs via the links in the side bar. The learners also detailed their learning plans.

We went over the support material that is collected in this blog: dictionaries, news websites, exercises etc. The groups looked at the material and made plans on how and what to work on for the next two weeks. And of course eight members of the group will be travelling to Poland this Saturday!

First meeting of the group

Two teachers and 14 course participants met for the first time on Wednesday, September 11.  The aim of the meeting was to discuss how we have learned foreign languages in the past, what helps us to learn, and what prevents learning from taking place.

We also discussed each participant's learning goals for our course and their level of English. The learners divided themselves into groups according to their language skills and areas of interest. So, after the first session we have four groups who are going to start building PLEs around a common topic.

Welcome to the blog!

Welcome to the blog of the "Improve Your English with PEOPLE" course.  In this course we will learn English using our PLEs (personal learning environments).  The purpose of this blog is to serve as a hub for learner blogs. We will also gather all kinds of support material here. You are free to choose any material that you feel is suitable for your personal learning plans and goals.