Tapped In Newsletter: January 2007
...On the Tapis
January 2007
Issue 110
In This Issue
[1] Environment: A New Tapped In Special Interest Group
[2] News Nuggets
[3] Tips and Comments from the Experts
[4] Tapped In Technology Tip
[5] About ...On the Tapis
Quote of the Month - "All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the tools with which we work, the material out of which laws are made, out of which the Constitution was written. Everything depends on our understanding of them." - Felix Frankfurter (American Jurist, 1882-1965)
[1] Environment: A New Tapped In Special Interest Group
Ever wonder about global warming and climate change? Is it gibberish? You have noticed some changes and think there may be something to it? You saw the film An Inconvenient Truth? You know it is real and wonder what to do about it? You are a science teacher (or any other kind of teacher) looking for resources? A parent worried about the future of your children? A tree-hugger? Maggi Doty invites you to climb into the Green Room tree house and she will show you the facts as they come in and what is available.
If you have a TI Special Interest Group you would like featured in a future issue of ...on the Tapis, contact BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org
[2] News Nuggets
TI member Jonathan Middleton announces that his composition "Dreaming Among Thermal Pools and Concentric Spirals" has been released on the CD called "Soak: the marriage of cello and bassoon," produced and recorded by the duo Paradox, two outstanding performers, colleagues, and principals of the Spokane Symphony. The recording can be purchased through CD Baby. Individual tracks will be available from iTunes.
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TI member Jean Shankle, a public high school teacher who also works with a team that teaches online courses and who are interested in trying new technology in interesting ways, hosted a talk in Second Life on the UN Millennium Development Goals.
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TI member Lori Keleher contributed an article, "Building A Career Mathematics File: Challenging Students to Find the Importance of Mathematics in a Variety of Careers," to the November Issue of The Mathematics Teacher, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
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TI members Rita Zeinstejer and Teresa Almeida d'Eca have been selected as recipients of the TOEFL Board Award for International Participation. They are looking forward to the TOEFL Conference 2007 in Seattle and another landmark in Webheads meeting f2f.
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Teresa Almeida d'Eca also announces that her teacher-student blog, "Have Fun with English! 2" won the Edublog Award in the category of "Best Teacher Blog 2006."
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Lesley Farmer, TI member, discussion leader, world traveler and expert librarian shares a travel/work experience: U.S. Speaker Dr. Lesley Farmer Talks About Library Services and Products for Youth in Rio.
At the end of November and beginning of December 2006, Professor Lesley Farmer, from the California State University Long Beach, spoke in Brazil on "Library Services and Products for the Youth."
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TI member and discussion leader Barbara Dieu will again be a guest speaker for the Hornby Summer School 2007 on the English and ICT strand. There will be about 40 teachers from all over Latin America attending it. Course director will be Rod Bolitho (England), TI member Susan Hillyard (Argentina) and Magali Menti (Brasil). Main strands will cover challenges in ELT (for teachers, for learners and language challenges).
Bee also was among those awarded the TOEFL Award for International Participation. In addition, an invitation has been extended to Bee to be one of the keynote speakers for the Merlot conference to take place in New Orleans in August 2007.
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Congratulations to TI member, discussion leader, and HelpDesk volunteer Jeff Cooper on the interview in Campus Technology and thanks for the Tapped In plug!
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Do you have a News Nugget about yourself or another member of the Tapped In Community? Send your News Nugget to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org.
[3] Tips and Comments from the Experts
A post to the TI Comments on how a member uses TI: I use Tapped In to communicate with other special and regular education teachers for strategies, classroom management, new methods and for general information regarding my professional work as a teacher in the Milwaukee Public Schools.
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Student Group owner and teacher Dominic Salvucci shared that his students are adjusting to the [Tapped In student group] site well. They seem to not be coming on to chat, but actually to do the assignments and ask questions...
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If you have a comment or experience to share with the Tapped In community, please submit the information to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org or post to the How You Use TI.
[4] Tapped In Technology Tip
Join a person? Join a group? Join a discussion?
What is the difference among those three choices?! As it turns out, there's quite a bit of difference and it seems that this is causing some confusion for new Tapped In members. Language can be pretty tricky and is the reason for the use of the quote for this month. Let's take a look at each use of the term "join."
When you "join a person" this means that you move to the same room in which another person who is logged in is located. The best way to do this is to click on the ONLINE tab to the left of the chat window, click one time on the name of the person you wish to join, and then click on the door icon at the bottom of the frame. For those techies who prefer text commands, type /join .
Joining a group is a different kind of "join." When you join a group you become a member of the group and are listed on the group's membership page. Becoming a member of a group also subscribes you to the group discussion board and allows you to post and receive posts from that board. If you need help in joining a group, ask one of the HelpDesk volunteers or use the Help tab in the top right of the screen when you are logged in and read about Groups. If you decide that you no longer want to be a member of a group, you must go to the group ID page and click on "Leave this Group." Leaving a group removes you from the list of group members and from any permissions that the individual group members have such as entering the group room, accessing files and links in the group room, and reading and posting to the group discussion board.
So, what about joining a discussion? There is actually a different term that is used, and it has apparently become equally confusing! To participate in a group discussion board (see above paragraph) and receive posts from the board in your email, you must be "subscribed" to the discussion. Any post to the group discussion board is sent to all the members of the group who are subscribed to the board and provides an easy way to contact all group members. You have the option of subscribing to receiving the individual posts or choosing a digest version that batches the posts. If you decide that you no longer want to get any posts from the group discussion board, go to Discussion in the group room and "unsubscribe." This does not remove you from the group, but only stops discussion posts from being emailed to you. You will still be a member of the group and still have the option of going to the group room and reading the posts.
[5] About ...On the Tapis
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