Category Archives: Learning

Self-direction goes beyond learning

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Ken Carroll

Here is the presentation I mentioned in the last post (with some revisions). The bigger argument goes beyond learning and it is this one: We’ve been concerned exclusively in the West with externally driven freedoms i.e., those that come from … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Self-direction | Tagged , | 1 Comment

An enduring insight

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Ken Carroll

I think it’s the early career epiphanies that make the greatest impact. Here, I share mine. This post is my contribution to Dave Ferguson’s Work/Learn Carnival. 1989 I’m a fledgling ESL teacher who learned a few languages through immersion and a self-directed … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning | 9 Comments

Designing conversations

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Ken Carroll

  By looking at speech ‘beyond the level of the sentence’, discourse analysis reveals some of the conventions that underlie it. Speakers use conversational structures to engage listeners, create cohesion,  and facilitate comprehension. As we talk, we subtly adjust the lexis and structures in accordance with roles, status, and context. There’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning | 13 Comments

Skype, social networks and language learning

Posted on January 14, 2008 by Ken Carroll

  There’s lots of start-ups in the language learning space, mostly variations on the social networking and Skype models. Most of them aren’t very good though, and many miss the point entirely. What, imho, are they doing wrong?  Medium and message These are early days for Learning 2.0. There’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Learning 2.0, Social networks | 16 Comments

Linear and non-linear learning

Posted on December 13, 2007 by Ken Carroll

  Obligatory pic of horrific looking 19th cen school that should add impact to the post. In a previous post, I talked about what language learning 2.0 meant to me. In the coming weeks and months I’ll try to elaborate  through examples from projects that I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Learning 2.0 | 27 Comments

Re-thinking language instruction

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Ken Carroll

  By the time we finished school, 90% of my generation hated the mandatory Irish lessons. Hundreds of thousands of kids (aka language learning machines) failed to master even rudimentary communication in the language we had studied for years. If the teachers had set … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning | 20 Comments