Coming Back... For Peter, with love!

Coming back to this blog is painful... I know it is supposed to be a teacher's blog, but this teacher is mourning her beloved partner now...
After a long suffering, my beloved partner, Peter James, left for a better world 19 days ago.  During his long illness, house bound, Peter was still present in the world by means of his social networks. He was a proficient networker and an astute observer/researcher of the human nature and behaviour in the cyber world with its wonders and hazards. He was an early promoter of the advantages of social/professional networking; at the same time, he tirelessly warned against the numerous dangers and was always ready to give safety related tips and advice. For example, way before this blog entry by Scott Thornbury, he would perform forensic linguistics on scam e-mails and we used them as teaching materials for students to spot the mistakes!!! And that was really funny! It was also fun for him to publish photovideos done while on our little trips together on the emerging YouTube and other video sharing sites. You can have a glimpse in our life together by watching his Boffin1157 video channel. Enjoy!

I started this blog a couple of years ago. The reasons were both personal and professional:
firstly, Peter and I agreed that my journey in the "wonderland" of the Internet (started many years before) should serve as a platform for sharing with my Romanian colleagues and students my/our enthusiasm related to Internet use in teaching English for (specific) academic purposes and for tracing the learning curve I was following on a daily basis.
Secondly, because Peter was so present in the virtual world, it felt good to be together here as well and discuss its multifaceted aspects -

- and so it feels now when I follow in his footsteps and numberless questions need to be answered!...

My first workshops (2)

An old adagio: if you don't succeed at first...etc Crazily, it helps a bit to recover from the bitterness.

Yet, there is still the certainty that at least a part of the students will understand what the stakes are. It's a thrilling experience to work with them in a blended learning format - it definitely improves communication and the chances to personalise a bit more the ongoing conversation.

And because I'm currently translating Henry Miller's Colossus from Maroussi, here's a nice set of pictures from the Cyclades

Cyclades on Fotopedia

My first workshops...

 ...on integrating Web 2.0 technologies in teaching foreign languages in Romanian higher education  started last week when we gathered in the multimedia lab at the Faculty of Chemistry. It was my first attempt at organising a workshop on web 2.0 technologies for my colleagues at the Faculty of Letters (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania).
I designed Alpha Center Wiki to

• introduce the concepts
• provide information in Romanian for all specialties
• build up a community of learners that would eventually become a community of practice

I know my colleagues are busy, as all teachers are, but I still think that there should be a way round it to start offering our students more in terms of pedagogies, resources and motivation to learn. Because it's not only about foreign languages, it's not about a leap of faith... There's plenty of proof out there that upgrading our profession is a must. Strong as it may sound, just take a brief look around...The answer is obvious.