Défi personnel, défi virtuel ou l'île du multimédia

International audiencePresentation by two teachers of a successful lesson which they had prepared together and used with classes at different or mixed levels of ability. Authentic passages from a reality TV series were the starting point for the preparation of lesson materials for use in a multimedia lab. If the subject matter is of interest in itself, its exploitation in class sho uld create a desire to understand and exchange ideas while carrying out the set tasks. These tasks include various levels of interactivity, information gap activities and decision - taking. The specific organisation of the multimedia lab is itself conducive to that indispensable requirement: motivationPrésentation par deux enseignants d'un cours préparé conjointement et utilisé avec succès chez des publics différents. Des documents authentiques de type télé - réalité sont le point de départ d'un travail de médiatisation et de didactisation e n vue de son utilisation en salle multimédia. Si le sujet est intéressant en lui - même, son exploitation doit susciter le désir de comprendre et d'échanger grâce aux tâches que les apprenants doivent accomplir. Ces tâches comprennent différents niveaux d'in teractivité, des partages d'information, et des prises de décision. L'organisation de la salle multimédia pour un apprentissage des langues par les tâches prédispose elle - même à l'indispensable motivation

La voix à la carte

National audienceL'article décrit une expérimentation mettant en oeuvre une nouvelle approche du laboratoire de langues à base de matériels informatiques. Une explication des avantages du numérique et de la carte vocale par rapport au magnétophone analogique est suivie d'une description des possibilités offertes par certains logiciels du commerce. On aborde ensuite le rôle que peut jouer l'ingénierie pédagogique moyennant quelques connaissances informatiques. Un exemple est donné de pilotage de la carte son par "fichier de commandes" MSDOS mais, surtout, on met en avant l'occasion qu'offre cette nouvelle technologie pour créer une configuration de laboratoire de langues plus conviviale et plus apte à encourager des activités communicatives. Pour réussir une telle configuration, il est nécessaire, selon nous, d'établir un projet qui donnerait toute sa place aux besoins de formation de l'équipe pédagogique

Informatiquement parlant : l'intégration de l'informatique en anglais langue orale

International audienceThe article describes a learning environment for spoken English built around 12 PCs equipped with sound boards. With the help of English-speaking language assistants under a teacher's responsibility, the learners use English as their only working language in what are often very concrete situations. The learners perfect their oral production by using specific software tools which also facilitate teacher correction and evaluation.L'article décrit un environnement d'apprentissage de l'anglais langue orale à base de 12 ordinateurs équipés de cartes son. A l'aide d'animateurs anglophones sous la responsabilité d'un professeur, les apprenants utilisent l'anglais comme unique langue de travail dans des situations de communication souvent très concrètes. Des outils logiciels spécifiques aident les apprenants à mieux construire leur production orale tout en facilitant le travail de correction et d'évaluation par l'équipe pédagogique

Mobilité virtuelle et apprentissage de l'anglais : bilan et perspectives d'une expérience

International audienceIn this article we relate the experience of 3 years of collaborative Internet teamworking in an original student-centred approach to the learning of English as a foreign language. Firstly we describe the framework of the Open to Europe project financed by the European Commission's Socrates Open and Distance Learning programme and then the voluntary continuation of this work with our partner universities. After an analysis of the technological and institutional difficulties we encountered, we conclude on the overall student satisfaction at adding a European dimension to their university studies using new technology and on our desire to pursue the adventure in the hope of fully meeting our goals at some point in the future.Cet article présente une expérience de trois années de collaboration transnationale pour l'apprentissage de l'anglais, d'abord dans le cadre d'un important projet européen pluridisciplinaire, Open to Europe, financé par la Commission Européenne, ensuite dans son prolongement avec des partenaires volontaires. L'expérience est caractérisée par une approche pédagogique centrée sur l'étudiant, associant un travail d'équipe transnationale et une communication à distance par Internet. Après une analyse des difficultés technologiques et institutionnelles rencontrées, nous soulignons les apports d'une nouvelle culture de l'apprentissage à l'université, qui nous incitent à l'explorer et à l'exploiter davantage

Ashanti and Her Neighbours c. 1700-1807.

By the middle of the second half of the seventeenth Century, the Portuguese trading monopoly on the Gold Coast had come to an end. The Dutch, who were largely responsible for bringing this about, could not follow their predecessor's example of monopolising the Gold Coast trade however. The development of plantation agriculture in the American and the Caribbean islands provided other European nations with strong economic motives to share in the Guinea trade. Thus English, Danish and Brandenburgers appeared on the coast to compete with the Dutch for the trade in gold, slaves and ivory. This ushered in an era of competition which was greatly to the advantage of the Africans, Apart from the increase in the volume of trade, the trans-Atlantic trade brought unprecedented wealth into the country. It was soon discovered however that the existing small states based on kinship and lineage were incapable of meeting the new economic demands, therefore larger political states such as Benkyera, Akwamu and Akyem were created by the Akan peoples to meet this demand. The creation of these states was made possible by the introduction of firearms in appreciable quantities into the country by the European traders. Because all these states aimed at political and economic expansion their association was characterized by mutual rivalry, Denkyera and Akyem usually acted together against Akwamu therefore Akwamu assisted in the creation of the Ashanti Kingdom to balance the might of its enemies and to preserve its western frontier. By the middle of the eighteenth century however Ashanti had defeated Akyem and Denkyera and was undoubtedly the dominant political and economic power in the hinterland of the Gold Coast since Akwamu itself was defeated by Akyem in 1730. In 1807, Ashanti conquered the coastal Fantis who, like the Ashantis, had also embarked upon political and economic expansion throughout the eighteenth century. It was clear, therefore, that in the early nineteenth century the probability was that the Gold Coast might become a monarchy ruled by the kings of Ashanti. That this did not happen was due to the policy adopted by Britain during that period

EuroCALL 2011 Courseware exhibition: the VoiceForum platform for spoken interaction.

Showcased in the courseware exhibition, at the EuroCALL 2011 conference, VoiceForum is a web-based software platform for asynchronous learner interaction in threaded discussions using voice and text. A dedicated space is provided for the tutor who can give feedback on a posted message and dialogue with the participants at a separate level from the main interactional activity. In this way, the pedagogical input is always based on the contextualized needs of the participants, can be accessed as often as required and even searched as a resource for future reference. The software features a built-in sound recorder/player, a rich text editor and management tools to enrol participants, and create forums. Although still in the development stage, this software can be downloaded freely but must be installed on a web server. VoiceForum has been used extensively with French university students of English since 2006

A systems approach to the exploration of research activity and relationships within a local authority

Background: Organizations with responsibilities for public health are increasingly required to use evidence-based practice to inform programme delivery, requiring research to generate relevant evidence, and dissemination and use of evidence to inform decisions and practices. Understanding how relationships between organizational structures, systems and processes influence evidence-based practices is critical to improving practice at both an institutional and system level, yet how these relationships should best operate is not well understood. Understanding how to better support research within local authorities, the elected administrative bodies responsible for services including public health at a regional level in the United Kingdom, is a priority for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research. This study is based on Norfolk County Council, a local authority in the east of England. We aimed to apply a systems perspective to develop a better understanding of the structures, systems and processes that support a local authority in becoming research-active, identifying gaps in understanding and recommendations for action to address them. Methods: Taking a participatory action research approach, we applied qualitative methods to explore research activity and relationships in Norfolk County Council. We surveyed employees and used network analysis to map individuals, departments and external partners involved in research activities and the connections between them. We then applied participatory approaches to conduct a series of focus groups and semi-structured interviews to explore stakeholders’ experiences and perceptions of being involved in research at, or with, the authority, and their ideas for recommendations for future actions. Results: A range of research activity is undertaken at the local authority, with an emphasis on applied work to improve service delivery. We identified several examples of effective practice and models of research collaboration in some departments. Challenges such as limitations in resources, capacity and knowledge exchange were evident, yet there was a readiness amongst key stakeholders to develop and implement actions that may better support the authority in becoming more research-active. Conclusion: In large complex organizations, a key challenge is how to share learning across teams and implement good practice at an organizational and system level. Our findings highlight the potential for developing improved collaborative partnership models and systems to support sustainable processes and practices for research and knowledge exchange at an institutional and interorganizational level. The insights gained and shared will support other local authorities and similar large, multilevel organizations with responsibilities for evidence-based public health to explore their own setting and implement change where needed, and provide stimulus for further research into system-level change

What learning scenarios for virtual worlds and CLIL?

There is a strong case to be made for using a CLIL approach in the learning of foreign languages: learners are exposed to authentic tasks and authentic samples of language whilst their language needs and interests in their specific fields of study are catered for in a very real way. This would result in learners being given optimum conditions for foreign language learning i.e. where language use is meaningful and also calls upon cognitive operations with real issues at stake. (Coyle et al., 2010). In addition, the use of virtual worlds for foreign language learning is today well researched. Sufficiently so that, in spite of the technical problems that may arise during virtual learning sessions and the cognitive overhead for both learners and teachers entering into these virtual worlds, the following advantages have been recognized: − reduced apprehension in expressing oneself in the FL (Schwienhorst, 2002) ; − richness of the target language input thanks to the physical presence of avatars providing verbal, para-verbal and non-verbal data (Schwienhorst, 2002) ; − the possibility of organizing collaborative group work allowing learner engagement and thus facilitating situated learning based on experience (Dalgarno & Lee, 2010). Connecting a CLIL approach to virtual worlds would therefore seem fertile in its principle. We would like to show the relevance of this connection whilst insisting, however, on the need for a rigorous learning scenario design which genuinely takes into account the potential advantages of virtual worlds whilst avoiding the pitfalls of language and content integration that has been insufficiently thought out (Coonan, 2003). To do this we will draw on experimentation undertaken in the European project Archi21 where collaborative tasks in the foreign language, set up with a CLIL approach, have been successfully completed by students of Architecture and Design in Second Life. Bibliography Coonan, M. (2003). Some issues in implementing CLIL. ELC Information Bulletin 9. http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/elc/bulletin/9/en/coonan.html Coyle, D, Hood, P. & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning, Cambridge University Press. Dalgarno, B., & Lee, M. J. W. (2010). What are the Learning Affordances of 3-D virtual Environments? British Journal of Educational Technology, 41. pp 10-32. Schwienhorst, K. (2002). Evaluating tandem language learning in the MOO: discourse repair strategies in a bilingual internet project. Computer-assisted Language Learning 15. pp. 135-145

Changes in toxins, intracellular and dissolved free amino acids of the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum in response to changes in inorganic nutrients and salinity

19 páginas, 7 figuras, 2 tablas.The paralytic shellfish poison prducing dinoflagellate Gymnodiniun catemrum was subjected to changes in salinity, phosphate, ammonium and nitrate using continuous culture and batch culture methods. In contrast with other algae, this species showed very slow changes in the concentration of intracellular amino acids, in the Gln:Glu ratio, and, in contrast with Alrsandnum spp., only slow changes in toxin content, during such events as N-feeding of Ndeprived cells or during nutrient deprivation. This organism was found to be very susceptible to disturbance; maximum growth rates around 0.25–0.3 day–1 with a minimum C:N mass ratio of 5.5, were attained when cultures were only disturbed by sampling once a day. P-deprived cells were larger (twice the usual C content of 4 ng C cell–1 and volume of 20 pl). The content of free amino acids was always low (5% of cell-N), with low contributions made by arginine (the precursor for paralytic shellfish toxins). Cells growing using ammonium had the lowest C:N ratios and the highest proportion of intracellular amino acids as arginine. The toxin profile (equal mole ratios of dcSTX, GTX5, dcGT2/3 C1 and C2, and half those values for C3 and C4) was stable and the toxin concentration varied between 0.2 and 1 mM STX equivalents (highest when ammonium was not limiting, lowest in P-deprived cells, though as the latter were larger toxin per cell was not so variable). Decreased salinity did not result in increases in toxin content. Significant amounts of amino acids (mainly serine and glycine, with a total often exceeding 4 µM) accumulated in the growth medium during batch growth even though the cultures were not bacteria free.This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) through grants to K.J.F. and a studentship to E.H J. We also acknowledge funding received from the Spanish CICYT: projects MAR95-1791 to B.R. and ALI95- 1012-C05-01 to J.M.F.; the IEO-ESF grant to M.I.R., and the scholarship from Xunta de Galicia which funded M.I.R.'s visit to Swansea.Peer reviewe