Ajarn Donald's Blog

Supawan and I would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Safe, Prosperous and Happy New Year 2015. Next year promises to bring BIG changes to English as a second language ESL here in Thailand . We will be introducing the EDU Card during the first half of 2015.  Beginning in January 2015 we will be adding and promoting competitions among all schools who signup for our 1 Baht per student per day campaign (with a minimum of 200 students) 365 Baht for a 12-Month subscription. There will be weekly and monthly prizes awarded for the top achievers. We will also be setting up a regional competitions among all 10 ASEAN member countries. This regional competition will hopefully take place by late 2015. Stay tuned!  Supawan Inbunna   088-249-4917 / 089-201-1680    Supawan Donald Patnaude   081-855-2701    Donald Interview with Paul Maglione one of the co-founders of Entertainment Learning and English...

by Jim Forde The web is obviously an amazing repository of useful information.  I actually can not even remember how I prepared for my teaching in the late 80's (when I was majoring in mullet-ology) before it was available!  One of the greatest things that the web offers is the myriad of video resources that can potentially enhance your lessons.  Here is a short list of ones that blow me away and a few tips for video utilization. The list! 1.  NBC Learn I just saw a demo of this deep resource an NSTA  in Indianapolis last week.  It connects professional quality video clips with scence and math concepts is a super high interest way.  Here is an example, the Science of NHL  hockey (http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/science-of-nhl-hockey) connects hockey with ideas like, Newton's Laws ; Mass, volume and Density; and Vectors.  The are humorous and effective.  Kids will DIG these for sure!  Also, check out the Changing ...

Teachers and students are still waiting to find out what  brand  of  tablets  they will be using when the school year opens. APICHIT JINAKUL   Wednesday update : Shenzhen Scope Scientific has won the bid to supply 900,000 tablet computers for school first-graders for a second time. The company raised its price by US$1 (30.6 baht) to $82 to cover the insurance and freight charges which were not included in the first offer. The selection of the Scope tablets should be finalised today – unless there is another change of mind.   Red-faced govt calls new PC bid Panel  didn't  spot  Scope tablets' hidden charges Suchit Leesa-nguansuk The government's plan to acquire 900,000 tablets for school pupils looks like turning into a  fiasco  after a panel re-opened  bidding  on the  scheme  despite having already selected a winner last week. The move has raised  suspicions  of possible political  interferen...

Why free apps can suck for our schools... by Brad Flickinger The other day I was showing a colleague an amazing little app I use to manage my to-do lists across multiple devices on multiple platforms . He was really impressed until he found out that is cost... Prepare yourself... A whopping $4.99! “$4.99! I'm not going to pay that much for an app!” I'm sorry to say this about him - but what an idiot. He won't pay $4.99 to make his life a whole lot better when the coffee in his hand cost more than this app. Again, what an idiot. But some school districts or no different. For example, as I work with more and more districts about converting over to mobile devices in the classrooms, the discussions always leads to the apps that these devices will use. But almost without exception as I start to suggest certain apps over others there is always someone in the group to freak out over the price of an app. “You mean the app is not free?” “No, it is $1.99.” I repeat. “Can't ...

Published:  6/03/2012  at 05:40 PM Online news:  Learning From News Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development Co has beaten three other Chinese companies to win a  contract  to supply 900,000   tablet computers  for first graders in government schools. The selection of Scope, which will supply the tablets at a cost of US$81 (2,482 baht) apiece will be put before the cabinet for  approval  today. The 900,000 tablets will be  distributed  to all Prathom 1 (Grade 1)  primary   students  this year under the Pheu Thai-led government's One Tablet PC Per Child  scheme , aimed at promoting a  knowledge-based  and  network-connected society .  The Education Ministry also plans to seek approval to  purchase   higher specification tablets  for nearly 700,000 Mathayom 1 (Grade 7) students.  Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap said the project committee ...