If you’re like me, you tote a laptop when you hit the road. Most hotels and motels in the U.S. now offer some form of Internet connectivity, making it easy to check your email, browse the Web, or update your blog or website.
Many such establishments (and this extends to airports and coffee shops) have chosen a Wi-Fi scheme. Unfortunately, most of these hot spots are unsecured, meaning that any information you send or receive can be intercepted and read by others logged in to the same network. What to do?
Protect your privacy by installing a virtual private network (VPN) application on your laptop. A VPN is an impenetrable tunnel that prevents others from viewing your web browsing activities, instant messages, downloads, credit card information or anything else you send over the network.
Although there are several VPN clients to choose from, I can recommend two that I have used successfully. The first is a free program called Hotspot Shield. According to its developers, Hotspot Shield allows you to:
- Secure your web session, data, online shopping, and personal information online with HTTPS encryption
- Protect yourself from identity theft online
- Hide your IP address for your privacy online
- Access all content privately without censorship; bypass firewalls
- Protect yourself from snoopers at Wi-Fi hotspots, hotels, airports, corporate offices
This video shows how easy it is to download and set up Hotspot Shield on your computer.
The other VPN is a paid offering from Comodo called TrustConnect. Its features, according to the company:
- Securely encrypts all data transmitted over both wired and wireless Internet connections
- Creates a Virtual Private Network to hide all personal web-surfing information
- Utilizes industry-standard 128-bit encryption
- Lightweight—protects without interfering with normal computer operation
Which to choose? If you’re on a budget, go with Hotspot Shield. You’ll be served some ads, but that’s how they keep their service free. If you are experiencing lengthy delays connecting with one of their servers, you might want to consider TrustConnect. For a few dollars a month, you get a faster connection and no noticeable delay in surfing speed.
Can websites contain viruses? Unfortunately, yes, and they can spread to your computer if you’re not careful.
Depending on the strength of your antivirus software, you may be alerted and your access blocked when visiting an infected site. But sometimes the software delivers a false positive. So, is the site I want to visit safe or not?
You can get a qualified second opinion using a free tool called URLVoid. From their homepage, enter the address of the site you want to check, then click the Scan Now button. URLVoid will check the suspicious website with 19 web scanner services, including McAfee SiteAdvisor, Norton SafeWeb, and Web Security Guard. It will then present you with the compiled results. Impressive!
If you are teaching online or otherwise assigning online content as part of your course, URLVoid seems like a good bet for checking sites in advance. You might also consider setting up a wiki or similar resource where you and fellow teachers can pool respective lists of suspicious sites revealed by this scanning tool.
Got Moodle? Subscribe to the Extensive Reading approach to second language acquisition? If so, check out the Moodle Reader Module, a plugin that provides quizzes on more than 600 graded readers and books for EFL/ESL students.
According to developer Tom Robb of Kyoto Sangyo University, “The Reader module allows quizzes to be randomly generated from a larger set of items for each book. The module allows teachers to easily install the module on their own Moodle system, download the quiz material for those textbooks in their graded reader library, and configure its operation to their own preferences.”
Be aware that you must supply the actual reading materials to your students; Reader Module is strictly a means for administering quizzes based on the reading. Also, as a security measure, Tom requires that you contact him via email for authorization to download the quizzes. Visit moodlereader.org for all the details, including the option to establish your own free course area on his Moodle site.
Although Diigo has been around since 2006, I’m just now discovering this fantastic tool, thanks to an e-learning course offered by the University of Wisconsin at Stout.
According to Wikipedia, Diigo is “a social bookmarking website which allows signed-up users to bookmark and tag web-pages. Additionally, it allows users to highlight any part of a webpage and attach sticky notes to specific highlights or to a whole page.”
Well, it’s that and lots more. Once you’ve installed the Diigo toolbar, you can highlight text, pictures, or an entire web page, and then share it within a group in Diigo, or to individuals via e-mail. There are also collaborative features, including one that allows you to create a group knowledge depository. Check out the collaborative features here.
For a more general introduction to Diigo and its capabilities, see the video below. Tip: Switch to full-screen view for a clearer look at how to navigate the interface.
I have some great news for teachers who use WordPress as their blogging platform of choice.
WordPress 3.0, “Thelonious,” the thirteenth major release of WordPress and the result of half a year of work by 218 contributors, is now available for download (or upgrade within your dashboard). Major new features in this release include an elegant new default theme called Twenty Ten.
As a die-hard WordPress user, I am impressed by the new lighter interface, contextual help on every screen, over 1,200 bug fixes and feature enhancements, and a bulk updates feature that allows you to upgrade 15 plugins at once with a single click. Wow!
Need more convincing to upgrade? Check out the video:
The June 2010 issue of Humanizing Language Teaching (HLT) is a special issue that celebrates Mario Rinvolucri`s 70th birthday. Who is this person? Well, among other things, Mario is the founding father of HLT, and over the years has become a trademark in English language teaching. I would like to join the 58 contributors in the featured article and wish Mario a very happy birthday!
I first became aware of Mario’s work when I was teaching high school EFL in Japan. I was tasked with setting up the school’s CALL curriculum, and one of the software packages we eventually purchased was from Clarity Language Consultants. The package included a program developed by Mario called MindGame, which my students enjoyed playing as they practiced speaking English.
Later, I discovered HLT through an ESL listserv. It’s a wonderful read, and true to title, it emphasizes the importance of the human element in language teaching — something we all need to consider as colleges and universities move increasingly toward e-learning solutions.
Two important conferences this month focusing on education and technology should be of interest to language teachers who incorporate technology in their teaching. Both events are in the U.S.
The first is the 2010 Online Teaching Conference, June 16-18, at San Diego City College in San Diego, California. (Thanks to Michelle Pacansky-Brock for the heads-up.) It is a collaborative effort between the California Educational Technology Consortium (CETC), and Computer Using Educators (CUE). Here is a description from the event planning committee:
“This two-day conference strives to successfully integrate online education throughout the K-20 spectrum (kindergarten through college). No matter what grade level , if you are an instructor, staff, or an administrator engaged in online education and/or the delivery of online services (student, faculty, library, resources, and technical), or if you are thinking about becoming involved, come join us to exchange ideas and experiences.”
One really nice feature of this event is that you don’t have to be present to attend. Go to the registration page and sign up for Virtual Attendance. It’s free, so why not? See you online.
The second, ISTE 2010, will be held in Denver, Colorado, from June 27-30. This year’s event is sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education in cooperation with Technology in Education Colorado.
Formerly known as NECC, ISTE is an enormous undertaking that attracts mainly K-12 teachers. The quantity and variety of presentations and workshops is truly staggering.
Unfortunately, ISTE does not offer virtual attendance. To participate in this event you’ll have to actually visit Denver (what a great venue, especially at this time of year).
Like to read, but a little short on cash? Living far from a good public library? Not a problem. This site will supply you with loads of great reading and listening material.
Project Gutenberg makes available over 30,000 free e-books to read on your PC, Kindle, or other portable device. You can also download audio books to listen to on your computer or music player. Everything is legal, and free.
Because the content is free, don’t expect to find the latest New York Times bestsellers. But you might be surprised at what is actually available. Classics such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes head up the site’s Top 100 list.
What’s in it for English language learners? Check out the list of human-read audio books. While much of the content is aimed at native or near-native English speakers, there are 12 volumes of Aesop’s Fables tucked away that should be within reach of lower-level learners as well.
More titles are available in the Readings by Computers section. But if you prefer the warmth of a human voice, I would give it a pass. There is plenty of material to download and enjoy in the main section.
I love a bargain, especially when it’s free. And when I find a good one, I like to pass it along. Today, I’d like to share a completely redesigned program that will help keep your home or school Windows computer safe from Internet threats.
This product should be no stranger. The free ZoneAlarm firewall has been around for years. But when the founding company was taken over in 2004 by Check Point Software Technologies, the program seemed to get buggier with each successive update. Sluggish PC performance, annoying pop-up alerts, and compatibility issues were common complaints.
Well, it seems the company has been listening because the latest version (9.2) is a winner. Here is the down and dirty:
- Alerts reduced by 97%
- Fully compatible with 64-bit Windows
- Community-powered threat detection blocks latest malware
- Identity Protection Checkup verifies identity risk (U.S. only)
- Site check and phishing detection blocks dangerous Web sites
- Secure Online Backup (2GB Free) helps restore lost data
I have installed this firewall on two home PCs and am impressed with its performance to date. It runs smoothly and quietly in the background with very few alerts, yet passes all security tests thrown at it. What a vast improvement over earlier editions — and it runs flawlessly on the 64-bit Windows computers that most stores are selling these days. This is an excellent replacement for the lackluster Windows Firewall bundled with your PC.
For a more detailed review (including video) and to download the program, visit CNET download.com.
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Sheppard Software sounds more like a business than a learning site. But in fact, the opposite is true. This treasure trove of free learning games and activities is seemingly aimed at kids but has something fun and useful for all ages, including adults. There are also puzzles, logic activities, and memory and strategy games.
The three activities above can be found on the site’s Language Arts page, a natural first-stop for English learners. While the grammar games in general target younger learners, the animations are enjoyable and you may find yourself hooked before you know it.
Ready for a tougher challenge? Try the advanced vocabulary in context section. Native English-speaking college grads will run into trouble here, I guarantee!
But don’t stop with Language Arts — explore some of the other pages. The Geography section in particular is very well done and has been recognized by CNN as a “fun site of the week.” Its authors guarantee that “you will gain a mental map of the world’s continents, countries, capitals, & landscapes.”
And, you just might improve your chances of winning if you’re ever lucky enough to appear on Jeopardy! or Cash Cab. 