two nations/two sounds = 1 voice

Imitation is flattery…
FOR OBAMA
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed atrail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed [...]

teaching Italian as a second language – on speaking

Dopo tanto tempo…after so long
On Sept. 26 we had our first in a series of three annual conferences on Teaching Italian. The symposium/workshop was a success despite the rain, the number of chefs in the kitchen, issues with staff and other help, and the revolving door of personnel working on the organizational aspect of the [...]

scholarly writing via wiki?

I am involved in another first in my professional career: writing a scholarly chapter via wiki. The volume is dedicated to computer-assisted language learning in the age of Web 2.0 and I have been selected (well, not a sure thing yet, until the chapter is completed and peer-refereed) to contribute a piece on the Web [...]

is social media really an “us” vs. “them”?

This is a post I’ve wanted to write for some time but hadn’t found my courage voice for it. It was born from a comment of a student evaluation from a fall course that stated that not only were my “clothes inappropriate” but I also “had Facebook”. The comment on my wardrobe is completely off [...]

becoming a p “lurker”?

update: not too far off with my title. Plurk as stalkerati central: People + Lurk = Plurk
another micro-blogging site to compensate for Twitter’s recent shortcomings…more to come later

“election day” italia

today and tomorrow represent two anxious days of voting in Italy. comparing the two main candidates, leaders of the PD (democratic party) and PDL (recently formed people of liberty) respectively, La Stampa compares these leading candidates in a manner that shows perhaps there are some ‘differences’ between the two. How would you interpret these signs?
  
  Veltroni images [...]