New Language Course App for the iPad Will Open the Next Frontier for Language Learning

(see http://www.1888pressrelease.com/new-language-course-app-for-the-ipad-will-open-the-next-fron-pr-198033.html for full article)

April 02, 2010 - Hello-Hello, a market leading language learning company, announced the launch of their iPad app that is available immediately in the iTunes Store. Apple has approved Hello-Hello's language learning app for the Grand Opening of the iPad App Store. The Hello-Hello iPad app is priced at $4.99 initially and features Hello-Hello's complete Spanish course developed in collaboration with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The Hello-Hello Spanish language course app is available immediately for the iPad's release and apps for other languages will be launched in the coming weeks. Future iPad apps from Hello-Hello will include social networking features that will allow language learners to interact with native speakers of the language they are learning. You can to find the Hello-Hello app in the iTunes Store using the following link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hello-hello-spanish/id364902587?mt=8

Hello-Hello Spanish includes 30 conversational lessons and hundreds of flashcards with words and sentences to practice vocabulary. The course follows ACTFL's research-based approach to teaching languages; all lessons are based on realistic situations, rather than a collection of out-of-context words and phrases. All the content is stored in the app so that users will experience rapid response time when they are ready to learn a language. Users do not need to be connected to Wi-Fi or 3G networks to run the app.

Sarah Gontijo, CEO & Founder of Hello-Hello, believes that the iPad and other large-format mobile devices will revolutionize language learning. "The iPad offers interactivity, connectivity and portability that can take language learning to the next level. Our app provides a new solution for students, business travelers or vacationers who would like to spend some of their down time wisely. Learners will experience rapid response time with all content loaded on their iPad and without the need of Internet connection. They will be able to do the lessons while sitting in a train, waiting in line, at the beach, or on their way to their vacation destination. In other words, users will be able to literally learn a new language on-the-go, anytime and anywhere," Gontijo said.

ACTFL's Executive Director, Bret Lovejoy, stated that Hello-Hello's content follows ACTFL's research-based approach to language learning used by educational institutions around the world. "Delivering this language learning content on the iPad will provide learners with the convenience to learn anywhere, anytime. Providing the social networking aspects of the Hello-Hello website on the iPad in future apps will allow learners to experience immersion language learning by communicating directly with native speakers," he said

Hello-Hello.com is a free language learning website that allows members to:

LEARN a new language anytime, anywhere with online lessons that develop all the skills they need.

TEACH other members their language and learn from native speakers by providing feedback on one another's oral and written exercises.

COMMUNICATE with native speakers through audio, video and text with live Chat to practice the language and make friends all over the world.

The website launched in August 2009 and has members in more than 70 countries. Teachers across the U.S. have been using Hello-Hello's lessons as homework assignments and as a tool to connect students with native speakers around the world. Hello-Hello.com has training modules for English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, and will be adding more languages, including German, Italian and Mandarin Chinese in the next few weeks.

About Hello-Hello
Hello-Hello is a language learning company that offers online and mobile courses. Hello-Hello's website couples social networking with language learning which allows users to interact with native speakers around the world. Our courses were developed in collaboration with The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

For more information please visit: www.hello-hello.com

About ACTFL
The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), is the largest association of teachers and administrators of all languages at all levels with more than 12,000 members. Schools, major corporations and the U.S. government use ACTFL's tests and guidelines to teach and determine language proficiency. For more information, please visit www.actfl.org

School Book Purge is Ill-fated

There is a major debate and controversy in Texas right now over the state's social studies/history standards, which are used to dictate what kids are to study, and usually influence what gets covered in textbooks sold to the schools. At issue is the State Board of Education's decision to remove a number of Latino historical figures that have contributed to the building of Texas and the United States.

Victor Landa, a columnist for the San Antonio Express News, made some poignant observations about how technology--the kinds of technology we have been discussing in this class--is providing a means around these attempts of the majority to dictate what constitutes sanctioned knowledge and what can be taught in schools. Below is part of his column. Click here to read the full column. I'd love to know your thoughts about this issue!

But what they can no longer do is control knowledge. Not in the 21st century, not in the age of the digital, electronic “press.”

The State Board of Education doesn't want the work of César Chávez in the books? Start a Wiki on the Internet with his accomplishments and a study guide and curriculum, and use that in the classrooms.

The conservatives of the state board want to include items in the texts that extol the accomplishments of Newt Gingrich and the Moral Majority? Build a Web site accessible to teachers and students that speaks of the works of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

What can they do? Take a teacher to court as if this were 1920's Tennessee?

Apparently the majority of the Texas State Board of Education hasn't noticed the revolution in their midst. The power of the press is no longer private and corporate. The power of media is now grass-roots, collaborative and accessible.

Let them burn books and think they're accomplishing something. We can always build an Internet portal and share the link.

SAISD upgrades technology

An article in today's San Antonio Express News describes efforts underway in the San Antonio Unified School District to upgrade its technology. The article notes the benefits of technology, but also describes why its so important for the district to do this -- most kids are poor and have little access to computers at home. This relates to the Digital Divide we'll be reading more about in this course. A link to the article is below. I'd love to know what you think about it!

SAISD Upgrade Technology

by Lindsay Kastner

More than half of the 30,000 computers in the San Antonio Independent School District are considered obsolete, and the district is in the midst of a massive plan to replace its outdated technology resources.

“Those units, they're good for using electricity and generating heat,” said Chief Information Officer Marcos Zarola.

To remedy the situation, the district boosted its annual technology spending by $2.5 million at the start of this fiscal year, bringing the total dedicated funds to $3 million.

Schools are getting new, specially designed laptops with rugged exteriors, extra-long battery life and anti-microbial keypads. The new laptops are housed on carts to create a mobile computer lab.

Read the rest of the Article at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/SAISD_upgrades_technology.html#