Blog is moving

The we deliver elephants blog is on the move - away from blogspot.com and off to a much more natural home at Luzia Research.

the url for the web based blog is http://blog.luziaresearch.com.

RSS subscriptions are now handled by Feedburner - on the url : http://feeds.feedburner.com/WeDeliverElephants

This URL has been in use for a while so if you subscribe you may not need to update the address.

If you are seeing this post in your RSS reader then you need to subscribe though as it has not been posted via feedburner.

Why the move? mostly so that we can use WordPress which is much nicer to use than blogger.

Web 2.0 and language learning

In another Economist piece this week on learning languages (Mandarin 2.0) - they talk about how the internet and technology is really changing language learning.

Skype is a great tool at connecting people and very good at connecting a English speaking person wanting to know Mandarin with a Mandarin speaker who wants to learn English.

Podcasts and other technologies also get a mention - pity they overlooked the impact that memory training and learning a language with a mobile phone is also making.

Genetically I can't learn Mandarin*

There was an interesting article in last weeks Economist that states that native speaker of tonal languages have a genetic differences to those speakers of non-tonal languages.

I'm not sure what use the research is yet - apart from providing a good excuse for me to explain why picking up Mandarin* was so hard - but it is certainly interesting.

I would be interested to see if there are common differences in the language processing areas of the brains also - otherwise I am confused as to what the genetic difference means.

Anyway it is interesting research and I thought I'd make sure any current Mandarin* students could add it their list of reasons why it is so hard to learn, listen and talk tonal languages.

Linguistics | Words in code | Economist.com

*Other tonal languages exist

Neuroscience and education

Quick reference to an Economist article on neuroscience and education in the Economist :
The science of education | Experimental subjects.

I hope more of this happens it seems that this could get rid of some myths in teaching and parenting, but until the results are repeated and tested in alternate ways it could also create some new myths.

I have this picture that because of the research that rhythm has something to do with dyslexia is one of those newly proven links that if not researched and proven in more depth could result in the next generation in the UK all turning to percussion and drumming because of a well intentioned parents.

déjá-vu explained

Obviously it is all down our dentate gyrus not working correctly!

Research deciphers 'déjá-vu' brain mechanics - MIT News Office

The research seems to only cover spacial déjá-vu not the situation ones that I tend to suffer from a lot - but I guess it is a step forward.

"Whenever I go into class, I have to power down."

Great article on the Guardian website about how kids use technology - well worth the read.

Children's experiences of technology outside the classroom way ahead | eG weekly | EducationGuardian.co.uk

I'd love to find a way to get he classroom more interactive - but with my focus on the mobile phone I guess I'm going to have to stay out of the class room and just help with the powered up state.

Are social networks, texting and phones changing our brains?

An article over at CBC refers to some exciting research about how brains may be developing in new ways thanks to new on-line social interactions and dealing with "too much" information:

FTA : "Studies are beginning to show that cellphone-toting execs and Facebook-friendly teens may be multi-tasking their way into taking on even more, by rewiring their brains to handle it."

Now we have even more reasons to find new ways to support their learning - their brains are different to ours!