It seems like I started writing this blog only yesterday... I mean, this is true for most of the blog. However, all good things must come to an end. And bad things like this blog too. It is time to reminisce on what we've learned this semester in regards to computers, language, learning and all these things combined.
First of all, I shall start by saying that it's been an honor creating food for thought that you, my beautiful non-existant audience, can feast upon. Admittedly, my blogs are more akin to fast food than home cooked goodness, but they are my proud creation nontheless.
We've learned a lot about programs, websites and applications that can assist a poor soul in learning the English language, as well as web-resources for teachers to collect and prepare material for study.

We've learned what MALL stands for and what sharks have to do with malls, why mosquitoes are not creatures of darkness and why Kain has to work for a corporate fast food chain. 

I hope that you learned something meaningful.

As a bonus I shall name the blog I liked the most among my groupmates' creations.

And the honor goes to...

Me! I'm the best!..

Did you expect anything else? Oh well, I guess I can name a close second... Let's see...

https://holisticlinguistic.blogspot.com/ is neatly structured and almost feels like a website of its own. Each post is brief but informative, which is more than I can ask for. All in all, Даргель Наталья did an amazing job, almost good enough to rival my outdated dog memes. 10/10 would rate again.

A Mall is a place where you go shopping for clothes and sharks.


MALL stands for Mobile Assisted Language Learning, and it is easy to see why the concepts of Language Learning and Mobile Phones sound so appealing together! On the one hand, you have the advantage of mobility, being able to go anywhere at anytime and still have an application that allows you to learn in your pocket! You won't miss a lesson because of notifications, especially since teenagers are as conditioned to check every single mobile notification as Pavlov's dogs.

Bobik resisting the urge to check his phone after getting a notification, 1897

Here is an interesting guessing game. Try to guess whether this QR code leads to a dancing dog video or a useful language learning resource:

Were you correct with your guess? Write in the comments! 

What is a MOO?
A MOO is the sound a cow makes.


What is a MOOC?
It stands for "Massive Open Online Course".
Today I shall tell you about courses I would personally like to participate in.

1) The first course that immediately caught my attention was Bachelor of Science in Computer Science on Coursera. 
The course material ranges from entry-level stuff to specialised topics, all in the field of Computers and TeChNoLoGy!!!
It  is no secret that being proficient in Computer Science is one of the surest ways to get a promotion at any job, since the world is evolving rapidly and instead of milking cows we now cyber-milk cyber-cows, all in front of a computer screen. Technology is changing the foundations of our world, and the only way to keep up with the rising demands of employers is to change with it. ROBO-MOO, my friends!

2) You may not know this, but I never paid any attention to math at school. It seemed unbelievably boring to me. Little did I know at the time, infinite batteries wouldn't be invented by the time I reached adulthood, and I am too stingy to buy a powerbank. That leaves me with a phone battery that dies on me at the most inopportune of times. And in those times I can't do any calculations in my head because I am terrible at math! OH NO! That is why I'm interested in Teaching Math to English Learners on Canvas. 

WIKI.
What is a WIKI? It is a base of learning, a compilation of knowledge, a source of infinite wisdom! No, it's not Wikipedia. You see, Wikipedia is a Wiki, but not all Wiki is Wikipedia.
There are a handful of other Wikis on the internet. The purpose of them remains the same, however: education and learning.
But why concern yourself with the boring stuff? If you want to know the biology of mosquitoes, you just google their Wikipedia page.
However, if you want real fun, I would suggest Wikia (also known as Fandom.com). This Wiki is a result of a collaboration by a vast amount of different fandoms, all with the goal to educate you in the subject of their fandom, no matte what it is. TV shows, books, games - any of these media can have fandoms, and thus their own Wikias!

If you're not a person, but a husk and don't have any passions other than learning, you can use a more serious alternative such as WikiDot. It has a standard Wiki functionality and stuff... 

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, GATHER TODAY TO WITNESS THE WORLD'S SMALLEST CALENDAR! IT'S SO TINY YOU CAN'T EVEN MAKE OUT ANYTHING!

SURVEY SERVICES are SERVICES that allow us to SURVEY.
You can gather all kinds of information, including people's opinions on mosquitoes and Google Services. Let's go over some of these services:

1) MyTextXPro is a system of programs for creating and conducting computer surveys and quizzes. It allows the user to work with 10 different types of tasks. The developers have been working on it since 2003 and it has a trial period of 30 days. Overall, a better choice for learning applications rather than survey conduction. Very useful for English learning, though!
 
2) Twitter is more of a social media platform than a survey service, but it will still do. It has a large user base and with enough effort you can conduct any study you want, as well as organise learning groups and share experience with other users in regards to learning and teaching the English language. Just don't delve too much into politics, or IT WILL CONSUME YOU.

3) Google Forms is a survey administration app that is included in the Google Drive office suite along with Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides. It allows collecting information from users via a personalised survey or quiz. And as any Googel product, it is good at what it does! 

4) Socrative is a specialised platform for teachers and students. It is extensively used for learning in the BSU because of its functionality and accessability. I have the most experience with this platform, so I'm a bit biased. 10/10, would recommend again. 

GOOGEL. SIMPLY AMAZING. But what does it stand for?

G- God
O- obsesses
O- over
G- good
E- English
L- learners

Google offers many services useful for english learners. These include:

1. Google Slides. As I have mentioned previously in my blog, this is your #1 service for presentation creation. It has a friendly user interface, is easy to use and share!
2. Google Docs. Another free alternative to a Microsoft Office product, this time we have a good replacement for Microsoft Word.
3. Google Drive. This is where you upload your Slides and Docs to share them with the world
4. Google Forms. I will talk about this in an upcoming post. Stay tuned for about 15 minutes :3