FrenchPod Introduces The Personalized Learning System

ChinesePod is growing, after the SpanishPod, now we have FrenchPod which went live last week. But, if you think this is just a business expanding, you are wrong. As Ken described in his blog, the new FrenchPod represents a new version of the Praxis Language platform which named Personalized Learning System (PLS).

Coincidence or not, when I wrote the post about italki and discussed with several other friends who are also working on online language learning sites, the impression I got is that ChinesePod introduced Podcast into the lifelong language learning, which is its most attractive feature, but in terms of building the user community, some other sites such as italki are doing better work.

As an online Learning site, ChinesePod has also learnd from the market, quickly and effectively. Although focus on different direction to drive the user community, the new PLS has indeed brought the online language learning environment to next level. PLS introduces a Open Community which is a social collaborative learning environment that functions as a community of practice. This feature allows the learner immediately access to others on the network with whom they can interact, converse, and learn from. Furthermore, more tools and content options are also available for the individual, including mobile features and ways to free the learner from the computer.

As I am working for a French company, learning French is always something I wish to do. Thanks to PLS, I found FrenchPod is very easy to use. But, please also allow me to be a bit picky, I think what is missing here is first, the user generated content, i.e. leave users the flexibility to upload their own language contents and share with others; second, the multimedia content, a video clip I am sure will help me remember the vocabularies much easier, like ECPod.

May 29, 2008 · Filed Under China Web2

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A Lesson From BBC.com Chinese Media Sites Should Learn

Ashley Highfield, the BBC director of new media and technology, said all future BBC digital output and services will focus on three concepts - “share”, “find” and “play”.

New BBC.com was officially launched at 27 February, 2008. Guardian commented:

“…(BBC) plans to rebuild its website around user-generated content, including blogs and home videos, with the aim of creating a public service version of MySpace.com…”

Chinese Internet has been trying hard to catch up with the western industry, Myspace, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter etc have been studied and discussed since the first day when they went to public. It seems that people now have understood web2.0, and tens of video-sharing, image-sharing, micro-blogging and SNS can prove that. BBC.com was unblocked in March after years of strict access. It is a great news for those who complains about the censorship in China, but disappointedly there are very few of us has realized that there is much more we can talk about about the BBC.com.

More and more Chinese media sites now provides blog service, even offer video-sharing feature to attract more users and proclaim they are now into web2.0, which is really a good thing to hear. However, if we could spend some time on BBC.com, you must be amazed by what they are doing. Chinese Internet should learn from BBC.com: Read more

May 25, 2008 · Filed Under Media, Web 2.0