The reason comments sometimes don’t show up is because they have more than two links in them. I have it set up that way to stop spammers, whose comments tend to be link heavy.

As for Gatto, go here:http://del.icio.us/Autonoblogger/gatto and type gatto in the search box, or just Google him. I took advantage of the uni’s interlibrary loan system to borrow “Underground History”, “Dumbing us Down”, and several others but I’d recommend those 2 first. You can actually read Underground History completely online if you so desire and save yourself some money. It’s not available via Amazon.com, but you can buy it online from Gatto’s website and they delivered very quickly.

I think it’s a good idea to introduce low-level English students to the Web 2.0 because it will help them with their speaking, writing, thinking, listening and reading.

Gatto talks about the importance of young people creating lines of meaning in their lives, and the difficulty of helping those crushed by the school system to do this.
I’ve been mining Gatto’s writing for ideas on creating meaningful activities for young people. Your Kenji scenario is an excellent example of such. This is much more important than having Kenji learn to read and write English, or graduate from university or whatever. The need for meaning and meaningful activity is so powerful, it cannot be completely stifled. It is not a theoretical matter, but a demand made by life itself. To respond to that request is a terrifying yet beautiful challenge for teachers and anyone responsible for the growth and well-being of young people. As a very good friend of mine once said, “When life calls, will we respond? Or will we have a trillion questions first?”

I think this lends support to Aaron’s scenario of using Flickr (images) with low-level EFL students.

2) Bronwyn G wrote:
I think it’s a good idea to introduce low-level English students to the Web 2.0 because it will help them with their speaking, writing, thinking, listening and reading.
I don’t disagree with Bronwyn’s opinion, but I think she misses the, or an, important point raised by Aaron’s “Kenji” scenario: that for Kenji, his hobby has more meaning than EFL, perhaps more than school in general; and that thru Flickr, Kenji finds meaning in contacting and communicating with other people around the world, perhaps even in English.
Much of what goes on in schools, I suggest, is simply not meaningful to many students. Many of them may be only marginally aware of this. They may be more or less aware of the vital importance of finding meaning in their lives, of what Gatto calls “the need to create lines of meaning in their lives”. Because of the stultifying effect school has on a lot of children (thru the repeated rituals), children often grow up to become accustomed to this lack of meaning and not even question it. (The ones that do are often labelled “troublemakers” or “misfits”.)

The need to find or create meaning in one’s life is so powerful, that it cannot be completely stifled. It is a demand made by life itself. It is a tremendous challenge for teachers to try and respond to this need, yet a very exciting one. As a a good friend of mine once said, “When life calls, will we respond? Or will we have a trillion questions first?”