Languages, ICT, education

In 1987 Breen attempted to persuade the ELT world to make a fundamental change in direction by changing from a product syllabus, which concentrates on what is to be learned, to a process syllabus, ...

"Getting people to think about what they think, and asking them questions about it, is the best way I know how to teach" (Eleanor Duckworth) ...

If we expect our students to develop 21st century skills, then we must model them for our students and each other. We must take risks, grow, and learn.

Teachers' perceptions of effective teaching seemed to differ from those of students. Therefore, we decided to prepare various instruments to identify and measure students’ perceptions of the characteristics of exemplary language teachers and teachers’ perceptions of the characteristics of the exemplary language teacher and compare the results.

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We hope that the findings will encourage teachers to ‘re-contemplate’ their own teaching methodology and its impacts on students’ learning processes, and, if necessary, make changes to their teaching to promote students’ language competence and performance ...

                     50 “Best Practices” For Language Teachers                    
“It’s a funny thing. The more I practice, the luckier I get.”
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Technology in education gets plenty of hype, but let's not forget the importance of teaching and learning, says Pamela Wright

The reliance on textbooks runs deeper than habit; it’s a product of intellectual laziness.

What innovations in English language teaching (ELT) have had the biggest impact on your teaching? Teaching expert Chia Suan Chong lists her top ten.

Food for thought

Amid debates about teacher quality and training, and with the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group soon to report on teacher education, we asked a panel of experts just what makes a good teacher…

The initiative of implementing digital teaching portfolios at the Hong Kong Institute of Education began in the year of 2011. At an individual level, digital teaching portfolio offers a context for articulating one’s teaching philosophy, reflecting upon one’s teaching, documenting evidence of teaching accomplishments for present and future employers, and through which, one’s pride and esteem for teaching, as well as teaching practices could be enhanced (De Rijdt et al., 2006; Wright et al., 1999). At a community level, teaching portfolio encourages inquiry-based dialogues on teaching, facilitates the process of mentoring junior teaching staff and offers resources which helps develop effective criteria for teaching in a tertiary institution (Quinlan, 2002; Wright et al., 1999).

Technology is not here to replace a teacher but to enhance their capabilities. When it is used properly, a teacher learns new ways of teaching, and it not only improves the delivery of instruction but improves the teacher as a learner too. And a good teacher (so called 21st century teacher) has the most important trait of being a learner herself.

6.30 am: Woken by the dulcet tones of Lana Del Rey and a new 'Wake up Light'. Contemplate staying in bed then notice the email icon flashing with a number of new messages - check twitter.

7.00 am: ...

Onstage at TED2013, Sugata Mitra makes his bold TED Prize wish: Help me design the School in the Cloud, a learning lab in India, where children can explore and learn from each other -- using resources and mentoring from the cloud.