Languages, ICT, education

The keynote presentation by Joe Dale at the 7th VIRTUAL ROUND TABLE Web Conference highlights the importance of having a growth mindset when approaching the use of technology and how we should use it only when it leads to enhancement or transformation in learning not as a bolt on or substitute for traditional pedagogy.

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.

Check out just how much of an influence studies show iPads in the classroom are having on education.

"... To get the most out of educational technology, teachers must combine those traditional classroom skills with new ones. And their repertoires will have to expand as the tablet’s powers grow. This fall, mastery might mean giving a quick quiz, then breaking up the students on the fly into groups based on their answers and sending each group a different exercise from the teacher’s tablet. In not too many years, it might mean using sophisticated pattern-recognizing algorithms to analyze data from homework, games, leisure reading, social media and biometric indicators to determine that one student should be guided to an interactive simulation of coral-reef ecology, another to an essay exercise built around a customized set of coral-reef-related vocabulary words and concepts, and others to something else. ..."

There are 10 things that online teachers should unlearn before they take up teaching online. Online Education needs new and open thinkers for sustainability.

An interesting article by Sharon Plante discussing the challenges of working as an edtech expert in school.

Michelle Lampinen: This year, I admitted a hard truth to myself. I wasn't having my students write enough. In an attempt to follow Kelly Gallagher’s advice that students should write more than we can assess, I decided to have them blog weekly. ...

Here are some proven techniques for keeping students from using digital devices inappropriately in your classroom. Classroom technologies such as smartphones, tablets, computers, and wireless internet access offer exciting opportunities to enhance and deepen the learning process. However, using technology in the classroom can also bring multiple distractions to students. Without your proactive supervision, students might access games, web pages, and social networking sites as you deliver instruction.

As an educator, how can you confront this dilemma? Read on to ...

From vibrant communities on social media to inventive lessons using video conferencing, Joe Dale explores how languages teachers have embraced technology in the classroom

A fantastic plenary talk by Sugata Mitra at IATEFL 2014 on the future of learning, schools in the cloud, collaborative learning and his "the hole in the wall" project.

Technology in education gets plenty of hype, but let's not forget the importance of teaching and learning, says Pamela Wright

Collaborative reading and digital devices can give students a huge boost in comprehension. How? Take a look at these great tips from Holly Clark.

The Oxford English Dictionary announces its latest update, which sees the inclusion of over 1200 newly revised and updated words. Let’s take a look at some of the most intriguing words included in the OED for the first time …

The 6th Virtual Round Table Web Conference on language learning technologies welcomed an attendance of 628 participants in Adobe Connect and 155 participants on livestream on facebook.

For those who missed it and would like to recap the program, all of the sessions were recorded.

"Blogging is a fantastic way to strengthen the connections between home, school and the world."

Almost everything you've ever wanted to know about blogging in education by Kathleen Morris