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Teacher Education for Languages with Technology / Formation des enseignants de langue avec les TICE
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Call for Papers - Digital Methodologies in Educational Research. 16-17th May 2013.

Venue: Brockholes Conference Centre in Preston, UK: http://www.brockholes.org/
Invited Speakers: Professor Martin Weller (The Open University, UK) and Stephen Downes (National Research Council, Canada)
Call for papers: 1st December 2012 - 28th February 2013
Abstract submissions to: Dr Michael Thomas (MThomas4@uclan.ac.uk)

Call for Papers
The purpose of this two-day symposium is to develop and support digitally-enabled research across the field of education. By providing a forum for the discussion of digital approaches, the event will enable the exchange of methodologies, ideas, expertise and knowledge and present educational researchers, practitioners and doctoral students with opportunities to develop new networks and share good practice. The use of new digital research methodologies in education is rapidly developing in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches. Across education digital methods are being used to address new practices related to the changing landscape of research collaboration, observation, analysis and dissemination. As a result of Web 2.0 technologies, educational researchers are also increasingly turning to new approaches to research computer-mediated communication, involving social media, social networks and virtual immersive environments. The symposium will address the key issues related to the Digital Social Research Strategy, particularly in relation to the challenges posed by data collection and analysis in the digital age, including trust and quality, interoperability and data preservation in an educational context. The event is aimed at established as well as early career researchers and postgraduate students.
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Interaction in the target language at the IWB | itilt.eu

Interaction in the target language at the IWB | itilt.eu | TELT | Scoop.it

When we discuss the use of interactive whiteboards in education, we often assume that the mere use of interactive technologies will ensure that classroom teaching and learning will also become somehow "interactive." This might mean physical activity on the part of learners - as in Dewey and Bruner's learning by doing, or Asher's Total Physical Response - but in the second language classroom, we more naturally think of interaction in the target language.  So we might expect that using an interactive whiteboard should promote interaction in terms of communication between the teacher and learners, and among learners.

 

Communicative language teaching (CLT), involving meaningful use of language, and task-based language teaching (TBLT) are, of course, the main current approaches to second language teaching and learning, and so it is helpful to see examples of classroom activities where the IWB is used to support spontaneous, unplanned communication in authentic contexts.  However, this type of communication is not always possible or indeed desirable at all stages of proficiency and in all phases of a lesson or longer teaching unit.  In the following examples, we can see the IWB being used to support different types of language interaction, from the practice of decontextualised language elements in order to focus on pronunciation or grammar, through more open-ended activities, to genuine communication in the target language.

Shona Whyte's curator insight, April 12, 6:11 AM

Pistes pour l'exploitation du site iTILT en formation.

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Making Interactive Lectures

Making Interactive Lectures | TELT | Scoop.it

Shona Whyte:

 

"Created by Heather Macdonald College of William and Mary and Rebecca Teed, SERC and updated by Gail Hoyt, University of Kentucky, Jennifer Imazeki, San Diego State University, Barbara Millis University of Texas, San Antonio, and Jose Vazquez-Cognet University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

 

This module on Interactive Lectures provides strategies and specific examples of techniques and activities designed to involve students in large and small lecture-based classes. The module is designed for the instructor who does not want to replace lecture, but rather to enhance and punctuate lecture to create an interactive classroom experience."


Via Nik Peachey
Konstantinos Kalemis's comment, August 9, 2012 9:44 AM
Interactive lectures can increase student engagement with course material and facilitate learning. In traditional lectures, the majority of class time is devoted to the instructor’s delivery of information. During interactive lectures, the instructor interrupts the lecture to allow time for short activities.
These activities can take on many forms as discussed later, but they are important in that they allow students to use material learned in class and contribute to their own learning.During lecture breaks, the instructor poses a question or problem that promotes students to actively work with the concepts learned in class. Because learners tend to retain information based on their involvement in the learning process, transforming students from passive receivers of information into active users of information leads to increases in student retention of material.
The idea of incorporating activities within lecture time is often met with the criticism that it wastes time that could be used to cover additional course material. However, sustained lectures that exceed the typical attention span of 10-20 minutes do not ensure that the material is actually reaching students. In fact, students record in their notes a greater percentage of material from short lecture segments than they do from longer lectures. Many of the activities described below take only a few minutes to implement, but still provide important learning opportunities for students.Another benefit of using activities within lectures is that it can create a feedback loop for instructors to get information about student learning earlier than the exam or major assignment date. Seeing students struggle with an activity can be the stimulus for the instructor to review important concepts related to that activity.
In recent years, the lecture has fallen on hard times.
Prominent researchers have raised doubts about its use, claiming that lectures rely on rote learning and fail to promote active engagement. Yet most of us have either attended or delivered wonderful lectures—lectures that have expanded our thinking, provided fresh insights, or opened our eyes to new worlds. Clearly, lectures can be an efficient way of transmitting large amounts of information in a relatively small amount of time.
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Technology and principles in language teaching: Andrew Walkley

Technology and principles in language teaching: Andrew Walkley | TELT | Scoop.it

Shona Whyte:

Hugh Dellar gives ELT Heinle co-author Andrew Walkley space to expand on his IATEFL 2012 presentation on technology in language teaching.  The overal thrust is to question blind assumptions about teaching and technology: 

 

Impoverished acquisitional/pedagogical models

- "the vast bulk of new technologies for ELT are based on OLD – and I would argue discredited – theories of language. Many of the sites recommended by gatekeepers such as Russell Stannard and Nik Peachey focus very much on grammar rules and lists of single words and their meanings."  Walkley rejects this restricted view of language learning/teaching as "grammar rules + words + skills."

 

Overestimation of technology's power to motivate

- "We’re frequently told we’re teaching screenagers, but our students are only screenagers when using facebook to sort out a meet-up with friends or to post comments on recently uploaded photos."  Our younger learners are not so tech-savvy or pro-tech as older teachers may fear.

 

Unhealthy obsession with technology among some teachers

- "Don’t let workaholics be our role models."  Technology is time-consuming for teachers, but pro-tech teachers don't mind giving up a great deal of spare time for it.

 

Technological versus pedagogical interactivity

- "Far too often, in classes I observe, IWBs are simply used as giant held-up coursebooks, as another form of crowd control."

 

[Author photo from ELT Heinle http://elt.thomson.com/emea/en_uk/innovations/pages/0759396205/teacher_andrew.html]

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