The Language Perfect World Championships are nearly upon us again and over 200,000 students have registered already for this year's 10 day language learning extravaganza!
Use the special code: JDALE to register your students NOW for the Language Perfect World Championships 2013 and you will unlock 50 free student entries (normally valued at $5 per student).
NOTE: be sure to include (JDALE) in the Registration Code box
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There is a MASSIVE list of prizes you can win this year! Click here for full details. Why not download the iPad app to compete at school, at home or on the move!
Check out this list to see which schools participated in the competition in 2012 - why not lay down a challenge to a school near you! As an Official Partner along with the Association for Language Learning, we are looking forward to seeing YOUR STUDENTS learn, compete and win!
Yesterday I had the prestigious honour of delivering a webinar for the award winning US site Classroom 2.0 LIVE on the use of iPads to enhance teaching and learning. A summation of months of research and enquiry, it was wonderful to have such an incredible opportunity to share my findings, top tips and app suggestions with a worldwide audience. I was delighted with the positive response from the chat and on Twitter.
Here are some of my favourite accompanying tweets:
For those who would like to download the PowerPoint direct, click here or scan this QR code linking to my public Dropbox adapted with the PhotoString app as recommended by Tim Bedley.
Being asked to appearon the last live Edutalk show of 2012 and give my take on how language teachers are currently using technology in and out the classroom was an absolute pleasure. Unsurprisingly, I championed the impact of the MFL Twitterati on classroom practice and shared my top tips for nuturing a successful subject specific community. Below is a summary of our discussion. Feel free to leave a comment here or get in touch via Twitter if you'd like to know more.
Introductions and background
mobile learning with iPads 1:1, teacher tool, learner tool
schools investing in one or two sets of iPads and doing trials
encouraging listeners to tweet in
3 way split on how ICT is being used in the languages classroom
using ICT in the classroom and using ICT to improve PD
where schools are with ICT use: receptive interactive exercises, grammar, vocab revision
using ICT creatively with Web 2.0 tools
mobile technology, different platforms iOS, Android, brand loyalty
importance of having a personal learning network to keep up to date with the latest developments in edtech, inform yourself and ask questions
no longer you can be an expert in all aspects of ICT
personal recommendations, blog posts. aggregation tools
introducing the MFL Twitterati as a unique dynamic collaborative, influential and organic community
importance of creating and managing subject specific communities
nuturing community of practice, linking and bringing people together, using side projects as a vehicle to find out about new potential members
importance of regular contributors and leadership
creating a Twitter list and being limited to 500 people
the need to take people off if not tweeting regularly or not tweeting interesting relevant info to add value to the community
having a cabinet reshuffle from time to time
wanting the 'movers and shakers' on the list
MFL Twitterati is like a classroom without cynics
giving the community a name giving it an identity.
being proud the hashtag has gone global
drawing people in via the MFL Times through the paper.li site, creating a languages related daily e–magazine as an experiment which has become a huge success
finding about new language teachers which I hadn't come across via follow requests
creating the MFL Twitterati dropbox
creating a core community which is regularly refreshed with new members
finding out about more people via requests to join
creating language specific DBs plus CA moderation
vehicle to help people connect and connect with each other.
doing search for those people using #mfltwitterati
comunity has changed people's live
adding value, hearing latest news from national press and events around country
trying to make the MFL twitterati a group of regular active contributors not lurkers to make community work
MFL Flashmeetings - cathartic way of discussing the latest developments in languages. taking part live or watching replay
using Twitter well and creating a powerful community
Twitter v blogging for CPD and personal reflection.
penetration into MFL teachers as a whole
Listening to podcasts while going for walks and reflecting on conversations
being inspired on a daily basis by my Twitter community
building up your community to avoid echo chamber mentality
blogging can be a 'big ask' compared to Twitter
crowdsourcing doesn't always work if the expectation too high or demanding
evaluating the impact of being part of the MFL twitterati on PD and classroom practice, pupil attainment, creativity and engagement with crowdsourced evidence.
finding time to blog and prioritising tweeting over blogging
the difficutly of finding empirical evidence on the value of being part of an online community and showing how the MFL Twitterati is making an impact to the MFL profession
funding difficulty and being allowed out of school
community promoting itself.
200 million Twitter users worldwide and 80% broadband connectivity in UK
making the MFL Twitterati a household name
reaching local people with the 'influencers' via MFL Show and Tells
using social media professonally / personally
MFL always leading the way in use of tech
Facebook v Twitter proving the value of being part of a Twitter community, aggregating content to make it as simple as possible to help people understand value
wanting to change the world!
the joy of reading MFL teachers blog posts about their classroom practice.
tweeting about new resources e.g buddy poke, sharing resources, links coping with changes and initiatives.
London Festival of Education audio recording of interview with Michael Gove being able to quote him on his thoughts on languages in the context of the eBacc.
revealing the title of my ililc3 keynote Meeting the challenge of change – jailbreaking the languages classroom.
making sense of the world
feeling the 'love in the room'
questions from the listeners
not forgetting the importance of the face to face meeting
reflecting on the content of recent keynotes and encouraging others to replicate models of MFL Twitterati
making the MFL Twitterati Dropboxes manageable raising the issue of impact of deleting files from the DB. FAQ wiki rules.
MFL Twitterati driven ideas
Have you heard of the MFL Twitterati blog post for the Network for Languages London blog.
enjoying the challenge of working out iPad techniques
Trouble–shooting issues with Twitter community.
importance of making connections with like-minded colleagues from across the curriculum as well as MFL Twitter colleagues.
collaborating with language teachers across the UK and raising awareness of different practices and curricula
Being inspired by Scottish initiatives such as PiE, MFLE and Scottish Cilt
Introducing 2 day languages conference in Glasgow in April
importance of publishing resources to a real audience using web 2.0 tools and mobile devices and raising the profile of languages departments
highlighting good or outstanding use of ICT according to Ofsted in their latest subject specific report.
collaborative learning is the way to go!
rising a virtual wee dram to celebrate the last Edutalk podcast of 2012 and promoting the educational value of digital audio.
the pleasure of interacting with your community via a Twitter backchannel while multi–tasking at a face to face conference or watching television and getting to know followers' interest on a personal level.
constructing and driving a grassroots bottom up community.
persevering with the belief we could achieve a tipping point/critical mass
the impact of the first ILILC event on building the MFL Twitterati community
the value of being part of a community in your daily life and the personal as well as professional support it can provide
a few final thoughts
Thanks of course to David and John for inviting me on!
I was genuinely shocked and saddened at the news this morning that Graham Davies, founder of Eurocall, ICT guru and omnipresent voice in the global languages community had unexpectedly lost his fight with long term illness. His encyclopaedic knowledge of computer assisted language learning was second to none and his willingness to share his expertise via a myriad of online media was greatly appreciated by many he connected with over the years. Graham's dedicated altruism and honesty touched colleagues from all over the world and his legacy speaks for itself
Throughout my teaching career and beyond, Graham Davies has been there, contributing to debate, challenging opinions and giving support. I contacted him many times asking for advice on a range of issues and he always helped and encouraged me. I know he did the same for many others too.
I was lucky enough to meet Graham in person four times, at a Japanese Conference at Oxford Brookes in 2007, The Language Show 2007, Eurocall 2011 and finally at the Digital Kitchen event at the Institut Français last October where he gave a talk on the history of CALL and we had lunch together with his colleague and friend Scott Windeatt. He was a kind, warm and approachable man with a great sense of humour and an affable nature.
A life 'post Graham' is hard to imagine such has been his contribution. My thoughts and best wishes go to his family and friends at this difficult time. If you would like to pay your respects, The Association for Language Learning has set up a tribute section to Graham on their Facebook page where you can leave comments. Alternatively you may like to add your thoughts to this TES thread I started this morning after hearing the terrible news.
Rest in Peace GroovyWinkler, GroovyGuzi, DaisyBundle ... Graham. Your unique voice, understanding and generosity will be sorely missed.
The Language Perfect World Championships are about to kick off and language learners from all over the globe are poised to compete with each other in the greatest cyber-battle there has ever been (ever). Over 100,000 students are primed and ready to take part in this worldwide phenomenon aiming to achieve the maximum number of points for themselves, their school and their country!
If you haven't signed up yet for the 10 day competition, there is still time to do so and if you use the JDALE registration code you can have 50 places for FREE.
NOTE: be sure to include (JDALE) in the Registration Code box
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Language Perfect will reply with details on how to proceed.
Over 14 million questions were answered in 7 days in last year's competition. Who knows what the final result will be this time around with an extra 3 days to play with!
The Language Perfect team has now developed an iPad app for those who want to take part in the Championships on the move too!
I was lucky enough to attend the official launch dinner in Perth, the host city for this year's competition in March, footage of which you can see here. You'll spot me right at the end on the right ;-)
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