Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom:

Podcasting at Leeds

Learning technologist, Simon Davis from Leeds University has been researching the benefits of podcasting and vodcasting for teaching and learning with colleagues from the Staff and Departmental Development Unit (SDDU). Findings to date have been published on the SDDU podcast and blog and include views from staff and students alike on the potential of podcasting. They certainly make for interesting listening.

Simon is also part of a special interest group of like-minded academics from around the country who collaborate with each other via a wiki Podcasting for Pedagogical Purposes and occasionally meet face to face to discuss their ideas further. Here are some of their thoughts from their inaugural event in February.

Two weeks ago Simon made a presentation Pod(cast) the net wider: Audio for communication at a SDDU seminar beginning with two important questions:

• Why should we use audio to communicate?
• How can we use audio to communicate?

He then answers both questions by providing evidence from his and others research from the unit. During the round tables, colleagues Gerard, Dragos, Jenifer, Penny H, Penny F, Jo, Rowan, Rebecca, Alice and Catherine give their views too on podcasting and how it can create more flexible learning opportunities by letting students decide where and when they learn.

The SDDU podcast features some interesting takes on the usefulness of educational podcasting, in particular Dr Karen Lee's advice on the use of audio in teaching, Simon's episode on comparing recording equipment, reminiscent of my post A guide to recording audio on a budget and the introductory podcast which includes interviews with university students and staff.

As well as podcasting, Simon is also passionate about creating video resources for learning and teaching and gives some ideas on how to get started in this SDDU presentation he recently uploaded to SlideShare. He has made a number of clips too on LUTube, the YouTubesque video sharing site at the university.

It is clear listening back to the various views expressed on podcasting in education that some are very enthusiastic about the possibilities whereas others are less so, unsurprisingly. Some of the top tips suggested are:

• keep podcasts short and concise concentrating on the key points
• change your intonation to keep listeners' interest and to provide more colour
• include a range of voices so that recordings sound more like conversations than monologues
• use scripts for preparation and accessibility

Hopefully this post will help to (pod)cast the net wider and provide plenty of LEEDS for us to explore in the future. Thanks to the SDDU for all your hard work and in particular to Simon for helping to share these findings with the rest of us.

Web 2.0 Technologies for Learning at KS3/4

In this clip, Rebecca Graber from Nottingham University feeds back on some of the findings a team of academics led by Dr Charles Crook have arrived at during the Becta research project on Web 2.0 tools in secondary schools carried out earlier this year. It makes for an interesting watch.

Have a look at this presentation too on the same research and these presentations by Colin Harrison and Charles Crook.

Languages Unleashed!

Language Lab Unleashed! is a website run by Barbara Sawhill, Director of The Cooper International Learning Center in Oberlin College, Ohio. It hosts a wealth of downloadable mp3 files of live conversations made by Skype users on the use of technology and language learning. Anyone can take part in these webcasts as long as they ask Barbara for permission first. I first heard about Language Lab Unleashed through a Ewan McIntosh blog post Thursday Night 11.55 pm GMT where he describes the webcast he contributed to about language learning and technology at the K-12 level (primary and secondary education). You can listen to this webcast here

It was also thanks to Ewan that I heard about the latest webcast Foreign Language Podcasting Initiatives because of a recent post on the MFLE blog. As I have been trying out Skype with various MFL bloggers and friends recently, I thought I'd ask to take part. The 'problem' of webcasting around the world however is coping with time differences between different countries. For example, it may have been 8 pm on Thursday evening in Ohio when the conversation started but on the Isle of Wight it was 1 am Friday morning! The other two guests on the show were Julio Rodriguez, Director of the Language Studies Resource Center at Iowa State University and Noelle Isenberg, Director of the Foreign Language Podcasting Studio and Director of the German Online Initiative at Penn State University.

You can listen to the whole webcast here. Feel free to leave a comment

Irish EAL winners announced

The European Award for languages or European Label is a scheme which runs in over twenty countries and is designed to champion innovative and outstanding projects in the field of language education.

To be eligible for an award, projects must be:

• Innovative
• Effective
• Replicable

Léargas have announced the twelve winners of The European Award for Languages in Ireland. These are:

• A CLIL Experience @WIT, Project Coordinators: Dr Aine Furlong and Paola Fraioli, Waterford Institute of Technology
• County Dublin VEC English Language Teaching Development Initiative, Project Coordinator, Stephen Bearpark, Co Dublin VEC, Head Office, Tallaght, Dublin 24
• Graduate Diploma in Education (Languages), Project Coordinator, Janet Moody, Department of Education and Professional Studies, University of Limerick, Limerick
• Hiberno-German Tandem: Gustaff Meets May, May und Gustaff Treffen Sich!, Project Coordinator, Carmen Creighton, Maynooth Post Primary School, Maynooth, Co Kildare
• i-Learning in Transition Year French, Project Coordinators, Anne Grills and Gemma Kelly, Manor House Secondary School, Watermill Road, Raheny, Dublin 5
• In-Service Programme For Language Support Teachers in Primary Schools Throughout Ireland, Project Coordinator, Dr Barbara Lazenby Simpson, Integrate Ireland Language and Training
• ITB Schools Language Programme, Project Coordinator, Maria Kenneally, Institute of Technology Blancharstown, Dublin 15
• Les Marionnettes-A Puppet Show in French Suitable for First Years, Project Coordinators, Fiona Cogan and Bernadette Sharkey, The Donahies Community School, Streamville Road, Dublin 13
• Prima (Deutsche Zeitschrift), Project Coordinator, Martina O’Reilly, CBS High School, Kickham Street, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
• Problem Solve, Project Coordinator Kristin Brogan, Institute of Technology Tralee, Co Kerry
• Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge, Project Coordinator,  Anna Ní Ghallachair, Ionad na dTeangacha, Maigh Nuad,  Co. Chill Dara
• The Process of Applying Lateral Thinking Skills to the Teaching and Learning of a Modern Language and Culture, Project Coordinators, Suzanne O’Brien and Eileen Geaney, St Mary’s National School, Windsor Avenue, Fairview, Dublin 3

Contact details and a database of winning projects from all countries can be found on the website of The European Commission.

For further information on the European Award for Languages in Ireland, contact [email protected] 

Shared languages projects bear fruit

TeachNet UK is a Specialist Schools and Academies Trust scheme designed to offer teachers the opportunity to set up an action research project with their pupils on the benefits of using ICT in their subject to enhance teaching and learning. To be accepted for publication and to receive a £450 fee, each project needs to include 4-5 hours of teaching materials which have been tried and tested in the classroom.

The chosen downloadable projects for languages on the site are as follows:

• French - the imperfect tense - Caroline Arnold, John Port School, Derbyshire and Catherine Mills, George Spencer School, Nottingham
• Interactive PowerPoint - Christine Bodin, Notre Dame High School, Sheffield
• French - a website for NVQ Level 4 - Carine Jaquel, Hillview School, Kent
• Spanish - a website for NVQ level 3 - Carine Jaquel, Hillview School, Kent
• Cultural Eating Habits - Daniele Mead, St Gregory's Catholic Comprehensive School, Kent
• Bienvenue a Paris ... a virtual tour ... - Catherine Murray, St Gregory's Catholic Comprehensive School, Kent
• Producing video in the classroom! - Lyn Chalk and Catherine Murray, St Gregory's Catholic Comprehensive School, Kent

It's good to share.

And the winner is ...

The winners of the European Award for Languages 2006 have now been announced by CILT, the UK co-ordinators of the Europe-wide initiative. A common theme amongst the twelve winning projects was the motivational benefits of creating opportunities for learners to use language for real purposes.

The EAL winners 2006 are:

A World of Books
Oughtrington Community Primary School Cheshire

Around the world in 80 minutes
Théâtre sans frontières, Northumberland

Where we live
International Learning and Research Centre, South Gloucestershire

Enhancing Community Languages
Aveling Park School, London

Litterhitters!
Shawlands Academy, Glasgow

Inter@action
Ringwood School, Hampshire

Invade Orford!
Debenham High School, Stowmarket, Suffolk

Vocational International Project Sheffield (VIPS)
Sheffield Local Authority

Immersion Teaching
Tile Hill Wood School & Language College, Coventry

Junior CULP
Language Centre, University of Cambridge

Able linguist day
School of education and continuing studies, University of Portsmouth

Multilingual Debate
Department of languages and intercultural studies, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

The award ceremony will take place on 26th September 2006, European Day for Languages in the Chamber of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Sir Trevor McDonald and Rt Hon George Reid SMP will be presenting the prestigious awards.

Download this pdf press release from CILT entitled Real communication a winner in language awards to find out more about each individual project.

Keep it REAL with EAL.

What the research says ...

 

Carrying out your own classroom research can be very fulfilling. Supported by the Partners in Progress initiative CILT, the National Centre for Languages and the Association for Language Learning, teachers have been evaluating the level and nature of ICT use in language classrooms across the country.

The results of these Action Research projects are now appearing on the Languages-ICT website. There are over twenty different projects to explore covering a range of different topics all related to the theme of ICT and languages.

Most of the final reports are still in the process of being completed. Dates on the first set indicate when they were finished.

CILT and ALL hope to be able to fund more Languages ICT Action Research projects in 2006-07.