04/2007 - Aberdeen, UK
The IATEFL annual conference took place in Aberdeen from 18-22 April. As part of this, the LTSig organised a pre-conference event on Wednesday 18 April and a SIG day programme on Friday 20 April.
The PCE programme below is as published before the event; last-minute changes are shown in the Abstracts. (Some of the following was contributed by Rodney Mantle.)
Some materials from the conference are available to SIG members.
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LTSig Pre-conference Event
9.45am - 5.30pm, 18 April 2007
Venue: University of Aberdeen
Writing with computers
Online resources are now plentiful. Many are available for free and are low-tech enough to be used both in high-tech and relatively poor-resourced contexts. In addition, there are many resources that can also be used offline ranging from high-quality CD-ROMs to software which usually come with the most basic computer, such as PowerPoint and word processing programmes.
We are now faced with the questions of: how to use the online opportunities available to us in the best way possible; how to make the most of the offline e-resources that we have access to.
This PCE explored the theme of how to efficiently use our existing e-resources, whether online or offline, so as to develop writing skills.
The PCE had a theoretical as well as a practical part. The theoretical part dealt with issues such as collaborative writing, intercultural issues in online writing, email writing, netiquette and general e-literacy.
The practical part offered ideas, tips and resources for use with learners from beginner to advanced and from young to adult, exploring useful tools such as writing software, email, blogs, wikis, etc.
Timetable
| 9:45 - 10:00 | Opening / Welcoming |
| 10:00 - 10:45 | Keynote talk |
| The online world of [second language] writing; a world of [second language] writers online! Diane Slaouti, University of Manchester, UK | |
| 10:45 - 11:15 | Coffee break |
| 11: 15 - 12:45 | Workshop 1 |
| The wonder of Word and the power of PowerPoint Paul Hullock, INTO, University of East Anglia, UK | |
| 12:45 - 1: 45 | Lunch |
| 1:45 ? 3:15 | Workshop 2 |
| Getting creative: interactive online writing projects Gavin Dudeney, The Consultants-E, Spain | |
| 3:15 - 3:45 | Coffee break |
| 3:45 - 5:15 | Workshop 3 |
| Exploring writing software Sophie Ioannou-Georgiou, Cyprus Pedagogical Institute,Cyprus Johanna Stirling, Freelance Consultant, UK Birgit Winkler, University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria | |
| 5:15 - 5: 30 | Round up/ closing |
Abstracts
The online world of [second language] writing; a world of [second language] writers online!
Diane Slaouti, University of Manchester, UK
This opening talk invited participants to reflect on both the opportunities technology offers developing second language writers and, in an age of online connectedness, on the realization that this online world is a world of writers.
A case has long been made for the role of the word processor in second language writing development. There is still much to explore as this basic of writing tools has developed, and its use is still under-exploited in many teaching contexts. But the world of computer-based writing offers us much more. It?s a world of a huge variety of tools that also have a role to play in our writing curriculum: email; the WWW as a publishing domain, communication tools such as forum spaces; the social networking technologies of Web2 such as collaborative writing tools (eg Writeboard), BLOGs, Wikis. How do these relate to what we know about writing processes?
Along with considering the role of these technologies in the writing process, we cannot ignore the fact that these are also tools that reflect the reality of a being part of a connected, online world. What is more, in the technologies of Web2, connectedness brings with it not only the potential for communication across global, physical boundaries, but also new opportunities for collaborative activity that sees writing as central. This is, therefore, a world of writing with its own developing tools and emerging writing conventions. Importantly, it is a world that our learners are increasingly part of.
Integrating technology is not without challenges in the reality of our teaching contexts. However, there is much potential, some of which was explored in this talk. It was also suggested that, if we see developing our learners? real world skills and autonomy as central to our role, this is a potential we shouldn?t ignore.
Diane Slaouti can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The wonder of Word and the power of PowerPoint
Paul Hullock, INTO, University of East Anglia, UK
Word and PowerPoint provide educators with extremely powerful tools for developing their students? ability to write. The vast majority of learners and teachers have access to and are already familiar with Word and PowerPoint yet it is easy to overlook the potential creative power of these two everyday tools.
This workshop looked at how to maximize our students' use of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint as tools for developing their writing skills by exploring a range of classroom activity types and also by examining some of the less well-known tools available in Word for our students to use. We also looked at the teacher tools that are available in Word for written and oral correction of students? writing and at the tools that can be used to create a range of exercise types. The workshop provided participants with lots of opportunities for hands on practice and all the materials and user guides were made available to participants.
Paul Hullock can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
As a result of illness, Paul Hullock could not be present. His presentation was replaced by a workshop led by Johanna Stirling on a similar topic. She talked about using Word in various ways, for example, giving to a class in a computer suite the first sentence of a story and then getting pairs to add sentences, changing computers after each sentence until the story is complete. She also demonstrated teacher corrections using REVIEW. Referring to PowerPoint as largely very linear, she showed how a non-linear approach could work.
Johanna Stirling can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Getting creative: interactive online writing projects
Gavin Dudeney, The Consultants-E, Spain
This workshop looked at a variety of tools which encourage learner writing online. During the session we looked at blogs, wikis, email exchanges and longer, creative writing projects on the Net. Participants had the opportunity to use a variety of web-based tools and left the session with a set of projects and teaching ideas with an immediate application in the language classroom.
Websites mentioned included:
- http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/t4/content/view/221/35
- http://www.uncyclopedia.org
- http://www.technorati.com/
- http://www.dudeney.com/
- http://www.bicycle-sidewalk.com/
Exploring writing software
Sophie Ioannou-Georgiou, Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Cyprus; Johanna Stirling, Freelance Consultant, UK; Birgit Winkler, University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria
This workshop aimed to familiarise the participants with a range of writing software which is currently available. It included both commercial software and software which is freely available online.
The software presented covered various aspects of writing, ranging from creative writing to the mechanics of writing (e.g. spelling). The workshop leaders briefly discussed the potential of such software and criteria which can help in selecting which is appropriate for your classes. They then presented sample writing software and offere starter ideas as to how these can be used in language learning classes. Finally, participants chose, and tried out, software suitable to their own teaching contexts and target learners. The session ended with the participants reporting on the software which they reviewed and sharing opinions and ideas as regards its potential and possible implementation in language learning classes.
Sophie Ioannou-Georgiou can be reached at:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Johanna Stirling can be reached at:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Birgit Winkler can be reached at:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
SIG Day Programme
9.15am - 6.05pm, 20 April 2007
Venue: The Aberdeen and Exhibition and Conference Centre
Timetable
| 09:15-10:00 | Podcasting for beginners Richard Cain, Thailand |
| 12:00-12:45 | How to make materials for interactive whiteboards Julia Glass, Sweden |
| 14:05-14:50 | Concordancing at the upper-intermediate level Iffaf Khan, Mexico |
| 15:05-16:05 | Roles of technology in language learning - a joint institutional perspective Paul Sweeney, Caroline Moore, Martin Peacock, UK; Juan Pedro de Basterrechea, Spain; Markus Biechele, Germany |
| 16:40-17:10 | Learning Technologies Special Interest Group Open Forum |
| 17:20-18:05 | Learning technologies evaluation - getting tooled up Mark Jasper and Karen Waterston, UK |
Abstracts
Podcasting for beginners
Richard Cain, Thailand
No idea what RSS means? Don?t know the difference between a podcast and a blog? Afraid to admit that USB, MP3, WAV and youtube are meaningless terms? Relax ? this talk will not only demystify podcasting but show how it can be a wonderful new and very simple to use listening tool for you and your students!
How to make materials for Interactive whiteboards
Julia Glass, Sweden
How useful is the Interactive whiteboard in EFL teaching? How can teachers with boards begin to prepare materials and adapt their own materials to use on their Interactive whiteboards? In this section the speaker will discuss their use in the language classroom and give a practical demonstration on how to adapt and produce IWB materials for the EFL classroom.
Concordancing at the Upper-Intermediate Level
Iffaf Khan, Mexico
If you have heard of concordancing but have not been sure what it is and how to use it, this revises the search engines on offer and discusses their pros and cons. Key words to enter into concordancers are suggested for different results. Additionally, the different ways upper-intermediate students of English can notice grammar in its natural state are investigated.
Roles of technology in language learning - a joint institutional perspective
Paul Sweeney, Caroline Moore, Martin Peacock, UK; Juan Pedro de Basterrechea, Spain; Markus Biechele, Germany
British Council, Instituto Cervantes and Goethe Institut have agreed a knowledge sharing strategy for the deployment of technologies in support of our German, Spanish and English teaching. We will present an overview of our different contexts, our shared understanding of current practices and potential of learning technologies and how we will support emerging trends in societal behaviours or new pedagogies.
Learning Technologies Special Interest Group Open Forum
Come and meet the SIG committee members, find out what the SIG?s been doing over the last year and about the events planned for the future. Let the committee know what you think about SIG activities, meet other SIG members and win nice goodies at the raffle! Snacks and drinks provided!
Learning Technologies Evaluation ? Getting Tooled up
Mark Jasper and Karen Waterston, UK
Beginning with lessons learned from evaluating a variety of learning technology projects throughout the British Council network, we present a range of suggestions for gathering data. We then go on to ask whether these lessons and suggestions can be brought together to form a generic tool to evaluate future projects.
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