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The Isle of Wight conference
Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom - a one day conference took place on 20 October 2006 at Nodehill Middle School on the Isle of Wight. Organised by Joe Dale, leader of French, as part of his lead practitioner work for The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, it included sessions by five top speakers from Scotland and England on the topics of:
- Blogging and podcasting
- Digital video
- eTwinning / virtual learning environments
- Presentation software
- Interactive whiteboards / classroom performance system
The event attracted nearly forty language teachers who found the day inspiring; they had a choice of four sessions each as well as the keynote session A Year in the Life of a MFL Blogger. Nodehill pupils were kept very busy during the day podcasting, interviewing and shooting footage, the results of which can be found on here.
Volker Green, Programme Leader for Modern Foreign Languages at The City Academy, Bristol summed up his thoughts in the following blog comment made two days after the conference.
"Thanks for organising this very inspiring event. I have taken lots of good ideas home which I will hopefully be able to turn into reality very soon. Podcasting and blogging are definitely the way forward to personalise learning as they allow access at a time, pace and space of your own choosing as well as differentiation of support. A MUST try for all those out there whose MFL time is being cut down and for those who would like to offer independent language learning opportunities to students who - for one reason or another - wouldn't/couldn't choose MFL at KS4/5 but want to develop some language. Thanks again, I really enjoyed this and would recommend a follow up event!"
Using technology to enhance teaching and learning was a recurring theme in a number of other SSAT lead practitioner seminars organised in the autumn and spring term including:
- Creative use of digital technology - Helen Myers, deputy head teacher at The Ashcombe School, Dorking, Surrey
- New ways to learn old tricks - Lesley Welsh, AST in MFL at English Martyrs school, Hartlepool
- Developing the curriculum within languages Neil Jones, deputy head at The Elliott School, Putney
- Using new and existing technologies in MFL Rachel Hawkes, AST in MFL, Comberton Village College, Cambridgeshire
Information and resources concerning these seminars can be found on the languages lead practitioner section of the SSAT site as well as on Joe's and Neil's blogs.
