Introduction | New ICT | Transforming teaching and learning
Going further with ICT can mean working in exciting ways with the latest that technology can offer and it can also mean that you are using ICT to explore new ways of developing your teaching and pupils’ learning. You could be doing both these things, working in an original ground-breaking way across familiar or new applications, using cutting-edge hardware, and creating novel approaches to teaching and learning. Whatever your situation, if you are taking ICT further, read the notes on these pages and go to Sharing your practice to see how you can form part of wider learning networks.
New ICT
Emerging technologies present new challenges and create new horizons in education. The pace of change is rapid and it is certain that new approaches to teaching and learning will continue to develop. Teachers of modern languages and other subjects have already embraced the interactive whiteboard while audio and video are being increasingly used in innovative work at all levels.
- Digital cameras
These are very versatile and basic models can be quite cheap.
They produce images of good quality. Often, basic editing software
comes with the camera so that you can be quite creative and discriminating
in how you choose to use or adapt the images. They lend themselves
to topic work at all Key Stages on such themes as home, family,
local area, the environment, and are especially useful on exchange
trips or for cross-curricular work.
Digital images can be swapped as e-mail attachments in projects
with partner schools abroad and can be inserted into teaching
materials and into pupils’ own work. They can also form an invaluable
resource for work on the interactive whiteboard. Many pupils own
digital cameras and can develop their own resources quickly and
cheaply.
- Digital audio
- Simple recording and editing can take place with Windows Sound Recorder.
- More sophisticated editing packages can be dear and not necessary for use in modern languages. A free sound editor that will do all you want for modern languages, and more besides, is Audacity, which you can download and run free, on stand-alone pc’s or on networks. Creative editing and even mixing is easily mastered.
- For the teacher, a minidisk recorder and a sound editor like Audacity are all that is needed to produce valuable interviews, dialogues or snippets of conversation. These can then be linked into interactive whiteboard work, either within the flipcharts themselves or via links to different applications where the recordings have been embedded in worksheets, support documents or presentations.
- You can record direct to pc if you do not have a minidisk recorder.
Recording from the Internet is possible as is streamed audio from radio stations. - Sound can be matched to images which are often easily located on the Internet. A cheap digital camera will give you highly acceptable images for such common topics as home, home town, school and holidays. Topics more suitable for older learners, such as environmental issues, fashion, lifestyle and so on, can all be supported with digital images and a sound track.
- Why not try a study of the local community with the focus on diversity, using a digital camera and a sound commentary? This could be used in a presentation, or a television “trailer” for an imaginary local news article. Alternatively, pupils could work on different aspects of the theme, some producing voice recordings to open a fictitious local radio programme and others preparing an online or printed article about the programme.
- Both teachers and pupils can work with digital images and digital sound in creative and appealing ways. What is more, the technological learning curve is not too steep at all!
- Digital video
- Using digital video is immensely appealing and many primary and secondary teachers have run projects.
- There is a fair amount to learn but common software is not too dear. Investigate at Curriculum Online.
- Digital video enables imaginative and creative work to be completed by pupils while developing language competence, learning skills and ICT skills.
- On this site look at Technology for Languages where you will find a set of downloadable tips and good ideas for using digital video.
- Look also at the Video Book Editor from NAACE’s Primary Classroom Activities and at 10 Top Video Tips from Digital Video in Education.
- For more detailed notes on digital video go to Becta’s Technical Papers archive. Advice on digital video can also be obtained at Becta Schools.
- If you have been involved in a digital video project, contact LanguagesICT and look at Sharing Your Practice.
- Video conferencing
- The appeal of live peer-to-peer contact with native speakers of the target language and the opportunities for developing cultural awareness cannot be underestimated. Global Leap is an example of a successful and established video conferencing project. Becta also gives valuable guidance at Becta Schools.
- Interactive software
- Proprietary software enables teachers to create interactive exercises which give learners immediate feedback. A wide range of activities can be created some of which incorporate image, video and sound files. They are not difficult to assemble and lend a multi-sensory dimension to learning. Creating your own video clips, sound files or digital images is achievable and straightforward using digital cameras, video or minidisk recorders.
- Two such products used by some teachers of modern languages are Fun with Texts and Task Magic. For software advice, look at Curriculum Online. Any mention of specific software does not constitute a recommendation to purchase. Go to the sites of specific companies and, if possible, download an evaluation version of software.
- Virtual reality
- Highly interactive personalised learning spaces which allow collaborative learning across a LAN or the Internet are not common. One virtual reality product which has been used for modern foreign languages is CreativeVR-Picture Gallery. Any mention of specific software does not constitute a recommendation to purchase. Go to the sites of specific companies and, if possible, download an evaluation version of software.
- Interactive whiteboards
- Interactive whiteboards are increasingly common in schools and
their capacity to change the way you teach and pupils interact
with learning is appreciated. For more see The
Review Project and check if your school has the CD-ROM, The
Good Guide to the Interactive Whiteboard. See also the brief notes
on interactive whiteboards in Being
an Innovator.
- Interactive whiteboards are increasingly common in schools and
their capacity to change the way you teach and pupils interact
with learning is appreciated. For more see The
Review Project and check if your school has the CD-ROM, The
Good Guide to the Interactive Whiteboard. See also the brief notes
on interactive whiteboards in Being
an Innovator.
Other developments which are likely to shape the educational environments of tomorrow include
- Handheld and portable devices and their role in learning.
- Networking: streaming video, home-school-community links, online learning, and the planned Regional Broadband Consortia, a further development of regional grids for learning. For presentation notes on this go to Becta's Expert Technology Seminars
- Personalised learning and ICT.
To keep up with changes follow the news on ICT News Update and consult
