Wonderful party on SmallWorlds today (Screenshots)

Is it possible to organise an online party to celebrate the end of the courses? Our answer is definitely yes! Our party today on SmallWorlds was a great success! There was a variety of cakes, a Christmas turkey, plenty of drinks, fireworks, and snowballs! We danced a lot, we drew Christmas trees on the wall canvas, and we had a snowball fight. Students from all cohorts popped in and enjoyed the event making it very special! Below you can see a collection of pictures from the event (feel free to download and share on social media):

Thank you all for your participation :-)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

Xmas party on SmallWorlds on Friday!

We are throwing a Christmas party on Friday 23rd December 2016 at 1-2 pm (UK time), at the MA in DTLT space on SmallWorlds and everyone is invited! There will be food, games, dance, snow and lots of laughter so try not to miss it!

Here is a photo from last year's party:

Directions to the MA in DTLT space: On SmallWorlds select Places (bottom of the screen), then Search (menu on the left) and then type in "MA in DTLT". On the right you will click on Go there (orange button) which will teleport you to the space.

Just released: Cultivating a community of learners in a distance learning postgraduate course for language professionals

Just released 'CALL communities and culture – short papers from EUROCALL 2016', edited by Salomi Papadima-Sophocleous, Linda Bradley, & Sylvie Thouësny.

The volume features a paper by Angelos Konstantinidis and Cecilia Goria, titled: 'Cultivating a community of learners in a distance learning postgraduate course for language professionals'. The paper offers reflections and practices in cultivating a community of learners in the context of the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching programme.
The paper (as well as the whole volume) is open access and can be downloaded from the following link: https://research-publishing.net/display_article.php?doi=10.14705/rpnet.2016.eurocall2016.567

Screenshots from today's tutorial on SmallWorlds

This week's tutorial for the Introduction to Digital Technologies for Language Teaching module has been held on SmallWorlds. Find below screenshots/pictures from today's tutorial.

The twitter chat about social media & language learning

On 1st December 2016 we organised a twitter chat on how social media can support language teaching. You can read below the most interesting tweets during this chat.

Join our Twitter chats about social media & language learning

This week we organise two Twitter chats about social media and language learning. Anyone is welcomed to participate in our chats and share his/her views and ideas.

The first chat will be held on Thursday 1st December (1-2pm, UK time) and its topic will be: “How Social Media Can Support Language Teaching”.
The second chat will be held on Sunday 3rd December (5pm-6pm, UK time) (date/time will probably change) and its topic will be: “How Social Media Changed Language Learning”.

In both twitter chats we will use the #dt4lt hashtag.

Survey about attitudes to postgraduate study - Lucky draw winners announcement

We would like to thank all language teachers, primary school teachers, and language professionals  for taking the time to participate in our online survey. Your input is valuable to us and it will help us determine the best way to improve the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching programme.
People who responded in our survey had the opportunity to enter a draw for a SanakoStudy Solo license (http://www.sanako.com/products/study-1200/study-solo/). The draw was held on 5 September 2016 and the three lucky winners are:

• Cleber de Souza Bezerra
• Graham Walker
• Anne-Claire Nwosu

So, many congratulations to our winners and again many thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!
In the next few days we will contact with the three winners to give them the license info. In the meantime, stay tuned to our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/UoN.MA.DTLT) and keep following us on Twitter (@dt4lt) for more news and about the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching programme.

Deadline for September 2016 applications is approaching

Less than 10 days left - deadline is 10 September 2016 - to submit your application for joining the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching programme. For those of you who have not applied yet, we hope that we will receive you application during the next few days!

Presentation: Cultivating a community of learners

Angelos Konstantinidis & Cecilia Goria presented a paper at the EuroCALL 2016 conference. The paper is titled "Cultivating a community of learners in a distance learning postgraduate course for language professionals" and it discusses the theoretical background, the rationale, and the strategies employed in the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching programme to create and sustain an online community of learners.

Conference presentation about the MA in DTLT programme

#Eurocall2016 conference programme is online! Angelos Konstantinidis & Cecilia Goria present a paper related to the ways of cultivating a community of learners in the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching course.
More info and the programme: http://eurocall2016.org/programme/

News and photos from our Dissertation Show

First of all we would like to thank all our students for making this year's Dissertation Show a success! The Dissertation Show has been scheduled for only one hour, but due to the increased interest it lasted nearly two hours! We had the opportunity to watch five presentations and discuss the what's, why's, and how's of each one. Presenters did their best to inform their audience about the specifics of their dissertation and addressed questions effectively.
Towards the end of the Dissertation Show, every student contributed five words that best described his/her experience of doing the dissertation. Surprisingly enough, as it has been noted by the programme Director, Dr. Cecilia Goria, the collection featured positive words to a great extent. It seems that the experience is overall positive for each one of our students! Needless to say that this makes tutors of the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching programme particularly happy and proud for their work!

Looking forward for next year's Dissertation Show!

What follows is screenshots from today's presentations:

 

 

Only for students of the MA in DTLT: Dissertation Show on Wed 3 August

Students of the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching are invited to the online Dissertation Show on Wednesday, 3 August at 10.30 a.m. (UK time).

The Dissertation Show is an excellent opportunity for students working on their dissertations to present what they have done so far and their plans for completion and get feedback from their peers and tutors. It aims also to provide ideas and tips for future research on the broad area of language teaching and learning with digital technologies to students who will undertake their dissertation during the next semester.


For more information about the Dissertation Show, please contact the MA in DTLT programme director Dr. Cecilia Goria (cecilia.goria@nottingham.ac.uk).

Reminder - The 2nd Q&A Twitter session is today!

Our second (and last for this year) Questions & Answers session on Twitter for the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching of the University of Nottingham will run today from 3-4 p.m. (countdown to the event). Don't miss this chance to discuss your questions about studying online with us and get answers from tutors and students of the programme!

Reminder - The Q&A Twitter session is tomorrow!

The first Questions & Answers session on Twitter for the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching of the University of Nottingham will start in less than 12 hours! The session will run for one hour from 11-12 a.m. (countdown to the event). Don't miss the chance to discuss your questions about studying online with us and get answers from tutors and students of the programme!

Survey about attitudes to postgraduate study - chance to win software licenses

The Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching of the University of Nottingham is running a survey about teachers' opinions and attitudes towards postgraduate study.

Your participation in the survey will be greatly appreciated and will help us deliver better services to our future students. Also, respondents in the survey will have a chance to win a SanakoStudy Solo license (http://www.sanako.com/products/study-1200/study-solo/). The drawing will be conducted on 5 September 2016 and the three lucky winners will be announced on the Facebook page of the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching (https://www.facebook.com/UoN.MA.DTLT) and will be contacted via email.

The survey consists of 23 questions and will take approximately 5-7 minutes to answer.

To answer the survey click the link below: http://goo.gl/forms/ryM1SsD2Uv4VYVaB2

Join us on Twitter for a chat about the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching programme #dt4lt

Do you want to advance your career or are you looking for a career change? Are you looking for a masters degree program that can fit into your busy schedule? Are you looking for something to broaden your knowledge and hone your skills on language teaching?

We invite you to our Questions & Answers (Q&A) sessions on Twitter where you will have the opportunity to discuss your questions about studying online for the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching of the University of Nottingham and get answers from a team of tutors and students.

Join us on Twitter using the #dt4lt hashtag on Monday 18th July from 11-12 am (check your time zone) and on Wednesday 20th July 2016 from 3-4 pm (UK time) (check your time zone).

Looking forward to e-see you!

And the winners of the Language Learning Lesson Plan Competition are…

We would like to thank all teachers who took part in our 2nd Language Learning Lesson Plan Competition. We had some truly great lesson plans submitted and it was quite difficult to pick the winners. So, congratulations not only to the winners but to all entrants!
The three winners are:
1st winner: Dimitra Theodosiadou
2nd winner: Emanuela Leto
3rd winner: Zoe Theodosaki
Their lesson plans can be viewed and downloaded at the following link:
https://www.pinterest.com/dt4lt/language-learning-lesson-plan-competition/
or at:
http://thelanguagepoint.com/english_collections/show/Worldwide_Lesson_Plan_Competition

Each winner will receive a certificate of achievement, an Amazon voucher and a number of Sanako Study Solo Licences.

Stay tuned to our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/UoN.MA.DTLT) and keep following us on Twitter (@dt4lt) for more news about the Lesson Plan Competition and new events!

Lesson Plans submitted to the Competition are now available online!

Find a collection of lesson plans submitted to the Language Lesson Plan Competition organised by the social media promotion team of the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dt4lt/language-learning-lesson-plan-competition/

Guidelines for successful telecollaboration - Robert Martinez

What are the guidelines for developing a successful telecollaborative project? And, what are the potential hurdles? Such questions are answered in the wiki of the "Telecollaboration in Language Learning" module: http://telecollaboration20.wikispaces.com/

The wiki currently contains the work of one of the students in the module, Robert Martinez, but it will be populated with more content in the future from future student assignments.

A series of videos on Technology-Enhanced Creative Writing - John Chalk

Are you interested in creative writing for language teaching? Watch a series of interactive videos on creative writing created by one of our students, John Chalk
 

Five things to know about the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching

Our recently created poster provides essential info about the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching programme. The poster helps prospective students easily decide whether our programme is appropriate for them and take the next step to gather more information about it.

Studentships for the MA in DTLT

The School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies is offering a number of studentships and fee waivers for students of the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching. Masters studentships include home fees-only awards and home-fees plus stipend awards.

To be eligible to apply for School funding, you must be holding an offer of a place to study at the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching of the University of Nottingham.

The deadline for submitting the completed application form is on 11th May 2016.

More info and application form: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/

Gamification and Ludology: Presentation recording

Ivan Lombardi talked about two uses of gamification at the Teaching & Learning Seminar. Firstly at the University of Fukui (Japan) where Fukudai Hero is a video game-like English class for students of Engineering (with low motivation to take compulsory English classes). It aims to strengthen the students’ engagement with the class content (usually a range of topics for basic communication in English) by using core game elements like quests, a point system, and free choice. At Nottingham, the online MA Programme in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching includes a gamified module on Game-based learning.

Recording of the presentation: http://comms.nottingham.ac.uk/learningtechnology/2016/04/19/seminar-gamification-and-ludology-6-april-2016-recordings/

Don't miss the chance to join the Second Language Lesson Plan Competition!

The social media promotion team of the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching is hosting the second lesson plan competition for all language teachers and language professionals worldwide. Teachers who enter the competition will have the chance to share their lesson plans in language learning with other teachers all over the world and get recognition for their work. Additionally, in order to encourage participation and showcase the abilities and creativity in lesson design of teachers, there will be three awards for the best three contributions:

• First winner: 5 Sanako Study Solo Licences + 50£ Amazon voucher; 
• Second winner: 4 Sanako Study Solo Licenses + 30£ Amazon voucher;
• Third winner: 3 Sanako Study Solo Licenses + 20£ Amazon voucher. 

All winners, as well as quality contributions, will be awarded certificates acknowledging their performances and their lesson plans will be published on the Thelanguagepoint webpage giving appropriate credit to the author(s).


Submissions are accepted from 22nd February and the submission deadline is on 22nd April 2016 at 23:00 (UK time) deadline extended: 30th May 2016. Winners will be announced on the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching Facebook page and will be notified by email.

Terms & Conditions

1. The lesson plan submitted must follow the Lesson Plan Template provided as download. Participants are allowed to add or modify fields in the template to suit better the needs of their lesson plan.
2. The content in the lesson plans must be the work of the contestant(s). Entries with plagiarized material will be excluded from the contest.
3. Lesson plans should normally fall between 700 and 1500 words in total. 
4. Any images used in the lesson plans must be owned by the contestant or royalty free or correctly cited.
5. The lesson plans should integrate digital technologies in language teaching.
6. Each contestant can submit more than one lesson plans, but may win only one of the awards.
7. Although contestants can collaborate to create a lesson plan and enter the contest, there will be only one prize for each entry.
8. The lesson plans must be sent to the digitaltechnologies4lt@gmail.com by the deadline. Late submission will not be considered. 

Judging Criteria
Competition entries will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

• Clearly stated lesson aims and learning outcomes appropriate to the designated level(s)
• Logically sequenced activities which support the achievement of the lesson aims
• Technology integration in the learning activities 

If you have any questions or require additional information about the competition, please contact us at digitaltechnologies4lt@gmail.com or tweet as at @dt4lt or leave your message at the message box of our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/UoN.MA.DTLT.


Follow MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/UoN.MA.DTLT) and Twitter (@dt4lt) for updates and other info about the competition.

Lesson Plan Template for the competition

The Lesson Plan template for the Language Lesson Plan Competition is available for viewing and download on Scribd and Google Drive:

Conference Volume: "Innovative language teaching & learning at university"

The School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Nottingham hosted the fifth annual conference in the "Innovative Language Teaching at University" #‎InnoConf15‬ series. Under the heading "Enhancing participation and collaboration" the conference, organised by Cecilia Goria, Oranna Speicher and Sascha Stollhans, took place on 19 June 2015, and was attended by over 120 linguists, language teachers and language acquisition researchers from all over the world.

The edited volume of the conference contributions (freely available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2016.9781908416322) contains 15 selected peer-reviewed case studies, research studies and reflective pieces which are concerned with a number of languages and most chapters deal with the innovative use of technology in language teaching and/or online collaborations. The volume also contains an invited contribution by Dr. Jan Hardman and a foreword by Professor Zoltán Dörnyei.