Intoductory video for the Advanced Language Teaching: Technology-Enhanced Creative Writing in a Foreign Language

Watch the introductory video for the Advanced Language Teaching: Technology-Enhanced Creative Writing in a Foreign Language module

Applications are now open!

The Master of Arts in Digital Technologies of the University of Nottingham offers an excellent opportunity for enthusiastic language teachers to engage with new learning technologies and develop their skills, creativity and knowledge. 


Applications are now open: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/language-centre/teaching/dtlt.aspx

e-Learning Symposium 2015

Marion Sadoux, Director of the Language Centre at the University of Nottingham Ningbo and tutor at the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching, introduces day 2 at the e-Learning Symposium 2015.

Sanako Study Solo - player and recorder software for language learning

Sanako Study Solo is a student player and recorder software for language learning. It significantly helps students to improve their pronunciation and communication skills with its recording function and builds their self assessment skills as students may compare their recorded voice with sample material with the aid of a voice graph.
Language teachers use Sanako Study Solo as a teaching aid in their classroom to help students identify their pronunciation mistakes and work on their improvement.
The Sanako Study Solo is a highly effective software used by universities, schools, educational institutions and corporations in more than 100 countries.

The social media team of the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching offers two free Sanako Study Solo licenses through a Language Learning Lesson Plan Competition. Don’t miss the opportunity to take part in the competition and contest for one license!

Language Learning Lesson Plan Competition

The social media promotion team of the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching is hosting a lesson plan competition for all teachers or other educators 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, the best two lesson plans will be awarded a SanakoStudy Solo license (http://www.sanako.com/products/study-1200/study-solo/).

Lesson plans should include:

• A title
• A short introduction which includes students' age range, language level, type of institution (primary, secondary, university, college, etc.)
• Lesson aims and objectives (no more than eight)
• Description of the procedure of the lesson (approx 100 words)
• Time required for completing each activity and the overall lesson
• A list of the software/web 2.0 tools to be used
• A list of the materials to be used (if relevant)

Lesson plans should normally fall between 700 and 1500 words in total (bibliography excluded).

The competition opened on 7th January and the lesson plan submission deadline is 7th March 2015 at 23:00 (UK time).

Terms & Conditions

1. The content in the lesson plans must be the work of the contestant. Entries with plagiarized material will be excluded from the contest.
2. Any images used in the lesson plans must be royalty free or correctly cited.
3. The lesson plans should integrate digital technologies in language teaching.
4. Each contestant can submit more than one lesson plans, but may win only one SanakoStudy Solo license.
5. Although contestants can collaborate to create a lesson plan and enter the contest, there will be only one prize for each entry.
6. 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 

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 contest.

Christmas wishes from students of the MA in DTLT

Although students and tutors of the Master of Arts in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching are geographically separated they created a Flipgrid to exchange Christmas wishes.

Here is the link to the grid: http://flipgrid.com/#merryxmas

Our Christmas party on SmallWorlds was a success! (photos)

Our Christmas party on SmallWorlds was a great success! Students and tutors had an excellent time dancing, eating and drinking, and playing games!

The MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching wish you all happy holidays and may the New Year bring renewed energy to all!

Christmas party on SmallWorlds

People of the MA in DTLT don't miss our Christmas party on SmallWorlds today at 10:00 (UK time)!

Telecollaboration in Education - presentation

Tomorrow (15/12) Angelos Konstantinidis, online tutor of the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching, will run a workshop on “Telecollaboration in Education” #tcuon at the Language Centre of the University of Nottingham. People who will not be able to attend the workshop can navigate through his presentation online.

"Coursera for kids" - case study of a telecollaborative project

One of the assignments in the “Telecollaboration in Language Learning” module of the MA in “Digital Technologies for Language Teaching” (DTLT) asks students to study closely the what’s and how’s of real-world telecollaborative projects.
“Coursera for kids” eTwinning project, organised by Arjana Blazic, Makrina Kaliontzi and Thalia Hadzigiannoglou, was selected as a case study for its innovative approach to project design and delivery. The project took advantage of the MOOC “Crafting an Effective Writer: The Tools of the Trade” and it was developed within its online boundaries. Students enrolled in the MOOC and used the forum to communicate as a group.
Marguerite Coutinho, student of the MA in DTLT, who examined the “Coursera for kids” project in her paper reported that “The project was successful, since through Cousera the students were introduced to distant online learning and participated in the general forum with multinational students”.
Students and tutors of the MA in DTLT would like to thank Arjana Blazic for her contribution.

Workshop on “Telecollaboration in Education” at UoN - 15/12/2014

Angelos Konstantinidis, online tutor at the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching, will run a workshop on “Telecollaboration in Education” at the University of Nottingham on December 15th 2014. Stay tuned for news and updates! #tcuon

Meeting on Virtual Worlds for students of the MA in DTLT

Tutors and students of the “Introduction to Digital Technologies for Language Teaching” module of the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching went to SmallWorlds to discuss about the affordances of Virtual Worlds for language teaching.

... And here we are having some fun too!

 

"Hello there" - case study of a telecollaborative project

One of the assignments in the “Telecollaboration in Language Learning” module of the MA in “Digital Technologies for Language Teaching” (DTLT) asks students to study closely the what’s and how’s of real-world telecollaborative projects.
“Hello there” project, run by Ana Maria Menezes and Jennifer Verschoor, was selected as a case study for its high-quality implementation and significant learning outcomes. The project paired 18 students from Brazil with 18 students from Argentina for 4 weeks of communication and information exchange in Edmodo.
Jane Basnett, student of the MA in DTLT, who examined the “Hello there” project in her paper reported that “[project’s] success must be attributed to the online collaborative competence of the partner instructors, Menezes and Verschoor.”

Students and tutors of the MA in DTLT would like to thank Ana Maria Menezes and Jennifer Verschoor for their contribution.

Presentation:"A multimodal learning experience for the reshaping of language education: a professional development programme for language teachers"

Paper presentation about the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching by Dr. Cecilia Goria, on the second day of the ICT for Language Learning International Conference held on 13-14 November 2014 at Florence, Italy.
The paper is titled: "A multimodal learning experience for the reshaping of language education: a professional development programme for language teachers". Free access to the presentation is provided:


Conference programme: http://conference.pixel-online.net/ICT4LL/pages/ICT4LL/common/download/Conference_Programme.pdf

ICT for Language Learning International Conference - end of 1st day

Thank you all for your inspiring and thought provoking presentations at the ICT for Language Learning International Conference #ict2014. Tomorrow Dr. Cecilia Goria will present her paper titled: "A multimodal learning experience for the reshaping of language education: a professional development programme for language teachers".

Conference programme: http://conference.pixel-online.net/ICT4LL/pages/ICT4LL/common/download/Conference_Programme.pdf

Conference presentation about the MA in DTLT

Dr. Cecilia Goria, Director of the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching, will present a paper titled: "A multimodal learning experience for the reshaping of language education: a professional development programme for language teachers" at the ICT for Language Learning International Conference (to be held on 13-14 November 2014 at Florence, Italy).

Conference website: http://conference.pixel-online.net/ICT4LL/acceptedabstracts.php

The event on Lanyrd: http://lanyrd.com/2014/pixelfirenze/

Introduction to Virtual Worlds for the students of the University of Salento

Last week (November 6th) Dr. Cecilia Goria introduced a group of students from the University of Salento to the Virtual Worlds. The students registered on SmallWorlds (a virtual world) and followed Dr. Goria at the dedicated place of the MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching on SmallWorlds. There, they watched a training video and discussed their perspectives about teaching and learning in Virtual Worlds.

Call for language teachers from the students of the MA in ‘Digital Technologies for Language Teaching’ of the UoN - 1 day left

We would like to thank those who replied to our call and contacted with us expressing their interest to showcase their telecollaborative project.
Less than 24 hours left to reply to this call (open till October 30th midnight), so if you run a ‘telecollaborative’ project, or, to put it simply, if you engage your students in virtual intercultural interaction and exchange with partner classes in geographically distant locations (such as eTwinning, ePals, Flat Stanley Project, etc.), then you can send a short description (100 words) of your project to the digitaltechnologies4lt@gmail.com.
If you answer to this call you will offer valuable help to the students of the MA in DTLT and get feedback and ideas on possible ways to improve your project. Additionally, selected projects will be published on the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/UoN.MA.DTLT) of the MA in DTLT with respective recognition of your contribution.

Call for language teachers from the students of the MA in ‘Digital Technologies for Language Teaching’ of the UoN - 2 days left

We would like to thank those who replied to our call and contacted with us expressing their interest to showcase their telecollaborative project.

Less than 48 hours left to reply to this call (open till October 30^th midnight), so if you run a ‘telecollaborative’ project, or, to put it simply, if you engage your students in virtual intercultural interaction and exchange with partner classes in geographically distant locations (such as eTwinning, ePals, Flat Stanley Project, etc.), then you can send a short description (100 words) of your project to the digitaltechnologies4lt@gmail.com.

If you answer to this call you will offer valuable help to the students of the MA in DTLT and get feedback and ideas on possible ways to improve your project. Additionally, selected projects will be published on the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/UoN.MA.DTLT) of the MA in DTLT with respective recognition of your contribution.

Call for language teachers who run telecollaborative projects from the students of the Master of Arts in ‘Digital Technologies for Language Teaching’ of the University of Nottingham (MA in DTLT)

We would like to thank those who replied to our call and contacted with us expressing their interest to showcase their telecollaborative project.
Due to several requests, the call has been extended from October 26th to October 30th, so if you run a ‘telecollaborative’ project, or, to put it simply, if you engage your students in virtual intercultural interaction and exchange with partner classes in geographically distant locations (such as eTwinning, ePals, Flat Stanley Project, etc.), then you can send a short description (100 words) of your project to the digitaltechnologies4lt@gmail.com.
If you answer to this call you will offer valuable help to the students of the MA in DTLT and get feedback and ideas on possible ways to improve your project. Additionally, selected projects will be published on the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/UoN.MA.DTLT) of the MA in DTLT with respective recognition of your contribution.