EduBlog Language Learning Experiences with technology

Last week I was asked what logistical questions students taking tests for Spanish always ask? These are my answers for the faq asked by students taking Higher tier papers. 1. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA. Understand assessment criteria for reaching best results. For instance, the information a student generates must be relevant to the topic or task they are performing in Spanish. Students tend to provide information that is not relevant. The reason for this is that students feel they need to keep talking/writing: more words more marks. The criteria for assessment makes it clear: more irrelevant information lower marks. 2. TIME RESTRICTIONS: Understanding that you do have time to perform the task. Because students feel under pressure there is no detailed planning when writing a piece of work. Therefore, the language usually is very poor in the first paragraphs. This doesnt give a good impression to the examiner. I encourage to use mind maps to explore accurate vocabulary before approach

My next post is about my experience on using the website courseSites for teacher training. This website is user friendly and free. Here is a tutorial . It works very well with adult learners and for language upskill courses. Here is a screenshot of one of the tasks posted at this free website. The task involved texting with a mobile phone. This task created enough content to build a unit of work. It was very motivating. My aim was to find a task that would provide authentic learning This is the story  the student and I created. Each colour refers to a single message.

Love wordle

Welcome to the digital age!   Nurseries in the Uk spend thousands of pounds in computers and other electronic devises, such as iPads/touch-screens.  But Is there clear evidence that computers make a difference to educational achievement in Early Years?  Is really life about computers? Is a desktop computer suitable for a toddler? These devises where originally designed for adults in the work place, not ergonomically suitable, usually inhibiting  language communication (because of lack of eye contact and too much stimulation - repetitive music).  A good quality resource for the under 5s should allow children to work collaboratively and enable the natural propensity of a toddler towards physically based activity. Why are nurseries presenting screens to young children? Perhaps because this is a good advert for prospective parents and a good resource to keep them still and quiet at times, ie settling-in. After reading some forums and websites, such as kinder

A few weeks ago I started drawing everything I could imagine with the help of my daughter's hands and a book. I don't remember well the name of the book but it was something like this: Learning to draw with hands The result was so beautiful that I started taking the sticks to school and use them in my MFL teaching in primary schools. Year 3 kids loved learning their phonics in Spanish with these attractive sticks. The sounds children produced were so authentic that I still believe it was something to do with the quality of the resource: Made by a child. And I have just created a game: Palitos de pre-lectura . As the game's learning objective is listening and reading, there is no repetitive music. If you have tried creating games please leave a comment. If you enjoy playing games with your VLY leave a comment too. I would love to hear from you!

With the government planning to implement MFL in KS2 as a compulsory subject in the new Primary curriculum in 2014, there is plenty to do in KS1. It is well known the importance of MfL exposure to the very young leaners (VYL). MY FIRST STEP IN CREATING DIGITAL GAMES FOR VYL A few months ago I attended a webinar where six years old were creating digital games with the support of their very inspiring teacher of English Ozge Karaoglu. ozgekaraoglu.edublogs.org This is the result of her school work  www.bubbleandpebble.com/rainbow.html Last week I tried my first attempt of creating a virtual game with my 3 year old daughter's drawings. She loved it and I knew this would be an amazing way for preschool kids to practise their Spanish at home. However excited i feel about technology for learning, I support free screen preschools as best for their general develoment. These apps are meant for home use only! #1 TinyTap - Aplicación gratis para iPad http://www.tinytap.it/

Here is the official definition: "Skype is a little piece of software that lets you make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world.  In addition, you can use Skype to chat with other people, send files, make conference calls, video calls, and more - all over the Internet." What is Skype education? A free and easy way for teachers to open up their classroom. Meet new people, talk to experts, share ideas and create amazing learning experiences with teachers from around the world. MY EXPERIENCE Last year I was invited to teach Spanish to a grade 12 class (18-19 years old) in a High school in Texas via skype from my home in London. My aim with this project was to create  a list of do's in collaboration with a classteacher. This is what we came up with, our list of Do's:  1. share a collaborative doc that you can access at anytime. 2. take your time to test video and audio. 3. start sessions with a short introductory game or iceb