Abstract

Designed by a seasoned team of  long standing EVO moderators and participants, ICT4ELT (Information and Communication Technology for English Language Teachers) is a session for teachers who want to explore how computers and computer technology could be useful in their teaching but do not know where to start.

If you want to liven up your classroom with technology, come and join us!

Objectives

At the end of the 5 weeks, participants, collaboratively and hands on, will have...

• used various synchronous and asynchronous Web tools for learning and teaching EFL/ESL, 
• interacted through e-mail, text chat, voice chat, voice and video mail, and distribution lists, among others, 
• created wikis, blogs, podcasts and interactive exercises related to their own contexts, 
• reflected on ways of applying those tools to their teaching, either online or face-to-face.

Target Audience

EFL / ESL teachers and educators with little or no experience in teaching with computers and online web 2.0 tools. More experienced teachers and educators are welcome too as they can learn from the session's content and assigned tasks as well as from the participants' discussions.

Interest Section Sponsors

CALL-IS, TEIS, HUPE, NileTESOL LTSIG, CARNET (Croatian Academic and Research Network)

Level:

False beginners

Requirements:

Access to a computer with a reliable internet connection and email, and being familiar with browsers is important.

Certificates:

You can earn a badge every week (the criteria are specified in each week at the bottom of the week page.) If you get all five badges, you will earn a certificate of participation. 

Syllabus 

Weekly Outline

Week 1  (Jan 13 - 19, 2019)

Getting to know each other and the cyber landscape

In this first week, participants will become familiar with session wiki, introduce themselves and get to know each other using a Google Classroom. They will post some information about themselves and complete an ice breaking activity using the Google Classroom group. They will also start a wiki, blog or website of their own and share the link to it with other participants. To collect more relevant data about participants, a Google form will be used. In addition to this hands-on approach, participants will also read texts that will help them become successful e-tutors and e-learners. There will be an online session in which moderators will showcase the potential of Google Classroom as a platform for teaching and learning. 

Week 2  (Jan 20  - 26, 2019)

Communication tools and Mobile learning .

In the second week of the session participants will explore audio, video, and chat communication tools. We will also take this opportunity to explore mobile learning connected with these tools. There will be synchronous and asynchronous text chat and voice interactions  held by session moderators with participants throughout the week. For this kind of communication they will be using Skype. Other tools such as Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, and Instagram will be explored due to  the potential they hold for communication and specifically, mobile learning.  In addition, we will explore Padlet for sharing audio and video messages and Twitter as a means of curating the web and connecting to like-minded peers. There will be an online live session, where participants will explore the potential of mobile learning for language teaching. 

Week 3    (Jan 27 - Feb 02, 2019)

Presentation Tools, Blogs and Wikis. 

In the third week we will have a look at different tools for processing photos or pictures and creating video-like presentations. We will use  Animoto, PhotoPeach, Flickr and Youtube. In addition, a choice of optional multimedia tools for more advanced users will be provided, such as Prezi, Slideshare, or Sway. Participants will use a selection of tried and tested multimedia tools. They will be able to make their multimedia creations visible online through their blogs or wikis and share them with other participants. 

Week 4     (Feb 03 - Feb 09, 2019)

Interactive exercises and quizzes.

Participants will learn how to create their own interactive exercises and quizzes for the classroom and make them visible online. They will share their creations in their blogs or wikis as well as in our Google Classroom. They will explore Edmodo and learn about quizzes and polls created there. 

Week 5     (Feb 10 -  Feb 16, 2019)

Cooperating online & wrap-up. 

During the last week, participants will have an opportunity to reflect on how they may use the tools they have seen during these weeks in their classrooms. They are also invited to share contact information in order to find future partners and develop collaborative projects between classes.  There will be a live session where participants will become familiar with Webheads In Action (WIA) and how to share post-ICT4ELT work. By the end of this final week, participants will share their reflections on ICT4ELT, complete the EVO final survey and join the live "Graduation ceremony". Participants will be invited to join the WIA community of practice.

Readings
There will be suggested readings for each week.