Extending your classroom with technology

There are two issues that regularly get raised when teachers discuss language learning in schools: the first is making language learning seem relevant (often connected to motivation) and the second is a lack of time. CLIL has helped to get learners to see that a foreign language can be an important skill; technology can reinforce this. There is never enough time in class to provide sufficient access to language or to practise all the skills; technology can help here, too.The internet has made it easy to access a variety of different types of English language, there are reading texts, materials to listen to, videos to watch, language games to play. Technology capable of recording and playing audio and video is also often ready to hand in many places these days and very easy to use.Classrooms with younger children need to be active places and so lessons created around resources on the internet accessed outside, but brought to class and then brought together with other technologies to become the focus the activity in class can help the learners to see the point of using the English language. In class the focus is on production, the receptive skills are used for preparation.How all this comes together will depend on who has access to what technologies and how confident people are in using them. In many cases it might be the learners who are the technological experts, but this can be an advantage, but mustn’t be assumed.This talk will then demonstrate a range of ideas for making active use of technology to extend access to language and to activate your lessons.