Language Teachers Learning Tech

For the last 2 days our MFL teachers have been learning loads of cool techie stuff to use in their lessons. Mr Joe Dale, an expert form UK, has been here at ISP sharing his experiences and knowledge, particularly in the use of iPads. There some great iPad apps for language learning. Expect some exciting stuff in you classrooms soon.

iPads in MFL

I realise this is not necessarily innovative, but here's an example of how technology supports learning in a relatively ordinary & invisible way. I was in an MFL class today, Bahasa Melayu in fact, and noticed how the students would use their iPads to quickly translate odd words that they were unsure of. In the past they might have used a dictionary, which would have involved fetching it from the shelf, flicking through alphabetically and reading the (often) tiny text. Using the iPad just seemed so much quicker and more instinctive for theses kids. They always have them to hand and a were using a number of tools like Google Translate, websites, online dictionaries and a variety of apps. It's a natural and seamless way of finding out some information. It's the simple things sometimes that can make a difference.