Taking digital risks in the language classroom

New technology has become important in the classroom and will continue to be so as major advances are made with increasing frequency. Some teachers, however, remain cautious about integrating digital tools into their teaching practice. In a new Cambridge English webinar you can learn strategies for moving teachers o ut of their ‘comfort zone’ and into a place where they can expand their range of skills in the classroom.

Teachers have shown varying degrees of reluctance to use technology, and research has shown that many teachers eschew its use. So why is this the case?

The technosceptics are wary of technology because they feel there is not enough proof of the pedagogical benefits. They believe teachers need to actually see concrete benefits and that technology should be used as support for teaching and not as a way of reducing the role of teachers in learning.

Some challenges from early attempts at moving technology into the classroom revolve around reliability of media and platforms, and that experience has led some teachers to avoid its use. Other teachers are reluctant because they lack confidence in their own ability to use technology well.

Technology can, in fact, be a useful tool and if it is exploited appropriately good teachers can reap benefits for their learners. The range of accessible tools is numerous and there is good evidence to support their use. Putting the learner at the centre of exploring the tools is a good starting point for the Cambridge Digital Framework.

For more information, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1TbWUrkwG4

Presenter: Tilly Harrison. (2017, Dec 14). Taking digital risks in the language classroom [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1TbWUrkwG4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1TbWUrkwG4

An interview with Dr Siva Kumari, the head of the International Baccalaureate

Dr Siva Kumari, the head of IB since January 2014, is also the first woman to be appointed to this position. Dr. Kumari is keenly aware of the data used by schools today to measure student attainment, and intends to use this data and technology to transform IB into a world leader by adopting 'Strategy 2.0'.

"My personal ambition and the organisation's strategy is to be able to get really good at quickly sharing what's working well in a certain type of school,” she said. “We have so many different types of schools all around the world, so I hope we get really precise about saying we know a certain type of school in a certain setting will need a particular kind of thing, and we can be predictive. And with data the way it is right now, and what you can do with it, in future we'll be able to use it much better. "Our future ambitions are at some point, if we get really good at using this technology, we don't want to restrict those best practices to only IB schools. We are a not-for-profit with a mission and we want to be able to open up those practices to anyone who has a device essentially.” "Besides just teaching in schools, we give teachers opportunities to teach each other. So we train them if they want to go and teach someone else. We also train them to go see other schools. Why this is important is because it's different than what a school offers. A school offers them the chance to teach other students, and there's an art to that and it's their responsibility. "What we're offering them in addition to that is professionalization. So if you go see another school, you become an evaluator, you're a peer evaluating another school. And when you go teach another teacher, you're also doing something other than teaching in a school. So I think what we try to do is give all those sorts of experiences to teachers as well."

“What I want the IB to become is this great connector of students and educators. If a student is studying environmental sustainability or building the tallest building in Dubai, there's no reason why they can't collaborate with someone in south-side Chicago or Yokohama Japan.”

For more information, go to http://www.ibo.org/news/news-about-the-ib/the-ibs-director-general-on-her-vision-for-the-ib/

31 Boulevards selected by EnglishUK as one of the key agents representing Asia Pacific

From Thursday, 30 November to Saturday, 2 December, the EnglishUK Regional Fair for the Asia Pacific region will be held at the Intercontinental Grand Stanford in Hong Kong.

This event is a major gathering of agents from the Asia pacific region so they can meet representatives from EnglishUK. This fair is especially important to us as 31 Boulevards has been selected as one of the key agents to represent this region.

Thirty UK institutions will be coming to Hong Kong to establish relationships in the Asia Pacific region, including universities, further education colleges, boarding and summer schools, and English language schools.

Supported by the Department for International Trade and British Council, EnglishUK Regional Fairs have an excellent reputation in the industry. EnglishUK, which is the national association of English language centres in the United Kingdom, has a membership accredited by British Council. EnglishUK members have set and raised the bar in all aspects of English language teaching.

Go to http://www.englishuk.com/overseas-events/asia-pacific to learn more.