ICT in Action

ICT in Action Technology-inspired ELT projects from Argentina

The development of English language professionals is central to the purpose and vision of the British Council. Here in Argentina our current focus in this area is on the use of new technologies to support the teaching of English.

The competition ICT in Action is a celebration of some of the most innovative stories from classrooms across the country. The purpose of this competition and subsequent publication is to draw attention to how technology can be used effectively by teachers to actively engage their students in the learning process. We hope that this compilation serves as an inspiration to teachers in Argentina, and as a catalyst to reflect on how technologies can be used in their classroom to create an even better education for their students.

We would like to thank all of the teachers who took the time to tell us about their projects, and of course to Macmillan for supporting this initiative.

James shipton Director British Council Argentina

PROJE CT 1 Full name: Letizia María Russo Institution: Instituto Superior de Profesorado “Almirante Brown” Position: English Teacher Description of duties: Teacher of English Grammar I at both the Teacher Education Programme and at the Translation Programme Teacher in charge of the subject “Materials Design” (4th year Teacher Education Programme) Project: Digital Reflections Blogging at the Teacher Education Programme Start date: May 2012

G WINNIN T C E J O R P

End date: November 2012

Project description: "Materials Design" student-teachers learnt how to integrate ICT into the English classroom in a pedagogically effective way. They analysed and created digital resources and tasks to be used with teaching and learning purposes.

At the beginning of the course, each student created a personal and reflective blog, a sort of “learning journal” about our subject throughout the year. In their blogs, students had to describe and reflect on topics related to the subject, which would help them develop critical thinking while enhancing reflective practice and creativity.

Prezi presentation: feedback session on their self-evaluations

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PROJE CT 1

How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

Following Moon1 (2010), keeping a reflective blog empowers learners with a ‘voice’, a means of ING WINN CT self-expression to a wide and authentic audience E PROJ and fosters communication and discussion among learners and with other blog readers.

First of all, students created their blogs, experimenting with the different gadgets and tools offered by Blogger. Then, the task was as follows: a) To write a post every week or every ten days sharing thoughts and opinions about topics we had dealt with in class. b) To share digital teaching materials the student-teachers had created and used in their teaching practice.

Farah Schneider’s blog: http://fahsch.blogspot.com.ar/

c) To share their knowledge through websites and applications we had explored in our lessons, reflecting on their potential pedagogical value, etc.

1. “A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice” by Jennifer A. Moon.

Priscila Calanchini’s blog: http://priscilasthoughts.blogspot.com.ar/

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Writing a learning journal in the form of a blog was especially suitable for this subject. It enabled learners to complement their entries by embedding their own productions, videos, images, related articles and/or other blog entries, etc.

In August, we held a feedback session. Each student-teacher wrote a self-evaluation of their blogs. I processed them and showed the learners some general conclusions, which we used as a base to continue with the experience up to November.

Finally, using the information from their blogs, which provided them with a record of all they did, they prepared a Pecha Kucha, summarising the work of the whole year.

ING WINN E C T J O PR

Vanesa Simonofsky’s blog: http://vane-ictreflections.blogspot.com.ar/

Belén Gallo’s blog: http://belengcav.blogspot.com.ar/

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PROJE CT 2

Full name: Mariel Roxana Amez Institution: IES Nº28 “Olga Cossettini”; ISPI Nº 9123 “San Bartolomé” Position: Lecturer in Literature in English, 2nd and 4th year, Teacher Education Programme (in both institutions).

Description of duties: I’m in charge of all lessons, homework correction, permanent assessment and final examination boards.

Project: Multimodal Writing in the Literature Class Start date: 15 October 2012 End date: 6 November 2012

Project description: This project exemplifies one of the activities involving ICT carried out with two Literature classes in their last year of EFL Teacher Education. Although the classes were taught in two different institutions (one belonging to the state sector and the other to the private one), they shared a blog during 2012 where all productions were posted. After concluding classroom work on 20th century novels, students were given a menu of options for an assignment to be completed as homework in which they would highlight relevant aspects of their interpretation of the literary works through the creation of multimodal texts.

How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

UNESCO guidelines call for the infusion of technology into content areas in pre-service teacher education to offer handson experience of a variety of technological resources so that students can explore creative uses of technology to implement later in their own teaching practice.

This project called for the collaborative design and production of a multimedia product (development of a branching hypermedia stack and edition of a computer-generated video) and its publication in the class blog. The task suggested a number of open-ended digital tools and applications as well as libraries of creative common resources.

In order to foster reflection and to contribute to the assessment of effectiveness, a commentary discussing aims was also required, in addition to a technical commentary which would help peers in the undertaking of future projects.

Communication between classmates was ensured by having two parallel classes share the same blog.

Feedback by teacher and peers was provided in the “Comments” section in the blog. More detailed teacher’s feedback and assessment were given privately via email.

Thus, technology was an enabler of the learning process, facilitating learning-by-doing, creativity, collaboration and complex decision-taking to empower teachers-to-be to bring about innovation.

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Find below:

• a transcription of the task as presented to 4th Year students in pre-service EFL Teacher Education • screenshots of four samples of their work with links to the full work in the class blog • feedback and assessment I provided individually by email TASK: Critical reading and creative writing Works: To the Lighthouse, Wide Sargasso Sea, Nice Work A Choose ONE of the texts and ONE of the options below and carry it out in pairs or groups of three. Techniques (Inspired by Ferradas Moi, Claudia. Lit-ELT Module 3. Net Learning, 2004.)

1) Multimodal version (text accompanied by images, video, etc) a) Extend the text ‘before’, ‘during’ or ‘after’ the events it represents to explore alternative points of departure, processes of development, or points of arrival. OR b) Alter the ending of the base text to draw attention to some option not explored or in some way foreclosed. OR c) Choose an extract and add background information, images, etc to show the associations you performed during the reading process.

Suggested tools: Google Docs, http://www.hypertextopia.com/ http://storybird.com/ 2) Generic transformation a) Create a trailer for an imaginary film version of any of the texts. Make sure you include some key phrase, and select names of actors suitable for the roles.

Suggested tools: Power Point, Movie Maker, http://www.xtranormal.com/ http://www. toondoo.com/Home.on OR b) Create a Tweet version of a section in the text. See http://www.suchtweetsorrow.com/ about/ and/or http://11ysses.wordpress.com/. You can change the tone, the names of the characters, some of the events. A Twitter profile for the characters would be a plus. You can create Twitter accounts or reproduce the string in another medium.

B Add a commentary (about 150 words) which includes some explicit statement of overall aims and rationale: what you were trying to do, which textual strategy you chose and why.

C Add a short technical commentary about the tools used and any particular benefit of them or any problem encountered (and how you overcame it).

D Publish as a blogpost. (If you create a PPP you will need to upload it to Authorstream or SlideShare. If you create a video, it will have to be uploaded to YouTube first. Other tools provide embed codes. Remember to switch to html view before pasting embed codes.

You will be assessed in the following areas: Content, Creativity, and Language Proficiency. Remember not to use copyrighted material.

Check http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/creative-commons-lit for tips and resources. Add a bibliography if necessary.

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1- Multimodal versions Sample 1 (By Julieta Francescutti) Hypertext: http://www.hypertextopia.com/library/read/2203/13270 Commentaries: http://litinenglish3.blogspot.com.ar/2012/11/reading-and-creative-writing-nice-work.html

Feedback and assessment: You have taken full advantage of the possibilities of Hypertextopia, and added a wealth of theoretical material and personal reflection that undoubtedly enrich the original text. The aims detailed in your rationale have been fully accomplished beyond doubt. Your technical commentary is extremely thorough.

Content: Outstanding Creativity: Outstanding Language: Outstanding

2- Generic transformations Sample 2 (By Sofia Piotto, Marina Robledo and MarĂ­a Isabel Trabaina) Trailer: http://youtube/pGrsa5cn55o Commentaries: http://litinenglish3.blogspot.com.ar/2012/11/trailer-nice-work-by-david-lodge.html Feedback and assessment: Congratulations on experimenting with a new tool and using Creative Commons resources!

The choice of scenes, images and music reveals plenty of reflection, though the scenes seem to belong in an adaptation to a different media rather than in a trailer (spoilers). Your technical commentary is thorough and acknowledges sources carefully. Your comments on rationale are quite extended, but do not exhibit a wide range of language.

Note these mistakes: programme vs program (software); software (unc); We've thought; the moment in which; irrationality towards his feelings.

Content: Outstanding Creativity: Outstanding Language: Satisfactory

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PROJE CT 3

Full name: Gladys Noemí Baya Institution: Instituto “Santa Cruz” (A-496) Position: English Teacher Description of duties: EFL to 1st, 2nd and 3rd year High School classes Project: Crossroads 2012 Start date: May 2012 End date: November 2012

Project description: To celebrate the institution’s 50th anniversary, English students at my Secondary School were invited to contribute to the creation of “Crossroads 2012”, a bilingual publication that would take the form of an e-zine. To this purpose, different groups of students guided by their teachers looked into the history of the school and its area, interviewed retired staff members and school graduates (either by meeting them face to face or via interviews online), created illustrations, and shared their ideas on what the school meant to them, in writing. The completion of the project was crowned by a presentation to the educational community.

How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

When this idea was first discussed by the eight teachers involved, the challenge seemed simply overwhelming. How could we get our 20 classes to design a product for the whole educational community?

The integration of ICT (an area in which only I had some experience) enabled us to overcome all obstacles: email and edmodo were used respectively for communication among teachers and with students. Dropbox and YouSendIt were

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selected for file sharing. Students’ mobiles and Skype enabled our “reporters” to record interviews (audio and video). Mobiles were also used to take snapshots. Video editing and subtitling were also carried out by students using Windows Movie Maker.

At a second stage, I played the editor’s role (word processing texts, publishing audio files on Vocaroo and videos on YouTube, scanning drawings, etc.) and turned it all into a magazine.

Having saved the resulting file as .doc, I converted it into a .PDF file using PDF24Editor and finally published it at Issuu.

A Smartgb guestbook was linked from it, for readers to be able to leave comments without registering.

Texts were word processed, audios and videos published online.

At school, the e-zine was launched with a multimedia presentation (including a slideshow published at SlideShare), and our achievement was announced on Facebook and Twitter.

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PROJE CT 4

Full name: John Cavernelis Institution: St George’s College North Position: ICT Coordinator Description of duties: I generate the ICT materials for all the teachers from K1 to Year 6 as well as manage the school’s intranet site.

Project: Project Brown Bag Start date: February 2012 End date: Ongoing

Project description: Use of literary texts and language material which are transformed into digital form and then presented in an interesting, electronic way with the aim of capturing the students’ attention.

The final feedback given by the students was given digitally as a way to save on the unnecessary use of paper.

How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

First of all, I digitalized old recordings on cassette that came with teachers’ copies of literary texts as well as grammar books. Then, I scanned the old books and converted them into e-books, with the sound embedded. For more modern texts, I either recorded the texts myself or crowd sourced them to friends and ex-students all over the world who then emailed me the audio files.

I also generated phonics games and exercises for KS0 and KS1.

Apart from the actual texts, I used videos, recordings, wordsearches, self-marking tests and quizzes as well as online forms sent to the teachers' emails as part of the repertoire of activities to accompany the reading and listening, in the classroom.

Work generated by the children is then posted onto the school’s intranet.

The final product is always uploaded on the school’s intranet so that the teachers can use them in class and the students can access them from home.

This is a screenshot of an e-book created with Flip PowerPoint. This particular example comes with sound so that the teacher or child at home can merely read. The students and their parents are encouraged to first listen and follow the story and then to try and read along with the recording, copying the speed, diction and pronunciation.

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One of the most popular resources used with young children are videos but our school has been very careful about what we want the kids to access from their homes. YouTube was one of the sites that we wanted to tread around very carefully. So I set up a private channel on YouTube for the school onto which I uploaded all the videos that the teachers requested.

These two screenshots are not directly related to the teaching of English but they show the development of our intranet, that I designed to display and promote the use of technology/multimedia to engage our students as well as their families.

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PROJE CT 5

The UN Model project was developed at St Nicholas’ School in 2012 as part of the Social Studies syllabus, with Secondary Senior students (4th, 5th and 6th years), and was fully conducted in English.

Full name: Evangelina Chabod Institution: St. Nicholas’ School and Iona School Position: History Teacher (St. Nicholas’ School) and Head of English (Iona School) Description of duties: I am in charge of History classes in Secondary school. My students sit for international exams.

I am also in charge of the coordination of the English department.

Project: The UN Model Start date: August 2012 End date: November 2012

Project description:

The aim of the project was to develop the students’ abilities in doing research work, writing reports and speeches, team working, leadership, debating and drawing conclusions, making it feasible to integrate concepts on Geography, History, Economics, Environmental Studies, Politics and Sociology in a stimulating manner.

6th year students took the role of coaches and coordinators while teachers supervised their work.

Preparation, research, writing a 1200-word coursework, learning new vocabulary, the function of the UN and the setting of rules for the procedure are some of the necessary activities prior to the implementation of the model itself.

The UN Model is eventually presented over a two-day period.

Each student represents a country.

How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

Not only was technology applied in every step of this project but it also made research, preparation and evaluation much easier for both teachers and students.

Some information and communications uploaded by the Coordination Board

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At the beginning of the project, a Coordination Board, consisting of a group of Secondary students with a wide experience in the UN model from the previous year was named. Their first action was to create a Facebook group, which the rest of the students and the teachers joined. All communication was carried out through this channel.

Delegates – as students who joined the model were called – were requested to fill in different worksheets about the country they represented and the issue they would discuss the day of the Model (use of Publisher and Internet). They were also given a research question which they answered in an argumentative piece (Word, Excel, Publisher).

At the end of the project, the most relevant course pieces of work were given the format of a magazine (Joomag) and uploaded onto the Facebook group.

Some photographs of the United Nations Model

The day of the Model, coordinators uploaded videos and photographs of the conference, so the whole community would be aware of the decisions taken.

Technology made all this possible, because Facebook is today in every teenager’s pocket. All activities could be followed and monitored from a cell phone.

Facebook group. Coordination Board

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PROJE CT 6 Full name: María Laura García Institution: IES en Lenguas Vivas “Juan Ramón Fernández” Position: Lecturer “Producción de materiales educativos en distintos soportes” Description of duties: I present students with a variety of teaching materials in different formats (printed, multimedia and digital) to be integrated in their lessons. I help them select, analyze, discuss and adapt those teaching materials and design tasks following the communicative approach. Students also learn how to design their own teaching materials in different formats and using a wide variety of resources such as Web 2.0 tools, social software, technology based courseware, Internet based projects, Web based lessons, interactive whiteboards and portable devices.

Project: Creating Multimedia Resources for 21st Century Classroom Use Start date: 9 October 2012 End date: 30 October 2012

Project description: During the term, future student-teachers produced teaching materials to empower their EFL lessons. These were presented in different formats but had in common the effective use of technology. The experience provided insights into the use of multimedia in the classroom. For the first time, students worked collaboratively to create short video clips which told different stories. These digital stories included a story start, three story endings to inspire creative writing and an adaptation of a children’s book. Students used mobile devices and computer programs to present and represent their story.

How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

This multimedia project helped to foster media literacy skills and engaged students in active and collaborative learning. It encouraged students to think differently about how to present a storyline. What’s more, they used technology to express their knowledge in a creative way. They manipulated technology tools, determined the best resources and developed varied final products which were uploaded onto edmodo virtual classroom and Dailymotion.

Creating a multimedia project involves careful planning, especially if you have to use mobile devices. Students were divided into three groups and used Ivers and Barron (2002) model based on 3D and an E (decide, design, develop and evaluate) to plan their project.

In other words, during the decide phase they brainstormed ideas and assigned different roles to each member of the team. In the design phase, they planned what to do, the structure of the project and aspects they had to bear in mind. In the develop phase, they created and combined creatively different media elements by using the camera from a mobile phone, netbooks, video and picture editing software, plasticine and a digital recorder. Finally, they evaluated their project by completing a feedback form.

The following word cloud shows the tools used.

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Evaluation: To ensure the project was purposeful and met its objectives, rubrics were used to provide feedback.

Moreover, a feedback form was also distributed among the groups to assess the experience.

Rubrics CATEGORY Presentation

Excellent

Very Good

Well-rehearsed with smooth delivery that Rehearsed with fairly smooth delivery that holds audience attention. holds audience attention most of the time.

Attractiveness

Makes excellent use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance the presentation.

Makes good use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance the presentation.

Requirements

All requirements are met and exceeded.

All requirements are met.

Concept

Team has a clear picture of what they are trying to achieve. Each member can describe what they are trying to do and generally how his/her work will contribute to the final product.

Team has a fairly clear picture of what they are trying to achieve. Each member can describe what they are trying to do overall but has trouble describing how his/her work will contribute to the final product.

Organization

Content is well organized using headings Uses headings or bulleted lists to organize, or bulleted lists to group related material. but the overall organization of topics appears flawed.

The workload is divided and shared equally by all team members.

The workload is divided and shared fairly by all team members, though workloads may vary from person to person.

Video did not rock/shake and the focus was excellent throughout.

Video did not rock/shake and the focus was excellent for the majority of the video.

Videography-Interest Many different "takes", camera angles,

Several (3-4) different "takes", camera angles, sound effects, and/or careful use of zoom provided variety in the video.

Workload

Videography-Clarity

sound effects, and/or careful use of zoom provided variety in the video.

Group A created 3 stop motion story endings.

Group B created a story start.

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The following diagram shows the phases of the project which lasted four weeks.

Good

Needs Improvement

Delivery not smooth, but able to maintain interest of the audience most of the time.

Delivery not smooth and audience attention often lost.

Makes use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. but occasionally these detract from the presentation content.

Use of font, color, graphics, effects etc. but these often distract from the presentation content.

One requirement was not completely met.

More than one requirement was not completely met.

Team has brainstormed their concept, but no clear focus has emerged for the team. Team members may describe the goals/final product differently.

Team has spent little effort on brainstorming and refining a concept. Team members are unclear on the goals and how their contributions will help them reach the goal.

Content is logically organized for the most part.

There was no clear or logical organizational structure, just lots of facts.

The workload was divided, but one person in the group is viewed as not doing his/her fair share of the work.

The workload was not divided OR several people in the group are viewed as not doing their fair share of the work.

Video had a little rocking/shaking, but the focus was excellent throughout.

Problems with rocking/shaking AND focus.

One or two different "takes", camera angles, sound effects, and/or careful use of zoom provided variety in the video.

Little attempt was made to provide variety in the video.

Links to sample materials of the project: Mural which summarizes the experience: http://goo.gl/wtOcu (Beta.mural.ly) Digital story “Pete the cat�: http://goo.gl/OpceI (Dailymotion.com) Story start: http://goo.gl/PmV1E (YouTube.com) Story endings: http://goo.gl/S1VbC (Dailymotion.com) Project handout: http://goo.gl/imUYQ (Calameo.com)

Group C created a digital story.

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PROJE CT 7 Full name: Daiana Natalia Martínez Institution: Colegio Newlands Position: Teacher of English in 3rd form Description of duties: I have a variety of CLIL projects supported by blended learning, a combination of face to face and online teaching methods to enhance the learning of the language. I also advice other teachers in their projects and suggest new tools to use in the classroom. I have submitted one of my projects to the “Concurso Conectar Igualdad”, which reached the final stage.

Project description: Helping Hands is a solidarity project, the motto of which is “to show people that we care”. Its aim is to educate children in basic values.

As part of the project, the children collected clothes and school elements for children who go to a home care centre and wrote “friendship letters” to Japanese children who suffered the tsunami.

While these campaigns went on, Helping Hands turned green and Green Helping Hands was born! Our new aim is to show that we care for Nature, our only true home.

Having taught English for 7 years made me realize that neither language nor content seemed to be enough motivation for students to engage in the learning process so I decided to start speaking the language the students knew better: technology.

How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

I strongly believe that our students need to prepare themselves for the 21st century. In order to do so, they need to develop new skills such as the skill to work in collaboration with other people, the skill for teamwork, for sharing knowledge and for interaction.

Project: Helping Hands Start date: March 2012 End date: December 2012

These are some samples of the interactions we held virtually.

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That’s the reason why I designed multi-faceted school projects that meet these needs, since they integrate the teaching and the learning processes, focusing on the communication of ideas through technology.

Tools: a) A class blog was created in order to teach students different tools they could incorporate in their own blogs. b) We learnt how to advertise our solidarity campaigns to the school community. c) We created diaries in which the students showed how the different projects were going on, step by step. d) The students contacted people from other parts of the world to discover how rubbish was managed in their countries e) Students used the Web to investigate about pollution and recycling in This is the link to to the blog we use in the classroom.

Argentina. Then, they prepared online It contains the list of blogs my students created. presentations about it as a way to http://newlandshelpinghands.edublogs.org/ teach the community how to help the environment. f) A projector, e-beam and computers were used for these presentations. g) Thanks to Skype, parents could participate and listen to their kids teaching them about pollution, recycling and the environment. h) In order to share ideas and knowledge outside the classroom, the private platform edmodo was used.

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PROJE CT 8

Full name: María Cristina Rivas Institution: ISP Nº8 “Alte. G. Brown” Position: Professor Description of duties: I train students who are taking the Teacher Training Course to teach children and teenagers Project: Edmodo-ing a Community of ESOL Teachers Start date: 9 August 2012 End date: 14 November 2012

Project description: For many years, Primary and Secondary school English teachers have had to face the feeling of isolation, of not having colleagues with whom to work collaboratively with. There are many reasons for this: distance, too many teaching hours, not being acquainted with the social networks or the belief that these networks are not for work.

This year I decided to do something about it. My project is based on the need to train a new generation of teachers who would not feel isolated in their profession but would rather be able to build up a network of colleagues with whom they would work in collaboration.

How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

This year, I launched a group on edmodo and invited the “studentteachers” to join and so they did with much enthusiasm, since the platform is quite informal and pretty similar to Facebook.

As a first step, they were asked to comment on the classes they were watching, narrating their impressions and commenting on others’ narratives. As a second step (preparation to teach), they shared their lesson plans, commented on others’ lesson plans

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and were also asked for and provided with help. This last step was very important since they had been asked to include in their lesson plans at least one activity in which technology had been or was to be applied. Needless to say, they started to share their ideas willingly and quickly. The third step consisted in criticising their own teaching practice and asking the group for their opinion. At this very point, students started asking one another questions and edmodo proved to be an excellent tool to build up online interviews. Finally, students were asked to evaluate the efficiency of the learning platform. I was glad to see how favourable their evaluations were. As from now, I will definitely keep on working with edmodo.

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PROJE CT 9 Full name: Liliana Simón Institution: UNLP (Universidad Nacional de La Plata) Position: Administrator, Coordinator and Teacher Description of duties: Since 1994 I have been a Teacher of English Language at Universidad Nacional de La Plata and I am writing my thesis of the “UNLP Master on Technology applied to Education”. Since 2009 I have been the administrator of the UNLP e-learning platforms and coordinator of the Distance Education activities of the Department of Modern Languages, UNLP. I have been coordinator of the “Conectar Igualdad” Programme and I have delivered several courses on ICT for teachers at ADULP/ UNLP and the Ministry of Education of Buenos Aires.

I have also designed online courses and digital material for Primary and Secondary schools.

Project: e-dacta

Project description: I am the designer and coordinator of a distance learning project called “e-dacta”. It has been designed for the pre-introductory courses of studies for the English Teaching and Translating courses at the “Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación” (UNLP). Our university is located in the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires and many students come from other towns and even from other provinces or neighbour countries.

Therefore, the possibility of joining this on-line course and testing their language before starting the English Language courses is welcomed by the future students, especially those who have to move to the city.

How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

The main focus of this virtual course is: the future students. Its main objective is to evaluate the students' reading, writing and listening skills before they start a university course. This project could be carried out thanks to ICT. The use of a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) was essential in the creation of this project. The WebUNLP VLE worked as a pivot to develop the whole online course together with the use of Web 2.0 tools in the design of language e-tasks.

Start date: 5 October 2012 End date: 30 November 2012

Welcome Area in WebUNLP e-dacta course

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The VLE is divided into 5 main areas: Content and General Information, Communication, Collaborative work, Evaluation and Management and Tracking.

The study guides were designed with free software called eXe-Learning. Every week the students worked with a guide and then they joined in forum activities: presentations, opinions, guessing games, etc. They also worked with writing tasks which were self-evaluated by the VLE. Students also opened a blog in Blogger which was used as an e-portfolio. Students were guided by their tutors throughout the course.

Guide 2 Introduction: Music

e-portfolio: personal reflections

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PROJE CT 10

Full name: Jennifer Verschoor Institution: St. Matthew’s Olivos Position: ICT Coordinator and Language Teacher Description of duties: • Coordinate and facilitate technology integration from Kindergarten to Middle school using several Web 2.0 tools • Co-plan and co-teach projects with core subject and resource teachers • Model the integration of technology in all curriculum areas and assist teachers as they integrate and utilize technology resources • Model effective use of the Internet for students and teachers • Assist school staff and students to evaluate and select appropriate digital tools.

• Assist teachers with integrating technology into the curriculum

Project description: I’ve created a school wiki as a folder substitute. Students from Kindergarten to Middle school are free to choose among several Web 2.0 tools to enhance their learning. The school project is divided into three different stages: Stage 1: Learning English through games Stage 2: Using different Web 2.0 tools to create content Stage 3: Project based Learning Tools: Use of asynchronous tools, synchronous tools, m-learning, online collaborative projects, Skype, Web 2.0 tools, videos, games and iPads in the classroom, all of which the school staff found both interesting and motivating. Moreover, the school staff enjoyed the fact that they could think outside the box, using technology in the classroom while inviting parents to work with their children at home.

Project: Our e-school Start date: March 2010 End date: Ongoing

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How did you apply technology innovatively in this project?

One of the greatest criticisms of traditional course books is their lack of authentic material. The Internet is a treasure of information that can provide teachers and students with updated information. The Internet is our learning source alongside with other resources. Children must be educated to be what many people call “electronically literate”, which can be translated as: digital citizenship. As teachers, we are not interested in the tools themselves but in what they can provide pedagogically. Therefore I created a wiki (www.web204digitalnatives.pbworks.com) with a rich array of useful Web 2.0 tools to allow students from Kindergarten up to Middle school to enhance their use of English during and after school, using technology.

The school project is divided into three different stages: Stage 1: Learning English through games Students can play games and create their own games based on the different content worked with in the traditional classroom.

Students showcase their creations on the wiki.

Stage 2: Using different Web 2.0 tools to create content Students become autonomous learners and take control of their own learning by selecting the most adequate Web 2.0 for their learning need.

Stage 3: Project based Learning Opening our classroom door to the world. This year we created an international project called “The Dinosaur Project”. This Internet-based collaborative project allows students to learn and share information about children living in different provinces in Argentina.

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Glossary of main digital tools used in the projects: edmodo*

is a social learning platform for teachers, students and parents.

Dropbox*

is a file hosting service operated by Dropbox, Inc. that offers cloud storage, file synchronization and client software.

YouSendIt* is a digital file delivery company that lets users send, receive and track files on demand.

Issuu*

is an online service that allows for realistic and customizable viewing of digitally uploaded material.

Smartgb** (online guestbook) is a web service that enables visitors to add comments to a webpage.

SlideShare* is a Web 2.0 based slide hosting service. Users can upload files privately or publicly in the following file formats: PowerPoint, PDF, Keynote or OpenOffice presentations. iEARN***

(International Education and Resource Network) is the world’s largest non-profit global network that enables teachers and youth to use the Internet and other technologies to collaborate on projects that enhance learning and make a difference in the world.

PechaKucha* or Pecha Kucha is a presentation methodology in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each (six minutes and 40 seconds in total). iSpring Suite* is a Rapid E-Learning authoring toolkit that allows creating e-learning courses with audio and video narrations, quizzes and surveys. * www.wikipedia.org ** www.smartgb.com *** www.iearn.org

ICT in action : technology : inspired ELT projects from Argentina / Letizia María Russo ... [et. al.]. - 1a ed. - Boulogne : Macmillan, 2013.

24 p. ; 22x16 cm.

ISBN 978-987-672-186-8 1. Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras. 2. Inglés. 3. Métodos de Enseñanza. I. Russo, Letizia María CDD 420.7

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Technology is here to stay. It is an increasingly significant part of the society our students are growing up in today, and, as teachers, it is our duty to make the most of it so as to engage them in meaningful, life-long learning. This does not mean that what we used to do was wrong. It simply means that the time has come for us to adjust our work to a new reality, to 2.0 students and their demands.

But as EFL teachers, we know that introducing technology into our classes implies much more than using interactive games to reinforce vocabulary or grammar. We expect communication, productivity, creativity, uniqueness‌ And ICT provides an indescribable wealth of resources, information and knowledge.

It is true, however, that the introduction of ICT requires careful planning, especially contingency planning, but it guarantees originality, autonomous learning and personal growth, not to mention the fact that weaker or shyer learners will find it highly motivating and advantageous.

We honestly hope that many teachers will find this compilation inspiring. The projects in it are highly professional, well-developed, clearly presented and, above all, feasible.

We would like to thank all those who participated in the competition and to congratulate those whose projects have been selected. Finally, we would like to thank the British Council for allowing Macmillan to build a new bridge in education. aleJandra ottolina

Academic Consultant Macmillan

Marcelo T. de Alvear 590 C1058AAF - Buenos Aires - Argentina Tel.: +54 (0)11 4114 8600 Fax: +54 (0)11 4114 8660 info@britishcouncil.org.ar www.britishcouncil.org/argentina British Council

Av. Blanco Encalada 104 B1609EEO Boulogne - San Isidro, Buenos Aires Tel./Fax: +54 (0)11 4708 8000 Fax: +54 (0)11 4708 8155 - 0810 555 5111 eltinfo@macmillan.com.ar www.macmillan.com.ar Macmillan Argentina