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The Malta Independent | Thursday 21 January 2016
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 21 January 2016
Using Technology to Teach Languages in our schools The Malta Article by Digital Outreach and the Department of Languages & Humanities, Faculty of Education (University of Malta).
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he Digital Outreach Unit within the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) and staff from the Department of Languages & Humanities, Faculty of Education
(University of Malta) have collaborated with teachers on a project aimed at creating and sharing materials where technology is used as a medium for language teaching and learning. This brought about an initiative called Better Learning Technologies (BLT) which, over the past months, led to the organization of a number of workshops and continuing professional development sessions on how technolog-
of the online magazines. Staff from MITA and the Department of Languages & Humanities will therefore visit the schools which participated in the project: these include Maria Regina College, San Gorg Preca College, Santa
ical tools and techniques can be useful to language teachers. Learners were then encouraged by their teachers to create an online magazine during the first weeks of the current scholastic year with the aim of using technology to practice the languages they are learning. The content of this magazine was based on topics such as their classroom and school, cultural information and themes related to the technological world. These topics were covered in different languages including German, Spanish, French and Italian, besides Maltese and English. This also
served the purpose of providing material for cross-linguistic and intercultural reflection. The direct involvement of teachers was fundamental for the BLT, since schools themselves, by their very own nature, represent a learning community. The use of technology, sharing resources and using materials cross-linguistically represent examples of good practice which is effective and easy to share with other teachers and colleagues involved in education. The BLT project now aims to hear the voices of the learners who participated in the creation
Independent ICT Feature
Tereza College, St. Benedict’s College and St. Augustine’s College. Teachers in other schools who are interested in the initiative can also be involved. The BLT is the result of local strategies aimed at Digital Liter-
MITA Communications and PR Team acy included in the 2012 National Curriculum Framework (NCF) as a cross-curricular theme through which “students will acquire skills that include confident and critical use of Information Society Technology for communication, work and leisure” (p.9). Furthermore, recently, a nationwide National Digital Strategy 2014-2020 has been launched.
The educational materials pertaining to language learning through the use of technology were shared through social media and also via a dedicated blog. All educators are invited to join the BLT community by visiting the blog on https://maltablt.wordpress.com / and the Facebook page group: Malta BLT.
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s part of startAPP 2.0 MITA Innovation Hub is offering a Design Thinking course at SmartCity Malta. This training consists of three sessions of Design Thinking workshops. The training courses were available to anybody interested to participate in the call, and were aimed to help prospective teams
startAPP 2.0 - Design Thinking Course Article by MITA Innovation Hub
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he MITA Innovation Hub (MIH) is offering two grants of €22,000 each for a proof-ofconcept based on the development of two innovatively designed apps. Through this call we wish to give Startups another opportunity to research, develop and create their own marketable Intellectual Property, while solving a particular “pain point” or latent need in public administration or wider civil society through creative and experimental approaches. The call covers a proof-of-concept using known technologies and publicly available data to create new business applications. To demonstrate feasibility of the proposed solution, Startups will need to engage in some market research, experimental adaptation and integration work
using public data made available by various entities. As part of startAPP 2.0 a Design Thinking course is being offered at SmartCity Malta. This training consists of three sessions of Design Thinking workshops. These were available to anybody interested to participate in the call, and were aimed to help prospective teams better shape and validate their ideas and submit a proposal of higher quality. The course is being delivered by Andrei –Andy Linnas, who has experience in training and coaching from co-founding and developing a human resources training company and coaching high technology startups at Startup Incubator. His experience as a management consultant has exposed Andy to challenges of many industries. His start-up experience comes from co-developing medical IT project in Sweden, comanaging prototyping fund Prototron
strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity. The course equipped the MITA participants with the mindset and methods of human-centred design so that they can be more intentional about facing and solving their current challenges and also let them experiment with the power of human-centred design. It also taught how to identify patterns and opportunities for concept development while inspiring to approach challenges differently and experience how human-centred design can add new perspectives to the work environment of the participants. Furthermore it provided to all MITA employees that participated a hands-on experience speaking to, prototyping for, and testing solutions with the target audience of the course projects. For more information about startAPP 2.0 visit our website. www.mitainnovationhub.gov.mt
and managing Tehnopol Startup Incubator with portfolio of 20 early stage ventures. Holding Masters in Business Design from Chalmers Technical University in Sweden gives Andy extended knowledge in building and extracting business, social and customer value based on high-tech innovations. During this call the MITA Innovation Hub is providing approximately thirty hours of just-in-time formative training programme. Apart from the Design Thinking workshops another seven seminars will be organised, aimed to boost the
knowledge of the Startup members. Topics covered will include guidelines on incorporation, marketing, intellectual property, Startup funding, using a lean canvas and other related aspects. This Design Thinking Course has been created to reach those who are brand new to design thinking concepts. The course methodology has been inspired by a wider Design Thinking concept. It can be described as a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business
better shape and validate their ideas and submit a proposal of higher quality. The Digital Outreach Unit within the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) and staff from the Department of Languages & Humanities, Faculty of Education (University of Malta) have collaborated with teachers on a project aimed at creating and sharing materials where technology is used as a medium for language teaching and learning. All ICT Features are available on www.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature