Articles in the ‘Special Interest Column – Technology’ Section
Having spent a few days reading through all twenty years of the IH journal to see what has been said about technology, I feel like I deserve to be an honorary member of S.O.D.S. Perhaps double so as I recently asked Santa for a retro gaming system so I can play the original Super Mario, ...
“It introduced me to an amazing group of educators around the world. It opened my eyes to the range of classrooms and contexts in which English is taught. It gave me ideas for my classes. It inspired me. It led me to start my blog and to many of the posts on it. It took me to conferences. It gave me ...
I am sure it can’t have escaped your notice that the much-heralded Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year wasn’t actually a word at all; rather, it was an image representing the word that comes from the Japanese for picture character. That would be e(picture)+ moji (character). The emoji character ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ ( was ...
I am something of a podcast addict, both as a consumer, and for the last year a creator. Making and producing The TEFL commute podcast, now in its second season, is quickly becoming my main hobby. With podcasting as a whole undergoing something of a revival of late, perhaps it’s time to introduce your students ...
* Please note this article was written at the end of 2014. I’m writing this at the time of year when media sources start to compile their ‘best of’ lists. Therefore, inspired by that theme, I bring you the three apps I have enjoyed most this year from an educational standpoint. That is not to say ...
Every so often it’s good to go outside the profession to see what others are doing. In my case I like to look at what is happening with technology in education as a whole as I think, we, in ELT can learn a lot from how tablets and mobiles are being utilised in the state ...
Digital storytelling Once upon a time a teacher said to his class,” Ok, for homework I want you to write a story” and the class groaned but that was once upon a time! Digital storytelling has become a very popular activity in education. Defined on the digital storytelling website (1) as ‘the practice of using computer-based tools ...
By Shaun Wilden At the recent International House Teachers’ Online Conference I did a talk on how to use students’ mobile phones as a stimulus for speaking. You can find the talk at http://ihtoc60.blogspot.co.uk. I'm using this edition’s column to follow up on that talk and present you with easy-to-do activities using the students’ mobile phones, ...
By Shaun Wilden M-Learning is still very much in its infancy but as mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets get ever cheaper it is becoming a more and more viable option for use in and out of the classroom. While many schools still actively discourage the use of phones in the classroom, the time ...