Use of ICT in support of language teaching and learning

Twenty-one teachers of English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian (some of them, also, teacher trainers, curriculum authors, professional development advisor) in primary and secondary schools from throughout the country participated in the two-day workshop Using ICT in support of language teaching and learning, organized by the Bureau for Education Services and European Centre for Modern Languages.

The training was facilitated by Ursula Stickler, Jackie Robbins and Sarah Heiser, members of ICT REV team. In preparation for the workshop the participants filled in an online questionnaire and completed some tasks on a Moodle workspace.

The facilitators introduced participants to various online tools, platforms and materials they can use in their everyday work in classroom, such as Padlet, Moodle, Clasroomscreen, Mentimeter, Clickchamp, Audacity, Makebelief, Genially, Pixabey. The participants had plenty of opportunities to discuss and share their experiences of working with these tools and apps.

The participants worked together on creating new teaching activities which they recorded and uploaded on the Padlet as “Tools I had used”.

At the end of the workshop both the trainers and the participants presented their best materials they had recorded before the workshop while contemplating possibility of introducing newly acquired tools.

The training showed that most of the participants are already active users of various tools and apps for use of ICT in teaching and learning modern languages. So the overall tone of the training was motivating and fertile as a result of both inspiring and enthusiastic support of the trainers and dedicated i motivated work of the participants.

Montenegrin version:

21 nastavnice engleskog, italijanskog, njemačkog, španskog, rusko (a neke od njih, istovremeno, treneri, autorke programa, savjetnica za profesionalni razvoj) u osnovnim I srednjim školama širom zemlje učestvovale su u dvodnevnoj obuci za Upotrebu IKT u nastavi i učenju stranih jezika, koju su organizovali Zavod za školstvo i Evropski centar za moderne jezike.

Obuku su vodile Ursula Stickler, Jackie Robbins i Sarah Heiser, članice ICT REV tima. Kao pripremu za ovu obuku učesnice su ispunile online upitnik i odradile zadatke na Moodle platformi.

Voditeljke obuke su upoznale učesnice sa različtim online alatima, platformama i materijalima koje mogu koristiti u svakodnevnom radu u učionici, npr. Padlet, Moodle, Clasroomscreen, Mentimeter, Clickchamp, Audacity, Makebelief, Genially, Pixabey. Učesnice su imale priliku da diskutuju i podijele svoja iskustva u radu sa ovim alatima i aplikacijama. 

Učesnice su zajedno radile na izradi novih nastavnih aktivnosti koje su snimile i postavile na Padlet kao “Alati koje sam koristila”.

Obuka je pokazala da većina učesnica već aktivno koristi razne alate i aplikacije za korišćenje IKT u nastavi/učenju stranih jezika. Tako je opšta atmosfera obuke bila motivišuća i plodna kao rezultat, s jedne strane, inspirativne podrške i entuzijazma voditeljki obuke, a s druge, posvećenog i motivisanog rada učesnica.

Jasmina Djordjevic, local coordinator

The Directorate-General for Education (DGE) of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) organized a workshop entitled Using Information and Communication Technology in support of language teaching and learning (ICT-REV) on the 10th and 11th of October 2024 at Padre António Vieira Secondary School in Lisbon.

This was an international training activity, resulting from a partnership between the Council of Europe's European Centre for Living Languages (CELV) and the European Commission, aimed at developing a joint action called Innovative Methodologies and Assessment in Language Learning.

In this initiative, which is of great importance for the national context of primary and secondary education, participants, professionals involved in language teaching, had the opportunity to deepen their scientific and technological literacy in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

The teachers replicate their knowledge in the short term, contributing to the promotion of innovative pedagogical practices, which will provide more dynamic and varied first language/second language/foreign language classes, aligned with the needs and competencies of students in an increasingly demanding digital context.

Portugal, represented by the DGE/MECI, is, for the sixth year, one of the European countries conducting training workshops promoted by the CELV.

Portuguese version:

A Direção-Geral da Educação (DGE), do Ministério da Educação, Ciência e Inovação (MECI), promoveu, nos dias 10 e 11 de outubro de 2024, na Escola Secundária Padre António Vieira, em Lisboa, a realização de um workshop intitulado Using Information and communication Technology in support of language teaching and learning (ICT-REV).

Tratou-se de uma atividade de formação internacional, resultante de uma parceria entre o Centro Europeu de Línguas Vivas (CELV), do Conselho da Europa, e a Comissão Europeia, com o objetivo de desenvolver uma ação conjunta denominada Innovative Methodologies and Assessment in Language Learning.

Nesta iniciativa, de grande importância para o contexto nacional dos ensinos básico e secundário, os participantes, profissionais ligados ao ensino das línguas, tiveram oportunidade de aprofundar a sua literacia científica e tecnológica em Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC).

Os docentes replicarão, a curto prazo, o seu conhecimento, contribuindo para a promoção de práticas pedagógicas inovadoras, que propiciarão aulas de língua materna/não materna/estrangeira mais dinâmicas e variadas, alinhadas com as necessidades e competências dos alunos, num contexto digital cada vez mais exigente.

Portugal, representado pela DGE/MECI, é, pelo sexto ano, um dos países europeus que realizam oficinas de formação promovidas pelo CELV.

Ana Filipa Morais, local coordinator

The specific workshop-program (ICT-REV) provides training in the application of pedagogical principles for language teaching through technology and promotes the effective use of digital tools and open resources to improve the quality of language teaching and learning. It was implemented for the 1st time in Greece, and specifically at the 4th Senior High School of Corfu on September 26-27, 2024 (8.30am-2.30pm) with 28 participants (Education Consultants, School Principals and teachers of foreign languages, kindergarten/primary and Greek working in areas with intercultural schools and/or primary & secondary schools with reception classes), and three trainers from ECML specializing in training language teachers to use ICT in the classroom.

The two-day workshop in line with European and national education policy priorities contributed to the development of digital skills and literacy in the education community with results such as improving teachers' skills and expertise, fostering interaction between colleagues and instructors and participation in a learning and collaborative community practice. The preparation of the workshop and the shared Moodle platform for various activities created the appropriate supportive environment for learning and collaboration. The results captured through an anonymous online questionnaire demonstrated the impact of the specific approach and the need of leveraging tools and resources already developed by ECML. Finally, the participants are already preparing actions to disseminate the workshop and the lesson plan ideas they delivered, thus promoting the exchange of opinions and good practices in their immediate and wider professional environment.

Marianthi Alexandropoulou, coordinatrice locale

Greek version:

Το Ευρωπαϊκό Κέντρο Σύγχρονων Γλωσσών (ECML) του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης εδρεύει στο Γκρατς της Αυστρίας και έχει  ως αποστολή να προάγει την αριστεία και την καινοτομία στη διδασκαλία γλωσσών και να υποστηρίζει τα κράτη μέλη του στην εφαρμογή αποτελεσματικών πολιτικών γλωσσικής εκπαίδευσης. Συνεργάζεται με φορείς χάραξης πολιτικής στα κράτη μέλη για την ανάπτυξη καινοτόμων λύσεων στη γλωσσική εκπαίδευση μέσα από προγράμματα και δράσεις που υλοποιεί.

Το συγκεκριμένο πρόγραμμα-εργαστήριο ( ICT-REV) παρέχει εκπαίδευση στην εφαρμογή παιδαγωγικών αρχών για τη διδασκαλία γλωσσών μέσω της τεχνολογίας και προωθεί την αποτελεσματική χρήση ψηφιακών εργαλείων και ανοιχτών πόρων για τη βελτίωση της ποιότητας της διδασκαλίας και εκμάθησης γλωσσών. Υλοποιήθηκε για 1η φορά στην Ελλάδα, και συγκεκριμένα στο 4ο ΓΕΛ Κέρκυρας  στις 26-27 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 (8.30π.μ.-2.30μ.μ.) με 28 συμμετοχές από Συμβούλους Εκπαίδευσης, Δ/ντές-τριες σχολικών μονάδων και εκπ/κούς κλάδων ξένων γλωσσών αλλά και νηπιαγωγών, δασκάλων και φιλολόγων που εργάζονται σε περιοχές με διαπολιτισμικά σχολεία και/ή σχολεία Α/θμιας & Β/θμιας Εκπ/σης με τάξεις υποδοχής, και τρεις επιμορφώτριες από το ECML με εξειδίκευση στην εκπαίδευση καθηγητών γλωσσών στη χρήση ΤΠΕ στη τάξη.

Το διήμερο εργαστήριο σύμφωνα  με τις προτεραιότητες της ευρωπαϊκής και εθνικής εκπ/κής πολιτικής συνέβαλε στην ανάπτυξη ψηφιακών δεξιοτήτων και γραμματισμού στην εκπ/κή κοινότητα με αποτελέσματα όπως  βελτίωση δεξιοτήτων και τεχνογνωσίας των εκπαιδευτικών, αλληλεπίδραση με συναδέλφους και εκπαιδευτές, συμμετοχή σε μια μαθησιακή και συνεργατική κοινότητα πρακτικής. Η προετοιμασία του εργαστηρίου και η κοινή χρήση πλατφόρμας moodle για διάφορες δραστηριότητες δημιούργησαν το κατάλληλο υποστηρικτικό περιβάλλον μάθησης και συνεργασίας. Τα αποτελέσματα που αποτυπώθηκαν μέσω ενός ανώνυμου ηλεκτρονικού ρωτηματολογίου κατέδειξαν τη χρησιμότητα της συγκεκριμένης εκπ/κής προσέγγισης και τη δυνατότητα αξιοποίησης εργαλείων και πόρων που έχει ήδη αναπτύξει το ECML. Τέλος προωθώντας την ανταλλαγή απόψεων και πρακτικών οι συμετέχοντες-ουσες προετοιμάζουν δράσεις διάχυσης του εργαστηρίου και των εργασιών που εκπόνησαν, στο άμεσο και ευρύτερο εκπ/κό τους περιβάλλον.

Marianthi Alexandropoulou, local coordinator

The Czech School Without Borders non-profit organization and the European Centre for Modern Languages jointly organized a two-day workshop entitled “Using ICT in support of language teaching and learning” on July 30 and 31 2024. The workshop was held in the Czech National Agency for International Education and Research in Prague and was attended by Czech language teachers from 17 different Czech (heritage) schools around the world, language teachers from the Czech Republic and academic language educators.

The participants indicated in their evaluations that it was an ‘Excellent workshop’, a great opportunity to learn and to put immediately into the practice ICT tools. Excellent opportunity to work with others in groups, to share experience, to learn how to work with others efficiently and to learn how others might approach an assignment. Though teachers are in general aware of (some) ICT tools and use some on daily basis, a comprehensive overview and a possibility to try it directly in concrete situations are a real plus. The access to all the resources and possibility to share them is equally much useful and appreciated. The experts were dynamic, enthusiastic and very inspiring.

Czech version:

Spolek Česká škola bez hranic organizoval ve dnech 30.–31. 7. 2024 společně s European Centre for Modern Languages workshop nazvaný “Using ICT in support of language teaching and learning”. Dvoudenní workshop se konal v Praze, v prostorách poskytnutých Domem zahraniční spolupráce. Workshopu se zúčastnili učitelé českého jazyka ze 17 českých škol v zahraničí (nejdále z USA), učitelé jazyků a akademičtí pracovníci z České republiky.

Všichni účastníci hodnotili workshop velice pozitivně, zde výběr z jednotlivých komentářů:

Jedná se o skvělý workshop, který umožnil jeho účastníkům získat detailní přehled o moderních IT nástrojích a jejich využití při výuce jazyků. Způsob vedení worskhopu je velmi dynamický, účastníci mají možnost si v inspirativním a přátelském prostředí vše rovnou vyzkoušet; důležité a přínosné je i vzájemné sdílení zkušeností. Volný přístup ke všem zdrojům je neopominutelné plus.

The European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe together with the European Commission are launching a new round of workshops within the joint action on Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning focusing on the following initiatives:

• RELANG – Relating language curricula, tests and examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference
• Supporting Multilingual Classrooms
  
• ICT-REV – Using ICT in support of language teaching and learning

The activities are scheduled to take place between end of February and mid-December 2024, the three initiatives offering up to 17 national workshops during this period.

The call is open to current European Union member states and the additional member states of the ECML until 10 January 2024.

For further information, please contact Adelina Rosca (adelina.rosca@ecml.at), the ECML-EU cooperation agreement coordinator.