Reflections on #ililc2 25-26 February 2012

Well it's finished but not over. This year's ICT and Languages conference #ililc2 at Southampton University was as successful as last year with a wide scope of attendees from as close as Southampton to as far as Ethiopia.

Key note speakers Joe Dale and José Picardo set the scene for using social media in education and how Mr Michale Gove seems to be finally tuning in to the educational benefits of technology, whilst workshop speakers (including Annalise Adam, Wendy Adeniji, Alex Blagona, Vanessa Burns, Joe Dale, Catherine Elliott, Stuart Gorse, Esther Hardman, Isabelle Jones, Helen Myers, Carole Nicoll, Juliet Park, Bertram Richter, Jo Rhys-Jones, Amanda Salt, Clare Seccombe, Lisa Stevens, Jenny Turner, and Sara Vaughan) provided a wide range of information, activities, ideas and inspiration to enhance current practice and take us forward. Not to mention the infamous Show and Tell event Sat evening which had delegates and bar staff alike in stitches on various occasions.

More updates here soon along with my session presentations from "Using ICT to enhance Teaching and Learning in MFL" and "Flashmeeting for Easy Videoconferencing" (both available on my SlideShare profile page until I can sort out an "embed glitch" here on the blog). All resources will also be found on the Languages South East website shortly.

For now, here are some wonderful pictures of teachers in action at the Show and Tell as @elvisrunner demonstrated her "Human Dominoes" game for language learning:

ICT and Languages Conference 25-26th February

With memories still alive from ILILC 2011, it's not long now till the ICT and Languages conference which is taking place on 25-26th February 2012 at Southampton University.

A range of speakers are taking part with well known ICT consultant Joe Dale and Education Consultant José Picardo booked as Key Note speakers for the event. A show and tell event is planned for the Saturday evening which, if anything like last year, will prove to be a fabulously inspiring, encouraging and fun way to network. Quoted as "Quality CPD on a budget" book now on theLanuages South East website.

ICT Links into Languages Conference 12-13 Feb 2011

A second fabulous day at the ICT Links into Languages conference at Southampton University. My brain is full, ideas are refreshed, and my motivation is renewed. Everyone was such fun and it was great to be around such inspirational practitioners, some of which I had met for the first time and some I was meeting again after previous conferences or videoconferences. My Flashmeeting for Easy Videoconferencing session went well (thank you to Joe Dale - without your prompting I wouldn't have had the guts to try such a risky adventure!), and the delegates were both attentive and ready to input their ideas. I also have a BIG thank you to make to @josepicardo who patiently sat the otherside of the videoconference link, helping out with the demonstrating of various FM tools on his Sunday. I have uploaded the presentation to authorSTREAM ready for download for reference. It will also be on the Links into Languages conference page with all other presentations from the conference over the weekend.

Well done to Zena Hilton, Joe Dale, Sara Vaughn and all of the Links into Languages team that organised the whole event.

I'm tired now, updating my twitter list of contacts and thinking of the path ahead...

Flashmeeting for easy videoconferencing ililc

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Thank you again for leaving positive feedback:

ICT Links into Languages Conference 12-13th Feb 2011

What a fantastic first day at the ICT Links into Languages conference. It has been wonderful catching up with MFL Twitterati friends and getting to know new ones behind those avatars. I encourage anyone at the conference who is not already a member of Twitter to join up and begin networking. It has done nothing but enhance my ICT knowledge and confidence to try out new things.

There have been a range of sessions today which have all gone really well and have received good feedback (see Twitter feed #ililc for details). My session entitled "Using ICT to Enhance Teaching and Learning in MFL" went well and the audience was a kind one given the tired brains! Thank you for listening so intently and for your positive feedback. The PowerPoint from the session is saved on authorSTREAM where I have made it available for download for those that requested it if the above stream doesn't work. It has been an honour to speak alongside such esteemed and knowledgeable colleagues. I look forward to tomorrow for more!

E Hardman Using Ict In Mfl To Enhance T&L

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Thank you also for the kind feedback that I received after the session:

Successful Videoconference with France!

On the 31/03/10 we held a successful videoconference at school between the French and English sides of our French work experience exchange. We set up 15 web cams on our side, with the students sharing in pairs, whilst the French side used one web cam interchanging the students as they took their place to speak. Time was tight given the only mutually convenient time was 8.30 am to 9.00am that morning. However, 10 of the students from the Weald of Kent Grammar School held conversations in French with their corresponding partners in France. Eventually no photos were uploaded from the French side but the time was used with the English students posing questions in French to the French students about their on coming stay in France in June. At first the students were nervous to take part and speak on camera, however, they were eventually encouraging us to use as much of the time as possible to allow as many students to take part. All in all a successfull videoconference which we hope to follow up with another before June so the French side can practise their English.

This has been a successful use of our recent purchase of 15 web cams for the MFL department and we hope to integrate their use in other exchanges across the department. Videoconferencing provides students with authentic language experiences which help improve their confidence in the use of the target language.

Successful Flashmeeting with France #2!

Excellent! We have just completed another staff test of the Flashmeeting videoconference software with our partner school in France. Both sides were able to load pictures (excuse the bucket - it was a practice!) and URLS which will be useful when asking the French side of students to familiarise the English side with where they will be staying prior to our trip out there in June. This time the test was based on our respective school sites. Next stage the videoconference itself!

Flashmeeting Practice with France

How very exciting! I set up a practice videoconference using Flashmeeeting with an exchange partner English teacher in France yesterday and it went excellently! I used the whiteboard function which I had not used before and by trial and error learned how to upload photos and draw squiggly lines. I'm not sure of a use for the latter but using shapes to disguise photos then perhaps slowly reveal them for a KS3/2 videoconference that I have planned for later might work a treat. I will play some more with that. However, for the up and coming French work experience exchange videoconference with our year 11s the photo option will be useful for the French students to show photos of the area / house they live in to help familiarise the English studenets before they go. The URL tool will also be useful to upload links to their home town etc... I saw these potential activities forming before my eyes as we played around with them. It's nice to see there is more potential to Flashmeeting than I had realised and that it can be used for a real purpose.

Tips on Videoconferencing

I'm not sure where Tip #1 went...



P.S. the below contains a joke which may or may not be suitable for your classroom students!

WKLF MFL e-learning Group Videoconference

I have just finished a successful videoconference between myself, Weald of Kent Grammar School in Tonbridge, Stewart Dearsley at Mascalls in Paddock Wood, and Anita De at the Tonbridge Grammar School, also in Tonbridge. We were trialling the Polycom PVX software in order to move further foward with projects involving other schools within Kent, both Primary and Secondary, and hopefully also with other schools abroad. This was a successful first step in our MFL e-learning group's vision to use the software on a bigger scale in order to bring students together from different classes, year groups and countries.

Language Labs, Videoconferencing and Blogging

A big thank you to Joe Dale and his great efforts in editing our recent interview and creating such comprehensive blog notes to accompany it. In it we explore the use of language laboratories, videoconferencing and blogs within education. It was exciting to exchange ideas and for me, to continually learn about new Web 2.0 technologies as a result. I am continually impressed by his blog and the wealth of information and practical support that is contained within it.

Videoconferencing in MFL

Have you ever Googled yourself? I know this seems like a completely self indulgent thing to do but in order to procrastinate and thereby delay starting my 60+ year 8 reports I decided to quickly update my blog i.e. delay what you don't want to do and do what provides you gratification first whilst the oven is warming your dinner - it's the way forward you know...

I hadn't yet entered links to a past, yet still relevant, videoconferencing project that I completed with a colleague using Flashmeeting in 2007. Not being able to find the presentations at home I searched for them by my name on the internet, knowing they were added as links on to various sites (see below right on the menu of links). In looking for the links to post I found my photo on the web! So much for hiding behind my virtual Voki physique. So here I am in the middle being presented with a certificate at the Teachnet Awards 2008 for the work we did on the project.

Daftness aside I hope the videoconference resources on the Teachnet site are useful to anyone hoping to embark on such a cross phase project (KS2/KS4 French). See also Joe Dale's blog write up of our project.