Pete Sharma Associates
A great day in London yesterday. Really enjoyed Ian Badger’s opening plenary & fellow PSA Director Byron Rusell’s session.
Here are the graphics-lite versions of my plenary Power Points, plus a two-page Word document – the session worksheet & handout:
No time for questions (it was a plenary) so please post any questions you may have had here – a nice use of technology! Enjoy Sunday……
Next Wednesday’s World of Work virtual conference schedule is as follows:
The impact of new technology on language teaching, learning and assessment - Pete Sharma
An observer’s reflection of the 2009 World of Work Forum – Russell Whitehead
Learning & Technology for the Workplace – Gavin Dudeney
BULATS Online – The Global Benchmark – Deshini Chetty
The digital business English classroom: thoughts from the chalk-face – Carl Dowse
Perspectives on technology: Workplace English teaching, learning and assessment - Panel discussion
I hope you’ll be able to attend (virtually) and I look forward to returning to my alma mater……
The latest business English e-lesson has just been uploaded by Macmillan. It is on Mind mapping. You can down load the latest lesson here: Mind maps in business English.
We are delighted to say that the next update for Blended learning is now available
This focuses firstly on M-Learning – mobile learning – and then provides a practical, step-by-step guide on how to upload videos to the popular website YouTube.
To download your free .pdf of this 5-page update, please visit the Macmillan website.
Enjoy!
Please note that this course is now scheduled to run in Oxford on 25th – 26th September 2010.
Woke up to the sound of the postman delivering this door-stop-size new dictionary….within seconds of finishing my Shreddies the CD-ROM was loaded on my desk-top. I mean, where else would you start looking at a new lexicon? Dove straight into the iWriter and can already see some templates for writing which will make the lives of my academic writing students easier. Notice the Genie is still called the Genie and that a thesaurus has been added. The arrival of a new dictionary from the Big 4 or 5 UK publishers is always an event worth celebrating, although the price tag on this one seems a tad high at over twenty-five pounds. That’s pounds sterling, not weight.
Will no doubt explore the delights of this new dictionary over the coming weeks in advance of reviewing it for the Reviews in brief column in the EL Gazette. I love being a reviewer, although there is now a car in our garage (bizarre concept) which rather cuts down on the space available for books. Maybe I should sell my burgeoning ELT library and get an e-book reader?
Just found the complete programme is on the web. This event is being held at IH in London on Saturday 8th May
16.10 – 17.00: Closing Plenary: New Technology and Business English -
Pete Sharma (Macmillan Education)
This session will be a critical analysis of the impact of new technology on the field of business English, providing a comprehensive overview of how technology has affected areas within the business English profession, including testing, the Needs analysis, podcasts and vodcasts, vocabulary and M-learning, not to mention digital material for business English…..
No need to hold up your iPhone, Blackberry or Google Android in order to search for the latest e-lesson from Macmillan…just download it from here!
Thanks to Barney for the original idea, and to Nicky Hockly for the term ‘geo-tagging’…….
Thanks to all the teachers who came to the session in Madrid at the Macmillan Teacher’s day. It was great to be there!
If you need anything from the talk, just drop me mail!
Hope you had a good rest of the day….and apologies for Messi….:-)
Wow! What a FANTASTIC closing sentence to the review of Networking in English in the EL Gazette…
and NO, I didn’t write it….honestly, such narcissism and selfpraise would be unworthy of me….
enjoying the multiple tweets of the audience at the IATEFL opening plenary….and looking forward to a fantabulosa day….:-)
What is ‘augmented reality’? Click on the link below to listen to our latest podcast and find out!
The podcast (created by Pete and Barney as an example of a teacher-produced podcast) is a three-minute clip from a business programme and is based on a forthcoming e-lesson, to be published by Macmillan next month.
This podcast is not meant to be used with students but was just the result of us trialling microphone and editing with Audacity – and to provide a taster of future ELT lesson material! Enjoy listening!
Review copy of Maurice’s new book has just crossed my desk. No real question as to the two chapters I look forward to most:
The best of both worlds (Implementing blended learning in ELT)
Second Life comes of age (Teaching English in a virtual world)
And the award for the chapter with the most intriguing title? Teaching the language of sex…
MARK POWELL & PETE SHARMA
English UK / Trinity College London
Certificate in International Business English Training
(ENGLISH UK/TRINITY Cert IBET)
28 September – 6 October 2010
at I.L.I. in Budapest – Gödöllő, Hungary
On Mark’s well-established course, there will be one day’s input on technology in business English. For more details, visit: Teacher Training, Hungary
How does anybody ever choose anything to go to at an IATEFL conference? I’m only there for ONE day and already there are too many choices. Only schizophrenics need apply. Session one -should I go to: Teaching the mobile generation – Nicky Hockly (The Consultants-E & Pearson Longman) – iPods, MP3 players, mobile, phones, digital cameras… OR The IWB: A teacher-centred tool; yes or no? Mary Henderson (Embassy CES Brighton, Study Group). Well at least I can answer the question in the title.
Session two: should I go to Teachitworld or Task design in virtual worlds? OR the Dude (move over Jeff Bridges): Attitudes to technology Gavin Dudeney (The Consultants-E) OR Technology without tears – ha, it makes me wanna cry….
Then session three: do I go for: Web 2.0: What’s in it for teachers? Burcu Akyol (ISTEK Schools) OR Second life Dennis Newson. “Second life? I can’t even cope with my first life.” Dennis says it all.
The rest of the day is no easier: IF I go to ‘Before and after Twitter: Personal learning environments’ Graham Stanley (British Council Young Learner Centre, Barcelona) does that mean i don’t have to go to: What students can get out of Twitter – Petra Pointner (RWTH Aachen University)?
I then have to head home and that means I miss over very own Byron Russell on the Macmillan Test Maker – at least I can ask for his notes instead. And just when you are uber-zonked and in need of a giant G & T, IATEFL believe you are ready for the new OALD 8th edition or even just playing games with Kyle: Computer gaming to learn – Kyle Mawer (British Council YL Centre, Bonanova, Barcelona, Spain). Mein Gott – I shall drive home exhausted but strangely exhilarated.
And that’s just day one!! Thanks goodness I’m off to Spain as I cannot face any more choices…..
I am really looking forward to going to this: NETWORKING EVENT
18.30 – 20.45 – Wednesday, 31 March 2010 – Embankment Level, 80 Strand, London, WC2R ORL
It’s for finding out about the variety of options open in the world of ELT in an informal atmosphere ….
People from publishing • teacher training • exam writing • marketing • coursebook writing • commissioning editors • ELT Management • business
For more details contact: Fiona Dunlop fiona@wimbledon-school.ac.uk
Looking forward to the Teacher’s conference in Madrid. I started teaching there nearly 30 years ago!!!! Just about to do the next update for Blended Learning – my bit’s on M-Learning. Easter then the Learning Technology committee meeting at IATEFL, Harrogate. It’s all go…:-)
Pete Sharma and Byron Russell of Pete Sharma Associates have teamed up with experienced ELT project managers and writers, Jill Florent and Des O’Sullivan, to develop a two-day training course for freelance ELT publishing professionals. The aims of the course are to provide a hands-on introduction to interactive whiteboards, podcasts, blogs, wikis, digital materials and learning platforms and to provide a strategic overview of the digital publishing process.
Course title: Demystifying digital: educational technology for ELT publishing professionals
When? 15 and 16 May (9.15–17.30)
Where? The Oxford English Centre, 66 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PR
For more information, please visit our Courses page.
It was a great conference last weekend and the Garnet bash was beyond fabby. Fotos on Phacebook.
Good to meet David Bish, who used our definition of Blended learning in his ef presentation – getting Blended Teaching from Blended Learning. David wrote the review for CD-ROM: A Teacher’s Handbook, several light years ago.
A lite version of my Power Point presentation (Blended Learning in the UK) is available:
Innovations in technology / Blended Learning
Many thanks to Macmillan for sponsoring this talk.
Earlier this week a Czech student asked Pete Sharma about traditional education, new super learning and nonsense textbooks during a chat with Pete Sharma in Languagelab.com. Watch the video to hear his answer.