We are often told during our initial teacher training courses that students are in class to learn English, therefore only English should be used in the class. In theory, this makes sense. The more exposure they have to the L2, the more likely they are to learn something, right? Many trainees arrive in a new country and don’t speak the local language so they are more than happy to go along with this, but in reality it’s not that simple. I remember my first year teaching teens – it nearly put me off for life. Motivating my students was one... Read More

ITNedu and Digital Learning Associates are a team of TV producers and learning resource specialists working on the next generation of ELT learning. We are are passionate about how great video can give English learners confidence and real life experience of the language. This weekend we will be attending InnovateELT as Gold sponsor. The idea of using film or video in learning is hardly new. In 1913 the inventor Thomas Edison predicted that within ten years books would be obsolete because it was “possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture”. Despite some great educational film... Read More

There’s no denying the transformational impact technology is having on our personal and working lives. If reports and media stories are to be believed, it’s not just robots taking our jobs that we need to worry about – algorithms and Artificial Intelligence will play their role too. A recent report from leading consultancy firm PwC suggests that by 2030 one third of UK jobs will be under threat as a result of automation. Reassuringly, this research highlights that education is one of the professions least at risk of a total digital takeover, as social and literacy skills are less easily... Read More

Learner Experience Design (LXD) is something that we have discussed a lot at ELTjam over the last few years, mostly with a focus on digital products. More recently, however, we have been applying these principles to a wider range of teaching contexts, both on and offline. So what is LXD, and why is it important for the ELT classroom? LXD is a framework and systematic approach for identifying problems and coming up with solutions that bring about effective, efficient learning. Our focus on LXD originated with the reviews that we did for the ELTjam blog of digital ELT products being... Read More

For teachers and their students, online resources for learning languages made available in the last few years should be the answer to our prayers. Learners now have the tools to learn effectively at their fingertips. But ask yourself: have you noticed much of a rise in the level of English among your students? How many of your learners are making use of Skype language exchange chats or vocabulary apps? Some, definitely. But most? The primary question learners need to answer, then, is not: What can I do to improve my English? First they need to ask themselves: What is stopping... Read More

Who shaped ELT? If you’ve got a TEFL certificate of any kind you might suggest some names from the core books on your course. If you’ve done an MA or DELTA, you can probably add to that list. Or you might come up with names of speakers you’ve seen at conferences or on the covers of course books and resources. I can guess some of the names that spring to mind. But I was intrigued to see a quote on a recent IATEFL Materials Writing SIG blog post by Peter Viney as it chimed with an idea I’ve had about... Read More

We would like to send a massive thank you to everyone who participated at InnovateELT 2016: Power to the teacher and helped us make it a really special event. We hope you had the opportunity to connect with others, get inspired by the high quality sessions and plenaries, enjoy the fun times and came out feeling empowered! We’ve really enjoyed reading speakers’ and attendees’ accounts of the event and we’d like to share some of these with you. We hereby pass the mic to… Jessica Brooks. Power to the Teacher!!: Innovate 2016 Justin Noppe. Innovate in ELT Barcelona 2016 Kat... Read More

It will be an enormous pleasure to return to Innovate ELT this year with Mental Health Friendly; an initiative designed to improve access to quality English Language Training for people suffering/recovering from serious mental health problems. What is Mental Health Friendly? For those who attended the conference last year, you might remember we presented the project together with Fiona Oates in this talk here. This year will be launching a new tool for teachers to help them raise the issue of mental health in a positive manner. Attendees will be there at “The world premiere” of Elen Evans’ winning entry... Read More