Working smarter, not harder: tools for productivity

At ELTjam HQ, we talk a lot about working effectively, time management and productivity tools. We like to practise what we preach, and all of us have our own tools and methods for working smarter not harder. So when I set the team homework to write a collaborative post about what they use, the first thing I did was start a Google doc. Here’s what they came up with.

5 tools for teaching online

Independent tutor and digital learning pioneer Lana Friesen explains how she is using the best programs and apps to help her students meet their learning objectives.

With such a new industry, online teachers are developing tools and combining programs and apps to facilitate the learning experience of students. In doing so, teachers are pre-empting apps yet to be created to meet the demands of this growing industry. Including all components of communication can be tricky in classrooms, especially online ones. This medley of tools demonstrates how, with a degree of ingenuity, teachers can plan a full-spectrum curriculum for their students, regardless of the setting. We are, in a sense, the MacGyvers of online teaching. We are pioneers and must embrace this reality with open arms and open minds.

indie ELT books

A round-up of Indie ELT books

This is the third in our series of round-ups of self-published or small press ELT books … and this time we’ve been able to add fiction to the list as well as books for materials writing and teacher resources.

ELT Entrepreneurs

ELT Entrepreneurs – Arthur & Elaine Rubin

We haven’t had any ELT Entrepreneurs on the blog for a while, but people setting up on their own from an ELT background is something we’re always interested in.

Over the summer, we spoke to Arthur Rubin, half of the husband and wife team behind AUTHORS & EDITORS, about their socially conscious publishing company.

EFL teachers

The EFL teachers’ collection

ELTjam mostly writes about the intersection between tech and education, which means we’ve got plenty of posts of interest for teachers. Here’s a collection.

Categories ELT
Grassroots language technology

Grassroots language technology

In an update of a post from @muranava’s excellent EFLNotes blog, Mike Boyle, ELT author and editor, talks about why learning to code and taking on technology projects to help language learners is a career boost for EFL teachers and materials writers.

LinguSocial – The future of translation

One of the great things about running ELTjam HQ from a co-working space is the different people and businesses working alongside you. We were amazed the other week to find that, unbeknownst to us, fellow co-worker and entrepreneur Marcel Goya has been working away on LinguSocial, a platform for voice translation that could change everything.

indie ELT books

Another round up of Indie ELT books

Since our last round up, more self-published and small press books have been released. It’s not an easy route, especially in terms of getting your book out there and into the path of teachers and students, so check out these titles. Manage Human Resources in English by Simona Petrescu This is a course of English … Read more

A look at some of this year’s ELTons nominees

The ELTons are just under one month away, and this year’s nominees feature an exciting range of resources. Here we take a look at a selection of some of the digital-linked nominated products. Winners will be announced at the spangly ceremony on 4th June.  Good luck to everyone! ARM cubes Paul Driver’s ARM (Augmented Reality Media) Cubes are a new way for … Read more

Cambridge English’s free teacher training resource

We’re all familiar with Cambridge English from their CELTA and Delta course and you might know that they have recently developed the Cambridge English Teaching Framework. But did you know you can access a lot of their CPD resources for free? This month Cambridge English are launching 5 Teaching Challenges to help teachers further their professional development and generate new ideas for teaching.

Categories ELT

ELTjam at IATEFL 2015: How ELT might handle the ‘EdTech revolution’

At IATEFL 2014, ELTjam argued that the ELT community needed to engage more with the world of educational technology (EdTech) in order to continue to thrive. One year on, we looked at what that engagement might actually look like, examining how teachers, institutions, publishers and materials writers can best position themselves in the new ELT landscape.

ELT Entrepreneur – Marie Goodwyn

We’ve been featuring ELT Entrepreneurs and EdTech start-ups for a few months now and we have tended to focus on those who are quite far down the line in terms of their business and product. But what do they look like at the beginning of the journey? Last May, ELTjam co-organised an EdTech Start Up Weekend with the Judge Business School. At the time we commented on how few educators there were in the room and it was no surprise that it took educational insight more than tech to come up with the idea that won: Bright Stream.

indie ELT books

A round-up of indie ELT books

We’ve given a fair bit of space in the past few months to ELT Entrepreneurs, but there’s another kind of entrepreneur who deserves some attention. The materials writer turned self-publisher or indie press. This is a round up of some of the books that are out there that have made it through the process without the help of a major publisher.