5 learning and design gems we had to share
We thought we’d share a few things that have caught our eye of late.
News
Online learning events with the LearnJam team: out and about
Being a distributed team here at LearnJam, we’re used to collaborating together and running remote workshops fully online. So, over the last month, we’ve loved seeing online communities grow and have been showing our virtual faces at as many online learning events as possible. Here are some of the Zooms and Hangouts we’ve been in … Read more
Our remote working tips
We share some of our tips in the hope that it helps people who are new to remote working or organisations looking to support a transition of their teams.
Meet the team: Interview with Katy Asbury
Meet Katy, Learner Experience Designer. She helps us make sure all our digital products are pedagogically solid, contain engaging and useful content, facilitate user interaction and have a great user experience. We asked her to share her story and what LXD means to her.
2019 Internet Trends Report: 5 Takeaways for Education Companies
Tuition fees continue to rise and more and more learning is taking place online. Read on to find out our top 5 takeaways for education companies from Mary Meeker’s 2019 internet trends report.
5 Team Takeaways From InnovateELT 2019
It’s time to wrap up another InnovateELT conference! We listened to your feedback and aimed to create an event that had more impact, started more conversations, and led to more innovations than ever before.
Designing for digital learners in the 21st Century
As the amount of time we are spending on our mobile phones increases, we need to consider how this affects the design of digital learning products. Katy, one of the Learner Experience Designers at ELTjam, walks us through some of the latest trends and the impact it’s having on our work.
An argument for equal voices in ELT
At a time when the public is more focused on the benefits of diversity and equality, is the ELT industry in danger of looking old-fashioned and exclusive? We look at the benefits of a diverse and equal workplace and examine what’s being said in the ELT sphere.
Content marketing in ELT – Interview with Dan Shepherd
We sat down with our Digital Content Partner, Dan Shepherd to talk about using content marketing to grow your business. Dan, who has experience in both ELT and content marketing, lets us in on what content marketing is, why it’s important for young companies and how you can start creating educational content that will help you turn leads into customers.
LXD in action: running a design sprint at IATEFL 2019
At ELTjam we’ve developed a practical, learner-centred approach to product design that we call Learner Experience Design. We work with organisations to apply this process to learner and teacher problems and come up with solutions; whether that’s an app, a full online course, or a lesson plan or syllabus. To show this approach in action , Katy and Berta ran an IATEFL workshop to showcase a process we use, the ‘Learner Experience Design Sprint’.
ELTjam at IATEFL 2019
We are delighted to announce that we have three sessions at IATEFL 2019. We’ll also be taking part in a panel discussion. Come and find out more in our latest blog post!
Celebrating teachers at the Pearson English Global Teacher Awards
We are pleased to announce Nick Robinson has been selected to judge the Pearson English Global Teacher Awards, which celebrate teachers around the world. Find out more about the awards, what Nick is looking forward to most and who the other judges are.
5 EdTech startups that started shaping the way we learn in 2018
2018 has been a year full of innovative ideas brought to us by EdTech startups: virtual reality adventures, DIY drones and karaoke audiobooks have popped up on the scene, promising to transform the way we learn.
Scott Thornbury at iELT18: ‘No pain, no gain’ & ‘All work and no play’
Here’s a look back at the two talks Scott Thornbury gave at InnovateELT in May 2018 about fun in the ELT classroom. We hope they’ll get you thinking about how affective factors impact on learning; give you a sense of how to combine both the serious and the pleasurable and leave you with a more finely-tuned capacity to assess the claims of certain content merchandisers. All the slides are embedded throughout the videos so you won’t miss a thing.
The future of curricula design: knowledge vs. intelligence
Is it possible we’re about to see a big change in the way we approach curricula design? In a world where Artificial Intelligence (AI) machines can access, deliver and learn an almost infinite amount of information in a matter of milliseconds, does it really make sense to be teaching students facts and figures? The ascent … Read more
Talking about dyslexia: making ELT more inclusive
Dyslexia affects up to ten per cent of people in the UK and it is one of the most well known and researched learning difficulties. Yet, many teachers, publishers and digital product teams still feel ill-equipped to cater for dyslexic students. A 2016 survey of state-funded schools in England by the National Education Union found … Read more
5 tips for choosing & using video in ELT by ITN Productions
During the “Making Effective Use of Video in ELT” pre-conference event at this year’s InnovateELT, ITN Productions shared some practical ideas for creating activities and lesson plans using video which teachers could start using in their classes immediately. This included the five key questions you need to ask when choosing a video for your class.
ELT and the future of the internet
We analyse some of the main themes in the recent internet trends report compiled by venture capitalist, Mary Meeker, and take a look at how we can apply them to the ELT industry.
2Ts in a Pod: InnovateELT podcast
2Ts in a Pod is a podcast for English learners and teachers alike with each episode focusing on a different theme. The podcast is hosted by Tim Warre and Katy Wright. Tim and Katy joined us at the InnovateELT conference in Barcelona last month and spoke to a selection of speakers and delegates, including Scott Thornbury and our very own Jo Sayers. Check out the interviews here.
