mlearning Archives

Apple’s electric car and the death of language teaching as we know it

January 30, 2020December 2, 2015 by Nick Robinson

When I was four, going on five, a TV show called Knight Rider premiered in the UK. I loved it and remained a fan for most of my childhood (OK, I admit it; I’m still a fan). There was The Hoff, of course – all leather jackets, open shirt buttons and swagger – but the real star of the show was K.I.T.T – Knight Industries Two Thousand – the ‘advanced, artificially intelligent, self-aware and nearly indestructible car’. Over thirty years later Apple and Google are in a head-to-head race to bring K.I.T.T’s spiritual successor – the driverless car – to market. And, as a little-known and hard-to-spot side effect, the ramifications for the teaching of languages, especially English, could be huge.

Geoff Jordan vs. Duolingo

January 31, 2020January 14, 2015 by Geoff Jordan

More than a million people a day connect to Duolingo, an app which causes much derision in ELT circles with attacks on its pedagogical validity. But what happens if you judge it through the prism of research into Second Language Acquisition? Geoff Jordan finds out.

AR we there yet?

January 30, 2020January 8, 2015 by Tim Gifford

We thought it might be worth taking a look to see if our predictions regarding Augmented Reality turned out to be accurate, or if we were jumping any number of guns …

Social Enterprise in ELT – The E3 Project

January 30, 2020December 3, 2014 by Jo Sayers

The primary aim of the E3 Project is to engage those with the lowest levels of spoken English, particularly women over the age of 30, who are isolated within diaspora communities but committed to living in the UK. This is based around three main areas; digital inclusion, positive integration and active citizenship.

The Future of ELT

January 30, 2020April 7, 2014 by Gavin Dudeney

It was interesting to be at IATEFL this year, the annual land grab for attention larger than ever, and a conference dominated by discussions, presentations and a plenary about the future of ELT, which – it is suggested – will be completely mediated by technologies (more of this fallacy later). With Sugata Mitra selling his … Read more

Time for a new set of EdTech glasses?

January 30, 2020March 12, 2014 by Lindsay Rattray

This one’s been on my mind a while. Sometimes I wonder if we look at EdTech from a narrow perspective. The post below explains why.

Native apps vs. Web apps: The great debate Pt. 3 of 3

January 31, 2020February 27, 2014 by Lindsay Rattray

In this the final part, I will give you my recommendation for how to make this vital decision. Then, if you dare, I’ll get a bit more technical and explain some of the details I skipped over in the first two posts.

Me and my iPad

January 31, 2020February 19, 2014 by Tim Gifford

In this honest, insightful and helpful guest post Phil Wade shares his experiences of taking an iPad into the classroom …

Duolingo: Cause for Applause

January 30, 2020January 7, 2014 by Tim Gifford

What is the appeal that has led to Duolingo being awarded the free iPhone app of 2013?

Speech Recognition Apps in ELT: Duolingo

January 30, 2020December 16, 2013 by Tim Gifford

I’d go out on a limb here and suggest that the SR element of the Duolingo approach is more gimmick than gristle.

Startup Stories: The EdTech Journey of ClassWired Pt.1/2

January 30, 2020November 29, 2013 by Lindsay Rattray

The problem was that no technology connected what I did in class to the rest of my life.

Startup Stories: Shaunie Shammass from SpeakingPal

January 30, 2020November 27, 2013 by Tim Gifford

Dr Shaunie Shammass, VP Linguistic Innovation at SpeakingPal, talks to us about her work in bringing speech recognition tech up to speed with the needs of English language learners.

Did Apple accidentally invent a cool language learning app?

January 31, 2020September 23, 2013 by Mike Boyle

“What is today’s date?”
“It’s now Friday, September 20, 2013.”

Mike S. Boyle is one of the authors of American English File. You can follow him on Twitter at @heyboyle or join one of his webinars on September 26 and 27. This post originally appeared on Mike’s blog mikesboyle.com.

I’ve just upgraded my iPhone to the new iOS 7 operating system and discovered some amazing improvements to Siri, the virtual assistant that responds to your voice. The old Siri barely understood a word I said, but the all-new Siri understands my English perfectly. Not only that, it even perfectly comprehends my far-from-perfect Mandarin Chinese.

So, what is the potential for the new Siri as a language learning app? How can it help learners of English?

When Opportunity Knocks: The TurksLearnEnglish.com Story Pt.1/2

January 30, 2020August 20, 2013 by Tim Gifford

Our idea was simple: the goal of almost any adult student over the age of 25 was to be able to speak English effectively. We decided to build a product to address that need and that need alone.

The 5 EdTech trends of ELT part 3: Tablets and Smartphones

January 30, 2020June 19, 2013 by Laurie Harrison

What will it mean when every English learner has a touchscreen internet-connected computer with them at all times? Previously, we looked at online learning and alternative credentialing platforms – now let’s look at what a mobile world and the paperless classroom might mean for ELT.

Duolingo: Simply Better Than University?

January 30, 2020April 30, 2013 by Tim Gifford

Duolingo, the online learning platform that provides free language courses, has published a paper measuring the effectiveness of its learning model in comparison to a traditional university language course. Its findings are worth some consideration.

The Grading Game: birth of the “first person tutor”

January 30, 2020April 17, 2013 by Tim Gifford

The Grading Game is an addictive action word game centered around the pursuit and eradication of grammar and spelling errors. The game’s levels take the form of students’ papers, with a fresh set of errors generated for each play. Meanwhile, the papers themselves cover the most interesting and unusual topics, from the history of ramen to … Read more