I am an English language teacher who has been working with learning technology since the mid-nineties. This is my commercial site which describes some of the services I can offer. Use the left-hand menu to find out more about my work in:

• materials design for e-language learning
• blended and face-to-face training courses in technology for language learning.
• website design and management for educational organizations

 

News

Presentation: How to get the most out of your school website

Blogs, Wikis, Twitter, Moodle, FaceBook; Nings… . There seems to be an ever-increasing number of web based tools at our disposal. It often feels as if we are constantly playing catch up, desperately trying to keep pace with the development of technology and the latest tools for language learning. In the midst of this confusion it can be easy to forget to reflect on what we have already done and how it can be improved.

The most basic web based tool is the website, and virtually all schools have one. However, are they really making the best use of them? How are they actually being used? What are the key factors that make a website successful? What are the things to avoid? How can websites be used to encourage interaction and a sense of community? How can social media, such as Twitter and FaceBook, be used to develop dialogue with clients?

This presentation will argue that effective use of web based technology starts from the school website – it is the foundation on which all the other aspects of internet use will be built. Getting this right can bring many benefits. This is a presentation which will be of interest to anyone who has, or is thinking of setting up, a web site. Based on a survey of educational websites in Greece, this presentation will make practical suggestions for improving the quality and interactivity of educational websites.

The slides from the presentation are available here.

A handout of resources mentioned in the presentation can be downloaded here.

The reorganization of the Edunation islands is now complete. I still have an office building on Edunation III, but it seems my old house was built on the site of a volcano - I have now moved to the Northeast corner, so I still have good views across the water.

The island has been completely remodelled, and apart from the volcano there are some other really nice features - the floating dock makes a really nice place to have meetings - the SLExperiments group met there at the beginning of the month. There is also an underwater dome which is another great space to use for meetings. If that's not enough, there is a holdeck which provides access to a large range of rooms / spaces / buildings that can be rezzed in seconds. The forest glade is one of my favourite places for a class.