Prof. M.M. Pant,
Previous Pro-Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
Prof. M M Pant (www.mmpant.net) pursues pedagogy, technology, educational innovation, tools and curricula that help enhance the effectiveness of teachers,learners, parents and entrepreneurs in the 2nd decade of the 21st century, using Tablets,mobiles and handhelds, a framework named ‘Learning 221’. His past roles include being a Pro-Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and faculty at IIT Kanpur. He has been visiting Professor, University of Western Ontario, Canada, and visiting scientist to European research centres in Italy, England, Germany and Sweden. Prof. Pant is also founder of LMP Education Trust, an organisation supporting underprivileged learners.
Deploying Emerging Technologies and Innovative Pedagogies for Language Learning
The emerging gamut of handheld devices that access Internet wirelessly are disruptively transforming the landscape of language learning with educational technologies such as MOOCs, Gamification and learning Analytics supported with innovative pedagogies such as Flipped Teaching and peer and collaborative learning. An overview of this scenario will be supplemented with examples and case studies of implementation from India to develop insights for further global adoption. The potential of using speech to text software to enhance speaking and pronunciation skills is an illustration of how technology can enhance language teaching. Also implementation of adaptive learning can help customise and personalise learning. While applications to the teaching of English will dominate the discourse, use for languages other than English will be touched upon, and of course the most effective use of CALL would be in learning of computer languages, which is now considered axiomatic as an inherent outcome of all quality education.
Thomas Robb, Kyoto Sangyo University
Thomas Robb is a professor at Kyoto Sangyo University where he is Chair of the Department of English, Faculty of Foreign Languages. He is a long-time user of CALL and the Internet, and has created a number of websites for various student projects, interactive learning and professional exchange. He is currently Chief Developer for the the MReader software which administers quizzes on "graded" and "youth" readers to students under controlled conditions. He is a founding member and past president of PacCALL.
Technology can make a Difference in how our Students Learn
This presentation will take a close look at Extensive Reading and how a software solution, MReader and the “Reader module”, a Moodle plug-in, has opened up the possibility of establishing reading programs in curricula where it was heretofore nearly impossible due to constraints in time and/or the pedagogical biases of individual instructors. We will discuss the application of the program from both practical and theoretical standpoints and then examine how well some of the principles presented might also be applied to other language skills such as listening, speaking and writing.
Claire Bradin Siskin, Previous Director, English as a Second Language Writing Online Workshop
Claire Bradin Siskin has been an enthusiastic practitioner of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) since 1983. She has chaired both the CALL Interest Section of TESOL and the Executive Board of the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO). She co-chaired the program for the WorldCALL Conference in Japan in 2008. She serves on the editorial boards of both Computer Assisted Language Learning Journal and CALICO Journal. She directed the English as a Second Language Writing Online Workshop (ESL-WOW) Project. She has a keen interest in faculty development and has given workshops about CALL in 17 countries.
Fulfilling the Promise of CALL
CALL has shown great flexibility over the years as the technology has evolved. Without question, it is much more widespread and successful than it was 20 years ago. But how well is it working? How well are we achieving our vision? How can CALL enthusiasts ensure that it is incorporated successfully in language teaching and learning? While we continue to explore the research agenda in a multitude of dissertations and academic publications, at the same time much less attention is devoted to how CALL is actually adopted and utilized. The speaker will outline her perception of the disheartening “cycle of planning” in which language teachers are not consulted when CALL is being implemented. She will offer suggestions for improving the situation and for realizing our dream.
Vance Stevens, Webheads
Vance Stevens has been ESL lecturer, CALL coordinator, CALL software developer, consultant, lecturer in computing, teacher coordinator, and currently English teacher in UAE. He founded Webheads in Action and coordinated its free international online conferences, was first chair of the CALL-IS in TESOL, taught in TESOL's online professional development programs, helps coordinate TESOL Electronic Village Online, and moderates sessions there. He promotes professional development via social media online; e.g. http://learning2gether.net/. He has numerous publications and presentations (http://vancestevens.com/papers/). He serves on executive board of APACALL, and editorial boards of TESL-EJ, CALL Journal, and Writing & Pedagogy.
Chaos and Learning: What we learn from MOOCs about Professional Development and Flipping Classrooms
The first MOOC was conceived in 2008 as a model of connectivist learning theory. Its proponents George Siemens, Stephen Downes, and Dave Cormier almost inadvertently seeded a revolution in re-thinking how we conceive learning in a highly networked digital age. Since then, MOOCs have tended to fall between two extremes which have come to be known as cMOOCs and xMOOCs. These are differentiated in part in the way they approach their subject matter; i.e. the degree to which they expose participants to the chaos they are likely to encounter in the real world, and the degree to which they engage learners in resolving that chaos. This talk examines what MOOCs can teach us about the role of chaos in our own learning, and suggests how we can apply MOOC models to our contexts of facilitating our students’ learning, and in learning from one another in our ongoing professional development.