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Recent articles

Creating English language teaching and learning materials for the future Jun 2, 2010: This presentation on virtual learning spaces was delivered at the British Council's Policy Dialogue 2 in Kolkata in November 2008. I talk about the relationship between planning materials for use in what I call finite space (classroom) and infinite space (real world and online) and come to conclusion that content will need to be different to that which most publishers and institutions used then and still do today.

'Remarkable'...Stephen Krashen comments on English Out There 'before and after' case study - News Flash May 17, 2010: Stephen Krashen, the world famous academic and ELT expert, listened to and commented on our 'before and after' audio case study of a Chinese student using English Out There course materials and doing focused speaking practice from the lessons using social media platforms like Facebook and Skype.

Beginner to Intermediate English in 18 hours, is it possible? You decide, listen to this audio. May 11, 2010: I have witnessed learners at English Out There in London improve their English speaking and listening skills very rapidly but I have never followed a learner's progress as closely as I have with Jane and Waldek using online social media and web telephony such as Facebook and Skype.

I was quite surprised when I listened to the clips together. Why don't you have a listen and see what you think?

elearning requires authentic learning scenarios and social interaction Apr 19, 2010: EU elearning report that clearly examines how people really learn online and concludes "that learning develops from action, action takes place in social situations and hence thinking and cognition are situative".

It concludes that "change has to take place in the learning scenarios" because "there is a demand for 'new' learning scenarios whihc are self-organised, learner-oriented, situational, emotional, social and communicative".

Facinating reading for those who are interested in social media and online interaction to facilitate English language learning.

Teaching Mute English Unplugged Apr 15, 2010: What do non-native speaker teachers of English think is the future of English language teaching and learning? And are current innovations and methodologies really useful for every single teacher of English, even if they themselves lack confidence speaking English in class? Is the UK ELT industry as we know it serving the customer, or merely serving itself? These are important questions when put in the context of how English teaching and learning is being affected by social media and free web telephony use (Facebook and Skype) for blended social learning purposes.

Social networking threat to language learning Mar 23, 2010: What does the future of language teaching and learning look like when ICT and especially social media starts getting widely used? The European Commission commissioned a detailed analysis and report into it and called it 'social networking threat to language learning'. I have scanned it briefly and here are some initial thoughts on some clear recomendations it makes to the industry.

How to train the ageing brain (14+ years for second language learners) Jan 18, 2010: Great article from the NY Times that I read an edited UK version of...and the most important bit had been edited out!

How do adult brains effectively learn new tricks? By being jolted out of their comfort zone when it comes to the methodology involved.

Entitled 'How to train an ageing brain' it is very illuminating and there are clear links to previous research papers that have been discussed on this website.

Voice recording on Facebook Dec 31, 2009: We have a Facebook group and a fan page, all in about 1000+ members (at time of writing this) interested in EOT and improving their English.

Facebook is now voice enabled and works with our ebooks beautifully because they are the only English courses designed to be used with social media.

This is a conversation between me and an English teacher based in Brasil. Jamey is interested in using EOT in Palmas and I explain some stuff to him.

English Out There teacher feedback Dec 1, 2009: Here's an email string with a teacher who is a premium member of this website and uses the English Out There materials to teach.

Why do we talk? Great TV programme Nov 11, 2009: This programme jumps around a bit, but its conclusions support everything that Out There is about...social language learning.