Exploring identity and culture through creative tasks and technology

This workshop aims at showcasing and discussing different ways in which creativity and technology can be used to explore identity and cultural diversity issues. A brief theoretical framework of culture and identity will be outlined and then followed by practical advice on how to develop creative tasks using technology. Examples of such tasks and projects done by students, including the tools used, will be showcased to demonstrate how they can be introduced into different contexts.

Presented at FAAPI 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 27th, 2013

Meaningful Use of Web 2.0 Projects

Meaningful Use of Web 2.0 Projects from Vicky Saumell

Presented at Casa Thomas Jefferson Conference in Brasilia, Brazil on July 19th, 2013
Presented at Pearson TDC+ in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 26th, 2013

Attracting a real audience for learners through e-publishing

This session is about the benefits of attracting a real audience for your learners through the use of e-publishing tools. I will define e-publishing in a language learning setting and we will brainstorm and discuss benefits such as motivation, more attention to accuracy, ownership and the importance of purpose on the part of the students, among others.  We will also try to identify drawbacks and ways to minimize them and address the issue of reciprocity (the importance of becoming a real audience for other learners as well).

Examples of a variety of free e-publishing tools appealing to teachers with or without experience in the integration of technology will be presented. The tools will be shown through samples of actual students’ projects. Some of the tools to be shown are: Bookr, Issuu, Calameo, My Ebook, Brainshark, Storybird, wikis and blogs.

We will also look at some tools and strategies for spreading the word about your students’ work as well as for finding interesting projects for which your students can be a real audience.

We will finally work on the relationship between these benefits, the tools and pedagogically sound practices in the classroom to allow teachers to make effective choices regarding e-publishing in their unique contexts.

Attracting a real audience for learners through e-publishing from Vicky Saumell

Presented at IATEFL 2013 in Liverpool, England on April 9th, 2013
Presented at Cultura Inglesa, Casa Forte in Recife,  Brazil on April 29th, 2014

Cultural Awareness and Diversity in the adult classroom

Culture is not usually at the heart of EFL teachers’ concerns. This talk aims at showing how your coursebook can serve as the perfect springboard to dive into cultural issues, an essential and integral aspect of language. I will show examples of how topics usually found in course books can be given a cultural focus and be transformed into opportunities for worthwhile discussion and learning about intercultural issues. The use of authentic materials will also be referred to as a means to engage learners in meaningful tasks that promote cultural awareness and respect. I will go over the process of adapting such course book materials, coming up with authentic cultural links and using the power of the world wide web to find and organize authentic materials that can bring these links to life and provide a meaningful opportunity for discussion and learning. This process will be made transparent and systematized for easy implementation by any teacher.

Cultural Awareness and Diversity in the adult classroom from Vicky Saumell

Presented at Teacher Development Conference in Cusco, Peru on October 26th, 2012.

Developing and evaluating speaking and writing with technology

This session aims at exploring issues and ideas related to the development and evaluation of speaking and writing with adult learners. I will go over the main concerns teachers have when teaching the productive skills. I will then show creative ways to develop speaking and writing with easy-to-use technology tools both in and out of class. We will explore examples with different web 2.0 tools and discuss different ways to evaluate speaking and writing in a more effective way.

Developing Speaking and Writing with Technology from Vicky Saumell

Developing Speaking and Writing with Technology Handout from Vicky Saumell
This mindmap is available online at http://popplet.com/app/#/525933

Presented at Pearson events in Trujillo, Chiclayo, Lima and Arequipa in October, November, 2012.

CLIL and cultural diversity

CLIL discussion and practice has mainly focused on the relationship between content and language to varying degrees. Culture, although part of CLIL’s 4Cs curriculum, is not usually at the heart of the debate. This talk aims at showing how using CLIL can serve as the perfect springboard to dive into cultural issues, an essential and integral aspect of both content and language.

A brief theoretical background of CLIL including its benefits, current CLIL models and how culture permeates all other aspects of CLIL will be mentioned in order to pave the way for the practical part of the session.  By focusing especially on soft CLIL and Rachel Hawkes’ “meanings that matter” model, I will show how general English teachers can easily introduce CLIL in their language classrooms.

CLIL and cultural diversity from Vicky Saumell

Presented at the 4th CLIL Symposium on 6th October, 2012 in Barranquilla, Colombia.

CLIL and ICT

This session aims at analysing the links between CLIL and ICT with a two-fold purpose. Firstly, showing why they are a good match. Secondly, demonstrating how ICT tools, both pc-based and web-based, can have an impact on the teaching and learning process as well as on its results. We will explore a variety of tools and the implications of their use in a CLIL classroom.

CLIL and ICT from Vicky Saumell

Presented at the 4th CLIL Symposium on October 5th, 2012 in Barranquilla, Colombia.