ICT used to figure prominently at Language World conferences. Looking back around 10-15 years, there were a lot more sessions focusing on ICT and more ICT products demonstrated by publishers. In the 1990s ALL used to run workshops in ICT at Language World alongside the parallel sessions, lasting a whole morning or afternoon. For example, I ran introductory workshops on using the Web, workshops in which teachers could try out different CD-ROMs, workshops on creating a website, and workshops on creating sound recordings. These were hands-on sessions in computer labs and they were very popular. Other contributors also ran similar workshops.

The peak of interest in ICT in secondary education was probably the mid- to late 1990s. Sales of software to schools by my wife’s publishing partnership were at their peak at this time, and many other publishers reported a similar boom. From around 2000 onwards software sales slumped, and several smaller businesses, e.g. Talkfast, went bankrupt. The main explanations for this slump were:

(1) CD-ROMs, unlike books, don’t wear out – or rather they can be backed up many times without a deterioration in quality and therefore last forever until rendered obsolete by new, incompatible operating systems.

(2) “The rush to the Web”. Teachers anticipated that the Web would develop into a massive free resource – and, to a large extent, they were right.

When I visited the London Language Show in 2006 I spoke to several publishers, all of whom reported a slump in sales of all types of published materials. All of them blamed the fall in uptake of languages beyond KS3. So, naturally, they are very cautious about bringing out new publications. This is probably why few new materials are now visible at exhibitions. Publishers are now putting their money into more lucrative subject areas.

I am still invited to run workshops in ICT for language teachers, but I turn most of them down as I am expected to do so without payment and even without any kind of perk, e.g. such as a waived conference fee. As a retired teacher, now living on a pension, it is an easy choice between devoting my labour free of charge to running a workshop in a hot and sticky computer room or spending a a morning or afternoon on the golf course. I have, however, run several recent workshops at a distance, using Second Life – and I can do this in the comfort of my own home.

Graham

ICT used to figure prominently at Language World conferences. Looking back around 10-15 years, there were a lot more sessions focusing on ICT and more ICT products demonstrated by publishers. In the 1990s ALL used to run workshops in ICT at Language World alongside the parallel sessions, lasting a whole morning or afternoon. For example, I ran introductory workshops on using the Web, workshops in which teachers could try out different CD-ROMs, workshops on creating a website, and workshops on creating sound recordings. These were hands-on sessions in computer labs and they were very popular. Other contributors also ran similar workshops.

The peak of interest in ICT in secondary education was probably the mid- to late 1990s. Sales of software to schools by my wife’s publishing partnership were at their peak at this time, and many other publishers reported a similar boom. From around 2000 onwards software sales slumped, and several smaller businesses, e.g. Talkfast, went bankrupt. The main explanations for this slump were:

(1) CD-ROMs, unlike books, don’t wear out – or rather they can be backed up many times without a deterioration in quality and therefore last forever until rendered obsolete by new, incompatible operating systems.

(2) “The rush to the Web”. Teachers anticipated that the Web would develop into a massive free resource – and, to a large extent, they were right.

When I visited the London Language Show in 2006 I spoke to several publishers, all of whom reported a slump in sales of all types of published materials. All of them blamed the fall in uptake of languages beyond KS3. So, naturally, they are very cautious about bringing out new publications. This is probably why few new materials are now visible at exhibitions. Publishers are now putting their money into more lucrative subject areas.

I am still invited to run workshops in ICT for language teachers, but I turn most of them down as I am expected to do so without payment and even without any kind of perk, e.g. such as a waived conference fee. As a retired teacher, now living on a pension, it is an easy choice between devoting my labour free of charge to running a workshop in a hot and sticky computer room or spending a a morning or afternoon on the golf course. I have, however, run several recent workshops at a distance, using Second Life – and I can do this in the comfort of my own home.

Graham

Of course you can use the pictures for ALL, you can get better quality ones from my Flickr stream http://www.flickr.com/photos/25451516@N03/

Of course you can use the pictures for ALL, you can get better quality ones from my Flickr stream http://www.flickr.com/photos/25451516@N03/

To pick up on your suggestions …

Re: resources, I don’t think it’s surprising that publishers are ‘on hold’ re: new resorces .. the GCSE specs are still in draft and the NSC has only just been launched .. I reckon that they will be working hard this year to produce things to entice us next year before we start teaching new specs in Sep 09. (Having said that, there was quite a lot I hadn’t seen before …)

Re: IT sessions

..It’s a problem when there is so much to do at the conference: policies, theory, practice + socialising.

…it’s a pity you couldn’t go to Lesley’s sesson which was on at the same time as the London one and which featured students talking about how they use ICT. We must ask her to do a re-run for you next year!

… Another idea .. perhaps next year we coud request more ‘ICT show and tell’ sessions, or have something about ICT running all day which people coudl pop in and out of. (Or perhaps we could make the get together the night before ICT focussed?).

Can I use your photos on the ALL London website?

To pick up on your suggestions …

Re: resources, I don’t think it’s surprising that publishers are ‘on hold’ re: new resorces .. the GCSE specs are still in draft and the NSC has only just been launched .. I reckon that they will be working hard this year to produce things to entice us next year before we start teaching new specs in Sep 09. (Having said that, there was quite a lot I hadn’t seen before …)

Re: IT sessions

..It’s a problem when there is so much to do at the conference: policies, theory, practice + socialising.

…it’s a pity you couldn’t go to Lesley’s sesson which was on at the same time as the London one and which featured students talking about how they use ICT. We must ask her to do a re-run for you next year!

… Another idea .. perhaps next year we coud request more ‘ICT show and tell’ sessions, or have something about ICT running all day which people coudl pop in and out of. (Or perhaps we could make the get together the night before ICT focussed?).

Can I use your photos on the ALL London website?