Nottingham High School, my school, like many schools, publishes a regular newsletters for parents and pupils alike called Connect. In this month’s edition, the focus has been on the recent refurbishment and ongoing modernisation which is hoped will improve pupil experience by “implementing changes designed to encompass modern teaching methods, resources and innovations.”

Here is what the kind people in charge of the newsletter wrote up (hence being written in the third person) about the teaching and learning of languages after a short interview with me while I was on lunch duty:

Modern Languages is an area of the school that is very effectively bringing current and emerging technologies to transform the learning experience of our boys, drawing on the possibilities for cross-curricular links. As Head of Modern Languages, José Picardo, points out: “The boys who now come to us from junior school have different skills from boys in the past. They can use computers, MP3 players and games consoles – they have grown up with these, they interest them and are part of their everyday lives. The task we have is to make languages appealing and using technology makes them want to pursue their interest in languages.”

José has implemented a number of innovations in the classroom. In the Digital Language Suites, each pupil has access to a computer which features specialist language software. The boys are able to learn at their own speed, which means they can move at a different pace from the rest of the group – something which otherwise may cause some pupils to lose interest.

There are interactive whiteboards in all of the modern language classrooms. By being able to connect to the Internet, teachers can effectively demonstrate how language is used by real people in contemporary settings. Essentially, the whiteboards bring the world where different languages are spoken into the classroom; by providing current and relevant materials, there is now an immediacy to modern language teaching.

The Digital Language Suites also use a number of web-based applications, enabling pupils to produce multi-media posters or digital books, for example. Their work can be embedded in the languages website, letting pupils showcase their skills for what is potentially a worldwide audience. This is a fantastic motivating factor.

Through these web applications, pupils are able to start a project at school and seamlessly continue it at home (or vice versa). This has revolutionised modern language homework as it is possible for students to listen to and speak a language outside of the classroom.

José concludes: “Offering more variety in how pupils learn is a key to keeping them focused and this is certainly evidenced in the renewed interest in modern languages across the school.”

Photo by Gregory Bastien / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

This post is tagged edtech, modern languages