Conference
Do ELT course books still have a future?
May 25th
The answer to my question proved complicated, here are my presentation slides from the IATEFL Conference in Birmingham in April 2016, in which I revisited research into the future of the ELT coursebook that I started in 2010.
In my research I found printed coursebooks continue to be widely used, and the take up of digital alternatives has been slower than I predicted in 2010.
Teachers and students: online outside the classroom, offline inside the classroom.
[Publisher comment]
I also found that the publishing sector is struggling to make money from coursebooks and digital alternatives, as governments cut budgets, consumers expect content for free, and the result has been very challenging for people involved in the sector, particularly authors. There are some interesting developments and initiatives, but important pedagogical issues still need to be resolved.
Virtually unknown: web conferences as a tool for teacher development
Apr 14th
I talked about the research that I helped carry out into the IATEFL Web Conference 2014 at IATEFL Manchester on Tuesday 14 April 2015 at 1025 and here are my Powerpoint slides.
Virtual unknown IATEFL Manchester 2015 Caroline Moore
You can see Mercedes Viola and me discuss the conference and the research in this interview:
and my talk was filmed for IATEFL Online:
Abstract
“Little is known about the effectiveness of web conferences in education and professional development. This presentation analyses the discourse used in IATEFL’s October 2014 2-day Web Conference, and participant evaluation of the event. It will conclude with suggestions for the creation of optimal conditions for successful and engaging educational webinars, and recommend appropriate evaluative tools. ”
TESOL France 2013
Nov 25th
I’m just back from TESOL France, where I went to some great presentations and met lots of very interesting people. It was also great to be back in Paris. I gave a presentation entitled “Could you be a digital materials writer?” and you can download the slides here.
The Janus Moment in (BAL)EAP 2013
May 11th
Recently I attended BALEAP’s biennial conference at Nottingham University, which was a great opportunity to catch up with the world of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). I was there with Epigeum to meet potential clients and authors for its forthcoming English for Academic Studies courses. The conference theme was “The Janus Moment” in honour of the Roman god Janus, who presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and thus war and peace. In this case, the organisers were less interested in war, more interested in the analogy of looking back at the development of EAP over the past 40 years, and also looking to the future with the growth of English as a medium of instruction in Higher Education, EAP is becoming an increasingly important area. The conference was busy, lots of participants and great sessions, which you can see from the conference programme, but I was only able to attend a few, More >
IATEFL Failure Fest
May 2nd
I’m ashamed to see how long it is since I last updated this blog, I’ve been busy on some very exciting e-learning projects, and working as a member of the IATEFL Conference committee. One of my highlights was working with Ken Wilson to organise the Failure Fest evening at the Liverpool conference, and reading the various reviews made me feel very proud. I was inspired to suggest the Failure Fest event after attending a similar event of that name organised by Nesta late in 2012, in which presenters shared their experiences of failure and learning in various educational contexts. You can see the video of our event at IATEFL Online.