by Nicky Hockly | May 9, 2017 | digital generation, digital literacies |
If you’ve had any contact with youngsters over the last few years, you’ll have noticed that they seem to spend a significant amount of their time glued to a range of digital devices. Partly because of this, English language teachers are often told that they should be using digital technologies to enhance their teaching and to increase their students’ motivation.
But the essential question – Do digital technologies actually help students learn English? – is not always asked. Let’s ask that question.
by Nicky Hockly | Jan 6, 2016 | 1-minute guide
After a 9-month break – the gestation period for my latest book (Focus on Learning Technologies, Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2016) – I’m blogging again. And in deference to our ever shortening attention spans, my ‘1-minute guide’ series is back. Here’s a 1-minute guide to the digital divide (mainly for English language teachers).
by Nicky Hockly | Dec 23, 2013 | digital literacies, ICT, technology, Trends
Of course I learned a lot more than five things in 2013, but here are five that I especially like: 1 The quantified self movement When a non-techy friend visiting me from London showed up wearing a FitBit earlier this year, it struck me that the self- quantified...
by Nicky Hockly | Oct 17, 2013 | conferences, ICT, technology, Trends
‘The past is always tense, the future perfect’ (Zadie Smith) I’ve been thinking about the future a lot recently. Specifically about the future of education, and how it will be affected (or not) by technology. These musings were prompted by...
by Nicky Hockly | Oct 1, 2013 | conferences, webinar
Interested in learning how educators are using technology with their learners in a range of different contexts around the world? Read on. There are a couple of free online conferences about using technology with English language learners next week (11-13...
by Nicky Hockly | Aug 26, 2013 | digital generation, ICT, mlearning, tablets, TIRF
What do EFL learners think about working with mobile devices in the classroom? Does it make them more motivated? Do they participate more in class? Does it improve their English? Is there evidence for any affective improvements? This blog post describes the findings...
by Nicky Hockly | Aug 19, 2013 | digital literacies, ICT, mlearning, tablets, technology, TIRF
While teaching EFL in the UK this summer, I piloted a number of classroom activities getting students to use their (ubiquitous) mobile devices, for an upcoming book on mobile and handheld learning. Below is a very simple activity that can be linked to almost...
by Nicky Hockly | Aug 13, 2013 | ICT, mlearning, technology
Here’s another classroom idea for using mobile devices and QR codes. It’s a simple idea, based around the concept of a treasure or scavenger hunt, where students need to find specific information in various locations. In this case, my international...
by Nicky Hockly | Jul 12, 2013 | digital literacies, ICT
I’m currently in Cambridge in the UK, doing two weeks of EFL classroom teaching. Because… I wanted to get back into the language classroom for an intensive period with a group of language students. I spend almost all of my time on f2f and online teacher...
by Nicky Hockly | Mar 9, 2013 | digital generation, digital literacies, ICT, web 2.0
To celebrate the publication of our latest book Digital Literacies (with Gavin Dudeney and Mark Pegrum), my last blog post looked at the what and why of digital literacies. The next few posts will look at classroom activities designed to help your students...
