Tools presented at EfVET conference in Athens

On the 23-26th of October, 2013 Tools project was presented at an EfVET (www.efvet.org ) conference in Athens. The theme of the conference “The College that Works” attracted more than 250 participants from all over Europe as well as several non-EU citizens from such countries as Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan, Hong-Kong, Japan etc. Antonio Silva Mendes, Director for VET and secondary education from DG EAC was among the speakers of the conference. As usual, the conference was very keen on sharing the good practice of the EU funded project, dedicating half day of the conference agenda to a special session called “round tables”.

Here participants of different EU funded project can present the outcomes of their work to other conference participants. Kent Andersen, Tools project coordinator presented the project together with two other members of the Tools team in two half an hour sessions during the main time of the conference agenda and attracted a big number of the audiences during both rounds. The project and the tool were further discussed among the project participants and the conference delegates and the feedback was more than positive. E.g. a principal from a school in Germany said he will make sure language teachers use the tool, as the school is very keen on IT and innovation in teaching. Other teachers were prepared not only to use this during their classes, but for their own language learning during their free time. The possibility to link the Multidict with various WebPages including famous news channels make it easier and more attractive to teach politics and history, said another teacher from Denmark.
This year the project could offer the finished web based tool- the Clilstore, which is connected to Multidict and Wordlink. The teachers were eager to try the tool themselves; however, due to a bit too slow internet it was not possible to do it directly during the roundtable workshop. The participants took DIY videos which will help them to try the tool in their normal surrounding s and we look forward to new users in the Clilstore.

An t-Alltan, Clilstore, agus Guthan nan Eilean

Here is Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle’s recent presentation at a national conference for Gaelic teachers – An t-Alltan – speaking about his work for TOOLS on Clilstore.

Island Voices - Guthan nan Eilean

Seo an taisbeanadh a bh’ aig Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle o chionn treiseag aig co-labhairt nàiseanta airson tidsearan. Tha An t-Alltan air a bhith a’ ruith o 2008, ach b’ e seo a’ chiad chothrom aig Caoimhín an obair a tha e a’ dèanamh airson Pròiseact TOOLS air Clilstore, Wordlink, agus Multidict a shealltainn. Cha robh aige ach 20 mionaid, ach rinn e an gnothach glè mhath – le “plug” airson Guthan nan Eilean san òraid aige cuideachd. Taing mhòr, Chaoimhín!

 

 

Here is Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle’s recent presentation at a national conference for Gaelic teachers – An t-Alltan – speaking about his work for TOOLS on Clilstore, Wordlink, and Multidict. He only had 20 minutes but still managed a plug for Island Voices….

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Tools team meets in Evora

The beginning of the school year was marked by another productive event for the Tools project team. They met in Evora, a beautiful old University town in Portugal, which added to the atmosphere of the meeting, while the crowds of students dressed in black festive gowns for the inauguration ceremony were an additional proof of the relevance and usefulness of the work we are doing.

The meeting in Evora in September was combined with a EUROCALL conference, which provided a good opportunity for the Project team to gather additional feedback from language teaching Professionals from all over Europe. September was marked by finalizing the Guidebook for Clilstore – a guide book for teachers on how to use the software, including DIY videos and instructions on how to create a perfect unit.

The feedback gathered during the conference (in fact it has been planned in the application in order to make the Tool capable of serving the needs of teachers working with different types and levels of students) proved that the Team has created a product which has a future among the family of language teachers.

Some good news for tablet users: the Guidebook, as designed by Lone Olstrup, looks very attractive on the e-books shelf and is pleasant to read with a single touch of the screen to turn the pages.

Angelica Bucur, external evaluator of the project, took part in the meeting and presented her comments about the progress of the project activities. The overall picture is very good – as seen from Angelica’s smile!

Robert Burns on Benbecula

The first Clilstore units using dictionaries of Scots…

Island Voices - Guthan nan Eilean

As rumours circulate that Prestwick Airport is to be renamed “Robert Burns International Airport” the Island Voices project expands its linguistic scope still further, placing local recitations of two of Scotland’s national bard’s most famous poems on the online Clilstore platform. Clicking on any word will take you directly to a choice of Scots, rather than English, dictionaries.

It’s true that the Hebrides are traditionally much more closely associated with Gaelic than with Scots, but here’s another reminder that people are much more mobile these days – even if they do still like to hold on to speech patterns acquired in younger days…

Dumfries-born Denis Johnston addresses the haggis, while simultaneously wielding the knife here, serving up a tasty verbal hors d’ oeuvre: http://multidict.net/cs/1454

And Rob Keltie, in a prodigious feat of memory, takes his audience through the very substantial main course with a dash of Doric seasoning, delivering Tam…

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