This practical talk will look at the way electronic media can help us place the image at the centre of our classroom practice, enabling learners to visualize or “picture experience” in new and exciting ways. In so doing, we will explore the notion of how best to develop visual literacy[1] in the language class – guiding students towards actively interpreting and creating images rather than just passively describing them.

Firstly, we  look at how digital technology has transformed our concept of text and image in general. We will see how content, even statistical data, can now be presented in dynamic ways through infographics and via new presentation tools. We will analyse how images can now longer be taken at face value, due to the influence of Photoshop, etc. and how both images and texts are frequently fragmented and repurposed through new media.

Then we  on to look at how social network sites and microblogging tools disseminate images through the Internet. For example, we  see how an image-sharing site like Flickr can be used to create a database for teachers to access copyright-free images for their classes[2].

The second half of the talk  looks at how different image types – mental snapshots, aerial views, close ups, collages, icons, etc.- can serve different roles in the language classroom through a variety of engaging tasks. Practical examples will be shown.

Finally, we evaluate specific digital resources such as Voice Thread, Glogster, Prezi, etc. which enable teachers to produce familiar classroom tasks such as presentations, projects and stories in fresh and unfamiliar ways.

We  sum up by taking a balanced view to embracing this new technology, analyzing what can both be gained and lost by incorporating it into our classroom practice. We  put forward the notion that in both relation to working with images and in general in language teaching, the “tech option” should only be chosen if it enhances the task itself and the learners’ participation in it. The medium or the tool should not be allowed to dictate the content.

Click here to download an abridged version of the talk:

The Digital Image abridged

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[1] Visual Literacy as outlined in Kress, Gunther R. ; Van Leeuwen, Theo (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. New York: Routledge. & Goldstein, Ben: “Working with Images” (Cambridge 2009) – a means of analyzing images to explore the messages they convey.

[2] Specifically in the Flickr ELTPics group to which hundreds of language teachers have contributed images.

A virtual learning environment (VLE) provides teachers and students with a platform which they can engage with outside the traditional classroom.  First, we outline the changes taking place to reading, information delivery and affinity groups in this digital age. Then we go on to discuss the advantages of a VLE in a blended learning context, seeing how the platform can grant more opportunities for learners to contribute and share ideas as well as saving precious time for the teacher.  These benefits contribute to making face-to-face contact all the more valuable. Examples from The Big Picture VLE are shown to exemplify the approach.

Click here for an abridged version of the talk: