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Is your school offering pupils a second language at present? Whether you are just starting to think about primary language learning or you’ve been offering it for many years, there are a range of technical tools which you can use to help non-specialist teachers to contribute to language learning and to give specialists the resources to stretch the most gifted pupils and provide additional support to those that need it.
Most primary schools are aware that the government’s target to make language learning a compulsory part of the curriculum by 2011. One of the key issues with this is giving general classroom professionals the specialist skills necessary to teach languages to young children. While there is no quick and easy solution, technology can provide part of the answer by giving non-expert teachers both the resources to set pupils language learning tasks, and the format in which to collect work ready for assessment. SANAKO Study 700, offers low-cost language lab functionality to Primary schools, that does not require specialist knowledge to deliver. From a simple pupil-operated recording tool, to the setting up of oral dialogue between two pupils anywhere on the network, this powerful software can significantly enhance teaching and learning. There are also a growing range of digital language learning resource packs, which can be distributed and collected from a class of pupils using the SANAKO software. A simple example of the power of Study 700 comes in its voice insert recording module. Imagine a lesson where a specialist language teacher has recorded some simple oral questions in French. Using an ordinary school laptop, each pupil can listen to the recording in their own time and when ready can hit the red insert button (see picture), speaking into the microphone when prompted with their reply. Study 700 can then be used to collect all the modified recordings into a folder, cleverly stamping each one with the pupil’s login details so that each child’s work can be identified separately at a later date. This simplicity and ease of use has impressed Computeam consultants and we are now engaged with pilot project schools to evaluate the software further. Computeam is a specialist supplier of SANAKO solutions, including the Study 500 classroom management suite, and Study 700 language learning tools. We can also advise on other ways of harnessing the power of ICT and the internet to help your primary school to boost its language learning offering. Please just get in touch if you’d like to know more, or if you are interesting in piloting the Sanako 700 primary language learning suite. |
