INSIDE:
Editorial
Breaking news
Top article
ICT in ELT networks
ICT - Good practices in ELT
Upcoming events
Killer ICT tools, websites and e-books
Twitter: What is it? Who to folllow and why
Members' presentations and publications
Editorial
By Evelyn Izquierdo
Avealmec President
Dear Avealmec members,
Welcome to a new era of challenges and adventures! As the new President of Avealmec, I want to express my sincere gratitude for all your support and inspiration in the process of planning, organizing and carrying out Avealmec activities and responsibilities. I am really proud to lead this enthusiastic team, always willing to share their successful practices in the language classroom and all that they have learned about the new trends in the ICT field. With the same enthusiasm, I invite you to enjoy this newsletter issue, the 2nd of the year, which brings tons of great news.
To start with, this issue opens with Breaking news, a section where you will find the latest information on Avealmec and its members, what is on in cyberspace, new trends in ICT and much more.
Then, comes the top article, written by Rubena St. Louis who presents a thought-provoking discussion about Autonomy and ICT tools. This is definitively a ‘must’ to read.
Besides this, two of the most awaited sections are here again: Upcoming events and Killer tools, Websites and e-Books. In the first, we have listed future events related to technology where you can share your research projects, classroom experiences, or learning objects created for your f2f, blended or distance courses. In the second, Miguel Mendoza presents a collection of top websites and tools currently used in the language teaching field, and describes their potential uses in the language classroom. We encourage you to try them all and share your experiences with us.
As innovation is one of the principles for good practice in education, we have added three new sections to our newsletter: ICT in ELT networks, ICT - Good Practices in ELT and Twitter: What is it? Who to follow and Why. In the first, Teadira Pérez provides a list of national and international online networks for English teachers. She also offers guidelines on joining them and an interesting explanation on how these networks may help us in our professional development. The second section is a space created for Avealmec members to share their successful experiences in the use of ICT and to provide ideas on how to use specific web tools inside or outside the classroom. In this issue, Rubena St. Louis shares her classroom experiences with Word Learner, a software to learn words in almost any language using online exercises, printable worksheets & flashcards and free mobile phone. And, in the third section, Elvina Castillo introduces Twitter, a microblogging tool which has become very popular lately. She makes recommendations on who to follow on Twitter and why. Don’t miss it!
Finally, we have the great pleasure to share the section Avealmec members’ presentation and publications, just a small sample of the intellectual production and work done by our members during 2010.
As felt in the air, the end of the year is coming soon; however, there is still a strong movement in ICT in the ELT world. That means, we never stop and we will be here letting you know the latest news. For example, EVO sessions 2011 are almost ready to be launched to the cyber world and several Avealmec members will be participating actively: Dafne González as a coordinator, Rubena St. Louis as a mentor in the e-moderators training; Miguel Mendoza and I, as co-moderators of a session called Podcasting for the ESL/EFL classroom. TESOL CALL-IS 2011 will focus its attention on mobile learning and examining the ‘E’ in TESOL, which means ‘electronic’ for us. This is an excellent option for those who will not attend TESOL sessions f2f. IATEFL 2011, as always, promises to be another great success. We hope to have our best representatives there again. CLED 2011 will be another opportunity for us to share our ELT works and strengthen links with our colleagues in Latin America. As you can see, 2011 looks very interesting and Avealmec will not be let behind. We are working on our own challenges, projects and plans. Toward the end of 2010, we have promised to have all our online spaces updated (official website, wikis, blog, social networks, etc). For 2011, we will be offering workshops on ICT for Venezuelan teachers, nationwide; and preparing our big bi-annual online event, which we expect to be as successful as Social Networking 2009.
Enjoy the newsletter, keep on sharing and helping others. My best wishes for Christmas and a Happy New Year 2011.
Evelyn Izquierdo
Avealmec President
http://evelynizquierdo.wordpress.com
Twitter ID: @Eveweb
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