Amsterdam was the centre for European co-operation in a recent course entitled "Effective use of the Internet in language teaching: What and how", organised by the Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University (AMSU).
All 24 participants were from EU member states or applicant countries: Cyprus, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and Malta and were funded, fully or partially, by their national agencies.
Michelle Caruana, assistant lecturer at MCAST's Institute of Business and Commerce and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, was Malta's first ever representative on this course, which has been running for the past three years. She was funded the amount of €2,035 through the Socrates Comenius 2.2 Action Programme. This covered travel expenses, course fees, board and lodging.
This Comenius course ran between August 14 and 21 and it helped this group of teachers become more proficient with the Internet as a classroom tool. Blackboard (http://blackboard.ic.uva.nl) was the main tool used to introduce new teaching strategies.
The teachers learned how to use Skype - a programme through which people can talk to one another over an Internet connection and how this can facilitate teaching/practising English in the language classroom.
Hot Potatoes (www.hotpotatoes.net), software for creating language exercises, was also given to each participant. The group was also shown how to use WavePad, software that records sound. All these tools were used to create a WebQuest. At the end of the week the participants presented their Webquests to the group.
Naturally, cultural activities were included in the programme: a cultural city walk round the most beautiful sights in Amsterdam, including the various canals, old buildings and the red light district (by day of course!); a visit to the Amsterdam Historical Museum, a canal boat trip and a classical concert.
There was a lot to see and do in the evenings, especially since the world famous Sailing Festival was on at this time, attracting crowds of people and a vast number of boats, from sailing boats to military.
It was a wonderful experience and provided Ms Caruana with the opportunity to get to know many people from around Europe as well as learn very useful tools to enhance the learning experience for students in the language classroom.
For more information, visit http://memling.ugent.be/amsu2005/lang2.html