English and Digital Literacies

This introductory course deals with the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in English language teaching. The course deals with issues such as evaluation of educational software and websites, incorporation of ICT in the foreign language curriculum and the exploitation of the digital literacy that students bring to class from their everyday encounters with the new media. The Digital School project is also being presented and analyzed (its objectives and outcomes). Students have the opportunity to review the digital resources that have been prepared for the English state textbooks.

Objectives

The main aim of this course is to familiarize students with a number of digital tools that will enhance their digital literacy skills and will be useful to them in their future career as language professionals.

Prerequisites

Specialized computer knowledge is not required for this course.

Syllabus

The course consists of three parts. The first part deals with software especially designed for foreign language teaching. It presents its rationale, philosophy and pedagogical usefulness in foreign language education with a particular emphasis on software used for the production of multimodal texts, such as digital storytelling. The second part of the course deals with internet applications that can be used in foreign language education. The third part of the course examines the Digital School project and focuses on the digital resources that have been prepared for the English state textbooks and have been stored in the digital repository called Photodentro.