Date: 2002-06-15 Category: Profiles
languagesforall.com
languagesforall.com was originally set up by Daniel Estève, Head of Languages at Fishguard Comprehensive School, as a resource for his A-Level and GCSE French and Spanish students. An example of a site that’s marketed by its own merit, languagesforall.com now gets thousands of hits a month, and has even been reviewed in The Sunday Times . Here itwales.com talks to Daniel Estève about how his site got started, and how technology can support learning in schools.
itwales: How did you come to use the web as a teaching tool?
I’ve always used IT in the classroom. I started off creating language-learning software, using hyper studio stacks, passing the material on to students on CD Rom. This proved successful with the students as it meant that they could learn at their own pace. The use of IT appealed to the boys in particular, and thereby helped to counteract the under-achievement of boys in modern languages.
The problem with this was that students would frequently want the material upgraded and the CD Rom format wasn’t flexible. By transferring all the programs onto the website I could change and improve the content much more easily, responding to the students’ needs.
itwales: How did the content develop?
Originally the website was geared towards just my students, and concentrated on GCSE students. Students began e-mailing me asking for A level material. Then parents started contacting me asking for advice. I’d answer them and put the answers on the site. So really, the site developed along the lines of students’ and parents’ needs.
The content of the site has now been reorganised along the lines of the Schools Study Programme "Schemes of Work", so the website now mirrors lessons. This has made it even more popular.
My philosophy is nothing fancy: all the content is geared towards helping students pass exams and to be successful at languages in schools. It’s a practical support for students learning languages.
There is an online tutor facility which is key to the website. It explains the site’s popularity while informing me of how to develop the site further.
The online tutor is there to help, but some students e-mail asking me to do their homework! The positive side of this is that the students are using the site and trying to make it work for them.
itwales.com: How did you get into website design?
I taught myself the web basics, first by using PageMaker and then DreamWeaver.
I’m not a web designer. There’s a danger of formatting taking precedence over content. I’m more interested in making the site user-friendly for the students, parents and teachers. Fitness for purpose is what it’s all about!
If I could do it all again, I would have liked to have attended a website course demonstrating the potential of the web as a tool for teaching and learning. Then I would have wanted to attend a website design course - saving me hours! However, this wasn’t possible so I just had to grit my teeth and get stuck in.
itwales: How did the site become so popular?
The site spread through word of mouth. It was taken up by schools in Pembrokeshire and is now used throughout Britain. The site was recently reviewed by the Sunday Times and they gave it three stars out of five! I’m delighted with this as I have not paid to be on any search engines. Some publishers have contacted me asking for reciprocal links.
itwales: Did you get a lot of support from your schools?
My previous school didn’t think the site was worth developing. This was not a problem as I develop the site in my own time. However, from the feedback I was getting, I could see that students’ motivation was increasing from using the site so I knew I was on to something good - especially when students were coming to lessons having printed out a list of vocabulary from the site and having done the interactive exercises. This had the result of creating positive peer pressure - other students started doing the same as they wanted to keep up.
Three years down the line, I’m now at Fishguard High School with a progressive head teacher. All the MFL Modern Foreign Languages teachers have recognised the value of the site and have enthusiastically embraced it. Now the site has become mainstream by being part of the SOW Schemes of Work.
As a result the parents know there is a source of support enabling all of us - teachers, students and parents to have higher expectations in that the classroom is only a part of the learning experience, not the main thing.
itwales.com: How has the technology helped you in your teaching?
The website is a supporting tool, most test/exam preparation can be done via the site, with the on-line tutor providing back up.
I monitor all the results of the students on a central database, enabling me as Head of Department to carefully track every pupil’s progress and to easily generate Certificates of Achievement’, furthermore promoting positive peer pressure.
The role of IT can be widened to things like stocktaking, ordering and student exam entries, thereby eliminating much admin aggro. But this can only be achieved if the whole school has an integrated vision of IT.
itwales.com: What have the specific benefits to your students, and teachers, been?
At Fishguard it is exciting to be able to reap the benefits of IT. Within a short time student A Level intake has radically increased - by 200, in fact! This enthusiasm has even spread to the community as demonstrated by a recent letter in the local newspaper, entitled "Song of Praise for Fishguard MFL Department".
We teach using PowerPoint presentations. A slick, professional presentation raises standards for teachers as well as students. Indeed, in our department, as each teacher makes his/her PowerPoint presentation he/she shares them with the rest of the team. So the presentations themselves become a focus for sharing good practice. Such sharing makes the group dynamic and is significantly more useful than a long, boring meeting.
DVDs teach students to listen for meaning and not to fear the target language. We show mainstream Hollywood films on DVD in French and Spanish and the students are motivated to understand what’s going on.
The full use of IT in our department has allowed us to successfully bid for an Interactive Board. Using such a device has meant pushing IT development towards the integration of different teaching resources - for example the atlas, encyclopaedia, PowerPoint presentations, the listening resources tapes/CDs, DVDs, are all available on one platform at the touch of a button. This enables the teacher to focus on lesson delivery rather than resourcing lessons.
itwales.com: So does IT represent the future of teaching?
IT will never replace the teacher. But effective use of IT makes a teacher much more effective. Given the choice between a non-qualified helper or an interactive board, I know which one I’d choose and what would have a direct impact on my teaching - and therefore on my results.
Visit Daniel’s site at: languagesforall.com
