CLILSTORE - Una herramienta online para profesores de idiomas

Abstract

The Tools for CLIL Teachers project has created a free online service where language teachers can author and share content-rich, multimedia learning units featuring the creator’s own choice of audio, video, text and images/graphics. No installation or setup of software is required. The authoring tools feature a unique and innovative element of functionality i.e. the ability to automatically link every word in a text to online dictionaries in over 100 languages. The teacher will have the choice of either sharing the resulting webpage online from the system’s repository or of sharing a link to the webpage on websites, via email or institutional VLEs, for example. The online service also enables authoring of learning units from mobile devices (e.g. iPads) and is compatible with any operating system (Linux, Windows, MacOS, Unix etc.). The learning materials may also be accessed and used via smart phones, and materials may also potentially be authored from smart phones. We hope that the ability to access the learning materials from smart phones will encourage teachers to create materials. The user friendliness of the system also benefits teachers of mainstream languages and results in bespoke VOLL (Vocationally-Oriented Language Learning) and CLIL materials in the LWUTL (Less Widely Used and Taught Languages). We are convinced that the online system, both the content authoring tools and the repository of materials, will be of huge benefit to educational institutions and learners alike, not least because the service is free of charge and open source. Crucially, the authoring tools and resulting content can be used from inexpensive mobile devices and older computers as they do not require high data processing capacity or bandwidth.