1. ICT? Is that an acronym in the title of this piece?
ICT stands for Information and Communications Technology – not to be confused with IT (Information Technology), which is often a department staffed by heavy-metal-T-shirt-wearing young men fond of using acronyms when asked for help with a computer problem! In reality, the terms ICT and IT are often used interchangeably, although in the field of education we tend to refer to ICT rather than IT, as it sounds less ‘techie’. The term ICT is relevant to teachers, as we’re usually more interested in programs, tools or ‘applications’ which we can use to help our students communicate.
2. So what are some examples of ICT tools, and how can language teachers use them?
ICT tools that teachers can use include applications (or ‘apps’) such as blogs, wikis and podcasts – and, of course, hardware like Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs), mobile phones, iPods or MP3 players, to name just a few. All of these can be used by the teacher for language work both inside and outside the classroom. For example, teachers (and students) can set up blogs or wikis; the teacher can point the students to podcasts to listen to outside of class time on their iPods, or even help them to produce their own podcasts in class. IWBs can be used during lessons to bring a wealth of internet-based resources and tools into the classroom, and mobile phone activities can be set up both inside and outside class, for example using the SMS (short messaging service) texting or camera functions.
3. I see three more acronyms above! You explain IWB and SMS, but what is MP3?
MP3 is a compressed audio file format. It actually stands for ‘MPEG Audio Layer III’, but most people neither know nor care about that – all you need to know is that it’s an audio file format. While on the topic, it’s also worth knowing that MP4 is a compressed video file format. So you can listen to audio on an MP3 player, and access audio and video on an MP4 player. There are plenty of other acronyms used to describe audio formats if you want to sound very tech-savvy when talking to your IT department (see question 1 above), and these include painful sounding things like OGG, WAV, AIFF and AU. You can swot up on these and other audio formats in Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Audio_file_format.
4. What about VLE? I seem to hear that acronym more than any other.
A VLE is a ‘Virtual Learning Environment’, and one of the most popular at the moment is arguably Moodle, which you have probably also heard of. A VLE is an online ‘platform’ where resources (text, audio, video, etc) can be kept for learners, and a good VLE will include a range of communication tools (forums, chat rooms, blogs, wikis) as well as keeping track of administrative things, such as student grades. Other well-known VLEs include WebCT and Blackboard (now merged into one company), and Sakai. If this all seems too straightforward, you may want to know that there are several other acronyms often used interchangeably with VLE – so we have LMS (Learning Management System), LCMS (Learning Content Management System), CMS (Content – or Course – Management System) and MLE (Managed Learning Environment). But if you just stick with VLE, you’ll be fine. A VLE like Moodle is often used to offer extra support, resources or work online for F2F (yes, another acronym – face-to-face) language students. Or a VLE can be used to run purely online courses, both for language students and for teacher training.
5. What other acronyms do I need to know about?
Acronyms in the field of ICT are continually being coined, as new things are invented, so perhaps it’s more useful to know what to do with one you don’t understand. If you search using Google, there is a useful way of finding the definition of a word (or acronym) you don’t know – simply type into your Google search box define: [acronym of your choice]. So, for example, if you want to check what VLE stands for, type in define: VLE. Your search will return a list of sites that define VLE for you. Internet text chat and mobile phone texting (or SMS) are two other areas plagued by acronyms which are simply a quick way of typing entire phrases. So brb means be right back, lol means laugh out loud, imho means in my humble opinion, and fyi means for your information. You probably know most of these, but what about acronyms like rotfl, gal or nntr2? The only way you can possibly keep up with the relentless coining of acronyms in the texting world is to use Google define: searches, refer to a comprehensive texting acronyms site (such as www.netlingo.com/ acronyms.php), or have an Englishspeaking teenager living in your house!
- I know that, technically, an abbreviation is only an acronym when it can be pronounced as a word. Thus, BBC is an abbreviation, but NATO is an acronym. However, for the purposes of this article, the word acronym has been used for both.
- rotfl = roll on the floor laughing; gal = get a life; nntr = no need to reply
Nicky Hockly has been involved in EFL teaching and teacher training since 1987. She is Director of Pedagogy of The Consultants-E, an online training and development consultancy. The Consultants- E’s Second Life virtual training space for language teachers, EduNation, was nominated for a 2009 British Council Innovation Award.
This article first appeared in English Teaching Professional, Issue 61, 2009
