HCM CITY —  A teacher trainer for the Cambridge University Press urged teachers attending a conference in HCM City yesterday to harness the power of technology, especially the use of video, in the classroom.

Gavin J. Biggs, who is also a senior learning consultant for Greater China for Cambridge University Press, said that videos engaged learners by using humour and making classes more memorable. 

Biggs spoke at the Việt Nam-USA Society English Centres’ annual Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) conference, whose theme this year was ‘Eclecticism in English Language Teaching in the Post-Methods Era’.

“It’s imperative that we tap into what learners are watching online and use video as a medium for learning,” he said, adding that video was far more than just an easy way to engage students with topics.

All of the presentations and discussion sessions centred around a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single methodology but instead draws upon multiple pedagogical theories, styles and ideas to promote learning in particular teaching contexts.

Monika Ekiert of LaGuardia Community College, which is part of City University of New York, spoke about the effectiveness of theme-based approaches that encourage students to use the language they are learning as a real means of communication.

With theme-based instruction, teachers create lessons or courses based on students’ interests, with content chosen from a pool of diverse themes.

About 2,000 teachers attended the conference, according to the organisers. — VNS