ICT for ELT in the Horn of Africa: Options and Approaches

Tomorrow, a workshop in "ICT for ELT in the Horn of Africa: Options and Approaches"

will be held at the University of Khartoum. The objectives of the workshop are "to raise participants’ awareness of the role ICT can play in language teaching and related fields, such as professional development training, and to explore ways in which it can be used effectively within the contextual constraints teachers face in Sub-Saharan Africa.  It is aimed primarily at tertiary level teachers of English / teacher trainers with a degree of ICT competence and an interest in seeing its use expanded within their university or institut".

I will train teachers for one day, day 3, to use blogger and pbworks. Hala Salih will take day 4, to train them to use del.ici.ous, Google applications. I wish I was in a better health (I am due tomorrow :-))) so I could have fully participated in the whole 5 days. I am not feeling well, which results in NOT working on my full energy. I was hoping to give my utmost to the teachers at the workshop, some of whom are dear friends of mine. Pity me!

This what  I "managed" to create for our day 3 and 4. I thought of inviting someone as a guest speaker. I thought of webcasting it. I thought of streaming it with UStream. All gone with the wind. I am working with only 30% of my energy.  My presentation is not ready yet! Oh, this is for sure, not the Hala I know. I hope all will go well.

TKT at the British Council, Khartoum

The British Council, Sudan, has offered EFL teachers in Khartoum a chance to take the TKT course and exam. The course is offered on two locations (thanks!). The first one is in Khartoum, at SELTI premises, and the second one is running in Omdurman, at the Islamic University.It is a semi-intesive course, so being out there daily from 2:30 -7:00 P.M is very hard for me. This is a critical time for my kids to be on the door when they come back from school, bathing, lunch and homework, No mama, no home work, that seems to be their rule of thumb!!!:-)
Feedback? I have to wait for another two days to form a fair impression and a positive feedback.

Weakness of English Language in Sudan:Our Friendly Clichés (s)

When will the time come when all the Clichés and trite words about the reasons of the deterioration(another cliche!)of English language in Sudan will end??
In an investigation(a Cliché?) about the reasons of weakness of English language,Alrayalam, a daily newspaper, listed the usual friendly:-) Clichés which we have been living with for more than 19 years. Teacher training, syllabi, number of students, the learning environment and the unclear pedagogical vision.Who listened/will listen and started/will start to act? NO ONE!! Let's beleive that the time will come soon, inshaa Allah!

My topic intertwines so well with my mentor's.WoW!!

My mentor, Vance Stevens, who writes on his posterous blog that he is "passionate about helping others to learn by getting them to help me to learn", refereed his colleagues to my wiki's workshop for extra information because "our topics intertwine so well". WoW! How can help myself of not being happy, and confident! I am copying=pasting two paragraphs of his post here as they are so true, and applicable to my context too. You are right Vance!
Vance writes:
These technologies are so exciting yet so difficult to get across not only to students but especially to one's colleagues. That's the real choke point, but when approached correctly, not condescendingly but in a spirit of assistance, and when they are ready, colleagues might just come around. How do we improve our world? One person at a time.
It's a real challenge to write materials that are approachable to both these cohorts, teachers and students (where is my mind today? Who just completed a survey asking 10,000 teens why they were turned off to Twitter?).

Developing by the Nile:Innovative Online Trends for Teacher Professional Development

I have conducted a workshop about Web 2.0 for Teacher professional development which targeted EFL teachers at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. I gave the workshop the title of Developing by the Nile: Innovative Online Trends for Teacher
Professional Development. It was a hands-on practice workshop for English Language teachers at the Administration for University Requirements (AUR),University of Khartoum. All about it here on the pbworks I created for the workshop here.It was considered the first workshop of its type in Sudan about Web 2.0 tools. I am preparing now for another one about integrating technology into the Sudanese EFL classroom. My friend, Hala Salih, the head of the English Department, was the one who took the burden of the workshop to see the Sudanese morning light. Hala has blogged about the workshop and talked about how she ran around to find the fund and the venue needed. Thanks Hala!

Article: Teacher Training in Sudan

I felt sad many times, or was it too many times, whenever I needed to search for an issue concerning teacher training in Sudan, ELT in Sudan or English language in Sudan. Google used to, and still do, come out with hundreds of the words goggled, but in completely different fields: charity, teaching in Sudan, program , organization, UNCEF, NGO's and others.(You may want to check it out for yourself!)
Research in Sudan? I wrote about this topic elsewhere after my visit to Nigeria, where I was very impressed about their obsession of having their articles and research published . I felt so small when I was asked about English language newsletters and periodicals in Khartoum. I didn't dare to say, "I am sorry, but we do not have any!"
Today, I was more than happy to read an article : Teachers’ Training in Sudan, by Dr Ahmed Gasm Alseed, Associate Professor- Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Education-University of Gezira -SUDAN.
(Hi, Supervisor!) It gives a background about the topic for the one who needs to have an overall framework of the topic. I really dream of having a journal for each State in Sudan! I know the dream will come true after TESOL Sudan is born!