Speaking and Collaboration

It is great to note Schoolshape teachers rewarding their students for their foreign language speaking progress. Speaking practice needs to be regular and, preferably, in the form of a dialogue. It is obvious that all language learning worksheets should contain a speaking element requiring social interaction. Frequent speaking, especially with others, is surely the bedrock of language acquisition.

Congratulations to the Schoolshape Team

A BIG thank you to the Schoolshape Team for going the 'extra mile' in the production of the new streamlined version of the Online Language Laboratory. Language Lab technology has come a long way since the original labs were installed in schools with open-reel tape recorders in the 1970s. Those advances may appear seamless to our users in today's schools, but the hard work, dedication and commitment of all those involved cannot be underestimated.

Speak to Foreigners

As we all know, the main purpose of foreign language study is to acquire the ability to communicate with foreigners. Until now, the tools available to foreign language teachers have been woefully ineffective. I am pleased to say that the new version of the Schoolshape Language Laboratory incorporates a superb new tool for leveraging social networking skills.

Language Lab Conversion to html5

No more Flash in Schoolshape! A big THANK YOU to all our regular users worldwide for your patience during this lengthy update! NEW users are welcome to register their free (throughout the lockdown) trial of the Schoolshape Language Laboratory at schoolshape.com/register The lab is ideal for implementing a BYOD policy and for working with 'locked down' students when they are at home or elsewhere. Users can log in at schoolshape.com with email address + password or your school’s name, your name + password. NB When you enter a new student or student group, you will be given their initial password to send to your student/s (eg via email). They will be told to change this upon logging in for the first time.

Task Permissions

When assigning tasks in Schoolshape, there is a new 'Settings' tab available which allows you to control what students are and are not allowed to do while completing the task.

For now, there is a single option 'Students can add tutors' which allows students to invite others to assess their work, disabled by default.

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