English

Language is the main root of communication, and the digital age has a wealth of ways to aid expression, develop reflection and assist the exploration and sharing of ideas and information through language. Web 1 technology gave us the World Wide Web, with access to international communication. Web 2.0 technologies give learners personal opportunities for creative communication through multimodal texts, multimedia presentations, blogs, wikis, podcasts and other forms of ICT, many of which can be used to help them explore the power of language to communicate their ideas. Pupils can use websites, simulations and WP packages to see how languages work and change over time and to consider their structures and conventions, both in paper-based and screen-based texts. They need to become critical media users and to understand and appreciate literacies from different cultures and times. The use of ICT can aid independence in learning by developing the skills of drafting, checking and presenting work in different forms.