What lies ahead with ELT materials? Image: Trey Ratcliff
I've started putting together my initial outline for the plenary I will be delivering in a couple of weeks from now at Korea TESOL's 2011 National Conference. The title of the plenary is Materials development for language learning: The next ten years.
It's always a somewhat daring endeavour to try and predict what is going to happen in the future (and do so in front of hundreds of very intelligent people!), and there is the constant challenge of trying to sort what realistically might happen from what one would like to see happen (I'll actually be looking at both of these angles). And then there is the issue of context, too. For example, being as tech, gadget and wifi-friendly as Korea is, in that particular country I can foresee certain developments that might not necessarily apply in other contexts.
But it occurred to me, as my thoughts and predictions begin to coalesce into something of a manageable set of points to explore, that it would be a pretty good idea to ask the question publicly here on the blog and see what thoughtful gems my readership might be able to come up with.
So what do you think is going to happen with ELT materials over the next ten years in your teaching/learning context? And, what would you like to see happen with ELT materials?
You might find it helpful to think about two separate streams here (content and delivery), though of course there is a good probability that one affects the other at least to some extent.
I've also been exploring the issue of print versus digital material demand over on my Facebook page, with some interesting findings on a quick survey (which I hope you might consider adding your own vote to) here.
Interested in your thoughts!
=D
