Joe Ruhl on ‘Teaching Methods for Inspiring the Students of the Future’

Collaboration. Communication. Critical thinking. Creativity. - Should be present in all classrooms. Joe Ruhl received his bachelors and masters degrees at Purdue University and he has been sharing the joys…

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Five reasons why feedback may be the most important skill

Giving effective feedback is a vital part of communication, whether inside or outside the boardroom or classroom. Bob Dignen explains why.

Different aspects of communication lay claim to being the most important: listening effectively or building trust, for example. Though these are important, the critical skill for me is feedback, both giving and getting. Effective feedback has benefits for the giver, the receiver and the wider organisation. Here are five reasons why feedback is perhaps the most important communication skill.

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Authentic materials in the classroom: the advantages

In the first part of a new series on authenticity, our regular contributor and Unlock author Lewis Lansford asks teachers to consider the advantages of using authentic materials in the ELT classroom.

I asked a dozen teaching colleagues (identified below by their initials) for reflections on the advantages and disadvantages of using authentic materials in the classroom. From their comments – many of which were generously long and thoughtful – three main ideas emerged:

1) We need to define the term ‘authentic’ and also include in the discussion the ideas of ‘adapted’ and ‘semi-authentic’ materials.

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