First lightweight repository launched for language teachers

The Language Box, an ECS-led project which will make it possible for language teachers to share their learning resources easily, will be launched next week

The new lightweight repository which is the first such resource for language teachers in the UK, is part of the Faroes project funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee and led by the University's School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS).

The Language Box, which draws on the best-practice principles of Web 2.0, will be launched at a workshop at the University of Portsmouth (one of the project partners) on Wednesday 15 October when it will go 'live' as a beta.

From that date the Language Box will act as a host for language teachers to deposit their resources and share them with friends and colleagues in their community.

'This has never been done before in the field of languages,' said Dr Yvonne Howard, Language Box Project Leader at the ECS Learning Societies Lab. 'It's a kind of YouTube for teachers. We were clear that we didn't want a dusty old place for information to rot or screens full of metadata. Instead we have developed a facility that really gives teachers what they need to do their job.'

The launch event will take place at the University of Portsmouth (Park Building) from 10.15am-4.15pm on Wednesday 15 October. Those wishing to attend should contact Stavroula Varella at: stavroula.varella@port.ac.uk.