Abstract:

Moodle, as a Learner Management System, offers plenty of advantages for second language teachers and can save lots of time when correctly managed. It is an extremely practical platform which gives us full control of the teaching-learning process, with regard to content and assessment. Besides, the platform provides language teachers with all the necessary resources to get the most out of Web 2.0 applications, going from simple tasks (such as uploading various types of written, visual and audio information, keeping a calendar with all the course events, adding links, offering RSS feeds of authentic material), to more complex and innovative ones such as webquests, forums or wikis, which will promote both autonomous learning and critical thinking, two valuable skills which are crucial in modern education.
All in all, Moodle constitutes a whole world of endless opportunities and a very important motivation factor among our “digital native” students. In this article, we will go through some practical ideas, tips and material to help foreign language teachers take full advantage of Moodle in their language class. Despite the material presented here will be in English, the ideas covered in this article can be applied to any other foreign language.

Keywords:

efl, communicative skills, it, moodle, virtual learning environment.