It is with great sadness that we have to report that our colleague and friend Salvador Ortiz-Carboneres has passed away. Please click on the headline to read some dear memories from some of the people who knew him best.

This European initiative aims to extend collaborative opportunities between HEIs to increase internationalisation in all disciplines. Training for staff development is provided free of charge and takes place online. Come and find out how you and your students can benefit.

A new group founded through a collaboration between Warwick and Birmingham City University aims to establish a Maraha user network for those based in the Midlands, whatever their sector of activity. The network will help to share user good practice for this open source e-portfolio tool, offers a mechanism for queries and questions and connects directly to the software developers Catalyst. The meetings will largely be online through the Language centre's Blackboard Collaborate platform and anyone can register their interest on this form.

An intial face to face meeting will be held on February 11th 2016 in the Humanities building (Language Centre) at 10am. All Mahara users welcome.

Two big changes have been completed over the summer to our moodle based platform:

Users of Languages@Warwick no longer have to remember different user account details, you can sign in using your ITS account details. If you are new to working with us, your account will be linked to your course during the next week or so, as enrolment is completed.

Our site also has a fresh new look, in line with Warwick's new branding. You will be able to access your course materials and interact with your group and tutor from your laptop, tablet or smartphone too. We hope you like it.

Contact us by emailing techsupport.language@warwick.ac.uk if you have any questions.

The Clavier virtual exchange project is now in its 4th year and this year implemented open badges to credentialise the computer-mediated communication skills our participants are acquiring.

The Languages@Warwick site is identified as an exemplar of a robust, flexible digital environment by the UK lead body Jisc.

You can see all the exemplars here. 

The story of the creation of Languages@Warwick can be downloaded here too.

The Language Centre is pleased to welcome students and staff from the Université Blaise Pascale, Clermont Ferrand, France this week as part of the Clavier project. Students are being hosted by Warwick language students and have been participating in a range of visits and activities including a guided tour of the Life Sciences facilities, a celebratory meal at Wagamamas in Leamingont and trips to London and Stratford. The students have connected to each other through our virtual exchange #warcler an innovation in language exchange which involves using social media and computer-mediated communication to reduce intercultural barriers. The Clavier project began in 2010, is research led and has led to staff and student exchange visits supported by Erasmus funding.

This year we are implementing Open Badging in the EWC course.

You can read more about the Open Badges project here:

http://openbadges.org/

The EWC course is part of a project known as Clavier. The course area connects about 900 students who are learning English or French and also includes teacher trainees within Languages@Warwick. The project is now in its 4th year and you can find out more about it through the unicollaboration website. It merges boundaries between the formal classroom and informal learning, prioritising lifelong learning. Hashtags are used to share community interaction through informal networks (eg. #clavier #clerwar, #warcler).

This case study of the Language Centre's technical developments highlights how we are provding the best technologies for language learning in the digital age. Prepared by JISC Digital Media it illustrates how busy we have been in order to bring the best opportunities to our staff and students.