Reloaded Design of EFL Teachers Materials

Nowadays there is a growing awareness of the importance of new media literacies in educative contexts. Many schools around the world are supplementing the traditional three Rs (reading, writing and 'rithmetic) with the implementation of media literacy skills. Hockly, N. (2013) "Digital Literacy".  Before stating our point of view on this new phenomenon, we consider necessary to explain what digital literacies are. According to Hockly (2013), they refer to our ability to effectively make use of technologies at our disposal; not only technical skills but also the social practices that surround the use of new media. That is, for example, not just how to create a blog but also how to use it, and to whom it is directed. The author suggests that digital literacies can be divided into four main areas:  Those with a focus on language:  Despite the fact texting literacies are believed to have a negative effect on the students ‘development, they should be...

As teachers, at the moment of deciding the kind of materials we are going to use for our lessons, we usually debate whether to use or not the course book. It is undeniable that course books have many advantages, but it is also important to mention that they are not everything.  To design our own material has a crucial role when planning our lessons. One of the reasons for this is that teachers can adapt this material to the needs of each particular group freely. This contextualization is an important tool that text books do not offer. By designing our own materials teachers can adapt it to the students´ own culture and also we can take into account all those factors that may affect their learning process such as age, interests, background knowledge, among others. Moreover, a way to contextualize our materials nowadays is by paying attention to the new technologies.  As Marc Prensky (2001) explains, currently, new generations are increasingly immersed in the world ...