Welcome to this fourth episode of the Pearson Future Tech for Education Series on The Edtech Podcast

What's in this episode?

This week we are looking at language learning and tech. Current estimates suggest that there are over 1 billion people learning English worldwide. Recent predictions also suggest that those learning English as a Second or Foreign Language will double by the year 2020 to nearly 2 billion people. But how we learn languages is changing. Apps, MOOCs, Chatbots and online tutoring services have all worked to reduce the time and investment needed to pick up and master a language. Whilst voice recognition services like Amazon Alexa or Google Home have made practicing languages even easier right in your home. At the more extreme end some advanced technologies have even brought into question whether learning a language in the traditional sense will be needed in the future. And, should it be humans or machines testing second language acquisition?

People Sophie Bailey is the Founder and Presenter of The Edtech Podcast 
Denis Hurley is the Director of Future Technologies at Pearson
Andrew Ochoa is the Founder and CEO of Waverly Labs
William Goethals is the Co-Founder of Waverly Labs
Bill Bonk is a Second Language Measurement Expert at Pearson Nathan Harris, Director of User Experience and Design, Pearson Show Notes and References  

Checkout https://theedtechpodcast.com/edtechpodcast and tinyurl.com/pearsonfuturetech 

Tell us your story

We’d love to hear about innovative technology or approaches you are developing or using in education. Leave your stories in the comments below. Alternately, record a quick free voicemail via speakpipe for inclusion in the next episode. Finally, you can post your thoughts or follow-on links via twitter @podcastedtech @denishurley or via The Edtech Podcast Facebook page.

The Pearson Future Tech for Education Series is produced by The Edtech Podcast and supported by Pearson Education. If you're interested in the themes that come out of the series, check out more ideas in the "open series" here.