Technological developments in computing and wireless communication together with the adoption of mobile multimedia devices and applications have translated into enormous opportunities for English as a foreign language (EFL). Currently, there are numerous educational apps available, however, most educators have limited guidance on how to choose the most effective ones among them.

In this seminar, we will first briefly talk about the history and growth of educational applications. Following this, different types of apps will be examined (e.g. instructive, productive, metacognitive and game-based). In addition, various characteristics of effective apps will be determined including learning value, content quality, learning goals, feedback and challenge level. Finally, a comprehensive framework for evaluating and selecting educational apps will be developed.

Theoretical knowledge will, of course, constantly be linked to practical issues of classroom teaching, which means that participants will develop ideas of how to implement educational apps in the EFL pupil centred classroom with respect to literacy development.