ICT FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING DEVELOPMENT AT SLOVAK UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

The paper is aimed at showing the planned innovations concerning media applications in teaching English for Science and Technology and Autmation at the Slovak University of Technology (STU), Faculty of Materials Science and Technology (MTF). Teachers with the Department of Languages prepare STU MTF students for utilizing information-communication technologies by means of various tools, particularly Academic Information System used not only for recording the study results and providing study materials but also a useful means to prepare, distribute and evaluate numerous methodology ideas, share presentations, animations, videos; or e-learning interactive study materials. The Department of Languages utilizes online testing system where the teachers have customized the test to the needs of appropriate placement of students. In addition, the Department is currently planning to build a new digital multimedia classroom enabling to work with e-learning materials more efficiently. The Department teachers and doctoral students are involved in an international project with Serbia related to improving the video-conferencing skills. The Department has also started its own webpage, where all necessary outcomes of either under/postgraduates are displayed. Another interesting ICT application used at STU can be represented by utilizing virtual reality which is presented to the user in such a way that it appears and feels real. A virtual laboratory was successfully created within the project of preparing a multimedia textbook for secondary school students at the STU MTF. The ICT applications provide a great help for teachers themselves in project collaboration namely with the Department of Applied Informatics, Automation and Mechatronics in Industry.