International Festival of Learning 2020

In the full Youtube video, expand the title / description for clickable timestamps to take you straight to key focus areas.

This session explores what can be done - and what lessons have been learnt when working in the blended environment.

Partnered with Joe Dale's globally renowned #MFLtwitterati podcast, the session will draw out some of the best, inexpensive or free tools can be used to gently enhance teaching in the online world.

And, joined by three celebrated members of the MFL Twitterati, we'll be drawing out the best in online and offline blended learning, and to answer some pretty tough questions!

• How can you feel confident and prepared to move blended learning on a stage?
• Navigating the 'tools' environment: What are the best free and inexpensive online tools available to access amid a huge array of options
• 'Finding your favourites': Can there be a case of too many too often when it comes to using 'tools' for teaching? What about 'good old instruction'?
• The cliche of 'the students know more than the adults' when it comes to technology...but, do they really? Don't they just access a different kind of technology?
• 'Teacher reluctance' - how can we create a culture of mutual support for teachers who may be struggling to get to grips with this strange new way of working?
• How do you ensure using these tools is not just a gimmick or a flash in the pan!?

About the MFL Podcast
https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/

Our podcast is designed to celebrate the voices of the modern language teaching community in the UK, Ireland and beyond by showcasing the fab ideas and resources they share on Twitter with your hosts Joe Dale and Noah Geisel.


This dynamic and supportive community has a wide variety of members including language teachers and departments, consultants and organisations from the UK and lreland and beyond. We regularly share updates, links to resources and advice on anything and everything to do with languages and language learning. The main idea of this podcast is to share language teachers’ innovative practice enhancing teaching and learning both in and out of the classroom!


The podcast is aimed at anyone interested in language education at all levels, as well as fans of EdTech and is divided into specific sections. We begin with the radar section where Noah and I talk about an idea, resource or new app or web tool update which has particularly caught our eye recently. Then comes the #mfltwitterati takeaways where Noah and I discuss tweets tagged with the #mfltwitterati hashtag that have particularly resonated with us. Next, we have the MFL show and tell section where members of the #mfltwitterati describe a class activity they have found to be effective or an event they have attended. Following that is the techtalk interview where Noah and I speak to a language educator about how they are integrating tech into their practice and we unpack some of their tips and tricks.


We hope you find the podcast useful and that you try out some of the ideas in your own class. Feel free to send us some audio feedback using the SpeakPipe widget on the right hand side of the site or written feedback in the comment sections under each post or via Twitter including the #mfltwitterati hashtag of course. We look forward to hearing from you and thank you for listening.

We delve into a range of different styles, opportunities, tricks and tools to help teach better live online lessons (synchronous), as well as in the asynchronous and blended environments.

Among the panel is a huge wealth of experience in learning through synchronous ('realtime' live) and asynchronous (pre-recorded or online platforms) methods.

We hope you will enjoy what we expect to be a lively conversation, full of tips and ideas to stimulate your thinking...

Tips for engaging and sustaining learning

• What tips do you have for engaging and connecting with students in the LIVE (synchronous )online classroom?
• How do you create a positive (and productive) learning environment in the virtual classroom?
• What tips would you give a classroom teacher who may be put in the position of teaching groups of children online, maybe for the first time?
• Can you give your own examples of any strategies you've used to improve learning using online tech?
• What do you envisage online teaching and learning by schools will look like in the future?

Running online courses, and adapting to a new world of blended learning...

• RoboBrain Academy: How easy was it to set up and adapt using online courses when you're used to doing everything face to face?
• How close to the 'original' do online courses need to be to be effective? What do you need to add or take away to make it meaningful?
• Who will adapt quickest... the students, the parents or the teachers?
• We talk about young people being familiar with 'the technology', but what does this really mean? Isn't it just a completely different set of technology?
• How important is the technology platform for learning?

Maintaining Quality

• What criteria do you think is needed when recruiting teachers to be able to work in these unfamiliar contexts?
• How can you tell what's good quality and what's not?
• What are you looking for when recruiting teachers who can cope with the online environment?

Special thanks to RoboBrain Academy, Real World Education, Eddly, the British Council e-Twinning, and Morton Bay College for supporting this session.