I realized I haven't posted here for a while now, and it's mostly because there have been so many exciting things happening! So, I wanted to share some things from the past and some upcoming projects.
June - Instructional design course with Eduflow Academy
June is always a busy month because although university teaching is over, there are many many exams to take part in and grade. But at the same time I just couldn't miss the opportunity when I saw someone posting about the Instructional Design Principles Course run by Eduflow. I decided to sign up to be part of the next cohort and surprise surprise - the course started on one of my busiest weeks in June but I managed to find the time for it.
I highly recommend this course to anyone who's either thinking about transitioning into the learning and development field at corporations or aiming to learn more about course design. As I work with teaching methodology, many of the ideas weren't entirely new to me but there were two main takeaways:
I could see some of the approaches and methods we use in ELT in a completely new light
I could experience how Eduflow works as an LMS (I remember getting to know it first as a peer feedback tool but it has grown so much recently!), including the cool feature of adding peer feedback flows to an asynchronous course. This way, even though there were hundreds of participants, I could still get a deeper insight into what fields they came from.
It's a 3-week course that includes your designing an asynchronous course from scratch (finding the niche and creating the analysis canvas, creating the design document, planning the course and unit objectives together with the assessment methods). You can read my weekly reviews on Linkedin here: week 1, week 2 (I forgot to post anything about week 3 đ)
July - starting to design courses and a radio interview
I got really excited about this ID course, so I signed up for another similar course on Linkedin Learning, but haven't gotten round to finishing it yet (though I did forget about cancelling my 30-day free subscription and ended up paying an extra month đ).
But I did start playing with a new site I've found through a post on Linkedin again! It's called 7taps, and the main idea is that you're creating micro-sized asynchronous courses. As I gathered from others' examples and feedback that I received on one sample course I put together (Lesson Planning Essentials), it's really for micro things, such as training students how to use the library or teaching someone how to plant trees.
At the same time, I was also extremely honoured to have the chance to chat to Jane Ritter on Teachers Talk Radio about hybrid teaching, my work with Cambridge University Press, my interest in assessment and feedback, and my obsession with mountain biking! đ You can listen to the podcast here, and be sure to follow @TTRadio2022 and @jritterteachelt on Twitter!
July and onwards - regularly blogging for WoBL
Speaking of CUP, the good news is that I have become one of their regular bloggers for the World of Better Learning blog, so I'll be sharing lots of great and practical ideas every month from now until they like what I'm doing đ You can read the first post about final lesson ideas before the summer break here.
Future plans - many! đ¤Š
Aaaand let's see what I have in store for the coming months. It seems I never rest at all but I can assure you that I do indeed lie a lot on the couch and browse TikTok aimlessly for hours (this will actually be another WoBL post coming đ) and also go to bikeparks as much as I can (...afford... khm... do recession and inflation and increasing gas and food prices around the world ring a bell to anyone?)
I started creating my own asynchronous course that is definitely one of the biggest missions I have ever embarked on. Inspired by the Eduflow course, it's actually going to be set in Eduflow, and it will be about Digital Activity Design for Language Teachers. There will be 7 modules, but you'll be able to pick and choose what you like depending on which course package you purchase. Stay tuned!
I'm really lucky to be running the Online and Blended Learning course for Euroexam with two of the most amazing ELT trainers in the world, Neil Anderson and Anna CsĂky. Starts on September 9th.
There will be a Cambridge Live 2022 event organised by CUP, where I'm going to do to webinars. One is How to Deal with Hybrid Teaching - Creative Ideas for Hybrid Learning. The other is the my IATEFL talk from May, titled Engage with Assessment.
A business resource book needs to be written!
and who knows what else? đ
