OUP Webinar: Using Games for win-win learning

Attending webinars from the comfort of your own home is a fantastic experience!

 Image courtesy of google images

This morning I attended an excellent OUP Webinar presented by John Hughes, called 'Using Games for win-win learning'.  You can read all about it in this informative OUP blog post here:

https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2018/01/25/using-games-win-win-learning/

You can register to attend the same webinar repeated on Thursday February 15th.  Details from the OUP website are here

I enjoy playing games with my learners and in this webinar I learned more about the rationale behind using games for learning, and most importantly of all, the presenter offered many practical examples of varied types of games.  It was an interactive session with interesting polls, text chat opportunities and games such as charades, being played. Handouts were made available at the close of the session, and these will be invaluable for future lessons.

The important thing about games is that they can be used with every type of learner, and used judiciously, games can make language points and vocabulary more memorable.  They are indeed a hidden type of repetition drill and if the students are engaged and 'in the flow,' they will not notice that behind the fun, there is a serious element to learning going on.  Gamifying teaching in a pedagogical and meaningful way can lead to more learner engagment and motivation.

The book Games for Language Learning, by Andrew Wright et al. was mentioned in the session. I have had this book in my personal collection for a while.  It is a rich resource, full of fantastic and easy to implement ideas for games.  According to the author, games as drills form a 'living communication', and this is an interesting point to note.

During the lively session, attended by over 300 teachers from around the globe, I learned about the 5 'C's that are vital components for a good and enjoyable game:

Some interesting links included one to Gareth's Short Story Blog

In the article,  the focus was on 'Rory's Storytelling Cubes'.  I will need to investigate this resource, which looks fun.

The notion of 'FLOW' during a game is important, and the book called 'FLOW- The Psychology of Optimal Experience' by Mihaly Csikszent  was referred to in the webinar.

The use of QR codes in games such as treasure hunts was also mentioned inthe slide presentation.  This article QR codes: A treasure hunt, by Nicky Hockly, Director of Pedagogy of the renowned Consultants-e Edtech training website, contains an excellent post about how to go about organizing a treasure or scavenger hunt using mobile phones and QR codes.

I was so engaged in following the presentation and doing the activities and adding replies in the text chat box, that the one hour session flew past!

I would like to take this opportunity to say ..........

 ........ to OUP for this exciting series of  practical and worthwhile webinars, and to John Hughes for the inspirational presentation today!!

IATEFL Manchester Feedback

I originally wrote this feedback post on another blog, but thought I would like to add it here on my main blog.  Better late than never :-)

 I was very happy to be able to travel to Manchester on Saturday April 11th to attend the IATEFL conference for 2 days. I went there by train direct from Oxford.  The journey was very smooth and in no time at all I arrived in Manchester Picadilly and met my friend and colleague Carol.  I stayed in Manchester for one night at the Abode Hotel.

The conference was a great event all round and it was wonderful to have the chance to meet up with so many members of my PLN, albeit briefly. Below the only conference image I had taken from my mobile and this is a lovely one which includes Dr Nellie Deutsch and Vicky Loras.  It was a pleasure to meet them and so many others. Here's a link to a fabulous slideshow of IATEFL 2015 Manchester created by Dr Nellie Deutsch.

It was also a great pleasure to spend a lot of time with my colleague Carol Rainbow, and some time with Sue Annan from the Project 52 blog, Marisa, who has written an excellent feedback post here , and Sue-Lyons in the break times, and members of the Consultants-e team, on Sunday over cocktails :-) 
Sadly, I missed a few people I wanted to meet such as Sandy Millin, and Sharon Hartle, but being such a huge conference centre with over 2,000 delegates, it was not possible to see everyone amongst the crowds....

I attended a super British Council hosted event on Saturday night at the Manchester Town Hall, and was blown away by the magnificence of its grandeur and the awe-inspiring gothic architecture.  I had a truly super evening there, mingling with so many delegates and people I knew.....
The canapes and refreshments were delicious and the wine flowed!!  I found out that the bees painted on the floor of the town hall denoted the symbol of Manchester as a leading industrial power in the past (as busy as a bee).


Below a collage I created using Fotor.com of 4 images kindly shared by Carol Rainbow:

Prior to that I had also attended a Cambridge University Press party where the new series of Empower course books was presented at the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology, and that was very enjoyable as well.  Images below reproduced with kind permission from Carol Rainbow:

I received a free copy of the new B1 level Empower coursebook, which looks impressive.

I was lucky enough to be able to sample a slice of the delicious Going Mobile cake.  Pictures below reproduced with kind permission of Carol Rainbow :-))

I asked the authors Nicky and Gavin if they could sign my personal copy of Going Mobile, and they did!  I hope to write up a book review of it on this blog, so watch this space!

All the sessions I attended were very interesting and I learned a lot.  It was good to benefit from the knowledge shared and this certainly enhanced my CPD.  In particular I would like to mention the following ones:

'Spice up your lessons with a song' by Sandra Vida from Slovenia was inspirational and offered some practical and fun examples to use straight in the classroom.  Sandra has an excellent blog called Lessons with Music, which contains a huge source of lesson plans and ideas for using contemporary pop songs.

 I discovered some new techniques for using Pink Floyd's 'We don't want no education' as a topic to get teens to brainstorm what they DO want from education.

 

Also the song 'Add Me' by Chumbawamba to get students to discuss the dangers of friending strangers on Facebook was thought-provoking:

Paul Driver's session on using Augmented Reality was fascinating, and the future use of AR in EFL classrooms is probably just around the corner for most of us.

He gave us some great examples of work he is already doing with his students at the British Study Centre, Oxford, in this innovative and cutting edge area.

I also found  the talk by Jason Anderson on 'Lying is the best policy', based around his new publication called 'Speaking Games', very practical and will implement some of the ideas into my future teaching.

The many uses of 'GET' by Kate Evans appealed to me and I wasn't disappointed!

In addition, I will mention the talk by Candy van Olst, called ' How does chatting become a purposeful conversation'.  I think I already apply quite a few things she pointed out to her audience.  I will make sure I include even more fillers for 'just chatting' with my classes in the future!

Finally, I found the Sunday morning plenary session by Joy Egbert to be very informative and useful.  She mentioned lots of tips on how to promote task engagement and demonstrated a variety of technological tools, including Bighugelabs Magazine app, which I love using.

I am so thankful for having had this opportunity to develop my CPD and to meet so many people I connect with online.

Next year the IATEFL conference is held in Birmingham, and I would love to attend!!!

IATEFL Manchester 2015

I have booked my train ticket to Manchester and I will spend 2 days there, more or less.  I haven't attended a live international conference like this since IATEFL Brighton 2011, when I presented as well. The past few years I have kept extremely busy attending and presenting at online conferences, and I have to admit, the experiences have all been just as exhilirating and exciting!!
 
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I wrote a few blog posts about my time in Brighton:

IATEFL Brighton 2011 Rocked! http://civitaquana.blogspot.it/2011/04/iatefl-brighton-2011-rocked.html
The King & I at IATEFL Brighton 2011: http://civitaquana.blogspot.it/2011/04/king-and-i-iatefl-brighton-2011.html

The question is: does attending a conference in person have the slight edge over an online conference?  Well the obvious advantage is that you can physically meet and greet someone, you can have coffee, lunch or drinks with them, you can go dancing, you can share jokes, you can take group photos, selfies, swop business cards, swop stories and so on.

However, believe it or not, at an online conference, you can do all of the above, virtually, 24/7.  In 2nd Life I have attended a virtual drinks party and lots of food was present, and dancing too!  In online webinars I have shared virtual food and drinks from around the world, and attended farewell parties, the EVO Podcasting webinar, being one of the most amazing and memorable ones.  Also singing and dancing along to rap tunes at an online conference closing ceremony springs to mind....

So, what is the verdict??

I can't wait to meet members of my PLN on Saturday April 11th and Sunday April 12th!!  Please do come up and say 'Hi' if you see me!! I am very excited about the chance to catch up with so many people!!  It will be a dream come true....

I will be meeting members of The Consultants-E team on Sunday!

You can find out more about this great international event by clicking on the image below:


 http://www.iatefl.org/annual-conference/manchester-2015

Spring Blog Festival - Slides for A Blogger's Story: Top Ten Topics

I thoroughly enjoyed presenting at the Spring Blog Festival 2015 on Saturday March 21st.
Below you can see the slides for my session.  I do hope you like them.  There is a full list of resources from the session and they can be found on the last page of the slides via QR codes.



I was able to attend three wonderful presentations and learned a lot from them. 

1. SBF15: Halina on Competence in Communication and Interpersonal Skills 

2. SBF15: María J. García San Martín and From eBookEVO to CLIL eBooks

3. SBF15: Blogging and Logging conversations among educators

Hopefully I will view the other presentations as soon as I can :-)

I would like to thank Dr Nellie Deutsch for organizing such an uplifting day of bloggers showcasing why they blog, and also thanks to Maria Jesus for moderating my session and Brian Boneham for providing lots of links during the session..  Thanks also to everybody who attended my talk.  It was lovely to see you all.  Sorry you couldn't see me, but I think I could be hard loudly and clearly :-)

Feedback on Connecting Online 2015 Conference

The Wordle sums up a few key phrases I collected from the 6th Annual Connecting Online 2015 free econference held on WizIQ platform from 6-8 February 2015.

I attended or viewed the recordings of a total of 12 sessions over the weekend.  Each one of them was educational and totally inspirational!!  I found the topics engaging and highly instructional. All the presenters in the image (created by Dr Nellie Deutsch) below shared their passion for their particular areas of expertise, with great enthusiasm. I hope to catch up with a few more of the webinars over the coming days and weeks.  The one thing they all had in common was the muti-faceted ways that technology integration can enhance learning and teaching!

I enjoyed interacting in the chatbox with attendees and the presenters, and this informal sharing of information reinforced the fact that 'Sharing is caring'.  Communicating synchronously in the WizIQ chatbox with teachers from around the globe brought the sessions to life in a fun and exciting manner.

I had deliberately set aside parts of the weekend to fully immerse myself in this educational event, and I was able to place my worries about the current state of The Road at the back of my mind.  If you view the recording of my talk, you will know exactly what I am refering to .....!

The Witty Comics highlights a few impressions of the weekend event.  Please click on the image for an enlarged view:

You can catch all the recordings on WizIQ if you simply register for free, and then you can sit back and enjoy the sessions at your leisure!

The one person who was always central to all the live action was Dr Nellie Deutsch, the organizer and 'hostess with the mostest'.  I do not think she slept at all during the 3-day event.  She did a truly impressive job of moderating all the sessions, and helping each of the presenters to do and give their best, and putting everyone at ease. 

I wish to say a huge personal THANK YOU to her.  It was a pleasure to be one of the presenters of this exciting online event!

CO15 MOOC - February 6-8, An Excellent CPD Opportunity for Educators!

I am thrilled and proud to be one of the 35 presenters at the upcoming 6th annual 3-day MOOC, Connecting Online 2015, hosted and organized by the incredible Dr Nellie Deutsch. My presentation is called The EVOlution of Jan!

You can register for this webinar, held on Friday February 6th at 3pm GMT (4pm CET), by clicking the link below:

https://www.wiziq.com/online-class/2475174-co15-the-evolution-of-jan-and-electronic-village-online

I have been presenting at this exciting free annual event since 2011 and this is my fourth time in its 6 year history.  The platform is WizIQ and the event this year is held from 6th-8th February.  The webinars focus on instruction and learning.  The theme for this year is 'connecting online for collaborative work'. The presenters have prepared some great sessions for you to attend, and share their experiences.

I do hope you will be inspired to join in the fun with the presenters below!

Lots of useful information about CO15 has been shared in the Smore flyer, created by Dr Nellie Deutsch.  She has invited her PLN and presenters to share this information so that the MOOC will be attended by as many teachers from around the world as possible!

Smore promotional CO15 flyer with youtube video link reproduced below with kind permission from Dr Nellie Deutsch, and the direct link is also here: https://www.smore.com/zts4g

You can click on each of the presentations in the Smore poster below, and you can register to attend any of the webinars.





My CO15 presentation is viewable below as a clickable and downloadable ebooklet via Youblisher. Resources can be found on my wiki page here.The recording can be found here.
Thanks to everyone who attended my session, and for those who have viewed the recording.  A very special thanks goes to my moderator for the session, the tireless and inspirational Dr Nellie Deutsch!!!





SMORE
If you are interested in finding out more about Smore, one of  the co-moderators on the EVO Crafting the ePerfect eTextbook, Maria Jesus Garcia San Martin   has written an informative blog post with video tutorial to show you how it can be used. It is called First Steps on Smore.



 

The EVOlution of Jan!

The EVOlution of Jan! from Janet Bianchini

I am honoured and delighted to be invited by Dr Nellie Deutsch to present at the Bi-monthly webinar WiZiq sessions held by IATEFL YLT Sig.  I have created a brand new session for this meeting and will also present it at Connecting Online 2015 econference in February.

This talk is about how my life has been transformed by the TESOL Electronic Village Online yearly sessions that I have been attending regularly, since 2009.  It has been a transformational journey of liberating learning opportunities, exciting experiments with new tools, and  inspirational encounters with the wonderful groups of moderators, and participants from each of the sessions.

This special presentation is my personal and heartfelt ............

......... to everyone who has been involved with the sessions I have attended as a participant, and most recently for the past two years, as a member of the moderating team for the EVO Crafting the Perfect eTextbook session.

I aim to outline what I have personally learned from participating in these sessions and hopefully this will encourage more people to join and attend in future years.  The Electronic Village Online sessions are usually held for five weeks in January - February each year.  They are open to teachers from around the world and a huge variety of topics are discussed and explored.

I have recorded my thoughts and experiences on all the EVO sessions I have ever attended in this blog, and it constitutes a learner's diary, an evolving journey of exploration and enlightenment!  You can click on the EVO tags below the post, and you will be taken to my blog posts, and feedback on each of the sessions.

Webinar Update:
Thanks very much to all the attendees of my webinar (16).  I really enjoyed the session, and here is a screenshot from the webinar at the end.

A very special thanks goes to Dr Nellie Deutsch for being such a fabulous moderator, adding all the URLs and links as they came up, and for dealing with all the chatbox comments in such an expert manner. 

All my links have now been posted on a special wiki page I have created, called CO15 Links and Resources:  HERE.
 
Link to RECORDING: YLT Webinar: The EVOlution of Jan!The recording lasts just over one hour, so I do hope you will view it!

I tried to join in with the chat as much as possible, as this is a part of doing webinars which is so much fun - interacting with a live audience.  Sorry if I missed a few comments here and there!

Using Smore as a Flyer for EVO Crafting the ePerfect eTextbook Session

Registration for Electronic Village Online 2015 Sessions Now Open!!

I would like to share the message I received today, and to spread the word, as requested by Nina Liakos, from the EVO team.  I can honestly recommend that you join at least one of the 13 free sessions!

I have attended an EVO session every year since 2009, and each session was an awesome learning experience which helped to shape the teacher I am today!  Once again, for the second year, I am proud to be one of the moderators on the Crafting the ePerfect eTextbook, led by our inspiring main moderator and creator of the session, Shelly Terrell.

Hope to see you there :-)

Registration for EVO2015 begins today! To register, go to http:evosessions.pbworks.com.

Reminder to subscribers of the EVO Newsletter: Registration for this year's Electronic Village Online (free online professional development sessions for EFL and ESL teachers) begins January 5, 2015. The sessions themselves run from January 12 until February 15, 2015. Get more information about all thirteen sessions at http://evosessions.pbworks.com. If you are having trouble deciding on which session to register for, please join us at http://learningtimesevents.org/webheads/ (scroll down for instructions and technical requirements) for the EVO2015 kickoff webcast on January 11, 2015 at 14:00/2:00 p.m. GMT (your local time at bit.ly/1CaH6fq)! Session moderators will be on hand to introduce their sessions and take questions. Please share this announcement with your colleagues and personal learning networks, and thank you for helping us spread the word! Nina Liakos EVO2015 Coordinator

Copyright © 2015 Electronic Village Online, All rights reserved.

I will be doing a webinar on 25th January based specifically on my EVO experiences called 'The EVOlution of Jan'.  More details to come soon :-)

Spring Blog Festival

 

I would like to highlight an upcoming online event next weekend which may be of interest to my readers, especially those of you who are bloggers, or are interested in becoming bloggers.  

Below is an extract from the introduction to the session information page, and a link to this exciting event:

'The Spring Blog Festival (SBF) is 3-day blog festival showcasing bloggers, their work, and valuable tips for blogging for reflective practice or with students. This event takes place online on WizIQ, on March 14-16, 2014.  Highlights include: Why blog?, background to blogging, famous bloggers, getting started, and best practices and challenges involved in blogging.

Organizers

The conference organizers are Dr. Nellie Deutsch, Sylvia Guinan, and Shelly Sanchez Terrell 

I am sure it is going to be a very educational and enlightening event!