Effective Strategies for Distance Learning in ELT

Distance Learning for ELT

2. Distance Learning OWhat is it? OWhat do we aim at? OHow can it be done? OWhat material should we use? OWhere should we focus? OHow could we help?

3. What is it? O It is a way to teach/learn remotely as opposed to face to face with a teacher and learners in the classroom O Distance learning does not mean there is lack of interaction between students and learners. The interaction is online rather than face to face O In our case, distance learning can be supplementary to the work in the conventional classroom O The basic tool is the Internet and a number of platforms/applications that can help us create our material

4. What do we aim at? O Keep contact with the students O Cognitive enhancement O Personalized learning O Exchange of ideas O Feedback O Revision opportunities O Fun activities O Creativity O Keeping students busy

5a. How do we do it? O Students are engaged with learning materials at home O We can download material which is ready made (from the digital school platform and relevant to what we have been doing in class so far), modify it according to learners needs or create our own, based on the learners level O We then upload the material on the relevant file of the lesson we have created, preferably on e- class, or other platforms/means we may need to use at the moment, to communicate with the students

5b. How do we do it? O Organize the lessons based on short projects and contextualized thematic areas preferably (especially for Junior High or Senior High learners) O whereas for primary level students you could focus on short stories/games/texts etc. or grammar and vocabulary tasks (preferably contextualized) O Remember to post frequent announcements to inform learners of what you have prepared for them O It might work better if you allocated more time to asynchronous and less to synchronous work if this might be the case (Upload material, let students work on it and have some meetings to discuss questions or clarify vague points)

6. What material can we use? You can ask students to: O Do short projects based on some research, if possible O Watch a video and write a summary/main ideas O Read a text and answer questions O Do revision grammar/vocabulary exercises O Do writing production activities for different types of texts O Discuss about their feelings or ideas on their favorite topic O Read a short story and give another ending or talk about the ideas and the messages in it O Create their own short stories O And any other activity you feel is appropriate, you wish to try, or used to do in the classroom, if possible O IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE LEVEL OF THE LEARNERS AND THEIR PARTICULAR NEEDS WHICH ONLY THE CLASS TEACHER KNOWS!!

7. Useful links for material and tools O http://photodentro.edu.gr/aggregator/ O http://rcel.enl.uoa.gr/peap/ O https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/ O https://global.cbeebies.com/ O https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mIZy1S9sVI O https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/ O https://www.kids-world-travel-guide.com/ O https://zoom.us/ O https://www.skype.com/en/ O https://padlet.com/ O https://classroom.google.com/ O https://hangouts.google.com/

8. Where should we focus? O Simplify the material O Give plenty of easy examples O Provide mixed ability tasks O Don t expect a lot participation matters most O Remember to focus on revision. We don t aim at new knowledge at this point O Justify your materials decisions explain why you are uploading this or that. BE CONCISE WITH CLEAR GUIDELINES AND INSTRUCTIONS O Provide short tasks and not demanding always based on learners level and needs O Provide an overview and a rationale for the planned activities O Provide feedback if possible O Be inventive!

9. How can we help students? O Be available O Be supportive O Be understanding O Be explanatory O Be patient O Be encouraging O Be prepared to respond to needs O Be consistent with your role and ask learners to do the same O Be YOURSELF!!