TESL Ontario’s Magazine for Language Teachers
Best practices for online or blended teaching
Background of the project
The delivery of instruction through an online platform is becoming more popular every year. While students are taking advantage of the convenience provided by online instruction, their teachers are grappling with how to engage students and approximate more closely the ambiance of a traditional classroom, which is still the most familiar…
Teaching the pronunciation of vowels on Zoom
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted many previously in-person ESL classes to online learning. Many of these online classes are taught synchronously using video conferencing software such as Zoom. The exclusive focus in this article is on teaching ESL classes using Zoom, since that is the software that the author uses to teach with and…
Benefits and challenges of a hybrid flexible EAP Program
Introduction
The COVID-19 Pandemic caused changes in modes of instructional delivery in Canadian colleges and universities when many moved to fully remote classes in March 2020. Then, in September 2021, as a part of the Return to Campus Plan at the University of Guelph, the English Language Programs (ELP) pivoted to a program that combined in-person…
Inclusive online course design: Lessons from a pandemic
Abstract
Curriculum developers for the ESL Foundation Program at the Real Institute at Ryerson University adapted programming for in-person learning to virtual formats in response to COVID-19. An important consideration when developing the online program was the establishment of an inclusive online environment. Curriculum developers responded to challenges and fostered inclusivity through UDL, flexibility, digital tools,…
Learning technology in LINC – Beyond the pandemic
Abstract
This article is based on observations from a workshop conducted at the 2021 annual TESL Ontario conference presented by language training professionals and experts in learning technology solutions from the Avenue–LearnIT2teach Project. The onset of COVID-19 in March 2020 was a crisis in immigrant settlement language training. Many teachers and learners were forced to rapidly…
