Developing self-access materials for hybrid classrooms | Webinar for teachers | Cambridge English

Summary

In this webinar, George Heritage and Victoria from Cambridge Assessment English discuss the development of self-access materials for language learners. They explore the benefits, key elements, and challenges in creating such resources, offering practical ideas to overcome potential issues. The session covers the importance of clear instructions, objectives, and assessment criteria, as well as strategies for integrating skills and providing differentiated learning experiences. The presenters also touch on the use of technology for feedback and assessment, highlighting tools like Write and Improve, Read and Improve, and various interactive platforms suitable for different learning contexts.

Takeaways

• 😀 The webinar focused on developing self-access materials for learners, highlighting their benefits, key elements for creation, and overcoming challenges.
• 🏆 Self-access materials are beneficial for reinforcing class content, supporting learner autonomy, and providing supplementary resources for various student needs.
• 🔑 Key elements for creating self-access materials include clear objectives, simple instructions, skill integration, and consideration for different learning strategies and types of learners.
• 🎯 Self-access materials should align with learning objectives and real-life skills, providing meaningful and manageable goals for students.
• 📚 The importance of clear and concise instructions was emphasized, especially in an online context where misunderstandings can be more common.
• 🤝 Differentiation is crucial, with materials needing to cater to various levels of learners and offer extension activities for stronger students.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Assessment and feedback are vital components of self-access materials, promoting student reflection and improvement.
• 🌐 Challenges in creating self-access materials include finding a balance between online and offline resources, ensuring accessibility, and managing time effectively.
• 🛠️ Tools and resources like Google Classroom, Padlet, and various assessment platforms can aid in the organization and delivery of self-access materials.
• 📈 The webinar suggested using structured activities and success criteria to guide students through self- and peer-assessment processes.
• 🔍 The importance of continuous experimentation and adaptation was noted, as the best self-access materials often come from iterative teaching and learning experiences.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the webinar?

The main topic of the webinar is developing self-access materials for learners in the context of English language education.

Who are the presenters of the webinar?

The presenters of the webinar are George Heritage and Victoria, both working at the Madrid office for Cambridge Assessment English.

What are some of the benefits of self-access material for students?

Self-access materials can help reinforce and consolidate class content, support learner autonomy, provide supplementary resources, offer differentiation, and increase flexibility in lessons.

When is self-access material particularly useful in a flipped classroom setting?

Self-access material is particularly useful in a flipped classroom setting as it allows students to review and reinforce material before class, engage with content at their own pace, and free up class time for more interactive activities.

What are some key elements to consider when creating self-access material?

Key elements to consider include clear objectives, accessibility, low or no cost, clear instructions, relevance to different types of learners, authenticity, and the need for differentiation.

How can self-access materials support project work and presentations during lessons?

Self-access materials can provide students with additional resources to prepare for project work and presentations, allowing them to practice and refine their skills outside of class time.

What is the importance of clear instructions in self-access materials?

Clear instructions are crucial as they enable students to use the materials effectively without needing additional support. They should anticipate potential difficulties and guide students through the learning process.

How can self-access materials promote learner autonomy?

Self-access materials promote learner autonomy by allowing students to decide when and how they want to engage with the material, making choices about their learning path and pace.

What is the role of assessment and feedback in self-access materials?

Assessment and feedback are essential for students to reflect on their learning, understand their progress, and identify areas for improvement. It also helps them become more familiar with assessment criteria, fostering independence in learning.

What are some challenges faced when creating self-access material?

Challenges include finding a balance between offline and online content, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity for all students, providing timely and effective feedback, and creating engaging and relevant materials that promote learner motivation.

What are some strategies to overcome the challenges of creating self-access material?

Strategies include using a combination of online and offline resources, designing materials that are inclusive and accessible, setting clear and achievable objectives, providing structured feedback mechanisms, and regularly checking in with students to address any issues they may encounter.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Self-Access Materials Webinar

The webinar begins with an introduction by George Heritage and Victoria, both from the Madrid office of Cambridge Assessment English. They outline the agenda, which includes discussing the benefits of self-access materials for learners, key elements for creating such materials, challenges faced, and solutions to overcome them. They also mention that a certificate of attendance and a handout with resources will be provided later in the session, and they engage the audience with questions about when self-access materials are useful in various teaching scenarios like flipped classrooms, homework, and exam preparation.

05:02

📚 Key Elements of Self-Access Material Creation

This paragraph delves into the important aspects to consider when creating self-access materials. It emphasizes the importance of aligning materials with learning objectives, providing clear instructions, considering different types of learners, and ensuring the material is accessible and low-cost. The speakers also stress the need for authenticity, relevance, and differentiation in the materials. They discuss the importance of integrating skills within the materials to make learning more natural and effective, as well as considering assessment and feedback mechanisms.

10:04

🎯 Clarity and Direction in Learning Objectives

The speakers discuss the significance of having clear and manageable learning objectives that are meaningful and connected to real-life skills. They explain how objectives should be integrated with the curriculum and align with assessment criteria to give learners a sense of direction and purpose. This approach helps learners understand their progress and take a more active role in their learning, which is crucial for fostering autonomy and agency in the learning process.

15:04

📝 The Importance of Clear Instructions

In this section, the focus is on the creation of clear and concise instructions for self-access materials. The speakers suggest using bullet points and numbers to outline the structure of activities and provide examples to guide students. They also discuss the importance of considering the students' age and level when writing instructions, and the need to offer a selection of ways to approach the material to cater to different learning strategies and promote a sense of agency among learners.

20:04

🔁 Stages of Self-Access Material Development

The paragraph outlines the different stages that should be considered when developing self-access materials. These stages include getting started with a checklist of materials needed, warming up to activate schemata, practicing the main focus of the activity, following up to reinforce learning, extending the activity for stronger students, and reflecting on the learning process. The speakers also discuss the importance of including criteria for self- and peer-assessment to foster independence and learning autonomy.

25:05

🔄 Repetitive Learning and Skills Integration

The speakers emphasize the need for repetition and spaced repetition in learning, especially for vocabulary acquisition. They suggest that encountering vocabulary multiple times in different contexts helps with retention. Additionally, they highlight the benefits of integrating different skills in learning activities to make the learning process more realistic and to improve memory retention. The paragraph also touches on the use of technology to facilitate varied and engaging learning experiences.

30:06

📉 Assessment and Challenges in Self-Access Learning

This section discusses the importance of assessment in the learning process, focusing on self-assessment, peer assessment, and formative assessment. The speakers argue that these forms of assessment are crucial for learners to become aware of their strengths and weaknesses and to guide their learning. They also acknowledge the challenges faced when creating self-access materials, such as creativity, time constraints, and the need to make materials engaging and relevant.

35:08

🛠 Solutions to Common Challenges in Self-Access Material Creation

The speakers offer solutions to the challenges of creating self-access materials. They suggest providing a combination of online and offline resources, considering potential technology-related issues, and offering a window for submission to promote autonomy. They also recommend using platforms like Google Classroom to keep all resources in one place and to make the learning process more manageable for students.

40:09

🤝 Fostering Peer and Self-Assessment

This paragraph focuses on integrating peer and self-assessment into the classroom. The speakers discuss the importance of using structured approaches like checklists and success criteria to guide students in evaluating their work and that of their peers. They also mention the use of Google Docs for collaborative writing and assessment, as well as the benefits of using technology to provide varied feedback methods like screencasts and Flipgrid for speaking activities.

45:10

📈 Write and Improve: A Tool for Writing Practice

The speakers introduce 'Write and Improve', a free online tool that helps students practice writing and receive instant feedback on their work. The tool allows students to identify and correct their own mistakes, fostering a sense of responsibility and encouraging drafting and revising skills. They also mention 'Read and Improve' and 'Speak and Improve' as additional resources, though they note that the latter is still in development.

50:12

🌐 Final Thoughts and Resources

In the final paragraph, the speakers wrap up the webinar by directing participants to useful websites and resources such as 'Supporting Every Teacher' and 'Your New English Classroom'. They highlight the variety of materials available, including lesson plans, activities, and assessment guides. They also provide a QR code for a handout with resources discussed during the presentation and encourage participants to explore the mentioned platforms for more material.

Keywords

💡Self-access materials

Self-access materials refer to educational resources that learners can use independently to study or practice at their own pace. In the context of the video, these materials are crucial for reinforcing classroom learning, promoting learner autonomy, and offering differentiated instruction. Examples from the script include using self-access materials for flipped classrooms, homework, and supplementary practice.

💡Flipped classroom

A flipped classroom is an instructional model where traditional teaching activities are reversed. Content is delivered outside of class, often through video lectures, and class time is used for interactive activities, discussions, and collaborative work. In the video, it's mentioned that self-access materials are particularly useful in a flipped classroom setting, allowing students to engage with content before class and participate in more in-depth activities during class.

💡Blended learning

Blended learning combines online digital media with traditional face-to-face classroom methods. The script discusses blended learning as a context where self-access materials are beneficial, as they can be used to supplement in-class instruction with digital resources that students can access outside of class.

💡Differentiation

Differentiation in education means adapting teaching methods and materials to meet the diverse learning needs of students. The video emphasizes the importance of designing self-access materials that offer different stages and activities to challenge stronger students and support those who may need more help, thus promoting an inclusive learning environment.

💡Learner autonomy

Learner autonomy is the ability of learners to take control of their own learning process. The video discusses how self-access materials can support learner autonomy by allowing students to decide when and how they engage with learning materials, thus empowering them to direct their own educational progress.

💡Assessment

Assessment in education is the process of evaluating student performance. The video mentions that assessment, particularly formative assessment, is a key aspect of using self-access materials. It helps students reflect on their learning and identify areas for improvement. Examples include self-assessment, peer assessment, and criteria-based assessment.

💡Instructions

Clear instructions are essential for guiding students through self-access materials. The video script highlights the need for instructions to be explicit, simple, and tailored to the students' age and level. This ensures that students can use the materials effectively without requiring additional support.

💡Skills integration

Skills integration refers to the practice of combining different language skills within educational activities. The video advocates for integrating skills in self-access materials to make learning more realistic and effective. For instance, reading strategies can be combined with vocabulary development to enhance overall language proficiency.

💡Feedback

Feedback is a critical component of the learning process, allowing students to understand their performance and areas for improvement. The video discusses various forms of feedback, such as peer feedback and teacher feedback, which can be facilitated through self-access materials and digital tools.

💡Formative assessment

Formative assessment is a continuous process used by teachers to monitor student progress and provide feedback to support learning. The video emphasizes the importance of formative assessment in conjunction with self-access materials, as it helps students to become more self-aware and autonomous in their learning.

💡Success criteria

Success criteria are the standards or levels of achievement that students are expected to meet. The video script mentions the use of success criteria in self-assessment and peer assessment, providing students with clear guidelines to evaluate their work and understand the expectations for each task.

💡Peer assessment

Peer assessment is a process where students evaluate the work of their classmates. The video discusses the benefits of peer assessment in fostering a deeper understanding of assessment criteria and promoting a collaborative learning environment. It also suggests that structured peer assessment can help students become more familiar with providing constructive feedback.

💡Write and Improve

Write and Improve is a digital tool mentioned in the video that helps students practice writing and receive instant feedback on their work. It is designed to highlight areas that need improvement, encouraging students to take responsibility for refining their writing, which aligns with the video's theme of promoting learner autonomy and self-assessment.

Highlights

Self-access materials can reinforce and consolidate classroom content, supporting learner autonomy.

Key elements in creating self-access materials include clear instructions, objectives, and differentiation for various learner needs.

Self-access materials should be designed with real-life skills in mind, providing meaningful learning experiences for students.

The importance of integrating multiple skills within self-access materials to simulate natural language use.

Assessment and feedback are crucial for learners to reflect on their progress and improve.

Learning objectives should be clear, manageable, and aligned with the curriculum for effective self-access learning.

Providing a variety of resources, both online and offline, can help accommodate different learning preferences and situations.

The use of success criteria and structured assessments can guide students in self- and peer-assessment.

Formative assessment practices can help students become more self-aware and autonomous in their learning.

Digital tools like Google Docs and Flipgrid can facilitate collaborative writing and speaking practice.

Write and Improve is a useful online tool for practicing and receiving feedback on writing skills.

Read and Improve offers personalized reading comprehension practice with instant feedback.

Speak and Improve is a developing tool for spoken language practice, though still in the research phase.

The website 'Your New English Classroom' provides a range of ready-to-use materials for different teaching scenarios.

Using QR codes can provide quick access to handouts and resources, enhancing the learning experience.

Supporting Every Teacher is a resource platform offering lesson plans and activities to motivate students.

The importance of considering the accessibility of materials for students with special needs.

The benefits of including a mix of old and new content in self-access materials to reinforce learning.

Transcripts

hello everybody um thank you all

for coming um to the latest webinar

in the global series and today and we'll

be talking about developing self-access

materials for your learners my name is

george heritage i work in the madrid

office for cambridge assessment english

and with me is my colleague hello my

name is victoria and i work with george

in the madrid office for cambridge

assessment english

so what we'll be looking at we're going

to start by looking at the

the benefits that self-access material

can bring to your students and to your

classes

then we will also have a look at some

key elements

that we need to take into account when

creating self-access material and we

will finish with some

challenges that we may experience and

also

try to give you some ideas to to solve

them

or to overcome them um and also sorry

just before we continue um a link to the

certificate of attendance will be

provided by our colleagues

towards the end of the session okay so

don't worry about that and we'll also be

providing a link to a handout with lots

of the

bits and pieces that we mentioned today

so i think we're going to start with a

couple of questions

looking at the advantage of the subset

access material

when do you use self-access

material and literally when is

self-access material

useful in the team

so when do you use self-access control

and when

is it useful

flipped classroom in the class flipped

classroom

it's useful all the time excellent that

is the right answer

um homework as well supplementing

school textbook part of the blended

approach definitely

at the end of the class all the time

for homework and practice no always saw

the same one at the same time

project work presentations

during lessons prepping for exams

that's what we like to hear

reinforcement activities great

promoting autonomy lovely

when we want

progress checks lovely

what did we come up with victoria

okay i think uh most of what we are

going to mention was already mentioned

by our participants in the

in the chat box so let's start maybe

with consolidation

self-access material and is a good

complement that can be used to reinforce

and consolidate

the content we have already covered in

class

um yeah i'm definitely to help support

learner autonomy

and it's always useful to have a sort of

supplementary bank of self-access

material

and so learners can decide when they

want to do it so perhaps the stronger

students or the

fast finishers can do this material

whilst perhaps the weaker students are

continuing um and then the weaker

students or the

less the um i don't know i hate saying

weaker victoria didn't you

and the students who need more support

and

can decide what is useful for them and

when

leads into differentiation and

so yeah if we design our resources

offering

um different stages and different

activities

for instance expansion activities and

extension activities sorry for stronger

students

they can feel more challenged and if the

other students um only do

the rest of the activities and they will

still cover the the basic material

the core content and i think for all of

these runs

you know greater flexibility you know

over the last nine months we will learn

to become

more flexible um in both ways we deliver

classes

and perhaps some of the content that

we're looking at but with a lot of

self-access material students should be

able to access

more stuff without much support which in

turn allows for

greater flexibility in your lessons um

because students will always have

something to do

and the resources can hopefully be

adapted to their learning

and to their and your needs so

if you want to give personal feedback

but want to keep the rest of the class

busy

you can send the rest off to have it go

some self-access materials

for example is that right victoria yes i

think it is useful

so that's the first section done on to

creating self-access material i think we

have another question

yeah we're going to start with another

question

what are the key aspects we

should and we need to consider when

we're creating

self-access material so what key aspects

should be taken into account

when we're creating students needs

excellent students

accessibility excellent low cost or no

cost clear instructions

objectives

different types of learners authenticity

excellent relevance

outcomes clear descriptions free

material

their adjectives variety

outputs primary language time

need for differentiation

your students different learning

strategies or approaches

assessment criteria excellent

multiple intelligences

some wonderful ideas okay again what

have we come up with tony

i think everything's been covered yes

yes um the first thing objective so

it's this is the really the starting

point of everything we do in class

and we need to connect it to the

learning objectives so we need to take

them into account

bear them in mind and to produce the

their material

and then watch instructions instructions

definitely they always need to be clear

um but i do think we've all learned a

lot again over the last nine months

moving to online where the importance of

clear simple instructions

i think has increased because you don't

have that sort of spontaneous

um that spontaneity that you often have

in a face-to-face class

we rapidly realized your instructions

were awful and everybody's doing the

opposite of what you're asking them to

do

we have to think about that more clearly

with self-access materials

and part of that as well i think with

today yeah

staging this has to do with instructions

and also with scaffolding so helping our

students

uh build up their their skills

um and skills skills integration

as far as possible um i think we very

rarely

um in our own languages focus on one

skill at a time we naturally use

a combination of all of our skills so i

think trying to integrate skills as far

as possible within self-access materials

makes the learning

more real um feel more natural

um and again feeding into this i think

yeah

it also um improves learning because

uh if we um receive input

orally and in read in writing we can um

the link in our memory is stronger so it

is going to to help us learn

better and of course you have to think

about assessment

and feedback and the interplay between

both of those

um you know these are both key for

students to reflect on what they've done

and how they're going to use it to then

further improve their learning

but you do have to think carefully about

how that assessment is going to be built

in or how you're going to be dealing

with feedback especially if you're

dealing with lots of different students

and i think we've all discovered lots of

great um

easy quick ways to deliver feedback and

assessment online again over the last

over the last while next slide vitoria

moving on we are going to talk a bit

more about learning objectives

and and we are going to start by saying

that of course they need to be cleaner

clear for our students

their their age their level so depending

on

on that um they will need a much

more or less support also george

they should as far as possible um always

be

sort of designed or they should go in

line with real life skills

the learning needs to be meaningful for

our students which i think makes it

um more successful but students need to

see a clear connection between

what they learn and what they actually

need to be able to communicate

in real life outside the classroom

and it is very important as well that it

is integrated with their curriculum

so we don't want to teach um content in

isolation there should be a logical

progression in the contents that they

are going to

to learn and lastly should be

manageable um short-term objectives

can often be much more motivating it's

much easier to see

one's own progression as a student and

as a teacher i think

and so i think this feeds into what

we're talking about earlier about

staging et cetera

chopping things down into manageable

chunks as far as possible especially if

it's more

self-access than things you're going to

be dealing with um

face-to-face or in class

oops sorry no this connects to what

we're

we're going to say next so um

having very clear objectives also gives

learners a sense of direction and

purpose because they know where they are

heading

and the reason why they are doing the

different activities they are doing

to get this objective which feeds into

giving them a sense of agencies they

have a better understanding of the

different elements of

learning how it builds up to the bigger

picture and they can then take a more

active role

in their learning and connecting this

learning

with assessment victoria yeah it kind of

connects uh closes the the circle so

um the learning objectives should be

aligned

or the assessment criteria the

assessment methods

should be aligned with the learning

objectives so that everything

makes sense in the learning process okay

so we're gonna have a look at some

examples now

i think these were taken from your new

english classroom

or a lot of the material that was

created over the summer um here we have

an extract from c1 advanced

um there's some plan focusing on the

writing and b1 preliminary

focusing on reading vocabulary

yeah um what's important about this

retweeting why is this on screen

well because it's a lesson summary and

that it's available

at the beginning of the of the worksheet

of the activity

and it shows um the different elements

that

students are going to or the different

contents that

students are going to work on during the

the

self-access material so in this case at

c1

we are going to help them work on

writing an

essay the different parts the different

stages of the writing process

and for b1 and we're going to make them

aware of the importance of the different

types of

reading of course at the right level and

also

and how to to work on vocabulary

exactly so if we move on to the c1 um

it's breaking everything down and making

it relevant especially at this level i

think to

how these are um how these relate to

real life skills so reviewing the format

and focus obviously getting used to

writing discursive essays

researching a topic online in english

for a useful

um skill in their further academic lives

and careers

making notes on useful ideas vocab to

help you write the essay

and strategies for planning writing and

reviewing

your written work um b1 victoria

yeah they're going to build their food

related vocabulary

also find out

[Laughter]

it's okay find out more uh and

find out more about the different

reading strategies

and types of reading then

also develop and practice reading skills

and also

reflect on the progress which we have

mentioned before that it's something

very important

lovely so moving on to instructions in a

bit more detail

tell us about instructions vitriol what

is important to bear in mind

when we are creating our instructions

yeah

if we are producing self-access material

and

without a doubt the instructions should

be clear enough

for students to follow them without

support

so we need to try and foresee um

all the potential problems and

difficulties as our students may have

and try to prepare um for them

so um i think you mentioned last tuesday

having a plan b

and which is always important what's up

zambia if zoom

fails to send the hand down and

instructions should always be written

obviously with your target audience in

mind but should be

adapted to an appropriate student's age

and

level which i don't think is i don't

think at all how do i say this

i don't think it's the younger they are

the more support they will need

the lower the the older they are the

less support i think it sort of goes in

a bit of an x

i find that lower level adults

often need more support than lower level

young people do you know what i mean

virtually do you think that's the case

i think i remember having i hadn't

thought about a2 adults sometimes he's a

lot more step by step whereas

a lot of our younger learners will just

sort of get on with it

um but always bear their age and

level in mind i think um give students

a selection of ways to deal with the

activity

or to approach the material which i

think was speaking about earlier about

differentiation

and giving your learners a sense of

agency

so if we offer a selection of ways

we and they can hopefully be better

prepared for potential problems

um that may arise and makes the material

in itself more flexible

and easier to use okay so

how do we put this into practice george

um well bullet points victoria's a big

fan of bullet points

uh make sure your instructions are

clearly laid out

using bullet points and numbers making

the structure

of the um of the activity clear

yes and also um trying

of course this depends on the on the

level and the students um

age but trying to keep instructions

short and simple so that students

have very clear what they really need to

do

and and if they need to refer back to it

that they know

where to to find it and i think as far

as possible always have an example of

what they need to do

um you'll be familiar with lots of our

exams do have examples

um all of our young learners exams i

think a lot of first in advance

preliminary and key after the last

revision some of the examples

were removed so if you are preparing

students for those exams make sure they

do

have a bit of practice beforehand but i

think an example wherever possible where

the space where there's space for

example

it's always good to um to to show them

what they need to do because again like

i said before

sometimes when you you're in class and

you've given instructions you realize

two minutes later that they were awful

and everybody's doing the opposite of

what you asked them to

so even more important with self-access

material make it clear what

what what their objectives and what what

what they are being asked

to do anything else

before we move on no staging staging

so

they need to be they need to be clear

they should guide their

and there's the student in their

learning so of course we

we need to make them as as clear and

easy to follow as

as possible should be manageable

be realistic they shouldn't be too

overwhelming

um especially for self-access i think

because you know once you feel

overwhelmed it's quite easy to give up

and should always as far as possible

show a logical

progression um from less to more

challenging

normally i would say that's how at least

how our exams are designed

and they get from easier to more

difficult as you go through the parts we

have a lot of

we have a lot of data to show that um if

an easier

activity follows a more difficult one

students kansas performance is affected

on the easier one because they've done a

more difficult activity beforehand so

bear that in mind i think it's fine to

have

um sort of activities in parallel to

stretch the

stronger students but the core material

should probably get

slightly more challenging as you go

through

george has i've just seen a question in

the chat box of

asking about um whether we should

include

time like a time reference and for

students to

to have these um in mind

i mean i think it depends on your

students really doesn't it um

if if you're creating material for a

very

well for a large number of students with

a big range of abilities

it might not be so appropriate if you

know that some students are going to

take

a lot longer than others so you don't

want to discourage people

but yeah i mean for for things like

especially exam specific reading yeah

i would say especially at high levels if

you're if you're

focusing on skimming or scanning

for example give them a time limit so a

very long text give them a short time

limit

so they don't spend you know 15 minutes

reading the whole text reading the

questions reading the whole text

depends very much on the focus of the

activity i think um

writing if you're getting close to an

exam if you're preparing for exam

maybe you know ask them to time

themselves

uh play around with a realistic sort of

time limit

so that they are you know getting used

to to um

to producing text within a fixed amount

of time it all depends i think on the

on the focus the activity do you agree

with yes i

i totally agree with you it just depends

on the focus of the activity

i would say yes and no it depends so so

it's not very useful answer but i hope

we were clear as to our reasoning behind

that so remaining on

stages what stages can you all

think of when putting together

self-access materials

what stages um should you try and

include

um maybe while we wait for some answers

free reading

there you go we already got one

brainstorming concentrate victoria

whilst we're

waiting for some answers what no there

was another question in the chat box

about the type of interaction

uh that we can allow for in the when

using self-access material so

um if we are using self-access material

in class and we think that

uh maybe students need a bit more

support

maybe um they can they can work in pairs

what do you think

oh yeah and i mean it depends on your

context as well but i mean if you're

doing things online perhaps they could

go off and work together in groups

online i think again it depends very

much on

on them on the face of the activity and

we've got lots of great ideas in here

on stages post reading pre during post

task vocab

working together peer instruction

scaffolding excellent i think

scaffolding probably runs throughout

throughout the the activities again

depending

um demonstration warm-up activities peer

correction

a forum to discuss lovely nice

scaffolding again yeah if you've seen me

and victoria giving presentations you

know we're big fans of scaffolding

feedback feedback motivation

modeling nice

analysis design development

implementation evaluation well alex has

covered pretty much everything

and yeah lovely what did we come up with

okay we we thought about these uh

possible stages so

get started um this is mainly

uh or maybe even more important with

uh with the hybrid situation if some of

your students are

are learning online so it is nice to

tell them what what type of material or

what material they will need so if they

will need headphones or a microphone or

if they

if they need paper so anything that is

relevant for them and useful maybe it's

a good idea to include it at the

beginning so that they are

prepared yep no like a little checklist

would work

tidally and the warm-up stage which a

lot of people mentioned

get them in the mood activate their

schemata try and get them motivated

and then moving on to practice so the

the focus of the activity obviously

again it depends on you know what the

material is

is on but um the sort of core

the the core practice or maybe input and

practice

depending again on the activity

also a follow-up which can be an

activity to consolidate and reinforce

the the main content

of the previous activity or it can be

used

um to build on the on the content

integrating different skills

so speaking into writing or listening

into speaking so

different options here for your

follow-up activity

yep um and then alongside or after the

follow-up a sort of

extension or aiming high activity again

for our

fast finishers or our stronger students

and

try and give them give them something to

push themselves a little bit further

and i think in all activities and

materials

and um

[Music]

yeah activities and materials sorry

we should always have this final stage

victoria

reflect yeah so we should we will talk

about this in a minute

but uh some kind of reflection

self-assessment some sort of assessment

is nice to be it's nice to have

and it should be when possible should be

made

um a routine in our lessons

i like overly saying criteria definitely

obviously it depends on the focus

but for speaking activities for writing

activities

definitely include some criteria and

victoria and i have done quite a few

presentations looking at

what we like to call success criteria

which i think do we have any in here

between

we do which is uh writing

appropriate criteria for students to be

using

and we'll look at that in a bit more

detail later but yes definitely

um multi-mode input

victoria we spoke about this before

using a mixture of written

um or video or audio but beyond that

it's like seeing perhaps on vocabulary

at this point yes

um sometimes when we think that about

learning vocabulary and

do we learn the vocabulary that we have

covered in one lesson

and probably we need some repetition we

need to

um come across and this vocabulary uh

several

times before it sticks and so

um we we need to try to produce

meaningful encounters so

students find um the the opportunity

to to use this vocabulary in context and

that this

context is also relevant for them and we

should try to

include spaced repetition so

probably the idea is not to repeat the

same vocabulary for

one week and then forget about it but

try to

to include it again in our lessons from

time to time

and this uh leads to the balance between

new and old content in our lessons

and it is a good idea to include some

old content at the beginning to for

reinforcement for consolidation

and then link these two to some new

content here

and george and lastly yeah a combination

of different types of input different

types of practice i've got people saying

we need criteria for the answers yes it

depends

on the focus of the self-access

self-assessment but something like word

wool which is up here

what else can we use quizlet quizzes

mintermeter or mintimeter um

flippity lots of great ways to

um create a lot of material very easily

i did some makes i did put together some

exercises on world war the other day

i think it took um i think it took

me about two minutes to do one vocab

activity and they were instantly

it was available in what 15 different

different

styles or versions yes and

that's different dojo has just said yep

there's loads of stuff

that's the advantage right because if we

uh present the

the input in different ways students

will not have the

the impression that they are just

repeating exactly the same content

and it is it is more motivating for them

yeah caitlin as just said she's a big

fan of padlet we are enormous fans of

padlet as well

um you can use pattern lots of different

ways something like

word wall flippity you do have fixed

templates that you then use

padlet i think you can do pretty much

whatever you want on padlet

and i think pad it's a really nice place

what victoria was talking about

the balance between old and new if you

have a new padlet every week or

or an ongoing padlet perhaps a vocab or

content that you've that you've covered

so there's a nice record somewhere

and you can use it to refer back and do

that sort of incremental

um building on material that was talking

about

we read something a while ago about uh

we weren't

quite sure about this um but yeah i

would say

probably if we could forget a lot of the

vocab that we learn in 24 hours unless

we use it unless we have meaningful

encounters with it

but this um said what does it

say a minimum the students have to

encounter like a minimum of six times

and a maximum of seventeen times or

sixteen times

once they've seen it seventeen times

they will forget it not quite sure

how they came up with that conclusion uh

but

building and refreshing and building and

refreshing

um i think is is key

especially with vocabulary um

skills integration victoria yeah

um whenever we integrate different

skills in our

lessons in our material we are making

the learning process more realistic

because um as you said you said before

george we never use or we rarely use um

skills in isolation in real life so

it is nice to to bring that to our

classroom

virginia six encounters is insufficient

to know

a word exactly it all depends on the

level of acquisition

and part of the level of our learners as

well um

sorry um skills integration improving

learning yes it definitely does improve

learning

and i think if input comes in different

forms we do help

remember it better if we've seen it

written if we hear it if we then use it

obviously

and so integrating skills as far as

possible within our

within the materials that we're asking

our students to use will help with that

and it's also really useful for

brainstorming

yes and here we can see an example we we

can use

speaking to discuss information to make

students

um or to try to motivate our students

and also help them activate their their

vocabulary

and schemata and then reading is

very useful for research and so if we

if we want our students to have some

background information

they can read about the the topic of the

lesson

and get some ideas that they can later

and

use for the different activities and

going back to the circle skills

integration sort of completes

learning what do you mean by that

virtually

yeah that if we if we find a word in

in writing then we will learn how to

spell it we learn to recognize it in

writing

then we we see it in a in a context and

then

if we come across this wording

orally listening then we also learn to

recognize the

the pronunciation and probably the

context in which we

hear it is different so then we are

better prepared to produce it

in writing or orally and we also um have

a better understanding of how to use it

excellent so assessment

our favorite is assessment always

necessary everyone yes or no

christopher says no

yes yes our first answer was no lots of

yeses

sure i would say yes everybody's saying

yes and it's going to

assessment yes evaluation no

i wonder who said that was it kind of

min

i can't see

summative and formative assessment is

but feed feedback

definitely formative oh excellent

excellent

so um we would say yes

but what do we mean by assessment um

you'll notice here we

have not mentioned a summative

assessment for which you know

we are famous with bts etc but don't

worry we're moving as quickly as

possible towards a much more

formative approach to assessment which i

think technology is more and more

allowing us

and if we look at these three areas

self-assessment petroleum

and peer assessment yes uh

some sort of of assessment is always

relevant self-assessment

peer assessments are going to make

students aware of

their abilities their their weaknesses

what they need to improve um and

it is going to also make them

more familiar with their assessment

criteria so that they have the tools

to guide their learning so this is

again um going to be fostering um

independence and learning autonomy and

hopefully the self and peer assessment

can then once it does become more

routine and part of their normal

um sort of learning routines it will

complement

the kind of formative and ongoing

assessment the teachers can provide

um so yes we think that assessment is an

essential part of learning

but in various forms and yes obviously

there's also a place for

for summative assessment and it's very

nice to have have a

a standard or a benchmark to work

towards but everything

moving towards that um needs support and

formative assessment from

from you as teachers and hopefully the

higher their level becomes the more

self-aware they become as learners as

well

i just read a comment in the chat box

saying that pure assessment is

dangerous so yeah it can be

dangerous especially if it's just thrown

in you do need sometimes a bit of a

culture change

and we know there are certain students

especially certain ages who

um can be quite cruel sometimes

but it does take a while to set up

and to make part of normal learning and

class time but once once it is

um once it is integrated as something

normal and routine

i think it's incredibly uh incredibly

useful

we're going to look at some ideas to

to make these peer assessment a bit more

structured that

could help with with this lovely so

challenging challenges

[Music]

what challenges do you face when

creating self-access material

oh anastasia what should we do students

always assess each other not critically

but

say good or excellent give them criteria

give them a framework to use and again

we'll look at this in a bit more detail

i think so what creativity

time time was a big answer on tuesday

yeah material as well finally

the right material yeah

vocabulary it's it's overwhelming

inspiration making engaging material

lack of familiarity with digital tools

[Music]

differentiated instructions

making it relevant from rudy

attractive making communicative

yes especially whilst all of our

students are at home on their own

promoting autonomy making it motivating

time consuming a lot of a lot of

experimentation required

yeah bro i think a lot of teaching is

you know

quite experimentalist and especially

some of the best teaching

and we learn what works well what

doesn't work well and that will always

vary with with

different students as well i think

okay victoria

okay we we came up with with these ideas

so um now with the

current situation maybe it is difficult

to to find a balance between

offline and online content

so we will talk about that also

accessing the the resources i remember

and when i when i said homework and my

students came back to me saying

i couldn't find the the video or i

couldn't access

it but then

the internet the internet was very young

when you were teaching wasn't it

um learners asian level creating content

that's suitable

um both for age and level especially if

you're teaching

if you have quite a variety of students

and it is difficult

it's it's time consuming yes virginia

the dog ate my homework

that old classic um

and again the assessment and the

feedback how do you assess the work how

do you provide the right feedback

um without it taking over your

your whole life um it can also be you

know very very time consuming

so online versus offline and access

victoria yeah and

when possible whenever possible we we

need to allow for a combination of

online and offline resources so

um offering links to videos and articles

but also supplementing it with some and

offline materials so

texts you can provide them with directly

or videos that you have downloaded

beforehand so

that there is no so much um reliance

on online material

yeah and jocelyn's made a very good

point about

being as inclusive as possible if you

have candidates

with um with impaired sight or impaired

hearing got to factor that in

we do factor that into our exams we have

exams available for well we have a huge

range of

exams material available for for

candidates or special requirements but

you also have to factor that in um be

very aware of the situation of your

students in your class

um oh sorry

also yeah sorry sorry no you continue

i just wanted to pick up on that and

yeah

also making sure that your students have

some time

off screen so um

for young learners including some

coloring or matching activities that

they can do

on paper so they don't have to be on the

screen all that on screen all the time

also um graded books are an excellent

resource we we shouldn't forget about

them

and it is easy for for all students

to to use them they don't need online um

support for that and then maybe writing

but not typing in the computer but

writing

by hand oh victoria

do you still write a lot by hand

victorian

i always have a notebook with my watch

for the day

so i like it

it's been so long since i've been

working in an office with you i've

forgotten um

consider potential technology related

problems

like you know the cyber dog a my

homework uh

when you're setting the deadline for

submission and

allow them allow for plenty of time and

check in regularly to see how students

are doing

and give you an update on any problems

they might be having the activities

another idea might be to allow for a

window and you can hand it in between

this date and this date which gives them

a bit more

gives them a bit more responsibility and

helps them manage their workload design

when they can submit the work

um a one week minimum

including a weekend you've got to think

about whether a weekend's included

or not um anything else to add there

virtually

no i think that the idea of the window

to promote

learning autonomy is also is is very

important

and um i used to do that with my

students when i gave them

writing for homework so try to give them

plenty plenty of time and allow for the

different stages in the

in the writing process so that they felt

comfortable with the

with the final product of the of the

writing

excellent um

[Music]

although this contradicts us saying

having a plan b trying as far as

possible to make sure the resources

are all available in one or a couple of

places

and padlet's a really nice way to direct

students off into different areas but at

least as much the material should be

as accessible as possible in one place

things like google classrooms are

wonderful for this

um we all know that having too many

windows open or

too many different photocopies makes

activities more difficult

and students can get lost more easily

and so

try as far as possible to condense your

resources into

into one or a couple of places

it's another tip yeah this is an idea

and this can be adapted to

our students age and well mainly age

so for example here with google

classroom um

you can have different uh resources but

everything is is there for students to

see they have the instructions they have

the two pictures that they need to

describe

and also they have the success criteria

there and for them to

to offer a peer assessment so everything

is there and

it's easier for them to to find

everything they need

and these can also be adapted for the

younger ones and this is on padlet

so you can see that these are the

different stages of the activity

all is there so we start with some um

warm up and description um describe

a picture and ask some questions

then once they have activated the

vocabulary and

became become a bit more interested in

the in the topic they are ready to

to watch the video and then

we are sending them to to kahoot we are

going to use

kahoot but the link is there for them to

just click

and go there so they don't need to find

it anywhere else

and then the last part of the activity

which is um

telling story we are providing them with

a different screenshot

to guide their storytelling so that

makes it

easier for them to to follow the

different stages of the activity

thank you victoria um oh

here it is the success criteria and try

to allow

for a range of assessment and feedback

options as possible so

we looked at cahoots and world war we've

spoken about kahoot and world war

really good for vocabs for fixed answer

activities

for something like writing or speaking

allow for a range of feedback options

for self-assessment

and peer assessment um a structured

activity like this one is really nice

and so students can understand and use

it without any problems

um if it's the first time um

you're using it allow allow for time

in class the students to look over the

success criteria beforehand

see if they have any questions or any

doubts about it

and then maybe reflect on the assessment

process

talk about the problems and difficulties

they've experienced after they've

had to go using it okay this is based

very explicitly

on our a2 key

assessment criteria but it is written

down to level

all of our assessment criteria has been

written for

qualified examiners who understand the

language but what's really important is

writing it down to level and making it

make it accessible and understandable

and clear for your students and it's a

really nice way to support

or start building peer assessment

into the class alongside alongside

self-assessment

anything else there victoria yes um

well uh we we've seen that um checklists

or success criteria

are um a more structured

approach to self-assessment and peer

assessment

another alternative a bit more flexible

in this case is using google docs

um to to encourage our students to to

practice and collaborative writing so um

with these they can suggest um ideas

and find mistakes and suggest

improvements also add for example

examples so um it is a

more flexible flexible option for

students who are more familiar with the

self-assessment and peer assessment

option

and also who have maybe um a bit of a

higher level

to to make the most of these two and

whenever we are

trying to encourage students do you want

to go back a slide yeah sorry yes

wherever we're trying to to build peer

and self

in what's really important here we have

these questions a yes

and a note but then comments or examples

and this is how all of our examiners

mark writing

and speaking you can find sample scripts

in all of our handbooks for each level

so a2 key

b1 preliminary um the teacher's

handbooks you have a selection of

different scripts

at different levels and you have the

examiner's

comments and the way that they mark

there and they always quote the criteria

give an example quote the criteria give

an example exactly the same

with our free speaking exam videos on

youtube

when you can download the examiner's

comments they quote the criteria and

give an example and getting students

really used to this

um will help them a lot i think help

them become more aware of their own

strengths and weaknesses

um and and improve their improve their

learning

because they see a clear connection

right between

their performance and the the assessment

criteria the way that

it has been assessed so it's not

because sometimes when we give a mark or

it's too general so sometimes we need

more specific

uh feedback to if we want to to foster

learning

so i think this connection between

examples

and assessment criteria is is crucial

for students excellent

and if we move on a couple so yeah

google docs another really nice way for

you to give feedback

um is screencast or screencast-o-matic

um where you can

record your screen and your microphone

at the same time so as you

read or well as you read your students

um writing for example you can record

feedback for them that's really nice to

again

vary the input of the feedback that

they're giving and so you can just talk

talk through the feedback on an essay is

a really nice tidy way to

um to deliver feedback and

flipgrid we've spoken to teachers using

flipgrid to deliver like their whole

lessons

here um i think we were doing a practice

for a

for speaking wasn't it yes right

super easy to use for the grid and it's

very

sort of younger learner friendly

again you have to check with your school

and with parents

uh but you know from nine ten year olds

to 15 16 years i think this would be

great

they can record a video it comes

straight to you

and then you have various options for

feedback here i think the built-in ones

on this where

you give them a mark for ideas for

performance and write a few comments

students love it um and

it's it's it's a different way to to

especially for speaking

um and it does also have the advantage

of uh students being able to

record themselves and if they're not

happy with it try it again

which um which doesn't happen in class

especially surrounded by by um

by classmates so uh check flip good out

it's uh it's very cool very useful

anything else victoria before we uh

finish

oh yeah our favorite other types of

assessment

write and improve um can you talk us

through write and improve victoria

yes uh write an improve is um it's a

website

and that is available um to practice

writing students have different types

of tasks for different levels they can

choose the task they would like to

to do and then they can type in their

answers they can also copy and paste

they can check and they get instant

feedback

in terms of level of the cfr but

also um at word phrase

and sentence level very important

and they get um guidance

okay so it's not that they we're going

to correct the mistakes for them

we're just going to point out that there

is something that is not working well

and it is their responsibility to make

the

piece of writing better to improve it

following our

um the aspects that have been pointed

out

and then they can resubmit their piece

of writing

and see how they are making progress see

how they've improved and yes

it is free there is an additional um

an additional uh

functionality that that is paid for but

um

in terms of what we're showing you here

where write and improve is completely

free

and it's a great great tool as victoria

said it's not a spell check

it's not a grammar chair it's not

grammarly it directs students towards

where the problems are and give personal

responsibility in their hand

i think it really helps them and build

on

drafting and revisiting writing which i

think is a really important academic

skill

for their future as well um we also have

read and

improve which at the moment is still

very much in development

um but

you go to reason improve it is still a

research project i

say go to read improve you choose the

level you're aiming for and it harvests

the internet for

articles that it feels are at level it

presents the article to read

you can hover over most of the words

that will give you uh

cambridge uh dictionary definition and

the artificial intelligence will guess

what um what

part of speech it is which is normally i

was very close to being

um correct um but what's really cool is

at the bottom of each article is a

little box

where they can write a summary of the

article they've written then it gives

them a mark on their

um on their relevance and

their and their writing very similarly

to write and improve

um so it's a very cool it's the

development i just saw somebody saying

in the chat box that

speak and improve as well it's not not

as good as write and improve and no

it's not at the moment again it's also a

research project

and it needs lots more data is

constantly learning five years ago

write and improve wasn't really very

good but now it's amazing

because it needs more and more and more

data so have a play with speak and

improve as well

don't trust the results on speaking

improve at the moment would be my advice

i don't know if i'm allowed to say that

it's still it's everything developing

okay

it needs it needs the practice um it

will be

amazing but it still needs some practice

at the moment

um so check that out as well write and

improve speak and improve read and

improve

i think the certificate link should be

coming now

as we're approaching the end and

oh young learners sorry victoria sorry

there is an option as well for the

younger for our younger learners

on our website there is a section

learning english and there there is a

section especially for young learners

and you can find activities like this

one

where students um is like a game it's a

it's a very fun

activity and students can practice the

different skills

listening mainly reading and some

writing and they are going to get

instant feedback you can see that the

feedback is motivating with the monkey

climbing

um the tree and

they are also going to be able to

to listen to the pronunciation of some

words so

very easy to use very straightforward so

they won't need

um very much uh parent supports them

hopefully it's a really nice screenshot

that you've taken there victoria

hopefully will mainly say correct and

well done

very encouraging

um okay so to finish off um other useful

websites and resources

and we have supporting every teacher

which has been live since what march

april what can we find on that

we can find a lot of resources and

lesson plans activities

and ideas also to

to motivate our students um

so quite a lot of material and a

very organized so it is easy to find it

and the other section

which is even more recent it was

launched at the beginning of september

and it's your new english classroom

there you can see the different sections

um available for you and

please check it out because again lesson

plans

activities and ready to go self-access

material

and all designed over the summer bearing

in mind social distancing

face to face online hybrid and there's a

lot of good

and fresh stuff there for you to access

anything else victoria or is that it

yes and we also have the qr code for the

handout

with all the um useful resources

hopefully useful resources

and we have um talked about during their

presentation

so yeah get that qr code with your

phones now and i think we should be able

to send a link

as well in the chat box

any questions before we finish off

oh my screen's gone mad hmm

you see any questions for tony i

yeah christopher when when we think of

assassin we mean

all assessment

oh download your hand out here there you

go and the certificate should

well it already has popped up i think um

there is a question uh for us um to

to give more information about your new

english classroom

um it is a section on our website

um there is like a path with a different

um let me see if i can get yeah i'm

gonna see if i can get the link

you just need to go go and and and and

explore it really

it's got lots of material on it's got a

blog

resources again as i said developed over

the summer

um so lesson plans for face-to-face four

online for hybrid

activities bearing social distancing in

mind assessment guides as well

very useful assessment guides i strongly

recommend yeah assessment guides to

writing

really useful

which platform do i prefer for writing

assessment write and improve

because then you don't have to market

or you can focus on the things that the

technology

cannot do like communicative achievement

um organization to a certain degree

especially at higher levels

yeah there was another question about

brainstorming and

activating students previous knowledge

and yes i think george we can agree with

that

right that brainstorming is very useful

definitely to get

um motivating smarter background

knowledge

get them more engaged more motivated

okay well thank you all very much lovely

to see so many of you

um and we'll probably see you again next

year if they

if they invite us back to speak nice

thank you i'm glad it was useful um

have a lovely end of the year and we'll

see you soon

okay thank you thank you thank you very

much bye

bye