I’ve just realised something. After working through a lesson in the blended learning program, I was doing (some of) this over the last year of my teaching. Integrating supporting work to be done at home before the workshop, to prepare the students. Instead of them walking in, having a large chunk of the session taken up in a demonstration.
To me it just seemed logical to do this. Let them take control over their learning and become more engaged in the practical. Some of my colleagues were concerned they would not do this and would result in them not preparing for the session and thus not learning, therefore not meeting the learning objectives. Yes this happened to an extent in the first session as they thought we would show them how to do the examination (they were informed beforehand they would not). So by then sticking to my guns and having the students start the session with a short brief then heading straight into groups to do the examination, meant they didn’t get off to the best start, they had support materials and the videos in there pods to watch again and follow along.
By the end of the session there was a fantastic buzz in the room, the students were talking through the examinations with each other, guiding, the more confident students showing the less what to do. It felt like true peer learning.
The next session that was run, the majority of students turned up prepared. They had engaged with the pre-work, and understood what to do. They still had the same supporting material but the electricity that was in the e air at the end of the previous session was there at the start. Students were truly enjoying their educational experience.
This realisation helps me think that actually “I’ve got this, I can do this job” that feeling of why on earth did they pick me to teach these people, when will they realise they made a mistake and I’m in fact just an impostor, starts to diminish (a little bit).
I’m in Week 1 of Blended Learning Essentials. My first aha moment has been to realise just how much blended learning I already have experience of. I’ve worked in IT for over 20 years, so it should have been obvious to me how pervasive technology has become in our learning experiences over the last few years. Some recent BL examples from my learning journey are prework and post-course discussion in our Microsoft Teams collaboration platform, an online MOOC I am taking in Coaching Habits, various online courses to certify in required skills for my job at Microsoft and an excellent Business Acumen course in took on LinkedIn. One of the things I really love about this type of learning is that you can go at your own pace, which is difficult to achieve in traditional classroom based, teacher led learning
Cintia, 33, is an English Teacher from Argentina. Here she shares more about her passion for teaching, why she quit and re-joined the profession and how FutureLearn has given her the skills and tools to grow.
“I have been teaching English as a foreign language for over 11 years. Teaching is really one of my passions, but some time ago I started to feel tired, and maybe a bit bored. It was always pretty much the same, wherever I worked, I was starting to lose the feeling of challenge I used to enjoy so much. In 2014 I decided to stop teaching, I worked for about 3 months as a Seasonal Youth Counselor on board a cruise, I loved travelling, but I was not using all the knowledge I had gained after so many years of teacher training. So I came back to Argentina and started teaching again. I taught at bilingual schools, companies and language schools most of the times, but I definitely needed something different.
In my search for new things, I started to study to be a secretary, I loved the training, but it was not something I wanted to do for a living. In one of the courses, the teacher talked about Community Management, and she suggested that we should have a go at it because it would be very useful for us to expand our job possibilities. I found out what it was about, I liked it and in 2016 I took part in a course. This led me to think about delivering online lessons, so I started to do some research on that matter. It was at that moment that I came across FutureLearn.
In my search for a change, I decided that if I wanted something new, perhaps I needed new skills. I started to surf the Internet for some courses and FutureLearn appeared with all its options. One of them was Teaching for Success: The Classroom and the World, delivered by the British Council. I read what the course was about and joined it. It looked interesting and it was for free (I couldn’t believe it!). I was fascinated by the quality of the course, the engagement other students showed, the teachers’ responses and the material provided. The course opened my eyes as regards to students’ needs nowadays, and I felt there was so much to improve and include in my teaching practice.
From that moment on, I’ve been having a look at FutureLearn courses whenever I can. Other courses I took were Blended Learning Essentials: Getting Started (I have already joined the second part, Embedding Practice), Teaching Literacy Through Film and English in Early Childhood. The good thing about FutureLearn is that you can take the courses at your own pace, wherever you are, and it’s so easy to read and participate. I am really curious and love learning, so having access to the courses at any moment was really important for me.
These experiences motivated me to take other online courses and now I am thinking of my own online project, that’s why I keep on training and I am taking part in other courses. During the year it was a bit difficult because I want to enjoy the courses and I didn’t have that much time. I have recently joined the Starting a Business series in order to plan my business and have already joined other teaching courses which start in January and February. I’m really anxious to start because I know I’ll learn a lot more.
Apart from being an enjoyable learning experience, FutureLearn gives me tools to grow. I was feeling stuck, I felt I was always going to be a teacher inside a classroom and couldn’t bear to see me doing the same thing all my life. Now I have found a twist and being my own boss is a great challenge that will take time, might be hard, but my love for teaching is still here, renewed, and waiting to see new results.”
Inspired by Cintia’s story?
Take a look at the courses that she values most:
Teaching for Success: The Classroom and the World
Blended Learning Essentials: Getting Started
Blended Learning Essentials: Embedding Practice
Teaching Literacy Through Film
English in Early Childhood: Language Learning and Development
I have learned about more tools. in particular i want to find out more about Mehara. i’ve saved the references for digital skills and will aim to read these when i have time. As i want to build up resources for delivering blended learning courses, it’s important to use the tools securely for learners and teachers.
so I am at week three with future learn in blended learning and start week 2 with BlendKit2017.. Working two courses at the same time might be seen as stupid, however, the course both cover the subject area in very different styles. The strengths and weaknesses in both actually complement each other and as a designer and an end user, it has been most useful to me to see what I like and worked and what I do not like and does not work. The main issues so far have been technical and considering that these courses are high in technical requirements. It has been a stress, as a student as I follow the instructions of the course. It is critical that these are not only clear but also correct. Working from a different culture and being frustrate because the instruction does not work or is not clear or in the wrong type case are great teachings for me as a designer. What is the point of directing students to resources that do not let them access as they are not free? Let us be clear here, these courses are not free. You will want your social recognition, certificate, badgers etc, these rightly cost money. Search apps, assessing them usually means buying the pro level upgrade not much you might say but I have been through 17 apps this week and with several weeks to go still, times two course the money starts to add up. I suppose it is whinge time but I am a busy guy with my farming, clinic and teaching. Online projections of 4-5 hours, a week have been for me, totally unrealistic. With reading, web links, checking out apps, it brings back bad memories of my doctoral research days. I suspect that this is the researcher I have evolved into but time is now critical. I am confident now, that the framework of the different systems have been mastered and I can enjoy a closer engagement with the course content. However, the process of revisiting my curriculum has been amazing as its construction and content has been strengthened and clarified, for that, I wish to deeply thank the course designers and facilitators.
