Category Archives: Online learning

Independent Language Learning with CanAvenue 


Written by - John Allan @mrpottz

A new, free, and open learning platform, CanAvenue, was launched in October 2024. CanAvenue is for learners aiming to improve their language skills outside of the classroom. This LMS is designed to support learners at high beginner to intermediate stages through interactive-self-directed activities, practice modules, and resources that help them navigate Canadian language learning without formal classes or instruction. As there are no registration restrictions, CanAvenue is openly available, making it a tempting resource for newcomers or anyone looking to improve their additional language skills in a self-directed environment.   Continue reading →

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Customizing H5Ps 


Written by - John Allan @mrpottz

There are thousands of H5P learning objects available online through repositories, open education resources and shared courses.  Many of them have a Reuse button.  By clicking on this button, educators can download an H5P and use it as it is or they can customize the H5P.

H5P, HTML5 Package, is an online set of tools that facilitates the creation and sharing of interactive, multimedia content.  These are normally used for educational purposes.  They enhance learner engagement with interactivity, immediate feedback and mixed media. H5P offers a variety of content types like quizzes, interactive videos, presentations, and games, which can be easily integrated into online learning platforms such as Canvas, Moodle or Brightspace.  One of the best attributes of H5P is the ability to customize existing H5Ps.  This can save time, energy and development costs. It also saves training time for teacher-developers.   
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(Re)Focusing on the Process in Online Environments  


Written by - Cecilia Aponte-de-Hanna
Image source: www.bigstockphoto.com

If we can learn anything from ChatGPT and all other AI tools, it is that their product is the result of people who immersed themselves in the process of collecting information before arriving at the final product.  The secret to success is what took place behind the scenes —the work it took to arrive at the final product. 

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TESL Ontario 2022 Conference: Takeaways from 6 Talks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion  


Written by - Guest Contributor

TESL Ontario’s 2022 conference, which marked the organization’s 50th anniversary, brought forth current perspectives, reflections, and suggestions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This post highlights takeaways from six talks about fostering inclusion, advancing accessibility, and supporting newcomers.

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Daily Small Talk


Written by - Kevin Slack
Image source: www.bigstockphoto.com

As a person and as a language instructor, I hear the words ‘small talk’ and I shudder. However, I have learned – after teaching online for nearly three years now – not to underestimate the opportunities and utility of focusing specifically on Small Talk in class. Focusing on Small Talk has always been successful. When surveyed, learners consistently report that they want more Small Talk rather than less. 

I started teaching virtually with a fairly small class (CLB 7) who really responded to Small Talk. For one thing, I found the class needed to deal with mental health issues – near the beginning of COVID – and needed to feel as social as possible in a virtual environment. That’s when I started to develop Small Talk as an integral activity. Most recently, I had a much larger class that also responded very well to the Small Talk activities. This activity is not a one-off lesson but rather focuses on best practices, routine, feedback, and refinement.

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Creating Dialogues Remotely


Written by - John Allan @mrpottz
Image taken from: Unsplash

Over the pandemic, several instructors have commonly requested assistance with recording dialogues for PBLA activities, assessments, reading practice or listening activities. In this post, I have detailed the steps. These steps focus on preparing a listening dialogue for a class activity. I am sure that many instructors and students have devised their own hacks for this issue, so if you have invented better methods, please add them to the comments below. 

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Keep Things Organized – Tips for Organizing Google Drive


Written by - Bei Zhang
image source: bigstockphoto.com

Organizing Google Drive for you and your students can be challenging. When assessments and assignments are assigned through Google Classroom, you may get lost in the mountain of documents. For your students – especially for those who aren’t tech savvy – it’s even more challenging. As we approach the end of the school year, here are a few lessons I’ve learned from online teaching about how organizing your Google Drive early saves you time and effort.

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The Curse of Knowledge or Groundhog Day? – Take Your Pick


Written by - Cecilia Aponte-de-Hanna
Image source: www.bigstockphoto.com

I blame the title on sitting in front of a computer day in and day out, setting up breakout rooms, and talking too many times into a dark screen divided into little squares, each one imprinted with names and hardly any faces; despite it all, there I was, on that particular day, hair fully brushed, looking good from the waist up, and full of burnt-out enthusiasm, ready for my lesson on “paraphrasing.”

Groundhog Day

On that morning, as I have been doing for a while (two years minus a few days), I turned on my computer before class time to make sure everything was in order and that my Google Jamboard was shareable and editable for my students to work in groups.

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Tools and Resources for Online Teaching (Part 2)


Written by - Bei Zhang
Image source: www.bigstockphoto.com

Many of us have been teaching from home for more than a year. What a crazy milestone! While at home, we have all been trying our best to support our students by using various online and offline tools. It has been a tremendous learning journey for both teachers and students. However, often meaningful interaction is missing in our online class. Additionally, with lower-level students, introducing a new tool or online source can be challenging because of a lack of technological knowledge. This is where WhatsApp comes in handy.

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VoiceThread in the language classroom


Written by - Sherry Hejazi

With the new trend in education due to COVID-19, many language classrooms have been moved to hybrid, synchronous, or asynchronous modes of delivery online. This change has certainly impacted the socio-cultural aspects of our classroom dynamics in many different ways. 

Approaches to building community and the related language interaction have been impacted by the move to online delivery, and educators have sought assistance by looking into various EdTech tools to make up for this gap. One of these tools that I have found helpful in my language classrooms is VoiceThread.  

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