A Reflection on the Innovating Learning and Teaching Module

As an ESL teacher at Profi School, I, Elvira Kuznetsova, currently pursuing Master’s in Learning and Teaching with Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL) at WIUT. I am passionate about teaching and learning English interactively, using latest technologies in my lessons, providing equal opportunities to address diverse needs and styles of learners. My research interest is in gamification of teaching vocabulary. My journey in education has been driven by enthusiasm for learning and a desire for personal and professional growth. The recently completed module Innovating Learning and Teaching has been a transformative experience, providing me with completely new perspectives and innovative approaches to enhance the educational process for me and my students. Through this reflective article I strive to not only recognize the life-changing potential of continuous learning but also to inspire others not to fear changes in modern pedagogy and online education.

In today’s ever evolving and tech-centric world a great value is given to online teaching and learning tools. Being a teacher in this new technologically driven world means being aware of and incorporating recent pedagogical developments and trends in teaching process. As a modern teacher, I recognize the necessity of being well-equipped to meet the diverse needs of my students in a rapidly changing educational environment. Moreover, I did not really have a lot of experience in online teaching and had a burning desire to overcome the fear of conducting online lessons and utilizing digital tools as effectively as offline ones. With this aim I decided to explored the module ‘Innovating Learning and Teaching: Experimental Pedagogies’ (ILT) that I am convinced completely transformed my attitude towards my learning and teaching practice.

ILT module helped me to become more digitally literate in the realm of online education and pedagogy. In this course we were engaged in learning and implementing digital technologies and various latest online tools in our teaching practice, particularly through the creation of an online course using one of the Learning Management Systems (LMS) of our choice. I found Google Classroom the most suitable and multifunctional for my purposes and designed a six-hour online course tailored specifically for my 3rd grade primary school students. The knowledge that I have been gaining in various digital platforms and AI tools such as Lumi, Genially, Twee, Book widgets, Bamboozle, Quizzes, Canva, Padlet, Jamboard, ScreenPal and others allowed me to effectively navigate in the environment of virtual classrooms and create engaging and interactive activities, games, quizzes and assignments in a very short time. Certain tasks could be implemented both in online and offline settings.

One of the crucial moments for me was to adjust the online lessons to language proficiency standards of 3rd grade students and make the materials age-appropriate in order to align it with the syllabus of A2 level students. I successfully coped with this challenge and ….

An absolute surprise for me was that my 3^rd grade students quickly adapted to virtual platforms and could easily deal with anything I prepare. This factor made me to do the tasks more complicated. Taking into account Krashen’s comprehensive theory of second language acquisition (SLA) and I+1 concept I designed the lessons slightly beyond my learners’ current proficiency level. In addition, the majority of tasks were organized for group and pair work where more knowledgeable students collaborated with less proficient ones (Dayan, 2015; Krashen, 1989). The effectiveness of this approach is advocated by Rodrigo, Krashen, and Gribbons (2004) who investigated that students who were engaged in comprehensible-input based instruction surpassed those who were in a traditionally taught classroom. However, Payne (2011) highlights impracticality of this theory by arguing that teachers face such challenges as time pressure and adherence to curriculum requirements when implementing Krashen’s concept in real classroom. In spite of impracticality highlighted by Payne (2011) in my classroom it worked well and students could deal with more difficult tasks without being overwhelmed. It means we should not be afraid of applying the principles we find appropriate for a particular context of each classroom. If certain principles or methods may be ineffective or unsuitable for a particular classroom, we can try to use alternative techniques.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was the next astonishing discovery for me. Gaining a deeper insight into this concept has had a significant impact on the way I approach teaching. I realized the potential of assigning personalized tasks to students, enabling them to demonstrate their individual understanding and knowledge. The principles of this instructional design framework play a crucial role in making the learning process accessible to all students. I never thought of offering alternative methods for students to express their understanding of the material based on their needs, optimizing the curriculum and adapting an individualized approach for each student.

The pioneers of the UDL framework, Anne Meyer and David Rose, recognized accessibility as a fundamental principle. Their emphasis on accessibility is pivotal in ensuring that the learning process is inclusive and available to every student (Meyer, Rose and Gordon, 2014).

Intending to decrease barriers and create an inclusive and flexible learning environment I used UDL framework in designing my online course. Taking into account the diverse backgrounds, preferences and interests of students, I included a variety of teaching materials and engagement methods.

To cater to diverse learning styles, I implemented alternatives such as reading activities accompanied by listening tasks, videos with transcriptions and subtitles as well as interactive multimedia tasks. This holistic approach has a purpose to give every student an opportunity to express themselves and learn in balanced and equal environment.

It turned out that UDL approach is especially essential while working with young learners, considering that some of them can be undiagnosed yet. Additionally, it can also be beneficial to English language learners (Morin, 2023).

I was driven to foster motivation and engagement of my students and with this intention I included to my teaching program multiple formats such as text, audio and video to ensure that all types of learners including those with disabilities can equally benefit and demonstrate their understanding (Ralabate, 2011). I am convinced that for making the teaching and learning process effective, instead of expecting students to adjust themselves for the curriculum, its teachers, who should adapt curriculum, presentation of material and information to learners needs (Hall et al., 2004). I came to conclusion that the principles of UDL not only contribute to an inclusive learning environment but also maximize effectiveness.

On my learning journey to digitize teaching and learning, despite experiencing inspiring and motivational moments, I also faced challenges. There were times when I felt like a digital alien in some spheres. While some activities were easy to apply, there were the platforms such as Lumi, Genially and surprisingly well-known Kahoot!, that I struggled with for 3-4 days, and some even took me a week.

Once, for instance, I could not find an age-appropriate video for one of my lessons, so I decided to record my own video. It was hard to do but it turned out to be the best option as I took into account all the nuances that helped my students understand the content, allowing them to complete the task easily.

The ILT module gave me an excellent opportunity to become a more confident and independent teacher. I am no more reliant on the ready materials found on the internet, in books or created by other educators. There is no need to adapt the exercises to match proficiency level of my students or the school syllabus. I can design my own personalized interactive assignments in a matter of minutes.

At the same time the platforms like Twee, Quizlet and ScreenPal were easy for me to utilize and I benefited from them from the very moment they were introduced.

One of the most wonderful moments that profoundly impacted me was the recognition of the fact that it is inevitable to avoid digital literacy. Living in this new era requires people to have digital wisdom in order to be competent while surfing and sorting the information on the web. According to Prensky (2009) digital wisdom is the ability to fluently use latest technology and gain access to cognitive power beyond our capabilities and employing technology wisely to improve our skills. Only digitally savvy person is capable to filter the information as well as gain from the resources that were inaccessible previously.

Striving for the digital wisdom that Prensky promotes achieving made me think about the relationship between humans and technology and how depended we become on gadgets and tools that we use on a daily basis in all spheres of our life. It is undeniable that technologies become ingrained in every field. As a person who teaches digital natives, I realize that I have to be equipped with necessary knowledge to be competent enough and use the tools that can have a direct impact on my learners’ attitude towards education. Modern learners differ from those who were we decades ago and the principles that we were taught do not work on them. The content these contemporary learners are interested in is absolutely different from what we used to believe (Prensky, 2001). Our responsibility is to be flexible, adapt and modify our approaches and methodologies to help our learners to study and gain the knowledge that is necessary for their future prosperity. After all, we should teach people but not the material or content.

After completing the ILT course, I concluded that we should leverage innovations without fear and maintain an open-minded attitude towards novelties in modern pedagogy and online education. There is no need to be worried about the potential difficulties or think about ineffectiveness of online education. Instead, we should be well-prepared for online teaching and learning since it will become an essential element in shaping current and future pedagogical methods. My experience has demonstrated that even when working with children, it is possible to conduct lessons using online games and tasks.

The ILT module required the creation of a blog on Blogger, a web service for blogging. It was not an easy task, however with the constant support of our teacher, Ms.Nodira, I can now proudly call myself a novice blogger. I plan to continue developing my blog on a professional level. Additionally, I aim to prepare online tasks for each of my lessons to diversify the curricula and keep my students engaged and motivated. I am convinced that I need to be flexible and try to incorporate the key components of Blended learning approach too. For example, in cases when children may be absent due to illness or other circumstances, having online activities or material to provide them would help ensure they do not miss essential lessons and reduce the gap occurring when they cannot attend school.

One of the main principles of my teaching philosophy is a dedication to sharing knowledge with my colleagues. I believe that the innovations and information I have discovered in this module should not only contribute to my professional development but also benefit my colleagues. Together we can improve our teaching methods and nurture collaborative learning environment.

References:

Dayan, L. (2015) ‘A Critical Review of Krashen’s Input Hypothesis: Three Major Arguments’, Journal of Education and Human Development, 4(4), pp. 139-146.

Hall, T., Vue, G., Strangman, N. and Meyer, A. (2004). Differentiated Instruction and Implications for UDL Implementation Effective Classroom Practices Report. National Center on AEM at, [online] 3, pp.1880-3233. Available at: https://shorturl.at/y1349

Krashen, S. (1989) ‘We acquire vocabulary and spelling by reading: Additional evidence for the input hypothesis’, The Modern Language Journal, 73(4), pp. 440-464. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.1989.tb05325.x.

Meyer, A., Rose, D.H. and Gordon, D. (2014). Universal design for learning: theory and practice. Wakefield: Harvard.

Morin, A. (2023). What Is Universal Design for Learning? [online] www.understood.org. Available at: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/universal-design-for-learning-what-it-is-and-how-it-works. [Accessed 14 December 2023].

Payne, M. (2011) ‘Exploring Stephen Krashen’s ‘i+1’ acquisition model in the classroom’ Linguistics and Education, 22(4), pp.419-429. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2011.07.002.

Prensky, M. (2009). H. Sapiens Digital: From Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom. Innovate: Journal of Online Education, [online] 5(3). Available from: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/innovate/vol5/iss3/1. [Accessed 8 December 2023].

Ralabate, P.K. (2011). Universal Design for Learning: Meeting the Needs of All Students. ASHA Leader, [online] 16(10), p.14. doi:https://doi.org/10.1044/leader.ftr2.16102011.14.

Rodrigo, V., Krashen, S. and Gribbons, B. (2004). The effectiveness of two comprehensible-input approaches to foreign language instruction at the intermediate level. System, 32(1), pp.53-60. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2003.08.003.