This topic suggestion for #ELTchat on Wednesday 14 June came from a tweet I saw by @MrCopil.
Times are changing. Are we changing our ways accordingly? #edtech #educhat #pedagogy pic.twitter.com/A77daAk50x— Bogdan Copil (@MrCopil) May 13, 2017
@TeresaBestwick introduced the topic with a song:
https://t.co/orAaCOqhWF Love the opening scene of Watchmen and a perfect song for tonight’s #eltchat— Teresa Bestwick (@TeresaBestwick) June 14, 2017
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This Wordle attempts to capture the wide range of topics mentioned in the chat in reference to changes and I’ve used this as a way of organising the summary:
tech
topics
wellness mindfulness
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I did a course on mindfulness etc. with Nellie. It was totally worth it. I didn’t even feel I needed it at the start- but…. fab #Eltchat— Sue Annan (@SueAnnan) June 14, 2017
courses
top-down bottom-up
reflection
@Marisa_C said that another change was the shift to teacher reflection and teachers thinking more about research, though sadly research is an expensive sport.
research
Where would we get best practice from if not research? #Eltchat— Sue Annan (@SueAnnan) June 14, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThere was a lot of discussion around different types of research.
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What would people say are changing trends in methodology? I’m not so up-to-date on the research and conferences. #eltchat— David Boughton (@David__Boughton) June 14, 2017
@fionaljp posted a link to ELT Research Bites @ResearchBites in response to @David_Broughton’s question and @SueAnnan recommended IATEFL ReSig
methodology
@fionaljp posted a link to a forum on approaches to developing reading skills that suggest alternatives to the presumed norm.
intersectionality
@seburnt tweeted about changes he likes:
Changes I like: isolation to collaboration; language only to intersectionality; intuition only to evidence-based mixture; etc. #eltchat— Tyson Seburn (@seburnt) June 14, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsHe explained the second point as cross-discipline collaboration, isolating language classes in his context to skills across disciplines, with collaboration with other types of content- saying it works well in EAP contexts.
platforms
HOTS
@AdeleRaemer asked whether Higher Order Thinking skills were big in #ELTchat circles and @SueAnnan responded by saying, ‘Books are concentrating more on this now and critical thinking too.’ @Marisa_C noted that thinking about education (including Bloom) is more evident now, not in ELT syllabuses, but covered nevertheless.
NNESTs
I think our awareness of NNESTS is better too, but not yet across the board #eltchat— Sue Annan (@SueAnnan) June 14, 2017
CPD / tech
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Do you think that most teachers are keeping up with changes or not? #Eltchat— Sue Annan (@SueAnnan) June 14, 2017
@Marisa_C said that having this daily contact on Twitter across the globe was a change and @fionaljp agreed saying ‘Yes, this is the huge change – availability / opportunity of personalised CPD.’ @SueAnnan asked, “How do teachers stay abreast of changes?’ and @fionaljp responded, ‘by not staying where they are – by avoiding doing the same thing all the time.’ However, this didn’t really answer the question as @SueAnnan replied that some teachers rely on top-down CPD. @Marisa_C asked if this instant information gratification produced better teachers? @fionaljp replied that teachers can be more informed and aware – great way to update skills and knowledge. @NikkiFortova responded by saying, ‘information and knowledge are different things – so I’d say no, it doesn’t mean better teachers.’ @Marisa_C said that connecting with other teachers has made reflective teaching or the pursuit of excellence more visible. This resulted in a discussion about passion from @SueAnnan and @AdeleRaemer:
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Thanks to tech, I am even MORE passionate than ever! Staying excited and interested after 36 years teaching #eltchat— (((Adele Raemer))) (@AdeleRaemer) June 14, 2017
I think @MarjorieRosenbe’s question below and some of the replies would be a good way to conclude the summary:
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Can teachers keep up with changes and is this always necessary? #ELTchat— Marjorie Rosenberg (@MarjorieRosenbe) June 14, 2017
It was a very interesting, very lively #ELTchat and I hope I haven’t missed out anything major or mis-quoted anyone – here’s a link to the transcript for reference.
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