Online Learning for ESOL and Progression Studies Students

As part of my ‘Even Better if…..’ I started using Microsoft Teams with my ESOL groups just a few weeks ago.

After the initial discussion with our TLM and support from the ELearning team I identified what I wanted to do and how to start.

At the start it was important for me to work with the eLearning team so I felt confident and could also train my ESOL students in how to access and use the shared documents.

I now find using Teams really useful to engage and support students both inside and outside the classroom.

With digital technology becoming more prevalent in our day to day lives.

One thing I struggled with in the class was students using their phones in lessons not for learning purposes and it’s clear that this ‘issue’ isn’t going to go away. Therefore I decided to stop seeing it as a problem and instead found a solution. I looked at how I could develop students using their phones in class in a positive way; by setting up Microsoft Teams, students were able to download the app straight to their phone where they can engage in a group discussions, work collaboratively, complete assignments and view lesson materials. It also provided me with an opportunity to provide independent study, embed quizzes, keep track of which student has viewed and handed in work and offer feedback.

I have now started to incorporate other Microsoft 365 apps within my classes such as

Sway, Forms and Class Notebooks within OneNote. It’s early days but I’ve genuinely enjoyed learning how to use these new platforms and now under the current circumstances, I think using these tools are more important than ever.

I would certainly recommend becoming familiar with Microsoft 365 and lets all try something new!

Thanks for reading my post.

Alex