The COVID era has presented many challenges to all. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, researchers and developers were producing a host of tools that could be used online; however, language institutions, schools and teachers working in mainstream language teaching contexts were slow to recognise the advantages of working online mainly because, traditionally, languages have always been taught face-to-face in a classroom environment; furthermore, the cost of technology has been largely prohibitive for many language schools globally. It was only with the COVID emergency that new opportunities arose. Language teachers and institutions teaching languages entered a steep learning curve and switched literally overnight from face-to-face teaching in schools to online teaching in order to continue to serve their students. Many teachers succeeded in transitioning from offline to online teaching, but many have found the new environment challenging in many ways such as adapting their teaching styles, the effect on their health because of being more sedentary and challenges with adapting materials and using new technologies.
The Electrolengua project aims to upskill language teachers to digital education through peer-led guidance by teachers who are active in this mode of teaching in order for them to make the transition from offline to online teaching as easy as possible; this will go some way to safeguard their livelihoods so they are able to continue to provide quality teaching to their students. Whilst there is an abundance of excellent online teaching courses, these, in general, are aimed at certified language teachers active in mainstream language teaching. There are few courses that seek to overcome the challenges faced by teachers that have little experience of using technology in their classrooms or those language teachers who do not have traditional teaching qualifications and have been teaching informally. There are excellent teachers who would benefit from this project as it seeks to adapt formal language teaching methods used in face-to-face classes whilst creating new online teaching methods to exploit the creative talent of language teachers of all ages and backgrounds
The target groups
Direct Target
Langauge teachers
– Certified language teachers employed in language school, teaching privately or volunteering
– Informal language teachers (without certification) teaching privately
– Informal language teachers (without certification) teaching voluntarily
Indirect Target
Language learners across the EU
Project objectives
- to teach those language educators without formal qualifications taking advantage of their talents, abilities and skills to increase their life chances and work towards a secure future by teaching online.
- to allow teachers involved in family caregiving responsibilities to follow a peer-led course of study to suit them and promote networking with fellow language teachers from across the European continent.
- to upskill all project participants to teach online including, but not limited to teachers facilitating language acquisition in physical schools, online institutions and independently.
- to expanse the employment opportunities for language teachers online, mitigating disability and age-related discrimination by providing accessible routes to employment, and by providing employment opportunities for migrants teaching aid/NGO support workers. The potential long-term benefits are the strengthening of the income potential of teachers and the future-proofing of the profession against COVID-type quarantine situations.
Project results
PR1: Framework for Teaching in the Digital Sphere
Research report into methods and approaches used by off-line and on-line teachers.
PR2: E-curriculum in Language Learning for Teachers
An e-curriculum will provide a solid course in on-line teaching not only for the established certified teacher who is seeking to move or has transferred to online teaching, but also for the non-certificated language teacher moving to online teaching
PR3: e-CPD materials for Language Teachers and a Well-being Centre Forum.
A set of resources that aims to support on-line language teachers in order for them to upskill and keep abreast of current online teaching technologies, resources and methods.
Project activities
A training activity will hold in Cyprus for VET teachers/learners to learn who to use and manage tools and protocols, to develop important skills in the language they are teaching, etc.
Project duration
Start date: 1st of November 2021
End date: 1st of November 2023
Project title
ELECTROLENGUA – Upskilling language instructors for online teaching
Project number
2021-1-ES01-KA220-VET-000024863
Stay tuned for more ELECTROLENGUA news!
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