Basic Video Editing for Avenue Instructors

This session was delivered presented by LIT2T mentor and developer, John Allan.

Most teachers now have the ability to link or embed videos into their online courses, but there is so much more that instructors can do to provide more appropriate media for their lessons.

All teachers understand that videos should be relevant and concise or students will multitask or daydream through the activity.

If instructors want to take the next step and manipulate video by editing their videos, they can!

In this webinar, a complete video editing session is demonstrated.

Click below to download a detailed step-by-step document that was shared with registered Avenue members the day before the webinar.

Introduction to Extensive Reading on Avenue

In this first of a two-part webinar series on Extensive Reading (ER), John Allan and Sepideh Alavi, NLS mentors and content developers, explore the ER movement as an approach to language learning that encourages students to read at a comfortable level that inspires reading for pleasure, reinforces and strengthens the learner’s language foundation, and should build/boost L2 confidence as they progress through LINC levels.

The presenters talked about why graded readers are an important ER resource of reading materials, and how they have been created to accommodate different levels of language learners. Finally, they discussed how accessing graded readers online has made Extensive Reading practical for online or blended classrooms.

Using Avenue in Employment Training (CLB 4-8)

In this webinar Marijke Geurts, LearnIT2teach mentor/developer and TBLV lead, explored how Avenue could be used in an IRCC-funded CLB 4-8 Employment Language Training Program.

Marijke looked at how to use resources such as the Avenue Binder and the available courseware to increase the focus on Working in Canada in the context of LINC themes.

Students benefit by learning English and becoming work ready at the same time.

During the webinar, the presenter: – looked at the LINC themes through an employment Lens – reviewed a possible 8-week employment training curriculum with resources on Avenue – discussed how an employment training program could support PBLA.

Audacity, Audio and Avenue

In this webinar, LearnIT2teach mentor and developer Paul Carter showed Avenue teachers how to download, install, and use the free, open source, cross-platform audio editing software from Audacity. This software can be used to both create new audio files and to edit existing audio files. This session demonstrated how to:

– download and install Audacity

– record a new audio file

– edit an existing audio file

– combine two or more audio files into one (recording dialogues remotely)

– convert a video file to an audio file – export an audio file to various formats

– MP3, M4A, WAV, and OGG, and

– upload an audio file to various activity and resource types on Avenue.

Adventures in Moduleland

Does module planning sometimes feel like going down a rabbit hole?

Do you find yourself looking around in wonder at labels like Sociolinguistic and Functional Knowledge?

And how can you incorporate Language Learning Strategies into your skill-building activities? In this webinar recording, Larry Iveson (PBLA consultant and regional coach) explains the different steps in module planning.

Larry is joined by New Language Solutions module developers, Sepideh Alavi and Marijke Geurts, who illustrate this planning process with examples from two new modules: Preparing to Attend a Workplace Event CLB 5-6, and Arranging a Workplace Event CLB 7-8.

The presenters provide practical tips, and they demonstrate how the different components of a module plan are transferred into skill-building, skill-using and assessment tasks.

Introducing Avenue Accessibility Features

In this webinar, LearnIT2teach mentor and developer John Allan introduced six ways teachers can improve accessibility in their Avenue.ca courses.

Good accessibility practices provide alternative interaction modes for learners and enhanced course consistency.

Building Community and Making Learning Memorable

The rapid move to online learning and teaching last year left many teachers scrambling to find ways to connect with their learners.

This talk, by Dr. Deborah Healey (2019-2020 President of the Board of Directors of TESOL International Association), offers some lessons learned, including ideas that can be used in a face-to-face setting.

Topics include flipping the classroom (giving learners ways to prepare outside of class for activities in class), video tools and other digital resources to build collaboration and community, dealing with challenges in a combined virtual and face-to-face class, and insights from TESOL’s Six Principles for Exemplary Teaching of English Learners.

An optional discussion time was offered after the webinar. Dr. Deborah Healey was the 2019-2020 President of the Board of Directors of TESOL International Association.

She started her career in community ESL, teaching immigrants and refugees. She taught for many more years in intensive English programs in Oregon, with a mid-1980s stint in Yemen.

Now an online and face-to-face teacher educator, she writes and presents extensively internationally (Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, US) on appropriate use of technology in language teaching.

Her doctorate is in Computers in Education. Building Community and Making Learning Memorable –

Avenue Teacher Showcase: YMCA of Greater Saint John Newcomer Connections

In this demonstration, three teachers from YMCA Newcomer Connections in Saint John, NB, Rhonda Kelley, Erin Stewart, and Marijke Geurts, show how they use the Avenue courseware to support their Canada School and Sector Specific Employment Language Training programs.

The show how they use the Moodle platform to engage their learners in blended learning and PBLA.

Learning Objectives: – see different ways teachers use Moodle/Avenue to support blended delivery and PBLA – learn about some of the benefits of using Avenue – get some tips to help you implement blended learning

Features of Google Classroom – A Cross-Platform Comparison of Avenue and Google Classroom

Presented by LearnIT2teach mentor and developer, Jen Artan, this pre-recorded webinar looks at the features of the two learning management systems.

What does Google offer?
How does Avenue compare?
Are there functions that work better for our Adult Newcomer learners?
Customization features, learner analytics, PBLA materials and other features will be outlined and compared.

Image Editing

This webinar by LearnIT2teach mentor and developer, John Allan, guides participants through essential image editing skills.

Using a free, online tool., the skills practiced in this session can be applied to other photo editors.

Training for Language Volunteers in IRCC-funded Programs

TESL Basics for Language Volunteers (TBLV) team members Marijke Geurts and Matthias Sturm delivered this webinar about the TBLV online course, which offers basic TESL training and an orientation for volunteers working with newcomers.

After piloting the course, New Language Solutions now is looking for SPOs who would like to run this online training for their own language volunteers.

The course is about 15 hours in length, delivered online over a period of 7 weeks.

Each week a new topic is introduced, including an introduction to the CLBs, working with lower-level learners, using realia, and volunteering in an online environment.

What we are looking for:
– IRCC funded organizations/programs
– ability to assign your own volunteer coach (an experienced ESL instructor)

What we offer:
– Free Train the Trainer course & support
– Your own TBLV course to use with your volunteers

CLB7 8 Participating in Workplace Meetings Tour

In this session, LearnIT2teach mentors and content developers Marjan Bateni and Paul Carter give Avenue teachers a guided tour through the PBLA module for CLB 7/8, Participating in Workplace Meetings.

The session demonstrates: – how to use the new PBLA module with your class – skill-building and skill-using tasks – assessment tasks and rubrics – files for in-class use – ePortfolio artifacts from the module