Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Neil Paterson -
Number of replies: 17

We are supporting Syrian families amongst others to improve their English but since lockdown have been puzzled about how to best continue.

We have established ESOL classes with other learners who have access to laptops and can use Zoom. However the majority of the Syrians (and other disadvantaged learners) is that they only have phones for communication which do not make it easy (at all!) to view or edit documents whilst holding a conversation. Asides from structured phone conversations - or posting exercises back and forth by mail - has anybody established a means of conducting ESOL classes/exercises with learners who only have mobile/smartphones for being online?

Any thoughts welcomed.


Best wishes Neil

In reply to Neil Paterson

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Angie Wilson -

Hi Neil, smartphones aren't ideal - is there any way to access a budget to supply of cheap tablets that could be loaned out?

I think you can pick up a Kindle Fire for £40-£50ish.

Either way, have a look at Google Classroom (it work's on mobiles though obv. better on a bigger screen). You can  do demos/discussions in google meet (or continue to use Zoom) but then work can be done in between by setting assignments (videos to watch, document to complete, quizes to complete etc).

I'm making a guide to google classrooms just now, but here's the main bits you need to get started...

Getting Started with Google Classrooms: https://bit.ly/GoogleClassroomGS  

How to Organize Google Classroom: https://bit.ly/GoogleClassroomOrg  

How to Create a Google Form Quiz: https://bit.ly/GoogleFQ   

If buying tablets, make sure they run the apps you need as e.g. Kindle has it's own app store.

Hope that helps.

- Angie

In reply to Angie Wilson

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Neil Paterson -

Hi Angie

Thanks for taking the time to reply - it's very much appreciated.

Best wishes

Neil

In reply to Angie Wilson

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Lisa McNeil -

Thanks for this. I will be sure to check these out too as the majority of our refugee learners are in the same predicament.


Thanks 

In reply to Neil Paterson

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Ann Gentilomo -

Hi Neil

I'm a Literacy Development Worker for South Ayrshire Council.  I know some of my colleagues have been using zoom to teach ESOL classes. However, I decided to take a social practice approach and use the technology that most of my learners already know how to use. Every learner uses WhatsApp!  I made sure I had all their e -mail addresses, this allows me to send the resources prior to the lesson. Each lesson targets different levels! This gives everyone time to copy the exercises and depending on level, they can attempt the exercises. We then go over everything during the lesson.  Not only does the lesson allow speaking and listening practice but it is a great way for them to feel they are still seeing each other! We have dealt with Covid enquiries, prescription requests and on line shopping barriers.

Using WhatsApp, only allows for small video groups, however, this is more manageable.  As highlighted before I have small groups from literacies level to Nat 3 levels. Using WhatsApp saves time in explaining how to download zoom or install other apps.  Learners know how to take photos of their completed homework and send them.  I can change the visual settings on the app to show my laptop screen and this allows the learners to see and hear the target language as I speak.  

Hope this helps?

Ann 

In reply to Ann Gentilomo

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Neil Paterson -

Hi Ann

Your reply is much appreciated and your approach is commendable. Our Syrian families all use Whatss-app and we would have engaged with them on this platform too had our local authority not banned and blocked staff from using this platform! 

Otherwise your methodology for your sessions is the same as we are using via Zoom for those learners who have laptops/suitable devices. I'm discussing approaches tomorrow with Kate Sangster from South Ayrshire LA.

At the moment the majority of our Syrian families are opting not to engage with ESOL during Ramadan - prior to this the team were phoning for guided conversations and any accessible online materials.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Best wishes

Neil

In reply to Neil Paterson

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Calum Paul -

Hi,


It sounds like we're all having similar issues with engagement during lock down.


As Ann suggested, we've also found engaging low-levels with zoom etc. an impossibility and agree that we should meet learners where they are and with technology that they already master.

We've started a  YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIS_DeX27sDEfRtshzYhNfw?view_as=subscriber channel and are putting exercises in in the description boxes for learners to complete.  


Link for videos can be copied and sent to directly to learners.  You do not need a smartphone to text the link and we've found most of our learners can click on it and view the material.  

Our learners are able to take a photo of the exercises and send to us for correcting.


If any practitioners are interested in using powerpoint to record learning sessions, I have made a video tutorial and am happy to share link if you email me: calumpaul@north-ayrshire.gov.uk


Take care everyone

In reply to Calum Paul

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Neil Paterson -

This is handy stuff! Thanks for taking the time to share Calum!


Best wishes


Neil

In reply to Neil Paterson

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Steven Maclennan -

Ive been working with learners in Aberdeenshire, wide variety of levels, weve been using a variety of formats, Whattsapp, Google Meet (similar to zoom but should be approved by your council as its used in GLOW), if you cant use Whattsapp have a look at telegram https://telegram.org/. you can push messages to learners and the user interface is easy to use.  Email and phone calls depending on the learner and the worker/session leader. 

Would be interested in knowing why they have not allowed the use of Whattsapp the broadcast function would allow you to set up a closed group where personal details arent shown i.e phone numbers etc. From a data privacy assessment view i would argue with the end to end encryption its more secure than a lot of other options. 

We have found visual communication works best and also found repeatedly sending the link in the lead up to the session is useful for learners and they can just click the link and go. weve had to support learners on downloading the right app and encourage them to use a laptop where possible. However the learners that have been engaging on mobile devices have been engaging well and enjoying the lessons. Sharing screens and prepping lessons before hand and then working through the lessons in the online class has worked well.


Steven



In reply to Steven Maclennan

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Neil Paterson -

Thanks for taking the time to outline your approach in Aberdeenshire in such detail Steven - I'm very grateful - and I'm sure anybody else following this thread has been picking up some good ideas too.

Thanks to everybody who has replied to date. I'll just run through a few of my thoughts:

social practice - yes of course this is our underpinning principle for delivery. Unfortunately this virus caught us all on the hop and the 'place where learners are' at the time was in a physical building with one-to-one/small group facilitation. Yes we had pursued ICT Level 2 as a Core Skill but the connection between learning the basics of using IT and engaging in education was never made. How could we have anticipated what was to come? 

contacting learners - again despite our well-intentioned persistence in supporting learners to create email accounts many clearly never check their emails and rely solely on their phones and a (to me) bewildering variety of apps and platforms. Lack of consistency initially slowed implementation of distance learning almost to a halt while we scratched out heads and attempted to upskill ourselves on one or more platforms. (Yes I am from the one nationalised utility supplier generation).

establishing a common approach - impossible. I relate entirely to everybody who has written about the one-to-one initiatives, engendered by our learners different abilities, our own different abilities and our IT department's prejudices. And to be fair 'social practice' was way down the list of priorities for IT teams, way below online security. Whatsapp (used by all our Syrian learners) - out, Zoom - tolerated (just), Microsoft Teams - sat upon and delayed.

health and safety - the idea of simply printing out materials and posting them to learners with an SAE for return was discussed. This would have exposed staff to increased risk of going to and fro the post office and was also based on the presumption that staff had a printer/photocopier at home.

As I stated at the beginning, we grasped the nettle with learners who had laptops and a bit of computer knowledge and have been using Zoom with them (almost exclusively European Intermediate ESOL learners) since the start of April. 'Ignoring' this opportunity would have felt like we were never going to get anywhere with anybody and yes the most vulnerable most marginalised were the ones who got left out by this approach. Mea culpa. Despite some experiments with phone calls, photographing exercises and examining other platforms, the Syrians almost all opted to forego ESOL during Ramadan giving us some 'breathing space' during which I began this thread. Again let me thank all those who have contributed so far.

In conclusion the notion of bridging the digital divide has been on the agenda for a long time now, and unfortunately when the crunch came I certainly was not prepared and nor had I prepared my learners. That said, opportunities to tackle the challenges were almost always confounded by our LA IT policies. Hopefully life will return to some normality soon - meantime this should be a wake up call for everybody involved in education - formal or informal. The vision of learners constructively engaging through a screen has been visualised for years - decades perhaps - but we have not yet come anywhere near to realising this vision. Nevertheless the determination and commitment shown by everybody in this thread (and beyond) is commendable and inspiring.

Best wishes to all and thanks again for all responses to date and any to follow. 

Neil

In reply to Calum Paul

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Neil Paterson -

Hi Calum

Wow - have just watched one of your videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtWUUH-WIgs

you guys have got a bewildering set of skills on your team. Well done!

How long does it take to make a video of this quality please? (Expect a message in your email inbox soon.)

Best wishes

Neil

In reply to Calum Paul

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Lisa McNeil -

Hi Calum


I am an ESOL worker for Inverclyde CLD and I have subscribed to your You Tube channel. I would be interested in the links for the power point and software you used to record your lessons as I don't have the faintest idea how to start!


Thank you


Lisa McNeil

In reply to Lisa McNeil

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Laura Finlay -

Hi everyone, 

I'm Laura Finlay. 

Along with Lisa , who has already been posting on this thread, I work with Inverclyde Council, CLD as a Development worker in Adult Literacies and ESOL services. 

Have really appreciated all comments and advice here and very much feeling everyone's pain. 

Like Lisa, didn't know where to start and, as I have been working only from home up to this point and  an not engaging with learners, have used some time to do some research into online learning. 

www.futurelearn.com  offer a range of courses on the topic and all are free. If you wish to have longer term access following completion and certification you normally have to pay. 

However, they have developed a course, specifically tailored re response to COVID 19, which I chose to do as a first step. Because everyone participating feeding back very much what has been said above, they are kindly offering a fee waiver and giving certification and continued access to all for free if you show relevant commitment throughout the course :

"How to teach online: Providing continuity for students"

I got far more out of the course than thought I would and has actually made me feel more positive about the whole idea of moving truly into the digital age (L.A. systems allowing as noted of course!) 

There is a wealth of info and links to articles, IT app suggestions, demo  and  guides and lots of resource sharing from educators of all kind from across the world. (but quite a number of ESOL/TEFL teachers making it all the more relevant.) Also allows discussion with all others throughout completion of course and the ongoing access allows you to stay in touch with anyone that you find yourself relating to or sharing useful tips etc. 

As I am not yet in a position to start online learning with students, I was unable to complete course task on reviewing your own first session and online experience/ carrying out peer reviews on others' work. I think this would be really beneficial and was therefore delighted to know that I can now go back and complete that part of course later on and continue to learn from it. (Again, as others in same boat - Future learn have certificated me for course completion). 

Please do let me know if you sign up for this course, or any related ones, and what you think of it on completion. Re offer of powerpoint tutorial, I would also like to get copy from you if possible Calum with any useful links. Thank you. Laura Finlay 


In reply to Laura Finlay

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Neil Paterson -

Thanks for the contribution Laura. I'm aware of Futurelearn and we were directed by D&A College to a slightly different course centered on on-line ESOL tutoring:

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/online-tutoring

I would recommend this as Laura has recommended her course. I previously used Futurelearn for this course too:

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/volunteering-with-refugees/

which I also found had many helpful pointers.

Best wishes and thanks again

Neil

In reply to Neil Paterson

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Avril Morrison -

Hi Neil,

I'm also a CLD worker in Aberdeenshire.  I've used PowerPoint to create recorded ESOL videos, which I've then shared on Facebook.  There are a couple of examples here:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/lindencentrelearning/videos/

You don't need any drawing skills!  If your organisation uses Office 365 then you can use PowerPoint in the desktop client.  You can add a recording tab.  This YouTube video explains how to do it:

This book also has some suggestions on how you can teach ESOL by text:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016PMLEM4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_fVK1EbZE01V90

There are lots of different ways to work with learners, its just finding what works for you and your organisation.

Best Wishes

Avril


In reply to Avril Morrison

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Neil Paterson -

Thanks for taking the time to reply Avril - it's great to see how other organisations are overcoming barriers to continuing ESOL with their learners. I'll certainly take time to follow your links.

Best wishes

Neil

In reply to Avril Morrison

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Lisa McNeil -

Thanks Avril


I will also check it out :)

In reply to Lisa McNeil

Re: Continuing ESOL with Syrian families during lockdown

by Laura Finlay -

I will also have a look at this. Thank you Avril.  Laura