pen to paper

Perhaps no ESL/EFL approach is more beloved among children and teachers alike than TPR.  WHAT IS TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR), AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT IN EARLY AND YOUNG LEARNER CLASSROOMS? 

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This blog was written for LingoAce Global, while I was a Senior Curriculum Specialist on the English Live Curriculum team.

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Read the blog here. 

How has a pandemic-affected world embraced extended reality (XR)?  WHAT IS XR'S CAPACITY TO TRANSFORM INDUSTRIES, INCLUDING EDTECH? 

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In my capacity as a co-founder and CEO of Global XR Academy, I wrote this blog to provide a snapshot of how powerful XR technologies are and to introduce Global XR Academy as a marketplace for XR content creators and consumers.

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Read the blog and find out more about Global XR Academy here. 

GLOBAL XR ACADEMY (GXRA) WANTS TO BECOME A ONE-STOP XR SHOP THAT CONNECTS CREATORS AND CONSUMERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. 

 

This press release addresses emerging XR technologies and potential. It also highlights the partners with whom GXRA works and how to become part of the GXRA marketplace. 

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Read the press release here. 

What skills and strategies were online English teachers able to bring back to their regular classrooms at the height of Covid-19? This white paper provides AN EXPLORATION OF ONLINE TEACHING SKILLS AND STRATEGIES ACROSS CONTEXTS. 

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Inspired by an idea I had in my master's program, our small research team conducted a mixed-methods study, involving two surveys and ten semi-structured interviews of survey respondents. Our research questions centered on challenges in online and hybrid contexts, developed skills and strategies, and how these skills and strategies transferred to a different context.

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Read the white paper here. 

What is it like to teach English in VR? This VR classroom was designed by three co-teachers from Global XR Academy as they taught MIXED LEVEL, ADULT ENGLISH LEARNERS FROM PANAMA IN VR. 

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I was the last instructor of the three lesson series. My lesson focused on a dream vacation. Learners chose the types of amenities they look for in dream vacations and joined different breakout rooms to mingle and discuss in small groups, using baseline language and provided scaffolds as needed. You can explore the space in the link above. 

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Check out the learning space ins Spatial here. 

Check out the reflection on the experience here.

What does it mean to teach online? How can teachers engage language learners and young learners in an online environment?

 

This book tackles 100 questions and familiar scenarios across four content areas: Second Language Acquisition (SLA), TESOL/TEFL/TESL Methodology, Teaching Online, and Teaching Young Learners. 

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I was a primary writer and lead internal editor on this project. The book is currently sold out on Amazon, where it has an average rating of 4.7/5 stars. 

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This book has been used as a subject of marketing campaigns, teacher training, roundtables, and conferences. 

As part of the inaugural VIPKid Research Institute, my small team came together with VIPKid teachers and the teacher certification team to host a roundtable of common issues for online teachers of early and young language learners. 

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Here, you can watch some of my response as a representative of the VIPKid Research Institute: 

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HOW CAN I HELP LEARNERS WHO MOVE QUICKLY THROUGH LESSON ACTIVITIES AND CONTENT? 

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HOW SHOULD I DIFFERNTIATE LESSONS FOR A MORE ADVANCED LEARNER? 

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HOW SHOULD I DIFFERNTIATE LESSONS FOR A LESS ADVANCED LEARNER? 

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How can educators make sure ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (ELLs) RECEIVE THE SUPPORT THEY NEED IN ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS?

 

While this piece was drafted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, using hypermedia, scaffolded differentiation considerations, and peer interaction to SUPPORT ELLs is universally relevant. 

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Find out how here. 

What are the COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH LAUNCHING AN ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM? How can strategic planning ensure the program is necessary, viable, and profitable?

 

This analysis imagines the implementation of McGeorge University, a hypothetical higher education institution eager to establish and grow a robust and rigorous language program for incoming students. 

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Find out more here. 

For additional examples of STRATEGIC PLANNING, check out the EDTECH HORIZONS blog here. 

How can a preservice teacher training program that moves online accommodate the needs of preservice teachers while maintaining the mission and integrity of the course and adhering to Mayer's principles of multimedia?

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This proposal tackles the challenge of MOVING a 60-HOUR FACE-TO-FACE COMPONENT OF a 120-HOUR OXFORD SEMINARSS TESOL/TESL/TEFL CERTIFICATION COURSE ONLINEand leans into the idea that preservice teachers in the course would no doubt need to be familiar with online teaching and learning in order to be competitive with the language learning and teaching industry. 

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Read the proposal here.

Watch the accompanying video here. 

This paper anticipates the impact of COVID-19 on education and was WRITTEN ONE MONTH BEFORE THE PANDEMIC BEGAN disrupting the U.S. education system.

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The pandemic would go on to (and continues to) shape not only the online language industry in which I work and contribute, but the EdTech industry as a whole, with virtual and remote teaching and learning moving from contingency plans to long-term requirements. We are still part of a grand EdTech experiment, but let's explore the predictions made when the pandemic was still an arm's length away.

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Read the paper here. 

What does it look like to CONSIDER MAYER'S MULTIMEDIA principles while creating an ONLINE SIGHT WORDS REMEDIATION PROGRAM for Chinese young learners?

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This paper and accompanying storyboard represent the discussion and prototyping of a five-level sight words program ultimately adopted and implemented at VIPKid (though there were considerable changes and tweaks made along the way to make this program student- and tutor-ready). 

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Note: More details about this course (including more song samples) are included on the LXD/ID page.

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Read the course background here.

Check out the storyboard prototype here.

Explore some accompanying "Sight Words Songs" here (scroll down). 

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION LOOK LIKE? Do tech tools have to be ground-breaking and innovative to be useful to the folx who interact with them most?

 

This collaborative project involved researching, creating, and using scorecards to do a deep dive into 15 of the most prevalent and hyped technology tools being used five months into the pandemic. 

 

Revisiting this project highlights how quickly certain technology tools have become obsolete while others are now household names.

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Read about the approach here. 

Learn about how the list might be different now in this video.

How can the QUALITY ASSURANCE CHECKS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (ELLs) improve their overall online educational experience?

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This piece examines QA scorecards across four support areas: Curricular Support, Teacher Support, Student Support, and Technological Support.

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Read more about suggested scorecards here.