Webinars

Effective use of all workplace competencies begins with good communication skills. As the global language of business and research, it is widely accepted that the ability to communicate effectively in English is now a basic employability skill. With COVID-19 continuing to reshape the future of how and where we work, the latest research suggests that soft skills have never been more valued by employers.

During this session, we will look at research from English language learners and teachers about their motivations and concerns in achieving their goals during the times they cannot be in the classroom. We will look at examples of exam prep resources and teacher tools to bridge the distance for a digital future. And a new approach to score reports that provide immediate remediation recommendations for all levels of learners. Come prepared to take some polls and contribute your thoughts to the discussion.

Teachers are familiar with online learning: classes held completely via computer or other devices like phones. Many are also experienced in teaching blended learning classes, which combine face-to-face lessons with online learning – separately.

And then there’s hybrid learning.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, many teachers have found themselves in the unexpected and challenging position of teaching hybrid classes. That is, they are teaching classes that mix groups of face-to-face and online learners. As a result hybrid-class teachers must develop a new approach to classroom management, teaching, monitoring and student engagement.

Join this round-table as our panel Autumn, Leonor, Ken and Phil Warwick discuss how they have adapted their teaching styles and methods to overcome these challenges.

Trying to process the heaviness of the past year, we tend to look at problems and challenges, forgetting all the great stuff we did. Amazingly, despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles, what we did as teachers, was amazing, wasn’t it? In my session I will refer to and reflect on my own experiences over the last year and share some practical ideas that can support teachers in organizing online lessons to engage their students cognitively and emotionally. Let me show you how impactful our actions can be.

This session will be like the hug you really need right now. We’re going to breathe and take stock of the past year. We’ll look at how social and technological stressors have put our nervous systems under undue pressure. We’ll look the impact of that on both us as teachers and our students. We’ll revisit the self-care plans we made last year, and make a new plan together for the ongoing situation.

In this session, we’ll look at remote assessment a year on from the start of the pandemic, revisit the hot topics of privacy and security, and dive deeper into the idea of supplementing end-of-year assessment with benchmarking tests that offer a way to understand and address learning gaps, through the example of the new Versant Professional English Test.

This session looks at different theories that underlie what we do in the classroom and how we can apply what we know about language learning to more effectively help learners in both the face-to-face and online teaching environment. We also tell you about a new and innovative approach to your continuing professional development in our entirely-online teacher development programme!

Teachers are always faced with challenges, which the pandemic has widened and deepened. Many teachers have had to change the way to deliver lessons overnight with little, if any help from institutions. Terms such as lost learning, catch-up, back to ‘normal’ are pervasive these days. Despite all this, teaching online heightens our awareness of what we are actually doing in the classroom. This webinar will focus on how teachers can cope with the situation and help students learn.

Join Donatella as she will show how reading and stories can help improve students' wellbeing and at the same time help fill the gap of lost learning as a result of the pandemic. Donatella will share practical ideas and activities to use at home or in class; whether during face to face, hybrid, or online lessons. This session will be relevant for teachers of students of all ages. Donatella will use examples from the Pearson English Graded Readers and the new Disney Kids Readers.

Over the past year, both teachers and students have been thrust into online learning. There have been countless challenges, including access to technology, adequate training, and the need to tailor presentation strategies, learning materials, and assessments. Much of this has resulted in technology stress for both teachers and students. At the same time, there have been many aspects of online learning that teachers and students have grown to enjoy: recordings of lectures can be replayed again and again at convenient times, travel time to class have been reduced to zero, teachers and students may feel more accessible online and, in the face of plagiarism and cheating concerns, assessment has become more creative and personalized. These and other issues help to point the directions teachers are likely to follow in the coming years, including blended learning and hybrid learning.