Jen Artan is another in our series of LINC professionals putting blended
learning to work. Her class of 12 newcomers in London, Ontario are
studying semi-independently in a specialized class organized around
face-to-face learning, on-the-job training and independent online study.
Jen has applied the LINC courseware and the Moodle learning management
system to create an online environment accessible to learners
24/7, anywhere they have an Internet connection.

Jen has had to develop quite a lot of original curriculum for this novel
program. She talks about how the class approached flexible learning and
adapted to working independently. Jen also reflects on the LearnIT2teach
training, the challenges of migrating to blended learning and its role in
her classroom. 7 minutes.

For lots of additional informative and breezy reflection from Jen, be sure
to check out her blog at http://jennfireblendedlearning.wordpress.com/

Mirella Mosca teaches LINC at COSTI in the greater Toronto area. She has completed her Stage 4 course and is submitting the course she created on education for TESL Ontario's Margaret Pidlaski Award contest (advertised on Tutela). She prepared this short video as part of her submission. The video paints a nice picture of what a teacher can do with blended learning and how learners responded to it.

Mavis describes how her community college LINC program now implements the LINC online courseware and a blended learning approach in all classes. She describes what impact blended learning is having on the learners, teachers and the entire program. Learners now have more flexible options for learning and communicating. She tells how the key changes came about and profiles the 'leading actors'.

In conversation with Rob McBride. Length: Five minutes.

Language teachers and program administrators who want to make the move to LINC blended learning begin with an important question: how do I get there from here? Pamela Manson and her colleagues at Algonquin College have made the big move. In this podcast Pamela describes how she became involved in LearnIT2teach and how that's paying off for her teaching, her learners & her LINC program. 8 minutes.

In the build up to TESL Ontario 2013, we are focussing lots of attention on practitioners. What are the classroom benefits of blended learning? What does it take to get it going? In this podcast, you'll listen to Svetlana Lupasco describe her approach to ESL Literacy, the role technology plays in her teaching, and the courseware she has created for her classes. Svetlana also gives us a sneak preview of what attendees can expect at her technology lab session at TESL Ontario 2013. Svetlana is a LINC teacher, a 9-year TESL professional from Toronto and a recent graduate of Stage 4 in the LearnIT2teach training.

Svetlana shares her course materials at: (http://literacyesl.blogspot.ca/)

Jim Edgar continues his conversation with Ken Beatty, a CALL professor at Anaheim University. Jim asks Professor Beatty to summarize an inspiring conference presentation he had given at TESL Canada. The topic was 'The Unexpected Next'. In his summary, Professor Beatty lists six emerging language technologies. and their application to language teaching and learning. These are really six key techniques for making the most creative and effective use of learning technologies. This is not at all just for techies. It's practical advice for the blended learning instructor.

In this final section, Vance describes the importance of teachers modelling technological innovation to other teachers. Vance also gives some technology tips. Vance also underlines the need for teachers to be playful and exploratory with new technology.

Vance speaks to the importance of community of practice when teachers want to innovate and apply new learning technologies. As the father of Webheads and Webheads in Action, Vance has demonstrated that his approach to online community building works.

Vance Stevens,a pioneer in computer-assisted language learning since the 70's, and Rob McBride, LearnIT2teach Project, in conversation in March 2012 at TESOL Philadelphia. Vance has taught TESL extensively at the university level in the USA and the Middle East. Thousands of TESL professionals know him as the originator and the animator of Webheads, a community of practice for instructors wanting to integrate technology into their teaching.

This is the first of three podcasts with Vance. In Instalment #1, Vance speaks to the origins of Webheads and how it operates to encourage collaboration and sharing among TESL practitioners.

This podcast was recorded at the TESL Canada 2012 Conference shortly after the official launch of Tutela.ca, Citizenship and Immigration Canada's national repository for settlement language training. The podcast features Pascal St-Jean, one of the site administrators and core developers. Pascal provides a brief history of Tutela, an overview of what the site offers, strategies being used to build an online community and how being community-driven will impact the site's future.