The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the many inadequacies and inequities in education systems. Indeed, when education transitioned to remote teaching and learning, it revealed a gap in instructor preparedness to support digital learning. A considerable demand for professional development in the use of information and communication technologies was reported among some of Humber’s partner institutions. However, the need is not just a stopgap response to cope with the pandemic. Much more than that, digital technologies could go beyond improvising solutions during a crisis by bridging the time and space and so bringing the entirely new lens of what – how – where - when people learn. This has created an excellent opportunity for the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Innovative Learning to strengthen the partnerships by supporting its partners in closing this gap with a key FLA strength – teacher training expertise.
In response to this demand, on December 4 and December 11, 2020, Stephen Allen, Director, English Language Centre hosted two "Network Teaching and Learning" workshops that helped our partners' faculty further enhance their teaching skills in an online environment. The events were greatly received with more than 100 participants from five universities in Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In these workshops, the participants had opportunities to understand essential areas to build a Community of Inquiry with students, be familiar with the ways humans can learn in online environments and how these are facilitated with digital technologies. The participants were also introduced to open educational resources they can use either online or in-class.
"It was such an informative and useful workshop with hands-on advice. The presenter not only identified the attributes of teaching online but also demonstrated different methods and technologies to teach and engage with students in an online setting", recounted Kim Thu Hoang, lecturer at the Academy of Policy and Development, Vietnam. Through the sessions, Stephen showcased different technologies to create a vibrant and engaging forum where participants could interact, share their ideas and contribute to the sessions. "There were multiple points I felt very informative and inspirational for my teaching. I also liked the way Stephen used different tools such as a presentation with a lot of visual material, break-out room discussion and live-interactive survey, which made us all actively participate in this workshop", shared a faculty from Kansai Gaidai University.
"Technology does not just change ways of teaching and learning; it can also elevate the role of teachers. However, technology can never replace the teacher in the learning environment; that is the reason why we call teaching art, not a science", emphasized Stephen Allen when concluding the workshops.
The two "Network Teaching and Learning" workshops represent a step further for the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Innovative Learning to continue its mission of supporting the teaching community in the effort to remain current, practical, and creative in the classroom. They also highlighted Humber's Internationalization Strategy by creating a mutually rich exchange of culture, ideas, and expertise between the faculty. "The workshop filled with new perspectives and teaching resources was something of real value to our teaching activities", related Dinh Phuoc Vo, Dean, School of Foreign Languages for Economics, University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The success of the workshops is inspiring follow-up collaboration opportunities, with diverse opportunities for FLA to openly share and engage and support our partners' knowledge building.