EO Executive Director and EO Team present at ESL Conferences

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NEWS RELEASE 

June 3, 2015

English Online Inc.

 

English Online Inc.’s Executive Director M. Briar Jamieson was one of the three featured speakers at the TOSCON15 TESL Spring conference held in Toronto, Ontario  May 22, 2015.

 

In her presentation , Briar talked about “the teacher as learner”, heavily drawing on the story of English Online’s development from a fledgling government-funded company dedicated to teaching online to a learning community supporting Manitoban newcomers and ESL/EAL practitioners.  She also touched on Realize, Canada’s first national web conference for ESL practitioners and the development of its “You Live and Learn.ca” site.  Featured with Briar Jamieson were Russel Mayne of the University of Leicester and an expert on research-based (evidence-based) practice who spoke on student feedback; and Jeremy Harmer, well-renowned author of language teaching books, among them “The Practice of English Language Teaching”, a staple in many TESL programs.

 

TESL Toronto Conference is an annual conference for English language teachers. This year, it featured 10 exhibitors with 30 session options, and eight research/pedagogy talks. Participants were credited with 10.5 professional development hours.

 

Meanwhile, the EnglishOnline Team presented “You Live and Learn.ca” and “RealizeForum.ca” at the recently held TEAM Conference at the University of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  The team provided a briefing on EnglishOnline’s offerings for newcomers and educators and how they can effectively use these resources to support their teaching practice.  Participants learned how to navigate the websites, access free resources, use the webinars and modules for their students, and participate in professional development activities on the site.

 

Teaching English as a Second Language to Adults in Manitoba (TEAM), is a professional organization that supports EAL/ESL teachers and students in Manitoba by providing professional development opportunities and advocacy.  This year’s TEAM conference theme was “Directions” . It  featured various sessions on how educators can prevent burn-out and reflect on new ways and methods of effective teaching, as well as mapping their careers.