 So my name is Michelle Daly and I am a PhD student at the University of Limerick within the School of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics. And so I'm researching novice teachers who go out to Dubai to the Gulf region and looking at intercultural awareness. So I have a great insight into teacher training. But as well as that, I'm coming to this interview today, I suppose, from a training teacher point of view, but also an English language teaching point of view. So I teach on a program that is a partnership program between the University of Limerick and Shangdong University in China. So I have a lot of insights into how we teach online, both from my own perspective of a teacher, as well as the students perspectives. I think that's important as well to highlight today. And then I'm also working as well as a language advisor for a partnership program between the University of Limerick and students from the Algerian context that we teach online and their trainee teachers. So I'll be drawing on some insights there as well as we move forward in this, Peter. Great. So I'm going to start by asking you what challenges the pandemic has posed in your classroom. Okay, great question. Where do I start, Peter? So I suppose the challenges that the pandemic has posed in my classroom, definitely with teaching online. And the number one aspect I see is student engagement and how can we foster that type of engagement moving from a classroom based context to a virtual online based context. And as well as that I see challenges in terms of internet connectivity and time zone issues when you're teaching, let's say in the Chinese context or the Algerian context time zone definitely comes up and opposes the challenge. What is that technology use? So the upskilling for staff. That is a major point that has come about as we have, you know, engrossed in online teaching as this pandemic has drawn with us. And as well I think classroom size that has posed as a challenge. So I'll be drawing on all these aspects today as we kind of come up with solutions to these problems. But another aspect I see that might be more easier to manage in an online classroom or sorry in a classroom based is the use of L1 and the students talking in their, you know, native language and how you manage that in an online context. So I think they're the major challenges that the pandemic has posed in my own teaching experience. Great. Well, let's move on then to say to look at how have you responded to those challenges. Yeah, absolutely. So if I just look, Peter, at this was the first issue is engaging students in the classroom. And you'll know you'll always have the louder students who are more visible in the classroom, and they could dominate the conversations. And while the quieter kind of more shy or students, they resort to listening and those passive kind of observers, rather than contributing. And how do we manage that. So really I suppose it's key the solution to this is that we embrace the silence firstly, and that we give learners time to think and to formulate their answers. And I suppose what they need to say give them time to discuss this in advance, provide them with enough scaffolding that they can talk to their peers, and then they feel more capable of producing the language that you want them to produce. So there's providing ample, you know, flexible opportunities to reinforce course concepts. I think that is key, especially in louder students dominating the classroom. But as well as that, another challenge that we face is, you know, when learners are put into their groups and they are using their one. And usually it can be about topics that are completely unrelated to the discussion that's happening in class. And how do we manage that really a solution to this is to ensure that the content is challenging to the students. And it's appropriate to the students, and they feel that challenge and they can act on that challenge and providing them with enough practice to, you know, to practice new vocabulary, using different aids to support all types of learners, because all types of learners, you know, they don't enjoy or want to engage in online learning. So we do have to have different methods of engagement there. And I think as well, I'm choosing group members to balance the group work, you know, calling on particular students or assigning group members that will be the speaker. So you kind of avoid, avoid like the close friends in groups or in breakout rooms. And that works quite well as well. And in an online classroom, much of the learning is completed asynchronously. So learners often feel maybe disconnected to us as instructors, as well as their peers. So we as teachers must create those feedback opportunities, and to allow building strong connections with learners in an online environment. So I think collaboration Peter is key. And as well, collaboration is one of the most difficult things to achieve when learners are not physically present in the classroom. So to encourage collaborative problem solving. So we could consider giving learners a more specific task and ask them to comment on each other's ideas. I think asking that really provides constructive feedback on their colleagues submissions that works quite well. And I think they're the main kind of solutions that we have come up with in teaching online. I'm sure there are many others, but they're the highlights of what I would like to discuss today. Can I ask you then about how feedback from the students has informed those as you've been trying to adapt, solve the problems that arose, what role did student feedback have in that? Absolutely. Now you just, you know, gathered a really important point there of asking the students for their feedback. That's absolutely key in an online environment more than ever before, so that we do give time to ask students for their feedback, and we feed that into our creation of our material and how we do that. And I know there are issues that that poses as well as we move forward, but strategies to enhance collaboration. You know, some students and other colleagues, teachers, they mentioned that teaching online has increased their awareness of student needs, and the methods that they need to create engaging lessons. So what I've done in that regard is I tried to tailor my classes to the needs of the students. So for example I might create a project that's related to what they're studying. So for example I have major students now that are majoring in computer science and mechanical engineering. And one of my lessons last week was to go and create a project. That was related to a Stephen Hawking quote about artificial intelligence. And it was also got to do with I suppose the week that's in it of Science Week in Ireland. So I got them to go away and to research a project that was actually related to them, and you see more engagement then they're more excited about doing something like that, that you tailor it to their needs. So online teaching, it does seem to take more time in creating all these materials systematically compared to a classroom based course, but I think meeting the students needs, asking them what they want to know, what they want to learn, and meeting their needs will increase and engage students in the lessons. So this is a very important point. Like, when you're performing as a teacher, so it's easy to kind of overlook what the differences between the students and the different things that they need along the way. So, kind of you kind of moved into the next question here a little bit, but what would you say you've learned along the way and I don't mean about how to use the technology more effectively. As a learning organization or individually as a practitioner, anything that maybe was surprising or dawned on you as you worked through the various challenges that you've been describing there. Absolutely, Peter, that's a great question again. You know, one issue that I've seen is for us as educators, the important aspect of seeing all the students faces. You know, students might not feel comfortable with turning on the cameras. And they might do some more when they move into the breakout rooms. But just the simple task of turning on the cameras that really, you know, embodies student engagement as well as the social and emotional connection that they need. And I think another aspect of moving away from, you know, physically, allowing students to see you and for us to see them is setting clear deadlines, timely deadlines that they adhere to and that we adhere to. That also can, I suppose, allow students to to know I suppose the limits that they have, as well as to have that constant engagement and interaction and they don't fall between the cracks as well. I think students appreciate that regular communication and that timely feedback on their progress, again, even more so in an online setting when we compare it to an in class setting. So I think meeting deadlines, adhering to deadlines and giving feedback on time. Again, this adds to the learning environment. So I hope that answers your question, Peter. Yeah, does indeed. Let's have a look then forward and say and and I want to ask you from all of the things that you've developed and new strategies and new approaches. What do you think is going to stay with us? What do you think might be put back in the drawer when we can be comfortably back in the classroom? And how do you see it developing going forward? That's a great question, Peter, as well. And we're all thinking, you know, where is this going? What is the future of teaching online? I suppose the role of technology for me, I feel that it plays a central role in the future as we move forward. You know, educators, they also need more options to ensure students can participate and that their voice is heard. So in terms of education, I see that, you know, now when we use online platforms, students can raise their hands in class meetings. We can create attendance reports easily. We can view class insights like this intelligent data analytics breakdown is such a great resource for us as we engage online. And all the assignments are, you know, there's always the resources that will be there and activity metrics and grades. So that's a great resource to have as we move forward. What I envision that blended learning, a combination between online and offline teaching is what I see as becoming increasingly popular as we adjust to gradual reopenings throughout the remainder of 2020 and even moving forward to 2021. And I think CPD continuous professional development is something that we will all need as we move forward in this environment. And I actually would like to show you a really interesting study. I'm just going to share my screen with you now. This is a really interesting study by McCary. So this was at a recent conference I know it's 2018 but I think it's very applicable today. It was a conference paper that was presented on a report from a teacher at the University of Cyprus. And she shares some interesting findings. So let me share this with you, Peter. What she looked at is the literature that was completed up to date on the opportunities and challenges of e learning now she focused on a European context. I'm just going to hide my video for a moment as I talk through this. This is an interesting study here from McCary 2018. And so what she did is reviewed the opportunities and challenges that she foresees educators having. And as you can see here she looks at the perspective of the students, but also the perspective of the tutors so us as teachers, and then kind of brought that in more widely to the management, the educational organizers, their perspective. Into the challenges and into the opportunities. And looking in terms of the challenges. She divided these into four key challenges here. Firstly, technology barriers as we're all fully aware of now, having access to technology. So in general parts of Ireland, students have strong access to technology. And again, I drew on aspects of the lack of interest and motivation, and how we can capitalize this is engaging students in collaborative activities and reinforcing that form of communication, having those deadlines and creating those deadlines and giving them feedback in some ways technology problems are out of our control, but we certainly can do can engage in other methods to overcome this. Also, in, I'm thinking of teaching barriers here, communication interaction. She's highlighted this again, of creating that emotional and social intelligence with your cohort of students, and then moving to the organizational I suppose in terms of cost more, more than anything now. It's less cost involved having all of this online, but then opposes other challenges in terms of time. We definitely have additional working hours in creating the material. You know, if you compare this, we have to adopt our online activities, and this requires more polish as well. And then moving over to the opportunities look at the students perspective that she's found in her study here. There is ample opportunities for interaction, especially online when you can create activities around social media blogs and all that goes with that. As this, I think there's importance in noting the personalization of content, meeting the students needs, asking the students for feedback. What do they want to learn, maybe looking at their own personal insights and how we can relate the material to them and update the material, you know, accordingly. There's definitely greater access and support nowadays. And I think of that, even in terms of the Chinese context that I'm teaching in right now. You know, it's quite interesting because in China, as you know, YouTube is banned, we cannot use YouTube and I rely heavily on YouTube for additional videos. So I've had to adopt to that and use Chinese platforms. And some of them are solely in Chinese. There's no English translation. And how I've had to overcome these issues, you know, asking for a teaching assistant to translate for me, even when I'm setting deadlines. So all of this requires extra thought, but I think there's many perspectives from the students that we can learn, as well as our own as teachers in the diversity of teaching that we draw upon using different methods for teaching. That's not solely reliant on one, let's say if it's Zoom, for example, that we do engage and incorporate other activities, you know, outside of this. As well, I think one other important aspect I've drawn on already is the learners evaluation, ask the students for their feedback and incorporate that into your lesson. I do think that's very useful and very helpful as we move forward. So I hope that you find this report interesting, and I've got a link to it. It'll come up in Google Scholar McCarrie 2018 from the University of Cyprus. So I'm going to stop sharing my screen just now and come back to you, Peter. My final question just to kind of wrap it up is, you wouldn't have wished for this to happen, of course, but do you think that we're better at what we do as a result of having to deal with it? I do think we're better at what right now I think I'm definitely better. I have been thrown in the deep end, Peter, I really have. And I would be quite tech savvy, for example. But I think, along the way, I've had to upskill, and I've had to learn to adapt. And I think moving forward, I envision that it will be a blended learning form, where there will be online classes as well as in class classes. And I think that we all need to be able to adapt to this. And I think we're doing a great job at that. You know, as humans, we have to be able to do this. You know, so moving forward, I do think I can bring all these skillsets with me into making this definitely a more permanent opportunity.