MeetELT: Apps for action, interaction, learning and teaching

If the idea of attending a professional development event guts your gusto, check out these presentations from the latest, high-spirited MeetELT event. MeetELT is a professional development event for English language teachers across Sydney, masterminded by Navitas English and Pearson. The aim is to bring engaging, accessible PD to teachers who couldn’t or wouldn’t go to more ‘traditional’ industry events like conferences and coursebook promotions.

Katrina Hennigan (Project Manager, ELICOS) and Lucy Blakemore (Navitas Learning and Teaching Services) explain a bit more about MeetELT and what’s involved:

The latest event took place in November 2016 at Mr Tipply’s in Sydney CBD and the theme of the evening ‘Apps for action, interaction, learning and teaching’ generated some enthusiasm for quick-to-copy ideas for making learning more engaging and interactive.

Below you can watch each of the presenters, drawn from language schools across Sydney, sharing how they use apps for action, interaction, learning and teaching:

1. Kylie Tyler on note-taking with Evernote
2. Virginia Mawer on WhatsApp
3. Zoe Erbacher & Ankit Khoba on collaborative writing with Padlet & Kahoot!
4. Michelle Ocriciano on helping students manage their workload with WhatsDue
5. Orlando Savage on Quizlet

Kylie Tyler introduces Evernote, a notetaking and organising tool that allows you to create notes using text, photos, voice memos and lists.

Evernote is a great tool for teachers to use for sharing ideas, web pages or links with their students, or for organising creative group work. It’s also a handy place to save all your lesson ideas and plans. Signing up is free for the basic version and is as easy as creating a username and password.

Virginia Mawer shares some highly engaging ways to use WhatsApp, as she continues building her list of 100 ways with WhatsApp.

I use it for prep, communication in and outside the classroom, to add variety to feedback tasks (actually, any task at all!), to flip the classroom, for team building, for exam and general classes of all levels and so much more!!

Zoe Erbacher & Ankit Khoba threw out the PowerPoint slides and presented in a more theatrical way! They shared Padlet as a useful resource to encourage writing, share writing and give immediate feedback. An app called Kahoot! also makes an appearance, with a live demonstration of how engaging it is to run a competitive quiz!

For the first time, parts of this MeetELT were live streamed on Facebook, including Zoe & Ankit’s highly entertaining presentation.

Michelle Ocriciano uses a free app called WhatsDue to assign homework to her students.

The process for the teacher is fast: sign up at whatsdueapp.com, and enter assignments, tests, and anything else that has a due date. 

Students just download the free app (available in the Apple Store and on Google Play) and enter a code for your course. Then they can see what’s due in a simple, easy-to-read display.

Orlando Savage shares his enthusiasm for Quizlet, an online tool for learning and practising vocabulary.

I’m currently using it to revise vocabulary from the curriculum and create opportunities for practice, in-class or wherever and whenever it suits students best.

If you’re an English language teacher in Australia, check out the vibrant AusELT community on Facebook or use Yammer to get in touch with some of the organisers of this MeetELT, Andy Pak-Poy and Clare McGrath.