What a privilege to hear Stephan Caspar (Twitter: @dotsandspaces ) talk of his career path which has so far taken him from the UK to Pittsburgh, home to many big tech companies, and his favourite bridge, but especially to hear his personal response to recent events in Pittsburgh. He gave us his honest account of what he has learnt through his experience: the need to provide the support students need (which is much more than academic) and his decision to be proactive in becoming informed about the history behind Black Lives Matter.
Thank you so much Stephan. Below the recording are links to some of the articles her referenced, the class chat and a class photo – an attempt to recreate the comfortable atmosphere he clearly establishes with his lucky students!
Thanks also to those how attended and contributed so warmly, making this a really special evening. We look forward to hearing form you, Lia Widyastuti!
And of-course, as ever, thanks to Joe Dale who his sharing his friends with us by coordinating these webinars!
- Stephan’s blog: https://medium.com/@dotsandspaces
- Stephan’s work platform ‘Educate spaces’
- Stephan’s article ‘Tips for moving your classroom online’ (some of which he has revised through experience!)
- Article referenced re: Higher ED response to George Floyd killing (free to register to read)
- Laurence Gillam link to fantastic authentic French resource ‘Projet Photo de classe‘ where Parisian pupils explore ther roots including interviewing theirown parents. (Once you start , you cannot sotp watching)
- Link to Stephan’s presentation [currently stored on Helen’s drive until we sort out website uploads!]
We asked Stephan for guidance on a reading list. Here are his recommendations:
- Experience and Education by John Dewey
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Friere
- The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard
- The Craftsman by Richard Sennett
On Language learning pedagogies:
- Teaching interculturally: A Framework for iNtegrating Disciplinary Knowledge and Intercultural Developent by Amy Lee et al.
- Hope, Utopia and Creativbity in Higher Education: Pedagogical Tactics for Alternative Futures edited by Craig A Hammond
- Language Teacher Education and Technology: Approaches and Practices edited by Jeong-Bae Son and Scott Wideatt
- Playful Learning edited by Nicola Whitton and Alex Moseley
Class chat:Stephan Caspar Chat
Class photo:
ALL London organises webinars for the MFL community and this webinar is open to all MFL teachers. We hope that you will like us and want to join!
In the months since lockdown, as the world reacted to the global pandemic; educators have been forced to explore ways to continue teaching. In a move to remote instruction we have needed to adapt and redesign learning for a new setting, somewhere between an online course and classroom.
Stephan Caspar is a British academic working at a US university, living through the political and social tensions that have surfaced in the past months, including protests against police brutality and Black Lives Matter marches. The situation has forced a rethink in teaching and how we support students. Many have struggled to adapt, anxious for their futures, forced to spend time in front of screens, as they question the cost of their education.
Stephan takes us through a personal account that explores the pressures of teaching and learning during a global pandemic and shares some of strategies that he has used and provided to his learners, from changing mid-term to remote deliver, to teaching interculturally and addressing issues of race and inequality. In this session we’ll reflect on the technology has played at this time and how we have had to adapt our pedagogy to ensure active learning in a remote setting.
As we prepare for the term ahead and turn our attention to HyFlex courses and the prospect of teaching in a socially distanced classroom this is an opportunity to gather our thoughts, think about the changes, important conversations, the challenges, this shifting landscape and the need to keep learning and teaching.
BIO
Stephan Caspar’s is a creative educator currently working in Modern Languages at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, his courses include Multicultural Pittsburgh, exploring language and culture through Virtual Reality, Podcasting: Language and Culture, Language Acquisition and Technology. These courses have introduced students to digital storytelling to explore cultural context and language learning. Stephan brings experience in broadcast media, learning design and immersive technologies, with previous roles as a freelancer with BBC Informal Learning; as a teacher in Further Education and as a Learning Technologist leading the Digital Learning Team at the University of Southampton. You can follow Stephan on twitter @dotsandspaces.
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