Quaranteaching: Reconciling Change in Education during the Age of COVID-19

Yuliana Vásquez is an English language instructor at a bilingual school and a university in Panama. I met Yuliana because she was a participant in a digital literacy and social-emotional learning course I co-organized and co-led during the last months of 2020. In this episode, Yuliana and I talked about her and her colleagues' transitions to online teaching, how she and her students have managed the transition, and what she predicts will happen with education in the future.

In this episode, I speak with Bryant Atencia, a senior high school English teacher in the Philippines. In our discussion, we explore the challenges online/virtual education is presenting in his teaching context in the Philippines, especially as it concerns his students and his students' social, emotional, and mental health. We also discuss the importance of support during this time: from school administrations, from teachers, and from one another.

In this episode, I spoke with Dr. Gena Bennett. Dr. Bennett is an educator and consultant who is currently an adjunct professor at both George Mason and Azusa Pacific Universities. In addition, she also works on consulting projects and training programs for organizations like TESOL International. Furthermore, she has been teaching online for several years, so I thought she would be a perfect person to interview about the differences between online and virtual education, the advantages and disadvantages of teaching online, and how educators who suddenly find themselves teaching online can overcome challenges. 

Dr. Dave Chiesa is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. In this episode, we discuss how the pandemic and the subsequent guidelines have affected his own teaching practice and his students' learning  — and how he has embraced those challenges as opportunities to reconceptualize his classroom, his syllabus, and his pedagogy for the upcoming academic year.

Former English Language Fellows Joe, Jenny, Amy, Ty, and I have an informal conversation about our podcasts, our lives abroad, and our future

In this episode, I spoke with Hanaa Soudan who is the Program Specialist in the Regional English Language Office of the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.  We discussed the past, present, and future of English education in Egypt. Interestingly enough, there seem to be some silver linings for English education in Egypt that were brought on by the pandemic. 

Think teaching studio art online might be a difficult task? There are at least two teachers who are up to the challenge! Antonette and Marlow are art teachers at an international school in Daegu, South Korea, and they had to spend the last semester teaching art online. In this episode, we discuss the obstacles and solutions in teaching hands-on art courses online, the importance of administrative support, and the present state of education and its future in South Korea.

In this episode, we speak with Elise Brittain, a Ph.D. student of Cultural, Literacy, and Language at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Elise and I discuss how the sudden transition to online learning has affected her coursework, how her professors have supported her and her colleagues during the transition, and what the transition's implications are for the future of education.

In this episode, we speak with Armen Kassabian, an English educator and consultant, about how and why his approach to teaching is informed by social and emotional learning, how he continues to cultivate authentic connections through distance learning, and what teachers and students can do to maintain mental and emotional health during the quarantine. 

In this episode, I speak with Sanjar "Sam" Djalalov. I met Sanjar when he was an MA TESOL student at Webster University's Tashkent, Uzbekistan campus where I conducted a couple of guest presentations, one of which was about integrating technology into English education. Sanjar is now an MA TESOL instructor and coordinator for Webster and he's possibly the most technologically literate English instructor I met while in Uzbekistan. Sanjar discusses how the transition to online learning has gone for Webster's Tashkent campus and elsewhere in Uzbekistan, the successes and challenges for teachers and students during this time, and where this period of distance learning might take the Uzbekistan educational system in the future.

In this episode, I speak with friends and former colleagues of mine Shannon, Mina, and Graham about suddenly having to leave our teaching contexts abroad and finding ourselves back in the United States. The four of us spent the last year and a half as English Language Fellows in Uzbekistan through the US State Department's English Language Fellow Program. Throughout the episode, Shannon, Mina, Graham, and I recount our abrupt departures, contemplate our current situations, and provide our predictions for the future of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) industry for instructors such as us.

Kate is a middle school teacher and university instructor in New Jersey. In this episode, Kate discusses how the transition to online learning has transpired for her, her colleagues, and her students. Specifically, Kate details how the difficulties of the transition have manifested differently for different people in her teaching context. Throughout the episode, Kate also provides a number of practical solutions involving educational technology and adapted approaches to fit the new online teaching context.

Managing the variety of responsibilities that come with being a graduate student can be very stressful. So, how are graduate students managing this sudden transition to online learning during the pandemic? In this episode, we talk to a graduate student named Colin about his struggles and successes during this sudden transition to online learning. We discuss how his courses have been affected by the sudden transition to online learning, how it's affected his motivation and routine, and how this current period might affect the future of online learning.