COVID-19 happened... then schools closed and teaching had to move onto online platforms. I had to adapt my teaching and the way that I presented tasks to my students.
I thought to myself, ok, it’s time to make PowerPoints and find online games for my students. I began to carry out my usual procedure, but there was a little doubting feeling in me. A feeling telling me that I should try something different.
That’s when a friend of mine came up with a brilliant idea. They suggested that we could produce online podcasts for our students. Students could access these podcasts using private links, and could answer comprehensive questions linked to the podcasts. I found this to be a brilliant method to enable students to get a little bit more engaged with learning English. It was also different from the every-day tasks that I used to provide, and it didnt go unappreciated by my students!
Podcasts also allowed me to help students practice an area which struggled with. Through podcasts, students can listen to your accent. I found that pronunciation is something my students struggled with all the time. Unfortunately, accents are something that you pick up by constantly listening to a language. You cannot learn accents by reading text, memorising or repeating words. It is not as simple as learning the conjugation of verbs. The most effective way to learn accents is through actively listening, and then repeating the words. Podcasts are an amazing way to provide an opportunity for your students to listen to the correct pronunciation of words and pick up phrases.
After having discovered this amazing new way of helping students learn English, I could never go back to making PowerPoint slides. I guarantee that students will enjoy listening to your Podcasts, appreciating the effort you took to think outside of the box.
