Building

Communities:

From Teachers

to Teachers

Ayat Al-Tawel

&

Hanaa Khamis

How we startedMid-2016: Email/FB MSG:

Why not collaborate on building a SIG for LT?

Sounds great, where do we start?

Write up a proposal. Solicit interested community members. Submit to NT

board.

Google Docs. Drafts, edits, comments, links, rewrites, final product.

Google forms with bio data: name, email, governorate, yrs of experience,

interest in joining steering committee, presenting in LT events, etc

FB MSG post. Invite networked friends/colleagues to join in future SIG

Attached ~ 50 respondents’ data. Proposal accepted. SIG created & publicized

Reaching out to the communityClosed & moderated Group:

- Posts & regular forwards of free virtual events, materials/activities, etc

- Polls. Decisions & preferences

- Events. Reminders of key national & international LT events

- Steering committee e-elections

- FB Live. Livestreaming conference events

Posting in various ELT, e-learning, educational FB groups

Tagging with @friends’ names and/or #hashtags (#niletesol, #ltsig, #vrtwebcon)

Planning for 1st F2F eventSending call for presenters. Low response rate

Circulating announcement & program (Facebook

groups, MSG, NT website, email)

Free venue offered by SCE/AUC

Modest turnout (30+). Very engaged audience

Use of participants’ 3G mobile packages for

hands-on practice

Very positive post feedback (more time

dedicated to sessions)

Planning for 1st webinar

TESOL EVO 2017 post

Inquiries & doubts about the nature & details of

online sessions

Raising awareness of free webinars/training

Invitation to Mbarek Akaddar (EVO Lead

coordinator) & Maria Bossa (Evo coordination

team)

Using LearningTimes Vroom offered for Webheads

Session given by Maria and Ayat, moderated by

Hanaa

Planning for 1st virtual interview

Empowering Teachers with Moodle - Dr.

Nellie Deutsch

Inquiries about e-learning and Moodle on

our FB page

Live interview in WizIQ (recorded for

playback)

WizIQ-generated YouTube video, MP3

recording, chat script and SlideShare

slides

1st year achievements in 12 min

NileTESOL SIGs first event (NileTESOL

conference)

All previous achievements in 12 minutes

Summary of events / Feedback / Future plans

Powerpoint slides / co presenting

Video (summary of all events) /visual support

Live streaming in our FB page

2nd year 1st F2F outreach

seminarAlexandria University, Faculty of Education, English Dept

Sending call for presenters . Emails. Tagging potential presenters from Alex

Higher response rate than previous events

Online preregistration (Google Form). 44 pre-registered → 24 showed up

Google feedback form (low response cf. printed forms in 1st F2F event)

Low tech: No internet provided . Some used their own USB internet for interactive games. Attendees

used their 3G mobile access: bad coverage

Significant increase in the number of new members after the event

2nd year 1st VRT symposiumCollaborative effort:

- Two presenters from Egypt

- One Egyptian presenter from the US

- One international presenter from Spain

- Host from Germany

Time difference. Busy schedules. Distractions. Asynchronous communication

Collaborative tools (Google docs,Google slides, FB MSG groups, WhatsApp groups)

Challenges within the teamDifferent styles/personality types (early birds/night owls;

early/late starters)

Losing momentum. Bumpy communication. Assumptions.

Unstated expectations

Getting caught up due to work or life commitments

Discrepancies in tech expertise (complement one

another)

Losing entered data on Google Forms due to some

mistake (no reverts offered!!)

Breakdowns in collaborative tools, e.g. Google slides

(freezes, no saves/reverts)

Challenges with the real worldWorking through/around various systems/hierarchies

Bottom-up planning nature of networked communities vs. top-

down planning in national universities & sometimes in private

institutions

Disinterest in learning technologies: perceived as a fancy tool

Lack of technology access in many Egyptian classes (other

than private institutions)

Lack of motivation among teachers to take risks with new

learning technologies

Restrictions in using mobile learning to compensate for lack of

technology in class

Challenges with members & attendeesLack of time to attend training

Lack of motivation due to lack of technology support in many

schools

Low internet bandwidth. Limited 3G mobile data packages.

Unstable connectivity

Limited active participation unless prompted individually

Lack of commitment. 45 pre-registered online → 30 showed

up F2F

Disinterest to engage in extended online dialog over events,

activities, etc

Archiving/Documenting artefacts

Web-based/mobile app-based tools:

- WhatsApp Group

- FB Group

- Google Drive

- Dropbox

- YouTube channels

Promoting/Raising SIG's profile

Creating promo slideshows before/after

events (Slideshow Maker)

Creating promo animated gifs (PicsArt)

Livestreaming our F2F events on

Facebook Group (FB Live)

Posting instant video snippets of F2F

events (mobile video shoots)

Posting instant video screencasts of

virtual events (Recordable.mobi)

Future prospects

Circulate needs questionnaires to prioritize topics of interest

Enhance SIG’s performance & meet our members’ needs with more tools

Use Twitter for announcements and live chats

Utilize Webheads room in more virtual events

Initiate Q&A chats with guest speakers in various LT topics

Open channels of communication with national universities (& hopefully schools)

Go outside Cairo for more outreach events

AcknowledgementsAmira Salama (NT former President)

Alexander Lewko (NT President)

Dr. Maha Hamed (SIGs Chair)

School of Continuing Ed/American University in

Cairo

Alexandria University

Vance Stevens (Webheads/ Learning2gether,

UAE)

Maria Bossa (Argentina)

Dr. Nellie Deutsch (Canada)

Heike Philp (VRT Web conference, Germany)

NileTESOL LTSIG presenters

NileTESOL LTSIG members

NileTESOL LTSIG Steering Committee

For more information on NileTESOL LTSIG,

please join its Facebook Group:

https://tinyurl.com/niletesol-ltsig

OR refer to NileTESOL website:

http://niletesol.org/learning-technologies-sig/