Lecturer from our English Studies Department participates in International Conference

Margarita Kosior, Lecturer of our English Studies Department, participated in the 22nd International IATEFL Slovenia Conference with a presentation entitled “Adopt, Adapt, Improve”. 

The conference took place on 5-8 March in Terme Topolšica, Slovenia, and Ms. Kosior co-presented a workshop “When ELT met TED”.

In the first part of the session, Dimitris Tzouris, Social Media Officer at TEDxThessaloniki, introduced the audience to TED, a platform for sharing ideas, and TEDEd, an educational platform that allows anyone to create an online lesson based on a YouTube video.

During the second part, Ms. Kosior explained how she has revolutionised her way of teaching by discarding traditional handouts and turning to online assignments built around TED talks of her choice. This innovative method involves assigning comprehension questions, recommending additional sources and getting the students involved in an online discussion.

After the projection of a short TED talk (“Try Something New for 30 Days” by Matt Cutts) the audience got actively involved in creating an online lesson from scratch.

The workshop was well attended and the feedback positive. Representatives of EFL teachers' associations from the Balkan region and central Europe expressed interest in the TED+ELT combination, and the presenters were invited to write an article for ELTA Serbia which will be published in their ELTA Journal.