In December, the representatives of CGE Anastasiia Soholovska and Emilia Teresenko went to the training course “Young Trainer Online” in Barcelona. They tell about their experience, discoveries and useful resources for creating online courses. Check out the article for more information!
The training course “Youth Trainer Online” from 10th to 16th of December was organised by iWith.org and financed by Erasmus Plus Programme. The main objectives of the course were promoting e-learning approach among educators and those who are interested in creating online courses and equipping the participants with digital skills, knowledge about useful web instruments and platforms.
Some of the participants arrived to Barcelona one or two days before the training started – and it was very inspiring to explore the wonderful city, walk around the Gothic Quarter, Gracia, stroll along the Rambla, visit Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Gaudí buildings and other places that are worth seeing – especially if you are here for the first time. After it we were prepared to immerse in intensive program of the training course for the next six days.
It started with the welcoming evening on Monday with a Spanish dinner in “pica-pica” style. The participants from Germany, Greece, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Spain got acquainted with each other and had a pleasant time together. On the following day we met in Civic Centre Drassanes and learnt more about the online education, platforms and applications that can be used for teaching. We were using Action Bound for the first time – an app that allows you to create activities and task for learners. We needed to walk around the district, take pictures, film videos, even draw and speak in front of camera, which was very engaging, interactive and team building experience. In the afternoon we get the opportunity to be listeners of webinar and educational Skype call. Trying the roles of learner and trainer at the same time enables you to estimate different instruments and choose what better works for you and may be the easiest way to memorise information for your learners.
The third day was dedicated to widening our perspective on e-learning and range of tools that we can use. We shared what applications and platforms we know, tested few of them, summarized our experiences and offered some ideas on how the apps may be improved. This day ended with traditional Intercultural evening and sharing some customs of our countries.
On the next morning the participants enjoyed a cognitive break – we went to the bunkers of Carmel to get a bird’s-eye view of Barcelona. It was definitely worth traveling to this place and climbing up – the landscape looked incredible. After returning to the training centre we split in several groups and started working on our final outcome of the TC – an online course. The next two days were dedicated to creating it and we were writing texts, speaking in front of camera with a prompter, creating infographics and surveys. On the last day of the training we had the opportunity to present our online courses, see the ones created by our collegues and give a feedback. Also we planned follow-up activities and discussed future possibilities to use and disseminate what we have learnt.
Beside the informative and productive training sessions, we also enjoyed our outdoor activities, tasting local food, getting to know more about Spanish traditions, visiting Christmas market, feeling the festive and vital spirit of Barcelona.
These six days were quite dynamic and passed very quickly. We learnt a lot and created our first online courses in two days. At the same time, we feel that there are many things that we can continue learning and creating that may form a program of one more traning course, which Emilia mentions in her testimonial:
Emilia Teresenko
CGE representative
General impressions from the workshop were overwhelmed by the magical charm of the Barcelona city. Distinguishing colourful mosaic architecture and the sparkling treasures of Spanish conquerors… forget all this exciting flair, if you are coming to the training here. At least for a week you will have to concentrate on strictly online learning and online based educational platforms. I think it is very important to use the modern technologies in the planning of your classes, doesn’t matter, if it is language class or handicraft. A couple of new platforms that we learned during the workshop are useful because of their eye catching friendly designs and functionality to hold the interest of the remote audience in different corners of the country or even around the world. It was nice to learn them and enjoy this new experience by working with them in a nice motivated team. Nevertheless, the most important thing, while creating an own online lesson is, in my humble opinion, the content quality. Well, in this case, another training course should be organised.
We would like to thank iWith.org for organising this course, trainer Alla Krinitsyna and everyone who helped to organise and conduct the training!
Also, thanks to Vera Bécser and Anna Lepskaya for the pictures from the course that are used in this blog post.
If you are interested to learn more about e-learning, platforms for creating online courses and being trainer in front of camera, please sign up for webinar here and join us on 13th of February at 7 pm (CET)!
