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

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.