Hi everyone! My name is Natallia Kuzmich and I am a LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) Instructor at NorQuest College here in Edmonton. I have been teaching ESL for 20 + years all over the world but got interested in online teaching a couple years ago when I had to teach a course with asynchronous component. I never thought it would be so exciting! Anyway, I started with Moodle, then took a few courses through OLC (Online Teaching Consortium), then did a certificate program with OLC and now hoping to go further doing courses at UBC!
I am currently teaching a Hybrid LINC course and enjoying it immensely! Our college is the only place in Edmonton offering LINC Hybrid and LINC online courses, and I am very proud to be a part of the team!
Besides my job, I have an 18 year old daughter Mary and two Maine Coon cats (Willy and Miley). Maine Coon cats are the biggest cats in the world! 🙂 I am a member of Edmonton Cat Fanciers club, so cats are my big hobby ;). I also like fashion and work as a personal shopper in my free time (helping people to shop in a smart way and look good). This is my other ‘fun’ job.
I am excited to meet new people and I am sure the course and you all will teach me a lot!
P.S. The image is the ‘reflection’ of my interests in a visual format. 🙂
Thanks,
Natallia
Carri-Ann Scott
May 15, 2018 — 3:06 pm
Hi, Natallia.
Maine Coon cats are my absolute fav! They are the best pets, so loving and – dare I say it – almost dog-like in their loyalty. My darling ‘Duffy’ was 20 years old last year when we had to say goodbye and we are still looking for a Maine Coone kitten to complete the family.
Your job is very interesting to me. I have thought about becoming TESOL certified to teach adults. I currently teach Chinese children through an online platform and love the ESL journey.
See you online!
Carri-Ann
Anonymous
May 15, 2018 — 5:50 pm
Oh Carri-Ann, sorry about Duffi… I agree that Coonies are the best! 🙂
I think becoming TESOL certified can open a lot of doors besides teaching adults! For example, you can assist or become an examiner at international exams like TOEFL or IELTS. It is a fun (and a well-paid job! 😉
What age are your Chinese students?
Carri-Ann Scott
May 15, 2018 — 7:19 pm
They are mainly Kindergarten aged, but I do teach some up to age 12. The young ones are the most fun though. I can be silly and get them giggling. Having fun is the best way to learn languages at that age.
natallia kuzmich
May 15, 2018 — 10:48 pm
Ohhh, that’s awesome! It might be more challenging with adults…
natallia kuzmich
May 15, 2018 — 10:44 pm
Oh Carri-Ann, sorry about Duffi… I agree that Coonies are the best!
I think becoming TESOL certified can open a lot of doors besides teaching adults! For example, you can assist or become an examiner at international exams like TOEFL or IELTS. It is a fun (and a well-paid) job.
What age are your Chinese students?
sally bourque
May 16, 2018 — 8:42 pm
Hi Natallia,
The Edmonton Cat Fanciers Club! That is the best thing I’ve heard all day! We need a club like that in Whitehorse!
I just met with someone who is tasked with re-vamping some old French-second-language online modules. Do you have any quick tips or resources for language learning online that I could pass along?
Anonymous
May 18, 2018 — 10:37 pm
Hi Sally! Sorry for the late response… Here is the list on super useful online tools!
TED Ed
TED Ed is a great tool for creating interactive video. If you’ve decided to experiment with TED Ed, you can get up and running quickly by completing the following:
1. Register – If you haven’t already, please register for a free account at TED Ed. Otherwise, log in to your account.
2. Create – To learn how to create your TED Ed interactive video, please read How Do I Create a New Lesson from a YouTube Video?
o Since this is just practice, I recommend that you find a video on a topic of interest, but don’t spend a lot of time locating the perfect video. Use your workshop time to develop skill with the tool so you’ll feel confident to do this on your own when the workshop ends.
3. Share – To learn how to share your TED Ed interactive lesson with your students, please read How Do I Share My Lesson with My Students?
o In the required assignment, you’ll be asked to share the link to your interactive video and others will be asked to view your video and interact with it.
For other questions – please review the FAQs that show you how to do everything with TED Ed from creating to editing, sharing, and more!!
PlayPosit
The PlayPosit interactive tool is really built around the needs of teachers – it lets you assign clips to students as part of a class. However, you can also do public sharing. If you’ve decided to experiment with this tool, you can get up and running quickly by completing the following:
1. Sign Up – Visit PlayPosit and sign up for a free account or Sign In with your Google account.
2. Create – Once you sign in, you’ll be taken to their quick tutorial page. Review that and then begin creating your first PlayPosit interactive video.
o Since this is just practice, I recommend that you find a video on a topic of interest, but don’t spend a lot of time locating the perfect video. Use your workshop time to develop skill with the tool so you’ll feel confident to do this on your own when the workshop ends.
3. Share – After you build your lesson, skip the assign step. This will take you to your lessons page. In your lessons page, you will notice an orange “share and embed” on each of your lesson thumbnails. Click on this and you will see an option to either “share with students” or “share publicly”. In your case, you will want to click on the public option and copy the link.
o In the required assignment, you’ll be asked to share the link to your interactive video and others will be asked to view your video and interact with it.
For other questions – please review the PlayPosit FAQs.
Vialogues
Discussing a video and answering questions about it can be a great interactive learning experience. If you’ve decided to experiment with Vialogues, please do the following to get up and running quickly:
1. Sign Up – If you haven’t already, please sign up for a free Vialogues account.
2. Create – Please read How Do I Create a Vialogue? to learn the basics.
o Part of creating a Vialogue is finding/using a great video. Using a video from YouTube or Vimeo will work nicely for practice. I recommend you find a video with a topic that interests you, but don’t spend a lot of time looking for that perfect video. Instead, use your time in this workshop to build your Vialogues skills so you’ll be prepared after the workshop to do this on your own with ease.
3. Comment – Include some interaction in your Vialogue by including discussion questions. See How Do I Add a Comment? to learn how to tackle this feature of Vialogues.
4. Polls – Add more interaction potential by adding poll questions to your Vialogue. Please read How Do I Add a Poll? to learn about the poll feature in Vialogues.
5. Share – Once you’ve created your Vialogue, you’ll want to make sure you know how to share it. Review how to change permissions on your vialogue.
o For the purposes of this workshop, please make your vialogue public. In the required assignment, you will be asked to provide a link to your video and others will be asked to view it and interact with it.
More Help – For all other how-to’s – from editing your vialogue to managing your vialogues – please read through the FAQs as needed.
Vizia
1. Sign Up – If you haven’t already, please sign up for a free Vizia account.
2. Tutorial – Watch this quick tutorial for help.
3. Locate – Your first step is to locate a video in YouTube that you’d like to use and get the URL for it.
4. Add Interactivity – Include some interaction by adding Polls, Quiz Questions, Responses, or Calls to Action along the timeline.
5. Share – Once you’ve created your Vizia, copy the share link and paste it. Or, you can grab the embed code and paste it.
Flip Grid
1. Watch – This basic tutorial shows you how to sign up, create your grid and topic, and share it.
2. Sign Up – If you haven’t already, please sign up for a free Flip Grid account.
3. Create Grid and Topic – Create a grid and topic you can use in your class
4. Share – Once you’ve created your Flip Grid, copy the share link and paste it in the discussion forum so we can see it. Or, you can grab the embed code and put that in the forum.
Need help? See Flip Grid Support for a wide selection of video tutorials and more.
I hope it will help,
Natallia
natallia kuzmich
May 18, 2018 — 10:42 pm
Hi Sally! Sorry for the late response… Here is the list on super useful online tools!
TED Ed
TED Ed is a great tool for creating interactive video. If you’ve decided to experiment with TED Ed, you can get up and running quickly by completing the following:
1. Register – If you haven’t already, please register for a free account at TED Ed. Otherwise, log in to your account.
2. Create – To learn how to create your TED Ed interactive video, please read How Do I Create a New Lesson from a YouTube Video?
o Since this is just practice, I recommend that you find a video on a topic of interest, but don’t spend a lot of time locating the perfect video. Use your workshop time to develop skill with the tool so you’ll feel confident to do this on your own when the workshop ends.
3. Share – To learn how to share your TED Ed interactive lesson with your students, please read How Do I Share My Lesson with My Students?
o In the required assignment, you’ll be asked to share the link to your interactive video and others will be asked to view your video and interact with it.
For other questions – please review the FAQs that show you how to do everything with TED Ed from creating to editing, sharing, and more!!
PlayPosit
The PlayPosit interactive tool is really built around the needs of teachers – it lets you assign clips to students as part of a class. However, you can also do public sharing. If you’ve decided to experiment with this tool, you can get up and running quickly by completing the following:
1. Sign Up – Visit PlayPosit and sign up for a free account or Sign In with your Google account.
2. Create – Once you sign in, you’ll be taken to their quick tutorial page. Review that and then begin creating your first PlayPosit interactive video.
o Since this is just practice, I recommend that you find a video on a topic of interest, but don’t spend a lot of time locating the perfect video. Use your workshop time to develop skill with the tool so you’ll feel confident to do this on your own when the workshop ends.
3. Share – After you build your lesson, skip the assign step. This will take you to your lessons page. In your lessons page, you will notice an orange “share and embed” on each of your lesson thumbnails. Click on this and you will see an option to either “share with students” or “share publicly”. In your case, you will want to click on the public option and copy the link.
o In the required assignment, you’ll be asked to share the link to your interactive video and others will be asked to view your video and interact with it.
For other questions – please review the PlayPosit FAQs.
Vialogues
Discussing a video and answering questions about it can be a great interactive learning experience. If you’ve decided to experiment with Vialogues, please do the following to get up and running quickly:
1. Sign Up – If you haven’t already, please sign up for a free Vialogues account.
2. Create – Please read How Do I Create a Vialogue? to learn the basics.
o Part of creating a Vialogue is finding/using a great video. Using a video from YouTube or Vimeo will work nicely for practice. I recommend you find a video with a topic that interests you, but don’t spend a lot of time looking for that perfect video. Instead, use your time in this workshop to build your Vialogues skills so you’ll be prepared after the workshop to do this on your own with ease.
3. Comment – Include some interaction in your Vialogue by including discussion questions. See How Do I Add a Comment? to learn how to tackle this feature of Vialogues.
4. Polls – Add more interaction potential by adding poll questions to your Vialogue. Please read How Do I Add a Poll? to learn about the poll feature in Vialogues.
5. Share – Once you’ve created your Vialogue, you’ll want to make sure you know how to share it. Review how to change permissions on your vialogue.
o For the purposes of this workshop, please make your vialogue public. In the required assignment, you will be asked to provide a link to your video and others will be asked to view it and interact with it.
More Help – For all other how-to’s – from editing your vialogue to managing your vialogues – please read through the FAQs as needed.
Vizia
1. Sign Up – If you haven’t already, please sign up for a free Vizia account.
2. Tutorial – Watch this quick tutorial for help.
3. Locate – Your first step is to locate a video in YouTube that you’d like to use and get the URL for it.
4. Add Interactivity – Include some interaction by adding Polls, Quiz Questions, Responses, or Calls to Action along the timeline.
5. Share – Once you’ve created your Vizia, copy the share link and paste it. Or, you can grab the embed code and paste it.
Flip Grid
1. Watch – This basic tutorial shows you how to sign up, create your grid and topic, and share it.
2. Sign Up – If you haven’t already, please sign up for a free Flip Grid account.
3. Create Grid and Topic – Create a grid and topic you can use in your class
4. Share – Once you’ve created your Flip Grid, copy the share link and paste it in the discussion forum so we can see it. Or, you can grab the embed code and put that in the forum.
Need help? See Flip Grid Support for a wide selection of video tutorials and more.