Improvements and Agorà DRIVE
Hello everyone!
I must admit: Agorà’s current growth is beyond my brightest expectations.
And that’s all thanks to the many people joining every month and supporting this initiative with helpful feedback.
At the previous event, you shared your thoughts about timing. Which is why we switched from a 50min event to a 60min one. We also changed how you all interact with breakout rooms by giving you the freedom to choose the room (instead of us asking where you wanted to go!). Baby steps which will lead to the kind of event I had in mind when I first though of Agorà.
Today I want to share with you the newest “upgrade”. At the end of both events, I have received messages asking for power point slides and materials shared by the speakers in the breakout rooms. Well, wait no more.
Agorà DRIVE is the answer to your needs. This online folder hosted on Google Drive will be updated every month with everything our speakers can share with you. We will send you the link two times: ONCE during the event (for those who make it to the event), ONCE in our newsletter (for those who couldn’t attend).
I will try to answer some of the questions you might have:
- You do NOT need a Google account to access the files;
- You do NOT need to register an account to access the files;
- You CAN download single files or even the entire folder.
As we move forward we might find other ways to use this folder even during the event. In March, Nate Olson used Google Forms during the event to ask questions to the audience. We might use these folders to share the results with all of you. We have also received suggestions regarding the use of Google Docs to take group notes during the event. I am looking into this but I am concerned this could reduce actual talking time (many focusing on writing rather than speaking), which is why I’ve decided to setup DRIVE so you know you’re going to get something to keep.
One last thing: keep those feedback forms coming. This event is for all of you, so I need to hear all of your voices! Besides, I’m always talking too much during these events, so you better take away some of that talking time!
Nicholas J. Wilson
Nicholas J. Wilson is an elementary and junior high school English teacher and curriculum developer fostering students’ digital literacy through foreign language education. He is a Level 1 & 2 Google Certified Educator and Level 1 Adobe Creative Educator in charge of supporting the professional development of English and Japanese teachers as a mentor, area leader, and member of the local board of education’s Digital Transformation Committee. His current research focuses on exploring the potential of the metaverse as a learning environment. He is also an active JALT officer involved in planning, promoting, and coordinating regional events and national conferences, and the founder and organizer of ALT Agorà, a series of monthly webinars designed for assistant language teachers, part of the ALT Training Online grassroots initiative.
