Speakers
Description
What exactly is the difference between Project Based Learning (PBL) and merely doing a project in class? During this hands-on workshop, the presenters will introduce a comprehensive 8-week online training course designed in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy’s Regional English Language Office and the Ministry of Education and Training to emphasize the essential knowledge, skills, and resources required to successfully implement PBL in English language classrooms throughout Vietnam. Participants will explore the benefits of PBL, including working with authentic, culturally relevant contexts, engaging in collaborative inquiry, and using reflection and critical thinking skills. They will dive deeper into what is needed to craft an effective and meaningful driving question for students to engage with to provide the basis for their PBL unit. Educators will learn to integrate local contexts into project design, creating learning experiences that connect with learners to enrich the educational landscape of Vietnam. The workshop facilitators will offer practical strategies and tools to integrate PBL into existing curricula. By understanding project design principles, educators will acquire skills to create learning experiences that foster inquiry, collaboration, and authentic problem-solving.
Biography
CRYSTAL BOCK THIESSEN
Crystal Bock Thiessen graduated with Bachelors degrees in both Photography and Spanish, and received her Masters in TESL from the University of Central Missouri, USA where she eventually worked with the Intensive English Program (IEP) for a year and a half. She taught EFL in Sapporo, Japan for three years with the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, and in Lugansk, Ukraine for one as an English Language Fellow in conjunction with Georgetown University and the U.S. Department of State. She has worked as a U.S. Department of State English Language Specialist in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Belarus, Russia, and Vietnam with an emphasis on team-teaching, photography and video for the language classroom, and language-learning through community engagement. Currently, she is an ESL instructor and a PhD Candidate at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Besides teaching and running a restaurant with her husband, she is a professional photographer and, combined with her love of travel, has photographed and visited 53 countries and 32 U.S. states.
SUMMER PEIXOTO
With over 20 years of experience in teaching and training, Ms. Peixoto is an established professional in international education. During her time as an Academic Program Associate at the University of Kansas, she taught a variety of courses in the Intensive English Program and the English for Academic Purposes program. She also managed two language labs, helped design new online curricula, and assisted in developing and teaching a TEFL Certificate Course. Ms. Peixoto has contributed her expertise in teaching and educational technology training to various university and State Department-related programs, including the Brazil English Teachers Program (PDPI), the Vietnamese Teachers Program, Project Jayhawk, Fulbright, and Hubert Humphrey Fellows. She is a veteran of the Fulbright National Screening Committee and the KU Fulbright Campus Committee, as well as a former trainer for Fulbright English Teaching Assistants preparing for East Asia and Eastern Europe.
| Online Profile | https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbthiessen/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/summerpeixoto/ |
|---|
