The Työväen Akatemia is a folk high school near Helsinki Finland, founded in 1924 to provide university level education to working adults. During the academic year, the students can take one-year courses in a range of humanistic subjects, from history to law and from psychology to languages.
Cover image source: Työväen Akatemia’s official website at www.akatemia.org
Why did Työväen Akatemia choose Sanako Connect as their language teaching platform?
Samantha Eldred who is an English teacher (mostly adults at B2-C2 level) at Työväen Akatemia and also a project manager in a Erasmus+ project (digital tools for language education) tells us that “initially during the pandemic, I used Sanako Connect for live teaching of all my pronunciation lessons; since then, I have mostly used it for asynchronous teaching. If a large group of students are going to be absent from class (through sickness or travel commitments, for example), then I might also use it for hybrid teaching. Connect allows me to teach both the students who are physically present in the language class and those who are joining online; it is also easy to monitor and give formative feedback to both sets of students while they are working.”
“Connect allows me to teach both the students who are physically present in the language class and those who are joining online; it is also easy to monitor and give formative feedback to both sets of students while they are working.”
How has Sanako Connect helped at Työväen Akatemia?
Samantha also tells us that “I find that Sanako Connect is very easy to use, and that setting up exercises is straightforward. There is a good variety of exercise formats, which makes it possible to create a range of engaging and targeted exercises for my learners. I also appreciate the ability to move components around inside a particular session, and to reuse materials and exercises that I have created in previous sessions.”
“I primarily use the Advanced and Simple recorder features on Sanako Connect with my pronunciation class students, for both revision and catch-up purposes. The Advanced recorder allows them to compare their own pronunciation with a model, while the simple recorder lets them record themselves reading or speaking and then listen back to themselves; I may also ask them to use this feature for listening back to pair or group work recordings.”
“I set homework assignments in Sanako Connect at the end of each class, so that students can review and practice the skills that we have been working on that particular week; this really helps reinforce their learning. I may also ask them to submit extra practice recordings for feedback.”
“The platform also allows me to post material and practice exercises for individuals who cannot be present in person for a particular pronunciation session; with all class materials at their fingertips in Connect, they can review what they have missed and do the same practice exercises as they would have done in class. They can also submit recordings so that I can check how well they have mastered the skills of the week.”
“I also like the feature that allows students to read aloud words and phrases, and to get automatic feedback on their pronunciation. As well as pronunciation, I use Sanako Connect a lot with various groups of students who are practicing their public speaking skills and/or preparing to deliver presentations. Connect allows them to record and listen back to themselves; they can repeat the process as often as they like, and then submit recordings for formative feedback.”
“As well as pronunciation, I use Sanako Connect a lot with various groups of students who are practicing their public speaking skills and/or preparing to deliver presentations. Connect allows them to record and listen back to themselves; they can repeat the process as often as they like, and then submit recordings for formative feedback.”
Finally, Samantha mentions that “Administratively, it is much easier for me to listen to student submissions and to give feedback on them directly in the Sanako Connect platform, sooner than in a separate learning management system. All of the recordings are in the same place, and it is simple to give written or spoken feedback to students directly inside Connect.”
“For the students too, Sanako Connect offers a handy one-stop shop, where they can record, listen back, revise and submit their audios all in one place, without the need to go through the cumbersome process of downloading their recordings from elsewhere, and then uploading them to another platform.”
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