ELF Conference 2016 Unitar Report

It was a bright and early morning in Petaling Jaya at Unitar. Participants and presenters filed in from all over Malaysia. People came from the far distance range of Kota Kinabalu to Kota Bharu. In all there were over 160 participants and 27 workshops. It was so commendable the various teachers attending on a Saturday in the middle of Ramadhan. What a reflection on their dedication and commitment to continuous professional development. Malaysia is lucky to have the likes of these teachers in the ranks.

The ELF Conference 2016 was staffed by students from Unitar's English Department. They were spot on and brimming with enthusiasm. Every step of the way you could be greeted by their smiles and there willingness to help. They had so many positive role models to choose from the crowd, plus they were quick to chat everyone up.

Emily Jones & Christa Bixby were wonderful hosts and presented a collaborative learning presentation with a group task included. They are 2 of the 4 ELFs working in Malaysia. English Language Fellows are on loan by the US State Dept to local universities to inspire and uplift local English Programs. The other 2 ELFs were also present: Shaheed (Kelantan) and Thai (Sabah). They are all doing good work in different parts of the country.

Did I mention, this is my first time presenting at an Educational Conference? Well it was, so I brought my A-game. The session is only 45 minutes long, not a whole lot of time. The workshop before me ran a little over in time, so that shaved off a few minutes. Luckily, since lunch preceded my session, I manage to negotiate a few extra minutes with the room monitor. I decided to do an abbreviated version of my popular workshop, The Role of the Teacher in the 21st Century Classroom.

There were 7 workshops going on simultaneously, so there were about 20 attendees who chose to participate in mine. Luckily, I wasn't nervous, but I was struggling with time issues with a delayed start. I told everyone in the beginning to fasten their seat belts, because we were going to have to fly through the material.

This added another element to the high spirited turbotastic breakout session. I started with the pre-toon as a preview of the workshop activities. My lead-in activity was English Mania, followed by a short discussion. Next, we jumped into small groups tasked with the generating the most important thing or concept of 21st Century Classroom. After we had an activity comparing concepts between the 20th and 21st Century Classrooms, it was completed and discussed in pairs. Finally, we showcased SCORM packages on FrogVLE. I apologised for the fast and furious pace, but the majority didn't mind.

As the string of educators left the room, I got some positive feedback. I also received one written feedback I'll share:

It was fantastic, your presentation, I like your techniques of teaching language, especially the cartoon. (Khalid)

Well thanks Khalid and thanks to all the participants and people who made the Conference possible!