Finding out that our school was the nominee for the 2nd live link of the EPAS programme, I realised that this would be an interesting challenge for the students. Although only three students would attend the live link (Students interview politicians), I considered important that all students look into EU matters and select three to four EU issues they are interested to learn more about. I am glad that I have linked the thematic units of the English class with correlating EU themes.
Preparation:The EPAS booklet modules have helped but I felt that more information was needed to prepare students for the interview. Students in groups selected the topics of interest to them and apart from relevant links with information on their selected themes-migration, unemployment, environmental issues) - which were posted on their wiki, they did extra search on the internet. It was interesting to see students taking the lead, exhibiting a motive for learning more about crucial EU issues that affect their lives, all all Europeans for that matter. The process of writing the questions on the set topic was very interesting as the questions demonstrated their knowledge on the topic and questioning skill.
The use of technology, and specifically our wiki and connection via email and messenger facilitated updates on the work and feedback from me. Interestingly, the EU audio visual material from the EU parliament website I shared with them via our messenger group, has provided them with the latest information about directives and generally information on the issues understudy. I must admit that I had never used messenger before that but as I found out that students use it and they find it convenient, a student created the group in order to share videos and other EU information. Students have even watched online interviews of the politicians they would interview so that they can learn more about them and the position they hold in the set topics. Messenger worked and I was impressed when students came to class and commented on some of the videos they watched.
Speaking/questioning skills: Ss got the message :being good listeners (being very attentive to what the speaker says so that they can ask questions at specific points made and adjust questions accordingly).
I was impressed to see a student come up with questions on the latest news.
The live link in action
I liked my role as a viewer and students as actors(in this case interviewers of an EU MP Mrs Eleni Theocharous and Cyprus MP, Mrs Eleni Mavrou. I was glad to see my students relaxed. They had their questions and hardly any notes with them. The whole interview ran smoothly and at the end of the interview, the participants seemed happy with how it all went. The chat after the interview gave me and my students a feeling of accomplishment.
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