Abstract:

After the learning challenges caused by the global pandemic, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) found new initiatives to keep the students engaged and motivated to learn a second language. The presenters will showcase interactive online lessons and class activities used to overcome these encounters.

The presenters will share their experience adopting technological platforms in preparing students to become independent, responsible, and critical thinkers. They will showcase how they married MS Forms and Stream to design practical and creative activities during the reading, listening, speaking, and grammar hours. Also, the presenters will illustrate how to utilize Sway to best display the students' productive skills, whether speaking or writing, using a digital newsletter.

The presentation will include a Podcast project they named "Together on the Air سوا عالهوا" that empowers student learning and improves their production. It is a bi-weekly event where students work in pairs to create a podcast on an assigned topic. After recording the podcast, it gets uploaded to a provided SWAY. Students pair off with a different partner every two weeks and create a podcast on a given subject. The students enjoyed working on this project, and their production skills improved as they pushed themselves to speak for lengthier periods, allowing for more autonomy and self-directed learning.

The session will focus on project-based learning activities to deepen students' cultural and background knowledge. The presenters will guide the audience on how to subscribe and set up the web-based tools.

Keywords:

Arabic, Grammar, Podcast, Sway, MS Forms, Interactive lessons.