Adult school offers hybrid ESL classes

El Monte-Rosemead Adult School intermediate level ESL (English Second Language) students are taking weekly quizzes online and submitting assignments from home during the weekends using Moodle. Moodle is “an Open Source Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It has become very popular among educators around the world as a tool for creating online dynamic web sites for their students.”
“Teacher Sandra Anderson participated in an online teaching academy last year in Sacramento where she learned how to use Moodle to manage student enrollment in an online learning environment,” said principal Robin Torres. “Moodle is used by millions of educators globally.”
According to Torres, Anderson converted the class textbook into Moodle compatible files and uploaded them into her Moodle course. Students can log on and take their weekly quizzes in the computer lab on Fridays or over the weekend at home. They can complete their writing assignments at home and post them for the teacher to read before the next class session.
“Many of Ms. Anderson’s students have little experience using computers,” said Torres. “The sessions in the lab provide them the opportunity to gain computer literacy skills as well as improve their English. They like this extra lab time to reinforce learning in the classroom and especially like being able to access the class from home.”
Teacher James Zhang has also introduced online learning to his students and uses the recently acquired ESLreadingsmart program in his lab.
“Students in hybrid classes have the advantage of face-to-face instruction in the classroom where they can interact in a comfortable setting and practice their newly acquired language skills,” said Torres. “Online instruction offers additional learning opportunities using technology. Students in both these classes are enjoying the hybrid experience and are excited to expand their English proficiency online.”

By Anne Donofrio-Holter

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