Oh la la! from the French Department
For students who don’t already speak French, our morning and evening classes allow them the opportunity to more fully integrate into their environment in Paris. We have caught up with two of our faculty members, Claudia Fontu and Arnaud Hedin, to see how they are adapting French classes to the online format.
How has attendance been in your classes? Are students able to connect easily?
CF: I have had a few fun time-related stories. At the beginning of remote classes one student completely forgot he was living in a different time zone and called me at 5am! Another student located in Paris accidentally fell asleep and missed the class at 5pm. A third student missed the time change in Europe at the end of March. Now students are present, on time, they do the homework and they are as involved as they can be.
AH: Attendance has been good because I opted to offer many time slots so my students can pick the best one for them. I have students in Canada, others in Israel or Bulgaria, students in Taiwan and Pakistan, and a bunch in Paris. This means that in addition to their usual classes being moved to different slots, I needed to widen the range of possibilities and be as flexible as possible. The Internet connection is not always perfect: many of us got frozen a couple of times despite the hot weather :-)))
Have you noticed any difference in the type of interactions? Are students more or less likely to join in on screen vs in the classroom?
AH: The interactions are obviously different since we are not on an onsite exchange but it means that everyone needs to let the other students finish their speech before talking and be mindful of respecting the discussion flow!-) It is also sometimes funny to see how we are interacting at different times in the day: some are finishing their breakfast, others are in bed, about to go to sleep, some have a bright sunny background, others a more cosy and soft-lighted background.
Arnaud mentions above the way he has changed the format of his schedule. Is your class at the usual time or have you also adapted the schedule to meet the needs of students calling in from various time zones?
CF: I have also adapted my schedule. I do the classes in two groups based on time zones : Australia and Asia, and Europe and the US. I also now offer individual weekly meetings.
You are both adding additional one-on-one classes? How has that helped?
CF: The students seem to like it. It is like private tutoring. Beginners feel that kind of need. Encompassing both collective interactive classes and one-on-one classes seems to work the best.
AH: Every week I give my students a project to work on and then present to me on a one-on-one basis. It is great because full focus is given to the student and we can also discuss other topics that arise in the student’s routine.
Which portions from your syllabus have you changed in order to adapt to this new format?
CF: I have decided no to do quizzes or a final exam. I am giving the same homework of written exercises as well as the oral presentations and dialogues.
AH: I decided to delete the exam format and concentrate on autonomous learning, one-on-one project discussions and group topic discussions and debates. I also introduced a great element that suits the context: a diary of life under quarantine in French with my regular corrections.
Some of you show videos in class. Are you still assigning those during class or outside of class?
CF: I have the students watch more short videos than I usually do in the classroom.
AH: I have asked students to work on a French movie and present it to me on a one-on-one basis. It worked well. I also share links with videos in French that students can work on independently.
We know it is a challenge to learn new tech skills with a week’s notice and that the joy of your teaching comes from direct contact with your students. We can imagine the downsides. Do you have any upsides to share? Any special connections with students or moments of inspiration born of our current situation?
CF: Yes. We are simply happy to see each other, to be able to ask live questions, one student being in India and another in Istanbul, Taipei, Canberra or Chicago. We share more and appreciate the chance we have to share knowledge and fun moments as much as we can.
AH: Definitely, the one-on-one sessions and the French diary brings up a lot of personal casualties that are shared in a positive way. I also enjoyed adding a screen background to my last group discussion on dream vacations. Students had a good laugh seeing me talking with a pure blue sea on a dream island I went to some years ago when I was actually talking from my messy room with my kids screaming behind me:-)))
