Looking for good news in an online U of S class during April 2020
The central section of this file is the transcript of an online discussion forum, along with some background context. As the course facilitator, I was concerned that some people were becoming very upset about the negative information found online, particularly the SHA modelling numbers for COVID-19 fatalities. In response, I created a bonus discussion activity to share good news stories about ways in which they had very recently used something they had learned in order to create a positive result. I have not used the full names of the contributors, and I have contacted everyone to allow them to withdraw or modify their material. All the replies I received were in full support of submitting the transcript as is.
I have been involved with ECUR 291.3 (via Extension/DEU) since 1990. The course gives teachers at various stages in their careers, and in various geographical, locations, an introduction to teaching English to learners of all ages and proficiency levels. These learners could be in a country where English would be a foreign language, such as Japan, or, more usually, in a country like Canada, where English is the/a predominant language. Most people who register for this course want to get a better understanding of how best to help such learners in their mainstream classes, though some may have an interest in becoming ESL/EAL teachers specifically.