The ESOL Nexus project aims to support ESOL learners and teachers through web-based resources. Funded by the European Integration Fund, the project's website provides resources that are piloted with learners. Feedback is collected to measure the impact of the resources and ensure they are useful, engaging, at the right level, and help learners learn and apply what they learned. While traditional feedback methods like surveys can be difficult for some cultures, alternative methods of gathering feedback are suggested, such as using "likes", recording answers, or texting responses.

1. http://esol.britishcouncil.org
“Everything is perfect”
EAQUALS – April 2014
ESOL Nexus

2. Content
• Introduction to the ESOL Nexus project
• What do learners really like?
• Feedback – measuring impact
• The problem(s) with learner feedback
• Getting feedback from your learners – some ideas

4. The ESOL Nexus project
The project is funded by the
European Fund for the integration of
third country nationals (EIF)
Our main aim is to support ESOL
learners and teachers via web-
based resources
http://esol.britishcouncil.org

5. The ESOL Nexus project
• The website
• Pilot centres and link teachers
• ESOL resource specialists

6. What do learners really like?

7. What do learners really like?

8. It’s all about impact…

9. Feedback – measuring impact (Phillips)
Engagement (1)
Learning (2)
Action (3)
Impact (4)

10. The Phillips model in the context of teaching:
What lasting impact is our teaching intended to achieve? (level 4)
In order to achieve this, how would we expect the behaviours and
actions of the learners to change? (level 3)
So, what would they need to know in order for their behaviour
to change? (level 2)
And, how do we know from the start that the learners are
engaged with the subject matter? (level 1)

11. Measuring impact on the ESOL Nexus project?
Piloting:
• Are the resources useful? (1)
• Are they interesting? (1)
• Are they the right level? (1)
• Does anyone learn anything? (2)
• Will learners be able to do something they couldn’t do before? (3)
User Testing:
• Is the website easy to use and accessible? (1)
• Can learners make progress with their English? (2)
• Will learners come back to it a second time? (3)

12. The desire to please:

13. Missing the point:

14. Language level:

15. Culture
“Asking people to use a scale, from say from 1 to 5, to quantify how
they feel about an issue is well understood in many countries. But in
Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, it took a lot of time to do this,
particularly in rural areas. So we simplified the process to a two-step
prompt, first asking respondents to choose between 'agree' and
'disagree' and then to choose between 'strongly (dis)agree' and 'slightly
(dis)agree'. This way, by simply adapting our approach, we were still
able to get people to use the degree of scale we wanted.”
Chuanyan Zhu
Research Officer, BBC Media Action

16. Alternative ways of gathering feedback:
“Likes”

17. Alternative ways of gathering feedback:
The lesson was....
I learnt....
I will remember.....
I won't remember.....

18. Alternative ways of gathering feedback:
What did you think of today’s lesson?
Record your answer here:
Happy with your recording?
Send it to: teacher@goatmail.co.uk

19. Vote!
Text your answers to the survey

20. Contact:
Dot.Powell@britishcouncil.org
http://esol.britishcouncil.org