Owlcast 22 - with Dr. Maria Avgerinou

In the classrooms and corridors of K-12 schools, the voices of the children and the guiding presence of the teachers are the protagonists. Children belong to this environment as it is meant to be. The activity in a classroom, an auditorium, or the athletic facility seems most of the time that it’s meant to happen on its own. But there’s so much happening behind the scenes. There’s so much planning and discussion is taking place, in the offices of the faculty and the administration, so much debate about this teaching practice, that evaluation process, and the other methodology. Especially in international schools, where ideas and concepts come from all kinds of sources, from local intellectual discussions and from international academic conferences, there is so much to share and get inspiration from. Faculty and specialists arrive from around the world to share their best practices and move to the next level of their academic careers. The goal is quite common but also very unique for each school. It’s the advancement and continuous reform of teaching and learning, as young minds are shaped to hopefully make this world a better place.

Today with us is Dr. Maria Avgerinou, e-Learning consultant and one of the Managing Editors of the International Schools Journal, a publication of ACS Athens. With an academic career in online teaching and learning and a passion for Visual Literacy, Dr. Avgerinou has been a keystone in the long path of the school towards e-learning innovation.

With Dr. Avgerinou, today we discuss:  

• Online Teaching and Learning as necessary skills for someone starting a career in academia

• The practical and pedagogical reasons of the shift to online learning in K-12 education

• Being prepared to face online learning in higher education - the challenges and skills needed

• The trailblazers, the movers, and the settlers of the path to online learning

• The false assumption that blended learning has to do mostly with technology than pedagogy

• Students reacting to online teaching

• Being an online native user vs. an online learner

• The importance of time management in online learning

• Bridging K-12 with Higher Education - The i²Flex blended learning reference books

• How action research transforms the teaching and learning culture of a school

• Publishing the International Schools Journal

• A passion for visual literacy ... and architecture