Techfugees’ chapter in Cambridge 🇬🇧 is organizing a one-and-a-half day hackathon to focus on improving digital resources for entry level English as a foreign language and creating resources for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teachers working with refugees.
The challenge at the heart of this event is the difficulty that teachers face when they begin teaching English to a group of students who may not even have strong proficiency in their first language, and may not even know the English alphabet. Most of the English teaching resources online are for higher levels of ability, or are clearly aimed at children. Many of the collections online contain broken links, or links to Flash games that no longer work due to changes in browser behaviour.
The Casey Report and the Let Refugees Learn campaign have provided clear evidence to show that increasing ESOL provision benefits everyone. Integration improves, and communities are happier and more prosperous. Yet it still volunteers who teach ESOL classes for refugees in a vast number of cases, and not all have a high proficiency themselves.The Techfugees conference with Cambridge Assessment English in 2016 also highlighted the significance of learning English for mental health and resilience.
What we think is missing is a portal that ESOL teachers can use to search for resources that suit their classes, and ideally suggest modern resources that suit the characteristics of the regional context as well as the learners needs.
Are you an ESOL teacher, developer (particularly front end), UX specialist, information architect or database specialist?
📍Register HERE 📍
Are you interested in building a sponsorship for food and flipcharts?
💌 Contact Techfugees Cambridge 💌
🗓 From Saturday June 23 at 2:00 PM to Sunday June 24 at 8:00 PM (BST)
🗺 Makespace Cambridge: 16 Mill Lane – Cambridge CB2 1RX – United Kingdom
📣 Follow Techfugees Cambridge on Twitter & join their Facebook group.