Written by Abdeljallal El Hariri,
EFL teacher at Ibn Maja High School
Agadir.
The GCE ( Global Connections and Exchange) workshop gathered 25 teachers of English from different public schools of Morocco and focused on the use of PBL (Project Based Learning) in learning and took iEARN collaborative projects as a model.
The workshop was brilliantly co-facilitated by Dr Jamal Edin Slimani and Mr Nourddine Laouini. As to the training logistics, they were ensured by Mr Abdeljalil Chnioui with plenty of verve.
Upon their arrival to the training centre, the participants were cordially received by Mr Abdeljalil Chnioui and were shown their rooms as well as the other facilities including the multimedia room, the restaurant and the lounge.
Day One: February 1, 2013.
After welcoming the 15 participants, Dr Slimani disclosed the rationale behind the GCE (Global Connections and Exchange) and revealed its sponsors namely the US Department of State. After that he explained its purpose, its duration as well as the teachers’ roles within it. Later, he shed the light on the 8 themes that would be covered by the program. And ultimately he showcased the online course unit program and duration.
Later on in the morning , Mr Abdeljallal El Hariri, the iEARN member and project facilitator, shed the light on his inspiring experience with iEARN as well as its pedagogical merits.
The whole afternoon was devoted to a hands-on session. Dr Slimani introduced the participants to the collaboration centre and assisted them to register successfully and to join the other groups online.
The participants who resided in the training centre managed to create a Facebook group which they labelled iEARN GCE Morocco group 2
Day two: December 22nd , 2013.
Once again, all smiling, Dr Slimani greeted the attendees, who had become more familiar with each other, and pinpointed how students can be prepared for global project work through the display of the best practices for international communication. After that, he let the floor to Mr Noureddine El Aouni who introduced the PBL (Project Based Learning) and how different it is from traditional learning as it involves critical thinking, collaboration and communication.
The participants then indulged in an in-depth discussion about the whole workshop which they honestly judged as informative and worthwhile.
The workshop ended so beautifully with the distribution of the certificates of participation which was followed by an extensive photo-taking session for the sake of immortalising the event.
Before bidding each other goodbye, all the newly full-fledged mearners and their trainers promised to keep the hard work up and to remain loyal to MERAN’s motto which goes,
“If you don’t know ask; if you know share”.
