I attended a face-to-face course at NILE earlier, but I learnt about the online ones after I was nominated for a scholarship by the British Council Turkey. I was so happy after receiving the news that I was chosen. Thanks to the British Council Turkey for giving me this great opportunity.

When the course started, I was a bit nervous because I thought it would only be composed of reading some documents, submitting tasks and writing comments to some open activities.

It seemed like a hard thing to continue for 60 hours because there was even a risk to lose the control and maybe give up.  After a couple of tasks, I saw that everything was interactive. We did not only read and write but also watched videos, recorded our own ones, gave feedback to each other and had fun too.

Being with colleagues from different parts of the world was great. We learnt from each other and shared our experiences. We also had a couple of webinars where we discussed the topics in some units and to be honest that was the time most of us felt that we were ‘real’ and that really improved the group dynamics.

Everything on the platform was user friendly, but there was a technical support team helped when needed. Another great thing about the course was the activities which were very well organized and planned. All the texts presented and issues raised were based on real life experiences and that was my favourite.

There was always a link between the course and our classrooms too. We always received immediate feedback and help from our great tutor Csilla Hös who was so encouraging, motivating and inspiring.

Well, that’s my little journey so far. Don’t forget that everything happens for a reason. I hope you now know why you are here and why you are reading this. All you have to do is to pick the course you would like to register. That is just going to be a door that will lead to many more new doors. Take the step and open the door to your dreams. It is just a click away…

Sending you all my best wishes from Istanbul, Turkey

This post was first published here.

No matter where you live (on Earth:) we can all meet and share our stories this weekend! I’m inviting you to a story sharing conference hosted by British Council Turkey.

I can imagine what you are thinking right now:) Don’t worry! You don’t have to leave your house or change your clothes. You can enjoy the event in your pyjamas because the conference is online and all for free.

The only thing you should do is to provide speakers or headphones. You also need to upload Adobe Connect (if you don’t have). You can test the system and the connection. Right after that you will be ready for the conference.

The sessions take place in different Adobe rooms and each room has a different link. In the conference programme you can find all the details about that.

Story Sharing Web – Conference ‘Saturday 9th – Sunday10th February 2013′ from British Council Turkey on Vimeo.

There are great pleanary speakers and I’m sure you will not miss this chance. You will even have a chance to speak out (by typing of course:)) or ask questions on the chat box during the talks. Here are the great speakers:

9th February – SATURDAY – Plenary Speakers

Reading for Pleasure: Why it Matters, How it helps, and Ways to Encourage it. Alec Williams, UK

Classroom Storytelling: Wonder, Wit & Wisdom in World Stories. David Heathfield, United Kingdom

Using Story Picturebooks with Primary Children. Gail Ellis, France

10th February – SUNDAY – Plenary Speakers

Yaratıcı Okuma / Creative Reading. Sevim Ak, Turkey

Using Graphic Novels and Comics with Teens. Samantha Lewis, Spain

Sharing Stories: Powerful Lessons in Language Learning. Shelly S Terrell, USA

There are also concurrent sessions with very interesting titles and I’m proud to announce that I am one of the presenters. My session is on the 10th February. It’ll be great to meet you at a Sunday breakfast:)

It’s at 08:00-8:30 (GMT) and 10:00-10:30 (TURKEY TIME) and my room is TOLKIEN which is a perfect match for my abstract:)

My title is MAGIC CALLS THEE and I’ll be sharing some hands-on activities you can use in your classroom. Here is my abstract:

I summon thee, the lovers of the “Educaland”!

Rise; magic calls thee.Get ready to be inspired to find out thy magic tools.

Thou shalt take thy little ones to a miraculous journey and

Ne’er forget these enchanted moments.

Worry not, there are so many untold stories and

Once thou enter this magic passage, there wilt always be a magic formula!

Check below to see the other concurrent sessions / presenters.

Hashtag for Twitter: #sswebcon

Facebook Page of the conference

Watch the conference live

View the plenary speakers

View the conference programme

Other posts you might like to read:

Story Sharing Web Conference – Saturday 9th – Sunday 10th February 2013 by britishcouncil_elt

British Council Story Sharing Web Conference by Ozge Karaoglu Ergen

I’ll be glad to share the links if you also have a post about the conference. Please do not hesitate to contact me:)

CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE ))