BC TEAL 2025 Annual Conference

BC TEAL is proud to present our 2025 Annual Conference: Disruptive Educational Practices: Strategies for Transformation.

Please note that the Friday evening event, the TEAL Charitable Foundation Awards & Fundraiser, requires an additional ticket purchase. Please register here to secure your spot and join us in celebrating the awardees while fundraising for a better cause in TEAL.

Educators shine in times of change to face unexpected challenges. This is when creativity flourishes by combining proven practices with fresh and innovative ideas. These times call for transformation which can be rooted in tradition or experience, or it can arise through unexplored approaches. The synthesis of old and new ideas drives meaningful progress. Join other insightful and creative educators as we flourish within the power of our community.

11:00am PDT

Transforming Avenue.ca Live Help and Support

Friday May 2, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am PDT

TBA

Real-time, live support has been a feature of Avenue.ca since its inception. However, technology has advanced such that we can provide additional help and support. Through the new, state-of-the-art Live Help and Support system, help has been streamlined for instructors.

No more looking back to find training files in various stages of training, or even waiting for Live Help to be staffed. No more looking through the YouTube channel because you would prefer to see a demonstration. No more searching for an email to find the Avenue Standards for Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL). No more looking for the most recent copy of requests forms. No more looking for current publications and brochures, or the regularly-updated Annotated Bibliography of Adult Settlement Blended Language Learning.

Live Help and Support has been transformed to be a One Stop Help Shop, and is available just-in-time when instructors need it.

This session will explain how, where, when and why to access all these resources in one place.

By the end of this session, instructors will:
~ be informed on how to access all available help and resources on the Avenue Project
~ be confident in their ability to access live help and support
~ understand how to make the most of all the resources they find

Speakers

Paul Carter

Online Resource Developer and Mentor, New Language Solutions

Paul Carter supports teachers across Canada and BC as a LearnIT2teach Mentor, Live Help Assistant, and Avenue/CanAvenue Resource Developer for New Language Solutions.

Nancy Van Dorp

Manager, Distributed Learning, New Language Solutions

Nancy Van Dorp, M.Ed., is the Manager of Distributed Learning for projects at New Language Solutions.She is fascinated with the affordances of edtech solutions.

John Allan

Manager of Training Development, New Language Solutions

John, certified Ontario teacher, is as an experienced e-learning developer, instructor mentor and live support operator. He has been working on the Avenue project since the inception. He presented his first BCTEAL session in 1996.

Friday May 2, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am PDT
TBA

LINC, LINC

1:00pm PDT

[PART 1] Untangling Placement vs Progression in PBLA

Friday May 2, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm PDT

TBA

This session supports administrators to distinguish between placing a learner in a level for learning, and progressing a learner to a level based on completed CLBs, in order to reduce confusion for clients and teachers.

Speakers

Kathy Hughes

Project Manager, Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks

Kathy Hughes is a Project Manager with the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks and has a strong background in project management for training initiatives.

Lisa Herrera

PBLA Coach, CCLB

Lisa Herrera has an MA in Educational Administration from UBC and is a PBLA Regional Coach, training Lead and classroom teachers online since 2014. She taught in LINC for 15 years and has been the Lead Instructional Coordinator for ISSofBC LINC since 2008. Lisa has also been the... Read More →

Rana Ashkar

Coordinator and Content Developer, CCLB

Rana Ashkar works with the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks, she has a Bachelor’s in Education, a Master of Arts in English Literature, is CTESL trained, and has a background in ESL teaching and project management.

Friday May 2, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm PDT
TBA

LINC, Assessment/Testing

2:00pm PDT

National LINC Online Curriculum for Stage I

Friday May 2, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm PDT

TBA

This presentation will showcase a recently launched, innovative online courseware: The National LINC Online Curriculum (NLOC), funded by IRCC. Developed for the Language Instruction to Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Program, this courseware fills a language learning gap for self-directed, asynchronous learning, offering off-the-shelf, comprehensive eLearning units that learners can do anytime, anywhere. The presentation will explain and demonstrate how the courseware can be used asynchronously, in blended learning, and in synchronous in-class settings.

This courseware includes the principles and best practices for a PBLA-aligned curriculum, incorporating real-world tasks, prior knowledge and experience, skill-building activities, skill-using and assessment tasks, and reflection. The presentation will walk attendees through some of the content to demonstrate how it is organized across 21st century themes. It will also outline how activities are designed to take learners on a journey to coherently build skills and strategies needed for integration in work, education and community.

75 NLOC eLearning units across CLBs 3-5 are currently accessible through the course builder on avenue.ca, with brand new eLearning units to come over the next three years. Attendees will appreciate how eLearning units have a consistent and intuitive look and feel for seamless use and integration. Accessibility and specialized content are top priorities for this project. Likewise, incorporating the principles of universal design and weaving topics distinct to Canada (ex. Indigenization, Francophone Perspectives, Inclusivity) are also evident across the courseware. In this presentation, instructors will be familiarized to all elements of the eLearning and get the chance to preview and demo some activities in a group.

Speakers

Rafa Khan

Manager, National LINC Curriculum Projects, Achēv

Rafa Khan (BSc, MPA, PMP) manages the National LINC Curriculum Projects at Achēv in Ontario. She works to develop CLB- and PBLA- aligned LINC materials.

Friday May 2, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm PDT
TBA

LINC, LINC

2:00pm PDT

[PART 2] Untangling Placement vs Progression in PBLA

Friday May 2, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm PDT

TBA

This session aims to support practitioners to make an informed judgment around student movement in programs. Using different scenarios, this session will provide participants the opportunity to practice making evidence-based decisions about placement and progression in programs.

Speakers

Kathy Hughes

Project Manager, Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks

Kathy Hughes is a Project Manager with the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks and has a strong background in project management for training initiatives.

Lisa Herrera

PBLA Coach, CCLB

Rana Ashkar

Coordinator and Content Developer, CCLB

Friday May 2, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm PDT
TBA

LINC, Assessment/Testing

3:30pm PDT

Enhancing Avenue.ca: 2025 – 28

Friday May 2, 2025 3:30pm - 4:15pm PDT

TBA

On January 1^st The Avenue Project celebrated its 15^th birthday. Neither the project nor the learning technology landscape has stayed still during all this time. The project constantly innovates to incorporate new technology and refine our services to newcomers, educators and the settlement language training sector. Participants in this session will learn about our plans and strategies for the 2025 - 28 IRCC LINC/CLIC funding cycle.

As of January 23^rd 2025 there were 416 BC LINC courses and 3703 BC users active on the Avenue platform in the previous 30 days. Avenue is IRCC’s recommended platform for learning and teaching in LINC and CLIC programs across the province and the country. The LMS has been customized extensively to address the needs of LINC and CLIC professionals and the sector. It features an ePortfolio solution that supports effective PBLA, and a Course Builder that allows teachers to readily build custom courses to meet their learner’s needs from a collection of over 400 eUnits.

In this session, the presenters will discuss plans for:

Addressing policy shifts in immigrant language training
New PBLA-aligned eModules
The evolution of the teacher training stages
In-service supports like Live Help
AI integration in Avenue and bot-mediated access to support files
Evaluation and constant improvement in all we do

The session will provide opportunities for participants to ask questions and provide feedback on the opportunities and challenges they encounter to learning technology innovation. Participants will be asked to share the local solutions they’ve developed to resolve barriers and better address the needs of newcomer clients.

Speakers

Rob McBride

Executive Director, New Language Solutions

Rob has worked for NLS for many years. Rob works as a teacher, researcher, writer, producer and project manager.

Nancy Van Dorp

Manager, Distributed Learning, New Language Solutions

Nancy Van Dorp, M.Ed., is the Manager of Distributed Learning for projects at New Language Solutions.She is fascinated with the affordances of edtech solutions.

John Allan

Manager of Training Development, New Language Solutions

Friday May 2, 2025 3:30pm - 4:15pm PDT
TBA

LINC, Administration/Leadership

10:00am PDT

Maximizing Tutela

Saturday May 3, 2025 10:00am - 10:45am PDT

TBA

In this session, participants will review the following:
1. Best practices for searching on Tutela.
2. Favouriting, Previewing and Downloading resources including H5Ps.
3. Tutela/Avenue Integration
4. Importing H5Ps to Avenue.ca

Speakers

Diane Ramanathan

Community Outreach Coordinator, Tutela.ca

Diane Ramanathan is the community outreach coordinator for Tutela.ca. She is also a LINC Home Study instructor and part of the TESFL team at Algonquin College.

Saturday May 3, 2025 10:00am - 10:45am PDT
TBA

LINC, LINC

11:00am PDT

How New Directions used AI to Transform and Improve Assessments

Saturday May 3, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am PDT

TBA

New Directions and Roshi.ai are the proud recipients of the TEAL Charitable Foundation Settlement Language Resource Award. This workshop intends to tell the story of the transformative initiative that the award enabled us to undertake, and to share the practical knowledge we’ve gained in the process

Since the start of the year, we have set out to reimagine the process of creating CLB-aligned modules for LINC teachers across Canada. Born from the challenges of creating differentiated materials for diverse learner levels, our project harnessed AI to develop materials that include the following:

Real-world documents such as forms, brochures, and invoices
Situational dialogues with high-quality voices
Interactive exercises such as matching exercises and questions
Detailed rubrics for any CLB skill and level
Full assessments comprised of all the above
AI-generated assistance in writing feedback for students
Training resources for the AI tools used

This presentation will walk you through our story—from the initial challenges to the breakthrough moments that redefined our approach. Along the way, live demonstrations will illustrate how we used our AI tools to create interactive real-world tasks, generate assessments, and dynamically adjust lesson material levels.
The workshop is structured as a narrative interwoven with practical demonstrations, culminating in a Q&A session where you can ask about the tools, the challenges we encountered, and how you might apply these techniques to your own practice.
Rough Outline:

Introduction: Who we are and the challenges we faced
Project Vision: Our proposed solution using AI

Speakers

Jonny Kalambay

Founder, Roshi

Jonny is an education technology expert and the creator of Roshi.ai, a tool used by teachers across Canada to create lessons and assessments.

Saturday May 3, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am PDT
TBA

LINC, Assessment/Testing

1:00pm PDT

Orientation to CCLB Literacy Tools, Task Analysis and Resource Alignment

Saturday May 3, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm PDT

TBA

This CCLB session will present a quick review of key ideas from CCLB resources such as the CLB: ESL for Adult Literacy Learners (ALL), the CLB document, the ESL for all Support Kit as well as other tools and webinars that guide ESL literacy best practices. The Tutela PBLA Literacy Checklist integrates these ESL literacy key ideas and best practices into a convenient checklist that allows instructors to see whether literacy materials are aligned to these best practices. This session will take a quick walk through the checklist then practice using the checklist with sample literacy materials from the Identifying Learner Literacy Needs and Task Analysis Professional Learning Sessions.

Speakers

Kathy Hughes

Project Manager, Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks

Kathy Hughes is a Project Manager with the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks and has a strong background in project management for training initiatives.

Larry Iveson

Rana Ashkar

Coordinator and Content Developer, CCLB

Saturday May 3, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm PDT
TBA

LINC, LINC

2:00pm PDT

Getting the most from your Avenue Courseware and ePortfolio

Saturday May 3, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm PDT

TBA

We want to take teachers on a detailed tour of the new updates to the Avenue course-builder, e-Portfolio and Binder. The new course-builder is there to help the instructors to create their own classroom. During the session we will provide some tips and tricks to customize the Avenue courseware, so it makes the course page more user friendly and fast.

Topics covered include symptoms of a large course, using the Course Builder, creating a Sandbox Course/New Course, moving course content, using the Sharing Cart and Mass Actions Blocks, using Export/Import, using Back-up and Restore, removing topics, removing blocks, and large media files/YouTube streaming.

We have added more activity types that can be auto-collected to the e-Portfolio with tags, and these will empower teachers to create even more PBLA aligned material that can create e-Portfolio artifacts automatically for them.

We will also demonstrate several activity and resource types that teachers can leverage for things like Inventory Sheets, Skill-Using Tasks, and Assessment Tasks. Guiding teachers through the process to set up these materials and demonstrating in real-time the time-saving potential inherent in the Avenue e-Portfolio through the use of sample students and the artifacts created during the session.

Speakers

Paul Carter

Online Resource Developer and Mentor, New Language Solutions

Paul Carter supports teachers across Canada and BC as a LearnIT2teach Mentor, Live Help Assistant, and Avenue/CanAvenue Resource Developer for New Language Solutions.