Ms Sarah Heiser

Professional biography

Interests

• technology enhanced teaching and learning
• open and distance education
• teacher development by experiential and collaborative learning in online spaces
• Open Education Resources/Open Educational Practices (OER/OEP) 
• Young students in HE
• strategies for language learning
• tutor skills for language teaching
• strategies to support students of modern languages with Dyslexia and specific learning difficulties (SpLDs)

Scholarship Projects

The final hurdle; encouraging students to resit/resubmit on Languages and Applied Linguistics modules, from 2018

Winding Roads to Languages (WIROLA), a longitudinal study of language learners at the Open University, from 2014

‘Integrating LORO into professional development at the Department of Languages'. An OER project. Project team: Tita Beaven + Anna Comas Quinn, Christine Pleines, Annette Duensing, Matilde Gallardo (funded by the OU as a scholarship for teaching and learning (SofT) project, 2011-2012

'Encuentros para profesores de ELE’ Open-University-Universidad de Córdoba collaborative online project for colleagues and ALs to establish a community of practice with teachers of Spanish for academic purposes at the University of Córdoba to exchange views and experience on teaching. Staff development project with Matilde Gallardo, for Spanish teams in the South East on England and London, 2011-12

'Student training for learning languages in synchronous online spaces' - work based on 'Elluminate for All'

Dyslexia in Modern Languages AL staff development and tutorial materials reversioning project (DMLL)

Earlier projects;

• Factors for Success for YASS (Young Applicants in Schools Scheme)
• change management in the move to e-TMA in Languages
• UOC-OU (Catalonia and UK Open Universities) collaborative research project

• Ab initio A-level, language learning strategies, see 'Spanish at KS5; teaching A-level ab initio' in Vida Hispánica Spring 2007, number 35, pp 20-25

Since joining the Open University in 2004 as Staff Tutor for Languages in the London Region, I was responsible for the full range of Department of Languages courses in presentation, over 1000 students per year.  I was responsible for the engagement, induction, management and staff development and of a team of some 45 Languages Associate Lecturers in London. I was a member of L140 En Rumbo Spanish module team and the Award Board, and now its replacement L116 Spanish Studies 1 (intermediate). I originally joined this module on its first presentation in 1999 as an Associate Lecturer in the West of England. I was the Staff Tutor member of the second edition production team and presentation chair in 2010. I was a Staff Tutor member of the Beginners Remakes (2009-2012), most actively on L192 Bon départ. From 2005 I worked at the Caen Residential School in Normandy each year, on the free-standing LXR122 Action in French, variously as tutor or Module Director, and from 2013 as School Director and Module Director for the residential week of L211 Envol more recently in Vernon, L222 French Studies 2.

When the Department of Languages moved to blended tuition, I was a member of the VLE group, active in the introduction of Elluminate, which included the training of Associate Lecturers in online language teaching and supporting colleagues. I ran "Elluminate for All", induction sessions offered to all Languages students at each module start point and prior to online EMAs, with a team of ALs drawn from all regions and nations. It still runs as “Introduction to Online Rooms’ offered to all LAL students. I was chair of the London AL Staff Development Working Group from 2012 till 2017 restructuring and remain interested in continuing professional development of ALs.

I have has been involved in the delivery of ICT-REV workshops, language teacher development with the ECML (European Centre for Modern Language, a partial action of the Council of Europe) since 2015. In May 2020 I co-presented one of the ‘Take your Language Teaching online’ Covid-19 teacher development webinars, which we delivered in English French and German  (Over 15.000+ views in addition to the c.3000 live attenders)

See https://www.ecml.at/