Elizabethtown College Spanish Professors, Charla Lorenzen and Raquel Lodeiro will be presenting at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) 2021 National Conference, occurring virtually from November 19-21.

Their presentation, “Personalized Online Interaction for Connection, Engagement, and Learning,” was chosen to fill one of the few and coveted spots, at this year’s conference. The presentation focuses on the importance of emotions within the classroom, as well as the significance of being inclusive educators.

Lorenzen and Lodeiro initially intended to discuss face-to-face interaction for socio-emotional health, and ways to implement more in-person events, to supplement traditional Spanish classes. However, the pandemic caused them to shift gears.

“When we had to make the emergency pivot online due to COVID-19, we asked ourselves how we could recreate online some of the ways we had found to personalize and individualize language learning for our students in person by fostering a social, collaborative learning environment,” said Lorenzen.

The presentation will be given in Spanish and offered as an on-demand session. This allows registered participants to watch the presentation at any point, within the given window of time.

About the ACTFL

The ACTFL is an individual membership organization that supports language educators and administrators, nationally. The organization promotes quality language teaching and education.