A STEAM adventure: running a hybrid English immersion camp

Since the pandemic, many across higher education have faced the challenge of running a hybrid event or course that was originally in-person. In 2021, the Technological University of Uruguay (UTEC)’s language programme reorganised an English immersion camp as a combination of in-person and online activities. The event aims to provide language practice in a relaxed environment, to promote intercultural competence and to boost motivation among students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Groups of students complete STEAM – science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics – related challenges to practice their English, critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills.

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Here are some of the key considerations worth taking into account to run a successful hybrid event such as a language camp.

1) Find an online platform that emulates the camp environment and provides opportunities for social interaction

We used online meeting platform Gather.Town but any virtual space that provides the following features would be equally effective.

• It allows participants to virtually meet and talk by means of avatars that can be customised to suit users’ needs.
• It gives the experience a real-world touch by letting your avatar walk around, move freely, explore and interact with people and objects as you approach them.
• Your space can be customised to suit your needs and create the environment you are looking for, which in our case included a campfire, a meeting point, a conference room, a playroom, a work area, etc.
• In terms of user experience, it works on most web browsers, does not need participants to have an account to join and sessions can be either password protected or limited to a guest list to ensure a safer experience.
• Class materials such as videos, documents and podcasts can be embedded into different objects that means guests don’t need to leave the space to access them.

2) Align the key learning objectives with engaging activities that can be completed in a hybrid mode

• Select a guiding theme that is relevant to students’ lives to underpin and link all the activities. We looked at how to drive progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through STEAM disciplines
• Base your design on challenges that integrate hands-on activities, collaborative work and meaningful problem-solving. As an example, students were tasked with the question of how to use e-waste to create works of art as a way of contributing to sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11) and raising awareness of responsible consumption and production (SDG 12).
• Provide a clear schedule that includes time for students to work collaboratively, share outputs and benefit from peers’ and teachers’ feedback. Build in time for social activities and informal events to reinforce the camp spirit.
• Add colourful elements like unexpected guests. For instance, for the challenge addressing gender equality, female scientists were interviewed by students to learn about how they overcame obstacles they faced as women in STEM.

3) Involve group leaders in designing activities and highlight their role in creating group cohesion

The participants were a core organising committee of three professors at UTEC’s Languages Programme, seven Fulbright English teaching assistants who were all native English speakers and thirty undergraduate students from different engineering programmes at the university and with varying levels of proficiency in English.  Enrolment was voluntary.

An effective way to maintain group cohesion is to assign one leader in each team to guide, support, monitor effective teamwork and scaffold students’ work. The role was fulfilled by the English-speaking teaching assistants who helped students to stay engaged throughout activities and served as a linguistic reference point. These leaders should be involved from the beginning in the design of the activities so they are equipped to keep students on track and actively engaged to complete the challenges. 

4) Use student bonds as a starting point to create a comfortable learning environment

To implement group work successfully during a virtual camp, it’s worth asking students to register for the camp as a group. This saves time needed for getting to know one another. For the hybrid event, students were asked to choose one team member’s home to use as their work base during the camp. This ensures a pleasant environment for the groups and provides unexpected opportunities for the students’ families to help and encourage the groups, as well as to get involved in, watch and enjoy their relative’s learning process.

5) Integrate technology into the design in an organic way

For a hybrid experience, the careful selection of technological tools is crucial to adapt the mode of delivery while maintaining the essence of the event, so think carefully about what your priorities are. Among the many tools we used, the choice of Gather.Town as the web-conferencing software, Wakelet as the content curation platform to upload, store and organise students’ final products, and Flippity for score-keeping, turned out to be highly successful. Whatsapp proved useful for keeping the flow of communication between student-team leaders and the event organisers open at all times. Google photos served as a bridge between groups and organisers to share the home experience.

Finally, Genially,  Google Docs and Google Slides were used to provide clear explanations of the challenges to make sure all participants were on the same page when it came to task requirements.

The results of the hybrid camp were overwhelmingly positive, with 75 percent of the participants reporting their command of English improved as well as their motivation to learn the language.

By focusing on challenges related to STEAM subjects and the SDGs, highly aligned with our university degree offering, the camp offered more than English as a foreign language practice; developing knowledge and skills to support students’ future successes. This design can be easily replicated and adapted to a variety of themes, contexts, ages, resources, and budgets.

Rossana Mántaras is a languages programme leader, Eugenia Balseiro is an associate professor and English teacher, and Lorena Calzoni is an assistant professor and English teacher, all at the Technological University of Uruguay (UTEC).

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