Dr. Ellen Bunker, a professor of TESOL, is scheduled to address the BYU-Hawaii ohana during the annual David O. McKay Lecture on Feb. 11.
“It’s a tradition they do every year only in BYUH just because President McKay is so important to this campus and to how we do things here. So it’s an honor to be asked and nominated by this department,” said Bunker.
Her topic for the lecture will be distance education or online classes and teaching language from a distance. Unlike devotional, the McKay Lecture is based on the academic background of the faculty member who is presenting, according to Bunker.
“When we come together, we can begin to understand each other. “ She said people are used to campus-based learning or face-to-face classes.
“But there is a lot of education happening in other forms around the world. Because some people are busy working and can’t stop to be a fulltime student, or they can’t leave home because of family responsibilities, distance education is a popular option.”
But Bunker said, “How do we keep that same teacher-and-learner experience? How can we keep that same feeling that we haveon campus?”
Eve Wang, a freshman from China studying biochemistry, did online classes before coming to Hawaii and thinks it’s an important aspect of education. “The online classes were different than when we are in class and interacting with the teacher and classmates.
"So I think that distance education is important and effective to get that outcome and expectation of the online class to be the same as in the normal class,” Wang said.
In the lecture, Bunker said she will tackle the history of distance education and talk about the methodology of learning that has been used before. “I wanted to talk about how we can take what we have from the past” and decide how to use it in the future, said Bunker.
She said she has built her lecture around a quote from President McKay’s dedicatory prayer. Bunker said she believes it’s very important BYUH stays true to President McKay’s vision.
“This campus is different from the other campuses in a sense that the prophet gave us assignments to teach with the gospel, to build character, to make leaders and to help establish peace internationally. We have to do that even if we are going to use other methods of teaching,” she said.
Bunker said she hopes students who attend will be able to apply it in their future life. “For example, they might apply for graduate programs that are online or at a distance. Or they might get jobs to teach or tutor online. They will be using this technology in their jobs, so I think it would be very important if they attend,” said Bunker.
Alexis Joy Bongo-Igarashi, a junior TESOL major from the Philippines, had Bunker as a professor in one of her EIL classes and influenced her to major in TESOL. “I would want to attend the lecture because she is intelligent. She knows what she's saying or teaching. Also she's very engaging,” she said.
Bongo-Igarashi added that Bunker’s topic is important because learning language from a distance is an in-demand job right now. “Everyone is learning English: on missions, military bases, public and private schools, and business institutions.
TESOL is an opportunity for us to teach English and become an instrument in making others competitive to survive in this world,” she said.
The McKay Lecture was established in 1962 and has been held regularly since. This year’s lecture will be held at 11 a.m. on Feb. 11 in the Cannon Activities Center. There will be a question and answer portion in the afternoon where students can participate.