Designing an immersive authentic event with a multilayered learning approach

Wearing my two hats as Head of Business Engagement for GSBL and Course Leader for the MA Conference Interpreting at London Metropolitan University, I organised an event that brought together the interest of both worlds. One of my objectives was to promote languages and raise awareness that multilingualism is an underestimated asset in the professional world. Many students across the university speak languages other than English. However, they are often unaware of the value of their language skills. Rather than a lecture or a workshop, I designed an immersive multilingual event that brought together members of our interpreting Community of Practice (students, ambassadors, alumni and colleagues) who played different roles (organisers, interpreters, helpers, speakers) during the event. All students from the university were invited to join either online, onsite, or on YouTube to discuss the relevance of transferable skills in their professional objective.

Why was the event such a success? It was a learning experience at many levels.

- The title of our event, 'SkillSprint: Empowering Futures Through Transferable Skills' was jazzy... It was the result of our collective work, with a final twist from AI. Integrating AI in our learning journey has now become second nature. Students no longer fear it, they use it as a tool.

- The event was designed by my MA Conference Interpreting students. This was a great way to get started with conference management skills in the first semester rather than the 2nd. Deconstructing the workload to make it more relevant and manageable is always a success.

- As the event took place in week 6, students had not yet started simultaneous interpreting. They usually build up anxiety as they get closer to interpreting consecutively during their first mock conference in week 10. However, organising this immersive authentic event without interpreting, empowered them a great deal. They were able to demystify mock conferences and imagine what it will be like to interpret in week 10.

- The interpreters in the booth were London Metropolitan University alumni (also part time student year 2 and 1 experienced interpreting student). I cannot thank them enough for making this experience possible. Current students could then listen to their interpreting peers and feel inspired by their colleagues who were in their shoes last year or a few years ago. This was highly motivational and the learning journey towards professionalisation felt REAL. After the event, students were buzzing and could not stop talking about the interpreting alumni.

- Current students had an opportunity to apply their newly acquired public speaking skills, by delivering speeches or participating in the debate. This was a gentle introduction to stress management. They had to provide bios for the event, prepare their slides and overcome their doubts to press the mic and speak live, in front of a hybrid audience! 

- They had to master the complex hybrid technology on the day. But they also had to practise using a shared drive to access documents, upload their slides, record their speech if they could not attend. It  involved keeping deadlines, looking professional, liaising with the interpreters and communicating in a professional manner. That's quite a lot of transferable skills in one go.

- Together we learnt how to organise an agenda. We finalised 4 themes that we thought would be relevant to all students in the university:

1. Working and studying: a blessing in disguise

2. Mature students, upcycling your professional life

3. Wellbeing at work - overcoming anxiety, nurturing confidence

4. Strategies to get started as a professional: placements, internships, volunteering

- We learnt how to build trust and take risks. Our four student-speakers challenged themselves but knew they could do it with the suport of our Community of Learners. making the decision to be a speaker was a proud moment for them, but also for the whole community.

- We invited a student from BA Marketing and Journalism to use the event as an opportunity to write an article for our website. As a person with languages, she was thrilled to get this learning opportunity that truly felt like an authentic assignment. This was an opportunity to understand how different professions interact and need one another.

On the day, there were about 25 participants on site, 46 online (Zoom with access to interpretation) and 88 on our YouTube channel as we streamed the event live to optimise participation.

But what about the other students?

Our debate was quite interactive and could have gone on for quite a long time. There has been quite a lot of feedback and conversations and what emerged was the impact of an authentic event that felt very professional. Every step of the way, the experience was inspired by the latest reality of the professional world:

- the invitation on Eventbrite

- the hybrid technology

- the format

- the participative engagement

- the ambition of the day

I strongly believe that authentic multilayered professional events such as this one provide an incredible source of inspiration for students. Creating safe professional spaces allows students with existing professional experience to share what they know, value what they have done, and promote the professionals they are  becoming, with confidence. For students without professional experience, it is a gentle and safe way to experience a professional context that is very new to them. Students become agents of their own learning, building the journey in their professional (be)coming. Professional immersive events are much more than attending a talk from a professional. They are an opportunity to empower different communities to come together for different purposes.

For me, this event was risk taking too. The multilayered approach was very complex. But, the community space we created was also a safe space for me to take risks. I had the full support of the students. We worked together and learnt together as equal partners.

None of this could have been possible without the extraordinary Community of Practice of interpreters I have built for the past 20 years. Our collaborative and supportive approach over the years truly illustrates that learning within a community by caring, giving and sharing is powerful, inspiring and life changing.