Starling Skills

2020 changed the way we all work. Many of us now communicate with our colleagues only using technology. This has given us new opportunities but also great challenges. This led to the formation of Starling Skills, where we aim to develop specific English communication skills in the online work environment. Fintan McRae | Career background I have been a full time English Language teacher since 2008 and having worked in Vietnam, Spain, the UK and Jordan, I have extensive experience teaching students from a wide range of cultures. I have also worked for some of the top universities in the UK, a variety of companies and clients from NGOs and UN agencies. However, most of my professional career I worked for the British Council. In 2018, I change my role and was given the responsibility of planning and programming our online classes. It became clear to me that learning online required specific skills and required teachers to develop digital literacy and specific online skills. Since then, I wrote my masters dissertation on social and online learning. I have also written global training materials and presented at conferences on the topic of Digital Literacy.