There are clearly many aspects of online and blended learning
in TESOL education of interest to our community of professionals.
We value its innovative qualities, the new and varied ways in which
it draws on participants' learning and creative skills, and its
availability to those who cannot necessarily attend a face- to-face
course. Equally, we assume that effective TESOL education requires
an interactive learning / training community and this will be
achieved in a special way in blended and online training.
Participants need to communicate with their tutors, but equally
with their peers and students. Social media have paved the way for
such interaction in an informal context, but training organisations
using VLEs such as Blackboard, Moodle, for example, need to find
equally effective ways of encouraging confident, but focussed, peer
interaction. The point is also often made that F2F teaching demands
skills that must be taught to some extent through F2F training. In
blended learning programmes, tutors often have to compress into the
F2F phase a lot more than "teaching practice" - if indeed there is
provision for observed teaching, with or without assessment.
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Tim Francis English Language Centre University of Bath
Slide 7
Text rebuilding Mazes MCQs Short answers Gapfills Sentence
rebuilding THE HOT POTATOES FAMILY INTERESTS: - COMPUTER
INTERACTIVE LEARNING & TESTING
Slide 8
WHAT MY STUDENTS SEE OF ME
Slide 9
Slide 10
Classroom Tools The Compleat Lexical Tutor
Slide 11
SUMMARY 1.Technology has transformed the way we learn and teach
and will continue to do so. 2.Technology gives us choice.
Slide 12
TEACHERS ATTITUDES agree Tend to agree Dont know Tend to agree
agree CALL creates more work for teachers Computers will gradually
replace teachers CALL is good for all students CALL is of limited
interest All teachers should be familiar with CALL CALL is for
specialist teachers
Slide 13
The EFL world is awash with tools and resources for e-learning
"e-tivities" nowadays and we may feel overwhelmed by all the
possibilities. But perhaps it is time to stand back and take stock.
In this presentation I will focus on computer mediated language
learning programs and attempt to assess their potential and
particular value both from the point of view of the learner and the
course provider. What should we look for in a good language
learning program? A MISTAKE! Gilly Salmon
Slide 14
TWO E-LEARNING COURSES 1.E-moderating (Gilly Salmon O.U.)
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
WHY PEOPLE MAY NOT WANT TO CONTRIBUTE TO ONLINE FORUMS
Slide 18
SUMMARY 1.Technology has transformed the way we teach and will
continue to do so. 2.Technology gives us choice. 3.Technology is
often free and easy to run but we have to count the cost typically
extra demands on our time. 4.There are particular difficulties with
managing online discussion.
Slide 19
TESOL CALL Interest Section Electronic Village Online (EVO)
Sessions For five weeks in January-February, participants can
engage with volunteer ESOL experts in collaborative, online
discussion sessions or hands-on virtual workshops of professional
and scholarly benefit. These sessions will bring together
participants for a longer period of time than is permitted by the
land-based TESOL convention and will allow a fuller development of
ideas and themes of the convention or of professional interest in
general. The sessions are free and open to all interested parties.
You do not need to be a TESOL member to participate.
Slide 20
SUMMARY 1.Technology has transformed the way we teach and will
continue to do so. 2.Technology gives us choice. 3.Technology is
often free and easy to run but we have to count the cost. 4.There
are particular difficulties with managing online discussion.
5.Expectations of distance learning courses may be different from
F2F courses.
Slide 21
OTHER KINDS OF ONLINE TEACHER DEVELOPMENT Wikipedia Youtube
Publishers websites/Teachers clubs Newsgroups Webinars
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
SUMMARY 1.Technology has transformed the way we teach and will
continue to do so. 2.Technology gives us choice. 3.Technology is
often free and easy to run but we have to count the cost. 4.There
are particular difficulties with managing online discussion.
5.Expectations of distance learning courses may be different from
F2F courses. 6.Computer-based learning has certain (but very clear)
advantages of F2F learning
Slide 25
WHAT IS BLENDED LEARNING?
Slide 26
access to a wide choice of alternative resources on your
personal computer drawn from international, as well as
institutional, digital repositories, accessed via a single log-in
that personalizes the blend of learning you are offered; studying
online with tutors as facilitators and emphasis on co-creation
within a course that is rich in online collaboration; downloading
content to mobile devices, using podcasts and e-books as resources,
tablet PCs with wireless connections to take and share notes in
class, and using text messaging to receive course updates while on
the move immersion in online multi-player gaming or multimedia
role-playing using extended, authentic simulations to explore
real-life problem solving; personalized content delivered through a
customized interface with RSS alerts to flag new content relevant
to individual interests; using a VLE to access course materials and
ask questions whether on- or off-campus; uploading notes to your
own blog while the lecture is in progress and using hand-held
voting devices to offer instant feedback to the presenter; learning
on a just-in-time basis using computer-based tutorials; staying in
contact with study buddies away from the class through the use of
instant messaging and other informal social computing mechanisms;
assembling and publishing an e-portfolio of your work from courses
studied across several institutions; seamless integration of
physical and virtual learning spaces that integrate and accommodate
technology, but focus on student learning; successful and rewarding
student-teacher relationships initiated and face to face. Preparing
for blended learning Alison Littlejohn and Chris Pegler, Routledge:
2007
Slide 27
access to a wide choice of alternative resources on your
personal computer drawn from international, as well as
institutional, digital repositories, accessed via a single log-in
that personalizes the blend of learning you are offered; studying
online with tutors as facilitators and emphasis on co-creation
within a course that is rich in online collaboration; downloading
content to mobile devices, using podcasts and e-books as resources,
tablet PCs with wireless connections to take and share notes in
class, and using text messaging to receive course updates while on
the move immersion in online multi-player gaming or multimedia
role-playing using extended, authentic simulations to explore
real-life problem solving; personalized content delivered through a
customized interface with RSS alerts to flag new content relevant
to individual interests; using a VLE to access course materials and
ask questions whether on- or off- campus; uploading notes to your
own blog while the lecture is in progress and using hand-held
voting devices to offer instant feedback to the present
Slide 28
LANGUAGE LEARNING ACTIVITIES can be engaging, stimulating, fun,
but they are not the same as playing games
Slide 29
...when we play a game we are engaging in an activity for its
own sake.
Extensive reading Essay writing BLENDED LEARNING Speaking
activities Demonstration workshops Tutorials . Listening Grammar
practice Pronunciation practice Vocabulary development
Slide 34
FLIPPING is an approach that inverts the traditional way of
teaching by delivering content outside the classroom. It uses
face-to-face time for tackling the more difficult concepts such as
problem-solving. Content might be delivered in a number of ways
that support and enable independent learning that takes place in
preparation for scheduled contact time, for example: using short
videos texts with quizzes other online activities The key feature
of a flipped lecture or classroom is that this type of material is
provided and studied before face-to-face contact time
(lecture).
Slide 35
SUMMARY 1.Technology has transformed the way we teach and will
continue to do so. 2.Technology gives us choice. 3.Technology is
often free and easy to run but we have to count the cost. 4.There
are particular difficulties with managing online discussion.
5.Expectations of distance learning courses may be different from
F2F courses. 6.Computer-based learning has certain (but very clear)
advantages of F2F learning 7.Embed or dead 8.Blended learning can
have very substantial benefits in terms of efficiency, but it
requires quite radical changes in attitude
Slide 36
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 1 - Language
learning programs promote active (interactive) learning
Slide 37
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 2 - Language
learning programs should aim to be self-explanatory from the
outset. People rarely read instructions when at a computer.
Slide 38
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 3 - Language
learning programs should present learners with a clear path to
follow
Slide 39
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 4 - Learners should
be able to choose to follow their own path.
Slide 40
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 5 - Aim to produce
activities that are repeatable. (Can be done again - and are worth
doing again).
Slide 41
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 6 - Language
learning programs should be straightforward.
Slide 42
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 7 - Language
learning programs should meet students expectations and aim to be
complete within themselves.
Slide 43
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 8 - Language
programs should be stand-alone
Slide 44
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 9 - Language
programs should be blendable.
Slide 45
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING LEARNING PROGRAMS - 10 - Language
programs should be appealing, innovative and imaginative.
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
SUMMARY 1.Technology has transformed the way we teach and will
continue to do so. 2.Technology gives us choice. 3.Technology is
often free and easy to run but we have to count the cost. 4.There
are particular difficulties with managing online discussion.
5.Expectations of distance learning courses may be different from
F2F courses. 6.Computer-based learning has certain (but very clear)
advantages of F2F learning 7.Embed or dead 8.Blended learning can
have very substantial benefits in terms of efficiency, but it
requires quite radical changes in attitude 9.Always have a back-up
plan
Slide 49
Slide 50
There are clearly many aspects of online and blended learning
in TESOL education of interest to our community of professionals.
We value its innovative qualities, the new and varied ways in which
it draws on participants' learning and creative skills, and its
availability to those who cannot necessarily attend a face-to-face
course. Equally, we assume that effective TESOL education requires
an interactive learning / training community and this will be
achieved in a special way in blended and online training.
Participants need to communicate with their tutors, but equally
with their peers and students. Social media have paved the way for
such interaction in an informal context, but training organisations
using VLEs such as Blackboard, Moodle, for example, need to find
equally effective ways of encouraging confident, but focussed, peer
interaction. The point is also often made that F2F teaching demands
skills that must be taught to some extent through F2F training. In
blended learning programmes, tutors often have to compress into the
F2F phase a lot more than "teaching practice" - if indeed there is
provision for observed teaching, with or without assessment.
Stand-alone or blended? What use are computer mediated language
programs? The EFL world is awash with "e-tivities" nowadays and we
may feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities. But perhaps it is
time to stand back and take stock. In this presentation I will
focus on computer mediated language learning programs and attempt
to assess their potential and particular value both from the point
of view of the learner and the course provider. What should we look
for in a good language learning program? In this presentation I
will propose a set of criteria which are straightforward, but at
times paradoxical. New technologies are playing a significant role
in improving education yet language teachers appear to be
portraying pessimistic attitudes towards the use of technology in
their classroom teaching. (see e.g. Lam, 2000; Abdullah, et al.,
2006; Yang & Huang, 2008; Li & Walsh, 2011). In this talk,
I will be examining language teachers own experiences of learning
with and through technology in a TESOL course. By presenting how a
blended model of learning is implemented, I present teachers new
learning experiences and highlight issues and challenges for both
teachers and teacher educators. The implications of the study
suggest that if we want to encourage teachers to use technology in
their teaching, they must be able to see and experience its
usefulness (Davies 1989), they must be competent in electronic
literacy, and they need to be able to contextualize what they learn
in a teacher education programme in their own context. Experiences
from the learners perspective when completing an MA TESOL online
with the Institute of Education in London (1995 - 1998), and when
learning a language from scratch for a PhD on The development of
language acquisition in a mature learner. As a result of this
study, I changed my approach to teaching English as a Foreign
Language and ESOL realizing how essential it is to take into
account a large number of influential factors and how important it
is to encourage the learners to take the initiative ingredients
that have a lot of implications for online and blended learning.
Blended learning remains an area of interest to ELT practitioners
and this seems set to continue with the emergence of mobile or
m-learning. Despite its continued popularity little can be found in
the literature on the principles of blended learning course design,
or descriptions given of blends employed in the ELT sector. To
address this deficit this publication provides detailed
descriptions of twenty blends from a range of ELT courses and
contexts. It is hoped that these blends can be replicated or
adapted by other practitioners to suit their particular teaching
and learning contexts. In addition, a summary of the guiding
principles and practical considerations that shaped the blends is
given that will provide practitioners with guidelines for achieving
a principled approach to blended learning course design in their
contexts. It is also believed that this publication will add to the
current rather limited knowledge base on blended learning course
design in ELT. There are clearly many aspects of online and blended
learning in TESOL education of interest to our community of
professionals. We value its innovative qualities, the new and
varied ways in which it draws on participants' learning and
creative skills, and its availability to those who cannot
necessarily attend a face-to-face course. Equally, we assume that
effective TESOL education requires an interactive learning /
training community and this will be achieved in a special way in
blended and online training. Participants need to communicate with
their tutors, but equally with their peers and students. Social
media have paved the way for such interaction in an informal
context, but training organisations using VLEs such as Blackboard,
Moodle, for example, need to find equally effective ways of
encouraging confident, but focussed, peer interaction. The point is
also often made that F2F teaching demands skills that must be
taught to some extent through F2F training. In blended learning
programmes, tutors often have to compress into the F2F phase a lot
more than "teaching practice" - if indeed there is provision for
observed teaching, with or without assessment. Stand-alone or
blended? What use are computer mediated language programs? The EFL
world is awash with "e-tivities" nowadays and we may feel
overwhelmed by all the possibilities. But perhaps it is time to
stand back and take stock. In this presentation I will focus on
computer mediated language learning programs and attempt to assess
their potential and particular value both from the point of view of
the learner and the course provider. What should we look for in a
good language learning program? In this presentation I will propose
a set of criteria which are straightforward, but at times
paradoxical. New technologies are playing a significant role in
improving education yet language teachers appear to be portraying
pessimistic attitudes towards the use of technology in their
classroom teaching. (see e.g. Lam, 2000; Abdullah, et al., 2006;
Yang & Huang, 2008; Li & Walsh, 2011). In this talk, I will
be examining language teachers own experiences of learning with and
through technology in a TESOL course. By presenting how a blended
model of learning is implemented, I present teachers new learning
experiences and highlight issues and challenges for both teachers
and teacher educators. The implications of the study suggest that
if we want to encourage teachers to use technology in their
teaching, they must be able to see and experience its usefulness
(Davies 1989), they must be competent in electronic literacy, and
they need to be able to contextualize what they learn in a teacher
education programme in their own context. Experiences from the
learners perspective when completing an MA TESOL online with the
Institute of Education in London (1995 - 1998), and when learning a
language from scratch for a PhD on The development of language
acquisition in a mature learner. As a result of this study, I
changed my approach to teaching English as a Foreign Language and
ESOL realizing how essential it is to take into account a large
number of influential factors and how important it is to encourage
the learners to take the initiative ingredients that have a lot of
implications for online and blended learning. Blended learning
remains an area of interest to ELT practitioners and this seems set
to continue with the emergence of mobile or m-learning. Despite its
continued popularity little can be found in the literature on the
principles of blended learning course design, or descriptions given
of blends employed in the ELT sector. To address this deficit this
publication provides detailed descriptions of twenty blends from a
range of ELT courses and contexts. It is hoped that these blends
can be replicated or adapted by other practitioners to suit their
particular teaching and learning contexts. In addition, a summary
of the guiding principles and practical considerations that shaped
the blends is given that will provide practitioners with guidelines
for achieving a principled approach to blended learning course
design in their contexts. It is also believed that this publication
will add to the current rather limited knowledge base on blended
learning course design in ELT.