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Welcome to TIRF’s 2013 Welcome to TIRF’s 2013 Presentation at the TESOL Presentation at the TESOL
Convention in Dallas!Convention in Dallas!
Task• How do you define online in the
context of an education course?• Share your definition with a
neighbor.
IMPETUS FOR THE STUDY
A Case for Online Language Teacher Education
Some Statistics
• 6.7 million (32%) US college students taking one online course (Sloan Consortium 2011)
• Growth of MOOCs e.g., Coursera– 115 courses– 33 institutions worldwide– 1.5 million participants
• K-12 U.S. schools e.g., Pennsylvania– 300,000 students online
• OLTE– 20 in mid-1990s– 120 in 2009 (Hall & Knox)
Research Questions
(1) What language teacher education programs, workshops, and/or courses are currently being offered online, and what are their key characteristics?(2) At what levels is such education being offered (e.g., undergraduate, diploma, certificate, master’s degree, doctoral studies, or individual workshops or courses for professional development)?(3) What issues arise in delivering language teacher education online? How have institutions addressed these issues?
CLARIFYING THE STUDY
A Case for Online Language Teacher Education
Some DefinitionsOnline Hybrid Blended Web-
facilitated
30-79% online (Sloan)
80%+ delivered online (Sloan)
Some face-to-face class time; large proportion of the course would take place online (Bauer-Ramazani)
Meet face-to-face; online threaded discussions and file-sharing (Bauer-Ramazani)
0-29% online; face-to-face; LMS or webpages (Sloan)
Defining OLTE
OLTE is any professional development opportunity (PDO) in education for teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) where at least 80% is delivered online. These PDOs may include professional development courses, certificates, diplomas, and/or degree programs delivered by for-profit education organizations, professional organizations, and colleges/universities.
Defining OLTE
OLTE is any professional development opportunity (PDO) in education for teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) where at least 80% is delivered online. These PDOs may include professional development courses, certificates, diplomas, and/or degree programs delivered by for-profit education organizations, professional organizations, and colleges/universities.
WHO DOES OLTE?
A Case for Online Language Teacher Education
Task• Describe any OLTE you are engaged
in or are familiar with. • Share with a neighbor.
Finding Providers
• Web searches • Web-based educational consolidators• TESOL professional websites, journals, and
newsletters• Trinity College London Validated Course
Providing Organisations 2012• Announcements of the project • Distance learning accreditation websites
Finding Providers
• 186 potentials– 106 universities; 80 non-universities– Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America, and
South America– Not-for-profit and for-profit organizations– Large and small
• 140 contacted– 97 universities– 43 non-universities
Providers ContactedCountry University
ProvidersNon-university Providers
U.S. 50 6U.K. 13 13Canada 9 7Australia 10 1Spain 1 5New Zealand 4 1Thailand 1 2Mexico 2Ireland 2
WHAT DATA IS NEEDED TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS?
A Case for Online Language Teacher Education
Research Questions
(1) What language teacher education programs, workshops, and/or courses are currently being offered online, and what are their key characteristics?(2) At what levels is such education being offered (e.g., undergraduate, diploma, certificate, master’s degree, doctoral studies, or individual workshops or courses for professional development)?(3) What issues arise in delivering language teacher education online? How have institutions addressed these issues?
Data Sets
• Literature review
• Review of Websites offering OLTE
• Case Reports
LITERATURE REVIEWData
Literature Review
• Online learning
• OLTE
• Distance Education
• CALL
Key Issues in Literature Review
• Access
• Building Community• Intersection of technology and pedagogy• Student life online• Professional development for teacher
educators• Administrative support
REVIEW OF WEBPAGES OF OLTE PROVIDERS
Data
Task• What do you think are essential
features of an OLTE webpage?• Share your ideas with a neighbor.
Analysis of Webpages of OLTE Providers
• Design• Program content• Home page
• Sales pitch• Enquiry desk• Edifice
• Appeals to audience• Quality• Job placement• Travel
CASE REPORTSData
Providers Contacted
• 140 contacted by individual emails– 18 agreed to write case report– 5 program hadn’t or had just started– 1 no online program– 8 forwarded to another person; no reply– 12 too busy, not enough staff to write; 2
concerned about proprietary information– 96 no response (after 2 emails)
Case Report Content
• In collaboration with TIRF board, a format was developed for case reports:– Identify and describe the PDO– Describe the target audience– Describe how you recruit students– Describe the curriculum– Explain goals and objectives– Describe teaching & learning activities– Describe local context/global context– Describe preparation for future teaching contexts
Case Report Content
– Describe characteristics of teacher educators– Describe non-teaching support staff– Explain learning assessments– Explain mechanisms to evaluate the PDO– Discuss challenges of offering PDO online– Describe successes of PDO and how documented
Case Report Providers
Country Type of institution (number)
Australia University (2)Guatemala Bi-national center (1)New Zealand University (1)United Kingdom University (2)United States Association (2)
Publisher (1)University (9)
Case Report Providers
Country Type of institution (number)
Australia University (2)Guatemala Bi-national center (1)New Zealand University (1)United Kingdom University (2)United States Association (2)
Publisher (1)University (9)
Issues from Case Reports
• The audience for OLTE
• Pedagogical choices
• Technological choices
• Ensuring quality
IN CONCLUSION
A Case for Online Language Teacher Education
Findings
• Types and characteristics of OLTE• Trends– Appropriate candidates for OLTE– Developing communities of practice– The intersection of technology and pedagogy– OLTE quality
Where to now?
• Further research:– Instructor attitudes and experiences;– Participant attitudes and experiences;– Technical support staff attitudes and experiences;– Peer-peer interaction;– Instructor-participant interaction;– Learning outcomes; – Cost effectiveness; and– Washback of online pedagogical strategies to
classroom practice.
the complexity of the issues involved in technology and learning is pushing us to look beyond gross decontextualized measures of effectiveness to understand effectiveness in terms of the specifics of what people do with computers, how they do it, and what it means to them (Kern 2006: 189).
the complexity of the issues involved in technology and learning is pushing us to look beyond gross decontextualized measures of effectiveness to understand effectiveness in terms of the specifics of what people do with computers, how they do it, and what it means to them (Kern 2006: 189).
Access to OLTE Paper
Visit www.tirfonline.org - Click on “English in the Workforce”
Direct link- http://www.tirfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/TIRF_OLTE_One-PageSpread_2013.pdf
Focused discussion
• Appropriate candidates for OLTE• Developing communities of practice• The intersection of technology and pedagogy• OLTE quality• Teacher qualifications