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).

Prof. Denise E. Murray

denise.murray@tirfonline.edu

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