Welcome to A Pedagogically Culturally Sensitive Electronic

Welcome to …. A Pedagogically Culturally Sensitive Electronic Professional Development Course for English Language Teachers Presented by Paul Kebble Please use hyperlinks where available

Presentation Structure: 1. Background to e-PD 4 ELT course development 2. Existing professional development and qualification courses 3. The advantages of an electronic professional development (e-PD) course 4. Outline of the E-PD 4 ELT course 5. Some initial problems 6. Feedback, questions and discussion

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1 The Distance DELTA is a program for experienced English language teachers developed by the British Council and International House, London. • Post-experience course for practicing teachers • Delivered via DVD, internet & local tutor • Use of e-communication, especially asynchronous • Theory Practice Assessment • No Personal Learning e-Environment (uses website) • No allowance for pedagogical cultural diversity 2 An online course believed to be in use in Vietnam

Why e-PD? • e-PD can reach the places that other courses cannot reach • e-PD can utilise Action Research enabling participants to experiment in-situ • Action Research allows PD courses to be participant centred, not content centred • A participant-centred course is a culturally sympathetic course • e-PD allows synchronous and asynchronous connectivity • e-PD enables teachers in remote areas to feel professionally connected Therefore, e-PD has the potential to be more effective than face-to-face PD courses

e-PD 4 ELT • Cultural empathy • Non-prescriptive • Action Research paradigm • Practical textual & Video input • Personal Learning e-Environment (PLE) created with The online course

Problems incurred 1) Choosing website software 2) Ethics clearance for video 3) Finding venue for video 4) Finding suitable teachers for videoing 5) Finding participants for e-PD 4 ELT course trials 6) Assessment of course participants

Comments, questions and feedback, please.