LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Teaching English Language Learners in Your Online Course: Online course syllabus

Syllabus for the course Teaching English Language Learners in Your Online Course which examines the needs of English Language Learners and students with low academic literacy skills within the context of online courses.

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Prerequisites

You must successfully complete the following courses before enrolling in this course:

Course description

This three-week course is designed as an introduction to working with English language learners in the online classroom. This course will provide deeper insight into the challenges facing ELLs in the mainstream classroom. You will explore some of the common issues they experience and look at some communication guidelines and teaching approaches that will help make an online classroom more inclusive. You will also apply learning and teaching strategies to an instructional lesson that will provide the necessary support for ELLs, making instructional content more usable and accessible. You will also create an assessment that will check ELL comprehension of content material. Throughout the course, you and your classmates will engage in discussions and support one another with suggestions and feedback. You will participate in one peer review of a lesson plan and the assessment.

Course goals

  • Understand and address communication and cultural barriers that face ELLs in online courses.
  • Identify and practice communication strategies for improving ELL comprehension.
  • Identify and implement instructional strategies for accommodating ELLs.
  • Understand the importance of building community.
  • Modify lessons, projects, assignments, and assessments to meet ELL needs.
  • Engage in collaborative activities and peer review to increase awareness and knowledge of ELL issues. Understand the barriers facing ELLs in online courses.

Course materials

All course materials will be included in the course readings.

Content layout

The content will be “chunked” by weeks. Within each weekly section, there will be the following in the same hierarchy displayed below:

Weekly Overview

An overview of the week, learning goals, and assignments due with due days.

  • Lessons: One or more lessons per week provide information pertaining to the topic of the week.
  • Assignments: Activities based on the lessons including discussions and hands-on activities.
  • Postings: Assignments will be posted in discussion forums or wikis
  • Readings: Lessons and assignments will reference readings located in this section.
  • Rubrics: Assignments may use rubrics, which will be located at the end of each weekly section.

Course completion requirements

You are expected to:

  • Complete all assignments by the due date.
  • Participate in all class discussions.
  • Check into the online course at least three days a week to see new announcements, check messages, and view discussion postings.

Professional development offerings through LEARN NC do not carry graduate credit and do not issue grades. Participants are awarded Continuing Education Units (CEUs) based on successful completion of the course. The course instructor determines to what extent participants have completed all required course activities and have participated in the learning community.