TESOL Teaching Reading and Writing Online Course - Week 1

This first week included a lot of general readings and discussions about technology integration and teaching online.  Here are my posts from the discussion forums:

@ONE Course Creating Accessible Online Courses Week 3

This was another very technical week, with the assignments of writing a report on college accessibility resources and creating and captioning a video.  My video is listed at the end of this post, and my report is included as well.

@ONE Course Creating Accessible Online Courses Week 2

This week's content was very technical: making course (html, Word, PowerPoint, PDFs) content accessible, down to the nitty-gritty how-to.  Therefore, I have copied these instructions for further reference here, rather than having all this valuable information taking up space on my HD.

The main assignment for this week was to practice formatting a Word document to make it accessible.

Summary of Perspectives on Teaching Adults English in the Digital World

Rose, G. (2015). Perspectives on Teaching Adults English in the Digital World. TESOL International Association.

I ordered this book thinking it would be a valuable asset, but it provided only a very general overview about what I already know without a lot of best practices specifics, which were what I was hoping for.  There are a few good research studies cited, but I had anticipated more of a "how to."

@ONE Course Creating Accessible Online Courses Week 1

The first week of this course provided an overview of accessibility for online teaching, including media types, assistive technologies for various disabilities, and legal issues. There was no big assignment for this course for this week. Instead, there was a lot of reading, video viewing, a couple of forums, and a CCC Blackboard Collaborate online Web meeting (as there will be Wednesday of each week).

Here are my notes from this week, from the course:

Summary of Empowering Online Learning: 100+ Activities for Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing

Bonk, C.J. & Zhang, K. (2008). Empowering Online Learning: 100+ Activities for Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing. Jossey-Bass.

The authors list more than 100 activities that coincide with the “Shift from text-based environments to hands-on, collaborative, and active learning activities and tools and features that enhance visual learning” (p. viii).

They write, “memorizing lists is much less important than knowing how to access them” – “emphasis on fingertip knowledge” – “Diversity, variety, flexibility, choice, and options” are key components of online teaching and learning.

Summary of Assessing Language through Computer Technology

Chapelle, Carol A. (2006). Assessing Language through Computer Technology (Cambridge Language Assessment). Cambridge University Press.