Online
Study Guide
for
curriculum@efl.k12.il
Welcome
The Israeli
Curriculum Center of the Ministry of Education, the In-Service Training
School and the English Department in Beit Berl College would like
to welcome you to curriculum@efl.k12.il, the first
online course of its kind in Israel. This course, which will give
you, the participant, a 56 hour gmul with a grade, has been
designed with the in-service teacher in mind. We know that you are
an extremely hardworking group of professionals who don't always
have the possibility to get into a bus, train or car and get to
an in-service training course on a certain day and at a certain
time. This course has been created for you: you can log on anytime
of day or night, from school, from home or anywhere else, and complete
the assignments within the framework of time that is allotted for
the course.
Prerequisites
There are a
number of prerequisites for this course. If you are not familiar
with these functions and programs, please familiarize yourself before
beginning to work.
 Working
knowledge of Windows 3.11, '95 or '98
Working
knowledge of WORD 6, 7, '97 or 2000
Working
knowledge of email, including sending and receiving attachments,
creating an address book and creating a group
Ability
to surf and search on the Internet
Please
make sure you have a copy of the Curriculum, The Standards
for Pupils of English, preferably as it was published in November
1998 since we will be referring to different pages during the
course. In case you don't have a copy you can download it
 as
a .doc file for WORD '97 and
2000 users
as
an .rtf file for
WORD 6 and 7 users.
Software
for the Course
While we don't
feel it is necessary to recommend the use of a specific browser
or email program, this course can best be viewed with Internet
Explorer 5. If you don't have Internet Explorer 5 (which also comes
with Outlook Express), it can be downloaded from Tucows
or Mofet
(follow the links to Windows '95, and then Browsers). Both Netscape
Communicator and Netscape Messenger can be used. We strongly recommend
(actually, we can't recommend strongly enough: it is vital!) installing
an anti-virus program on your computer to take care of any unexpected
situations. Should we receive an attachment containing a virus,
we will be unable to accept your work.
Course Description
With the implementation
of the Standards for Pupils of English in September 2000,
it is important for all EFL teachers to be well versed in its conceptual
bases, the terminology used and its application in the classroom.
The aim of this online course is to offer the EFL teacher the opportunity
to understand the reasons for a new curriculum, acquire a deeper
insight into how the new curriculum is built and to create materials
based on the Standards for Pupils of English. This introductory
course will provide the basis for an online learning community of
EFL teachers that will continue after the course has ended through
a database of units created by the teachers.
Course Schedule
|
Unit
|
Begins
and Ends
|
| Introduction |
before
the beginning of the course |
| Unit
1 |
Jan.
16 - Jan. 30 |
| Unit
2 |
Jan.
31 - Feb. 19 |
| Unit
3 |
Feb.
20 - Mar. 18 |
| Unit
4 |
Mar.
18 - Apr. 11 |
| Unit
5 |
Apr.
12 - May 7 |
| Unit
6 |
May
8 - May 31 |
Course Expectations
You, the learner,
are expected to spend at least 4 hours a week, during the duration
of the course, interacting with other teachers (i.e. your colleagues)
in the course, the instructors and the material. This includes downloading
articles from the Internet, reading them, completing the assignments
and participating in the asynchronous, online discussions.
Instructional
Resources
We will be
using resources from the Internet which are accessible to all the
participants. This does not preclude the participants using additional
sources, such as books and journals. There is a section on resources
which offers additional readings. These, however, are not obligatory
for the course. Any suggestions of resources are welcomed and can
be sent to Jean Vermel.
 Objectives
In every unit,
you will find a list of objectives for that unit. Objectives tell
the learners what it is that they will be able to accomplish by
the end of the unit. These objectives make it easier to choose a
suitable assessment procedure for a task and a grading system.
By the end
of the course, curriculum@efl.k12.il, you will be
able to
explain why
a new curriculum was written.
describe
the structure of the new curriculum using the new terminology.
integrate
the teaching of grammar and vocabulary into your new teaching
units.
choose
the appropriate assessment tool for a task.
create
units based on the new curriculum.
activate
the principles of teacher empowerment embodied in the new curriculum
through class instruction and curriculum planning.
.
Preparation
for the Course
It is important
that all the files for this course are organized so that you will
not be looking all over your computer for them. We suggest creating
directories and subdirectories with relevant names, and paying special
attention that you save files in those directories and subdirectories.
Should you need help, have a look at The ETNI webpage lesson on
setting
up a good directory structure. We also suggest you ask the technology
teacher in your school, or any other guru of your choosing. (This
kind of help is not part of our course:-) ).
Our suggestions:
On
your c: (or d:) drive (in the directory called My Documents),
create a directory called Online curriculum course or whatever
other name you would like to use for materials from this course.
Remember this name, and use this directory for all work concerning
this course. You can make sub-directories for each unit, which
will make finding files easier later on.
In the
Favorites function in Internet Explorer or the Bookmarks
function in Netscape, create a folder that is called Online
curriculum course and put all the URLs (Internet addresses)
belonging to the course in there. You can also make sub-directories
which will help you get to sites you have been to more easily.
In your
Inbox in whichever email program you use, create a folder
called Online Curriculum Course where you put all the mail
you receive related to the course. You can create sub-directories
in this folder for each unit.
Have
a look around
For
many of
you, this is the first time you are taking an online course. Surf
around. Get to know the interface (what you see on the screen
and where it takes you). Click on all the buttons and see what
you can find. Feel at home. It's worth taking a bit of time getting
to feel comfortable with the course.
Communications
Our
communications will be varied and we will be using different
technologies during the course. We will go into a bit of detail
here so that those of you who are new to the technologies will be
able to understand the differences among them.
|
Technology
|
Used
for
|
Majordomo:
Mail list
|
This
is an email mail list to which your entire class is subscribed.
It is a one-to-many technology, which means that when you
send an email to the list, all the members of that list receive
the letter. It is useful for making announcements, getting
and giving information, sending links etc. Each class has
its own mail list and the following are the email addresses
for each group. Please put your class' address in your address
book and give the list a nickname.
| Jean's
class |
curr1@beitberl.ac.il |
| Gail's
class |
curr2@beitberl.ac.il |
| Renee's
class |
curr3@beitberl.ac.il |
| Ellen's
class |
curr4@beitberl.ac.il |
|
|
Email
|
We
will use email (as differentiated from the mail list) for personal
messages between teachers and instructor, and of course between
teachers (i.e. you, the students) and your colleagues. You and
you classmates' email addresses
are posted so please check and see that your name and email
address are written correctly. |
|
Forum
|
A
forum is usually used for an asynchronous (not everyone has
to be online at the same time, in real time) discussion. It
is located at a specific URL (address) on the Internet. It is
somewhat like a bulletin board but in our case, we will carry
on serious discussions. A threaded discussion is one where a
topic is raised and the line of discussion follows that topic:
something which can clearly be seen on a forum. You will find
the URL for each discussion that we have as we get to it. |
|
Chat
|
A
chat is used for synchronous (real time) communication for a
number of people at the same time. Here, learners can interact
and ask questions. The instructors will decide during the course
whether to hold chats. |
 Activities
and Assignments
In each one
of the six units, there are activities and assignments that need
to be completed. Some of them will be graded by your instructor
and some of them are enabling activities so that you will be able
to continue to the next stage. In each unit, you will find the activities
explained with the accompanying assessment procedure.
Feedback
Policy
Your instructors
feel strongly that timely and relevant feedback is an integral part
of a successful online course. Our policy is to reply to every email
within 48 hours. In addition, our turnaround policy for grading
assignments is two weeks from the time the assignment is received.
For the final project, we expect to be able to return your projects
within six weeks. This policy for assignments and the final project
will not hold for work that is handed in late or files that are
received containing viruses.
 Grading
of Assignments
Your final
grade will be made up of marks from different activities you have
completed in each unit. The breakdown is as follows in percentages:
Join
us in your first activity.
Copyright
This online
course is copyrighted by the Israeli Curriculum Center, Ministry
of Education, Israel and may not be used without permission. All
rights are herein reserved.
Our special
thanks to the sponsors of this course:
Israeli
Curriculum Center, Ministry of Education
Beit Berl
College
The British
Council, Israel
We would also
like to thank a number of people who have worked behind the scenes
and have gone beyond the call of duty to make this course the success
we hope it will be :-)
Dr.
Yoav Silbert, Head, In-Service Training School, Beit Berl College
Drorit
Keidar, Secretary, In-Service Training School, Beit Berl College
Michal
David, Secretary, In-Service Training School, Beit Berl College
Ronen
Koren, System Adminstrator, Beit Berl College
Alex
Umansky, Webmaster, Netvision
|
15%
