The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs has launched a pilot Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) prepared
by and for English-teaching professionals.
Shaping the Way We Teach English was developed by the
University of Oregon. It is hosted on the Coursera platform as part of
the Department’s partnership with Coursera. This is a free opportunity
for current and future educators of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
to improve the quality of their teaching methods.
The course offers a unique, multimedia-rich collaborative environment
where participants can interact with top-ranked English-language
educators from all over the world. Participants will have access to
asynchronous materials and methods that complement college courses such
as Introduction to Methods for Teaching English as a Foreign Language
(TEFL) or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
Interactive discussion forums will also allow participants to share
ideas with each other to enhance their English language teaching
expertise. The benefits of this course should enable educators to
establish, adapt, and evaluate their methods, materials, and classroom
activities to improve their students’ study of English.
The MOOC is divided into two five-week sessions with the first course began on April 7; the second session begins on May 12. Participants can enroll in the second session without participating in the first session.
