Blended Learning in English Language Teaching: Course Design and Implementation

5
A blended learning teacher
development course for the
development of blended learning
in English Language Teaching
Nik Peachey
Course overview and context
The Blended Learning in ELT course was designed for practising classroom teachers,
with the aim of developing their understanding of the potential of blended learning
for the development of English language skills.
The course is delivered in three parts:
■■ The first part is an eight-week 80-hour tutor moderated course delivered online
using the Moodle learning management system (LMS) platform.
■■ The second part is a two-week 60-hour face-to-face workshop delivered at the
Bell Teacher Campus at Homerton College in Cambridge.
■■ The third and final, optional, part of the course is a three-month 160-hour self
study element based around the completion of two to three written assignments
which will be assessed for credit towards an MA in Teaching English to Speakers
of Other Languages (TESOL) at the University of Nottingham.
The course is aimed at English language teachers who already have some
grounding in technology and materials design. It is for participants who want to
take their understanding of technology beyond the classroom activity level and
investigate the potential of blended learning for the development of complete
courses. The online element of the course does not strictly have a limit on the
number of participants that can be enrolled, but the limit for the face-to-face
element of the course is around 20.
The course aims to develop participants’ understanding of the application of
blended learning within English Language Teaching (ELT), so the choice of a blended
learning course format to do this lends an element of experiential learning to the
course. Participants will have the opportunity to experience the kinds of methods,
approaches and problems that their students will encounter and this should help to
give them deeper insights into the process and systems that should help to support
the students they construct their own courses for.
A blended learning teacher development course | 65