Instructor-led courses
Objective: Design course materials for English language learning centers for adults that used a blended learning method
Background
I worked with an English language learning company with over 70 centers in China to create instructor-led classes that helped their adult students practice English concepts they studied online. For every lesson, I needed to define learning objectives, create a Powerpoint presentation and a thorough lesson plan for the instructor to follow, focusing on giving the students as much practice as possible. The topics ranged from cultural topics, life skills, to current news events, incorporating social constructivist ideologies so the learners could apply their learnings to their personal contexts.
To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, the examples shown here are mock-ups of the lessons that I created. The final products utilized the company's brand guidelines and were circulated in adult learning centers around China.
Tools Used: Microsoft Powerpoint, Word, and Canva.
To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, the examples shown here are mock-ups of the lessons that I created. The final products utilized the company's brand guidelines and were circulated in adult learning centers around China.
Tools Used: Microsoft Powerpoint, Word, and Canva.
The Challenge
The company's learners often struggled to use the things they learned online in a natural conversation. I was a teacher as well as a Content Author for this company, so I was a bit of an SME when it came to being aware of the problems students faced when applying their online learning in real-world situations. While the online learning was great for some stages of learning in the lower levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, such as remembering and analyzing, it lacked the power to help students take their learning to a higher level. This was because to truly become a competent English speaker, the students needed to practice their skills in real life and conversations, which involved improvising, responding to others, and taking risks.
Planning for adventure
I suggested topics students needed help with based on my knowledge of the students, along with others on our team. We selected the best ones that students needed more practice with or would find interesting.
Achieving success required bringing in my knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar, knowledge of the learners, coordinating with other team members, and meeting deadlines. I used my experience in the classroom and ideas from teaching resources to brainstorm activities that fit the topic and would be engaging for the students. After all, a lot of the students attended these classes after a long day at work. They wanted to have a little fun, too.
Achieving success required bringing in my knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar, knowledge of the learners, coordinating with other team members, and meeting deadlines. I used my experience in the classroom and ideas from teaching resources to brainstorm activities that fit the topic and would be engaging for the students. After all, a lot of the students attended these classes after a long day at work. They wanted to have a little fun, too.
Powerpoint slide examples
I created a lesson plan and Powerpoint for each lesson. The project manager gave feedback on my plan and requested any adjustments and the lessons were revised two times. According to their feedback, I created the final versions which also incorporated company's brand and design guidelines. Here are some examples of slides from a conversation class on the Chinese zodiac:
Lesson plan example: |
Materials example: |
Adapting to the audience
Though there was a large database of knowledge that could be practiced by the students - basically anything related to English - it was important to me to adapt the material to the audience. In this case, my audience was adults ranging from university students to senior citizens, business people, travelers, and those hoping to use English change careers. The company was based in China, so most of my learners were Chinese.
With this in mind, I focused on themes that were more relatable to my students. I wanted them to see how they could use English to describe their culture and everyday life. That's why this lesson focused on practicing vocabulary words in the context of the Chinese zodiac and Chinese New Year. To appeal to students who were travelers, I designed lessons using travel phrases and Western culture. I often used TED talks, brought them to a more accessible English level, and had my students discuss, debate, and share their ideas.
With this in mind, I focused on themes that were more relatable to my students. I wanted them to see how they could use English to describe their culture and everyday life. That's why this lesson focused on practicing vocabulary words in the context of the Chinese zodiac and Chinese New Year. To appeal to students who were travelers, I designed lessons using travel phrases and Western culture. I often used TED talks, brought them to a more accessible English level, and had my students discuss, debate, and share their ideas.
Teach and Review
As a teacher at the company, I also had the opportunity to test my lessons by delivering them myself. After each lesson, I thought about what worked and what didn't, and made adjustments.
Teachers were surveyed for their feedback on the lessons too. The lessons were given scores on a variety of factors, such as clarity, interest, and organization. Lessons that were evaluated to be not conducive to conversation or not prepared well were revisited and edited.
I transitioned from this role to creating courses for the company's headquarters to be used in centers around the world. The international courses I created aimed to incorporate technology into the classroom, so the lessons often guided students on how to use their phones/the Internet to find information and bring it into their learning.
Teachers were surveyed for their feedback on the lessons too. The lessons were given scores on a variety of factors, such as clarity, interest, and organization. Lessons that were evaluated to be not conducive to conversation or not prepared well were revisited and edited.
I transitioned from this role to creating courses for the company's headquarters to be used in centers around the world. The international courses I created aimed to incorporate technology into the classroom, so the lessons often guided students on how to use their phones/the Internet to find information and bring it into their learning.
Reaching the destination
What I learned from this project:
- Catering to a variety of learning styles is important - when you have a class of mixed backgrounds, levels, and learning styles, a lesson should try to have something for everyone. I mixed kinesthetic , visual, and auditory activities with different interactions - pair, group work, and mingles.
- Learners love the opportunity to talk about themselves - a potentially boring topic can become exciting and memorable if you can help the learner apply it to their life and experiences.
- A good lesson is like the scaffolding of a building - it should build naturally from step to step to give students the support they need to accomplish a goal at the end of the lesson. It shouldn't focus on irrelevant information or feel like a lecture.