Wikis
Next course dates: 15 October 2010 - 30 October 2010
Term: 10 hours over 2 weeks
Fee: € 145

Future course dates:
01 February 2011 - 15 February 2011
01 July 2011 - 15 July 2011

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CONTENT
A wiki is a series of interlinked collaborative webpages that can be edited and added to by a group of people. This short online course looks at wikis, and how they can be used for collaborative projects with learners. The practical, hands-on course explores:

• free web-based software for wikis - what it looks like, how it works, where to get it
• real examples of wiki projects, set up by language teachers from around the world, for young learners, adults, Business English learners, teacher trainees, and a range of other disciplines
• how course participants might use wikis with their own learners.

Course participants will design and produce their own wiki during this course, using free Internet-based wiki tools.

AUDIENCE
The course is aimed at all teachers of English and/or other languages worldwide interested in learning how to use an ICT tool such as wikis in their teaching. It is suitable for newly-qualified teachers wishing to increase their employment opportunities and develop their ICT skills,  as well as experienced professionals looking to expand their teaching repertoire at the same time as they gain some experience in online learning and ICT.

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Lindsey Haas, a member of ELTAS, writes about our Wikis course and how it helped her set up a wiki for her own learners (published in English Teaching Matters). Read the article here.

TIMETABLE
This course covers two weeks (see dates above). You are expected to spend approx. 5 hours per week (a total of 10 hours per course) on online individual and collaborative group work, including offline reading and reflection. Deadlines for task completion are weekly, and you can log on at any point during the week to work on the course.

You will use an online video conferencing platform for chats with course colleague and tutor(s) several times during the course - the exact time for this is negotiated with the group. To take part in a video conferencing session you will need a headset with microphone (headsets with a USB plug are the best option). If you have a webcam, you may want to connect that during the video conferencing session, but this is optional—you will be able to see and hear your tutor even if you only have a headset. Video conferencing sessions are always recorded which means that even if you can’t attend, you will be able to watch the recording later online, in your own time. Our video conferencing platform is accessed via a web page—you do not need to download or install anything to use it during the course. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
During the course, you will:

• learn what a wiki is, and how it works in practice
• explore a number of wikis especially developed for language learners
• take part in a short wiki-based project as a participant
• create your own wiki, for use in your own teaching context with your own learners, using a free Internet-based wiki tool
• learn to effectively use the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) Moodle as a course participant
• experience an online video conferencing session

SKILLS
The course is taught entirely online, using the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) Moodle. You won’t need any prior experience or knowledge of online learning, although basic experience of email and Internet use would be helpful. Technical and pedagogical support is available for the entire duration of the course.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
Competence in written and spoken English, whether English is the applicants’ first, second or foreign language: successful applicants’ levels of competence in English must be of a standard sufficient to enable them to fully understand and complete the course work.

WHAT YOU NEED

• An Internet connection, preferably broadband
• A headset (best is with a USB connection) or stand-alone microphone and speakers
• A webcam is optional
• An up-to-date browser
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• An up-to-date media player (e.g. Windows Media Player or similar)
• A word processing package (e.g. Microsoft Word or similar)

CERTIFICATION
The Consultants-E will issue participants with a Certificate on successful completion of the course. Successful completion of the course is defined as completing 80% of the course work to an acceptable standard.

ENROLMENT/FEES
You can enrol online by following this link. The course fee covers all chats and tutorials, guest speaker sessions (where appropriate), evaluation of final project work and certification from The Consultants-E.