The online teaching of the english language through didactic materials for virtual environments
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Date
2022-11-01
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Abstract
Like many other side effects COVID-19 pandemic brought to the world, education was one of the most noticeable impacts that people could perceive. Schools and teachers were forced to apply new methods that were not as common before as they are now, such as distance learning, which also meant that educators had to get more familiar to the application of ‘‘e-learning’’ in their classes. After covid hit, and students from the Foreign Languages Department of the University of El Salvador, who were in the verge to graduate were pushed to make a pause on their graduation process. As a result, a decision was made, and a plan was created. This is how the idea of doing online courses was born. These courses were split up in three different modules, and they included audio and video files of weekly lectures by professors, as well as writing assignments for group discussions and individual projects. Module 1 ‘‘Online English Language Teaching’’ started with a short introduction to the history on online education, as well as a glimpse of different topics, such as the theories of learning, synchronous and asynchronous learning, the evolution of e-learning, etc. The second module ''Educational Applications for Learning a Foreign Language'' was a little broader in terms of its purpose, since it dealt with how educators use technological tools to teach online. Finally, in the third course, 'Design of Didactic Materials for Virtual Environments,' students learned how to create technological tools that they can implement in their online lessons. Since distance education seems to be here to stay, these courses were a big step up to getting teachers ready for the future
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Covid-19 pandemic, online courses, virtual learning environments, technological tools, learning theories