HANDBOOK for Amity Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

An Online Course for Interns of the Amity Institute

Lisa M. Dorner, Ph.D., 2012 lisamdorner@gmail.com

handbook and course revised January, 2013

Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

Table of Contents
Course Overview Using CourseSites.com Information for Amity How to Sign-in (Amity Staff) How to Allow Access to New Facilitators The Four Modules and Related Assignments Information for Course Facilitators How to Revise the Announcements How to Enroll New Students (Interns) in the Course How to Create Groups p. 4 p. 4 p. 5 p. 6 p. 7 p. 7 p. 10 p. 12 p. 3

Information for Interns p. 13 How to Sign-up for CourseSites.com How to Enroll in Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

Course Overview
The online course, Introduction to Language Education in the U.S. (LangEduc2012), was developed expressly for the Amity Institute by Lisa M. Dorner, Ph.D. in 2012. The course is available on CourseSites.com. As of August, 2012, there is no cost to host the course on this website. However:

Amity must make use of the site EVERY 60 DAYS for it to remain online/free.
The course covers four main topics through online modules or sections on: (1) (2) (3) (4) the U.S. education system; U.S. students and families; classroom management; and theories of language education and acquisition.

The three main goals of this course will be for interns to: (1) develop their understanding of U.S. schools and students; (2) obtain support, resources and tips for successful teaching and cultural exchange; (3) practice reading, writing, listening, and speaking English. To meet these goals, each online module includes a set of readings, opportunities for intellectual exchange, and a written or video-taped assignment. Interns will email their written assignments directly to their Amity counselor. This handbook provides instructions for Amity counselors and facilitators, including how to enroll new interns into the course. This handbook also provides a sheet of instructions for the interns, including how to login and begin coursework. The instructions for facilitators, pp. 7-12, and for interns, p. 13, may be copied and sent separately to the appropriate group. If there are any questions about this course, please contact the course developer at lisamdorner@gmail.com.

Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

CourseSites.com: Information for AMITY

The information in this section explains how Amity Counselors and Facilitators can access and use CourseSites.com. Further detailed information about how to use this platform is available on CourseSites.com, especially their Quick Start Guide, found at: https://www.coursesites.com/webapps/Bb-sitescourse-creation-BBLEARN/pages/getstarted.html. Counselors and staff at Amity should use the Username and Password below to access the course, Introduction to Language Education in the U.S. The Amity Institute may also use this Username and Password to create other courses on CourseSites if desired.

How to Sign-in (Amity Staff and Facilitators)

Go to https://www.coursesites.com. In the upper-right hand corner, click on Login. On the new page, please enter: Username: AmityInstructor Password: interns From this page, Amity has the power to create new courses on CourseSites.com. In the right column, click on Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

On the page that appears, Amity may change information about the course, as well as invite new facilitators and interns to the course, as described in the pages that follow.
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Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

How to Allow Access to New Facilitators (Instructors)

To allow access to facilitators, please follow these steps: 1. Login to CourseSites.com, Introduction to Language Education in the U.S. (see p. 4). 2. On the left side of the screen, under Control Panel, click on Users and Groups to expand its sub-menu. 3. Then, under this header Users and Groups, click on Users.

On the new main screen, hover the mouse over Invite, and click on Users.

On the new page that appears, enter the following information: a. b. c. d. Under 1. Select Role, choose Instructor. Under 2. Email Information, enter all the facilitators email addresses. Edit the email notification as desired. Under 3. Submit, click Submit.

The instructor will receive an email with instructions about how to create a CourseSites.com account. They will be asked to name their own CourseSites.com website.
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Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

The Four Modules and Related Assignments

The course is divided into four modules, or sections, which each last three weeks. During each module, the interns will: (1) read articles or websites about the topic of the module; (2) listen to a presentation/lecture; and (3) reflect upon key questions, especially in a final assignment (usually a written essay). Interns will email their written assignments or send links to video-taped reflections to their Amity counselor. Upon completion of the course after they email their written assignments to Amity or provide links to any video responses they created they should receive a certificate of completion from Amity.

Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

CourseSites.com: Information for FACILITATORS

The Amity Institute course, which you will be facilitating, is called Introduction to Language Education in the U.S. The course number is LangEduc2012. The course was originally created in 2012 using Blackboards CourseSites.com. Amity or its facilitators must log on to CourseSites.com every 60 days for the course to remain hosted for FREE on this website. Every time the course is offered, facilitators must prepare CourseSites.com for the new group of students. The following pages provide instructions on: 1. How to revise the Announcements to post on the correct dates. 2. How to enroll/invite interns (the students) into the course. 3. How to split interns into small groups and create appropriate pages for each group.

How to Revise the Announcements

The course Announcements serve as reminders, to ensure students submit their assignments to Amity in a timely fashion. After entering the course as an instructor (per the email invitation sent from Amity), the facilitator must edit all of the announcements, so they will post on the correct dates. They also must edit the text of each Announcement, so the due dates are correct. Before following these instructions, please make sure that CourseSites.com is in edit mode. In the upper-right-hand corner, it should say Edit Mode is ON. (See picture below.)

How to make sure the Announcements post on the correct date . . .

1. In the left-hand menu, click on Home (Announcements). 2. In the center of the screen, click on more announcements. 3. Click on the down arrow of each of the announcement titles and click on Edit:

Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

4. Under 2. Web Announcement Options, make sure Date Restricted is chosen. 5. Next, in the section Select Date Restrictions, click on Display After, and enter the dates, as suggested below, for each of the corresponding Announcement titles. 6. Scroll to the bottom, and click on Submit.

Announcement Titles and Corresponding Dates to Enter

Welcome to Language Education in the U.S. for Amity Interns *Please begin the Amity course on Language Education! *Module 1 Ends Send Reflection to mail@amity.org Module 2 on Students and Families Begins *Module 2 Ends Send Reflection to mail@amity.org Module 3 on Classroom Management Begins *Module 3 Ends Send Reflection to mail@amity.org Module 4 on Language Education and Acquisition Begins *Module 4 Ends Send Reflection to mail@amity.org Congratulations! The Course is Over 3 weeks before course begins (e.g., January 21) exact date course begins (e.g., February 11) 3 days before Module 2 begins (e.g., March 1) exact date Module 2 begins (e.g., March 4) 3 days before Module 3 begins (e.g., March 22) exact date Module 3 begins (e.g., March 25) 3 days before Module 4 begins (e.g., April 12) exact date Module 4 begins (e.g., April 15) 3 days before Module 4 ends (e.g., May 3) final date of course (e.g., May 6)

Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

How to make sure the Announcements include the correct text (dates) . . .
At the same time as the facilitator changes the date restriction time period, s/he must also reread each Announcement, to make sure that the written information has the correct due date for each module. The start/end dates of each module are listed within certain announcements: the ones that need editing are *starred* on page 8; these are the second, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth announcements of the course. Within the text of these five Announcements, please look for the MONTHS written in all capital letters. Please edit the due dates accordingly, per the three-week module timeline listed above. Here are two examples, for the second and third Announcements. EXAMPLE FOR THE SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT The Announcement titled Please begin the Amity course on Language Education! is the second announcement of the course. It should post on the first day of the first module. For the spring semester, 2013, this day was FEBRUARY 11. This date, listed in the Announcement, will need to change each semester:
Welcome! The Amity course on Language Education in the U.S. has begun. Each module is three weeks long. The first module on "U.S. Education" starts FEBRUARY 11. It ends three weeks later. During this time, you must (1) read the readings; (2) listen to the presentation; (3) complete the discussions; and (4) within three weeks (before Module 2 begins), email your Module 1 Reflection to mail@amity.org. Please enter the coursesites.com to begin!

EXAMPLE FOR THE THIRD ANNOUNCEMENT The Announcement titled Module 1 Ends Send Reflection to mail@amity.org is the third announcement of the course. It should post three days before the second module begins (in spring of 2013, March 1). More important, it reminds students about the due date of their first written reflection: in the spring of 2013, this was MARCH 4. This is the date that needs to be modified each semester:
Thank you for your participation in Module 1 on the U.S. education system! Please EMAIL your reflection to mail@amity.org by MARCH 4. Then, you may start on Module 2.

After the Announcements are ready for a new semester, the Facilitator must invite students to the course. The following page provides instructions for inviting interns to enroll in the course.

Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

How to Enroll New Interns (Students) in the Course

Before inviting new interns, the Facilitator must delete all previous Users. Then, they will invite the new set of interns to enroll in the course. Please follow these steps: 1. Login to CourseSites.com, Introduction to Language Education in the U.S. (see p. 4). 2. On the left side of the screen, under Control Panel, click on Users and Groups to expand its sub-menu. 3. Then, under this header Users and Groups, click on Users.

4. You will see a list of Users from the previous semester. You will choose to remove each of the Students from the previous semester. Look for all Students and click on the boxes, which are to the left of their names:

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Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

5. After selecting all of the previous Students names, please scroll to the bottom of the page and click Remove Users from Course. You will be left with a page that includes only a list of Instructors:

6. Now you are ready to invite new Users (Students) to the course. On the new main screen, hover the mouse over Invite, and click on Users.

7. On the new page that appears, enter the following information: a. b. c. d. Under 1. Select Role, choose Student. Under 2. Email Information, enter the interns email addresses. Edit the email notification as desired. Under 3. Submit, click Submit.

The interns will receive an email with instructions about how to create a CourseSites.com account. After they do so, they will have immediate access to begin the course.

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Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

How to Create Groups (of Interns)

Sometimes, 100 (or more) interns will take Amitys course. In order to make this manageable, the Facilitator will create smaller groups of interns based upon information provided by Amity. Interns will use these small groups to contact other interns and to complete assignments over email or instant messaging. The Facilitator should consider the following when creating groups: Interns country of origin Interns native/country language The grade level that the intern is teaching The area of the country where the intern is living

As a general rule, interns who speak the same home language should be placed together. This way, they may help each other develop English skills by using their native language. The Facilitator may also group interns who are teaching similar grade levels, so that they may compare ideas about how to work with students of that grade/age. Finally, the Facilitator may group students from different areas of the country, so they may learn more about the diversity of the United States, and the various laws and customs of different parts of the country. Each group should have about 10 members. To create groups, please follow these instructions: 1. Look at the Control Panel menu on the left side of the screen. Under Users and Groups, please click on Groups. 2. Hover your mouse over Create Single Group, and then click on Manual Enroll.

3. The next page has many options for creating groups. For the first group, please fill in: 1) Group Name and Description (e.g., Spanish Elementary Teachers) 2) Tool Availability Please maintain the default choices to allow each group access to Blogs, Discussion Board, Email, File Exchange, Journals, Tasks, Wikis. 3) Module Personalization Setting Allow 4) Membership Please click on the names for your first group. 5) Submit Please click on Submit.

4. Please repeat these instructions to create as many groups as needed.

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Handbook for Introduction to Language Education in the U.S.

CourseSites.com: Instructions for INTERNS

The Amity Institute has created a course just for you! It is called Introduction to Language Education in the U.S. The course number is LangEduc2012. To begin the course, you must sign-up at CourseSites.com. Please follow these instructions: 1. You will receive an email from noreply@coursesites.com. 2. Within that email, please click on the link: Click to confirm and register. 3. Click: I Need a CourseSites Account. 4. Enter the information requested (First Name, Last Name, Email, etc.). a. For Country, please choose United States (because you are taking the course in the United States). 5. Click Sign Up. 6. This takes you directly to the page for your course, Introduction to Language Education in the U.S., or LangEduc 2012! a. The first page includes Announcements about the course. b. To begin, please click How to Take This Course.

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