Durham College's Innovation Centre has developed an online resource for faculty who teach the English as a Second Language (ESL) course. The site offers tips, techniques and activities to implement in the classroom.
The Innovation Centre at Durham College has developed a web resource that will assist numerous faculty members in improving the overall learning environment in multicultural classrooms.
Teaching the English as a Second Language (ESL) Learner is a new site that features activities, tips and videos provided by students and teaching experts about how to remove some of the challenges and barriers that face many ESL learners.
The site was developed by Maureen Wideman, senior instructional designer, and Wendy Hardman, faculty development officer.
Challenges facing ESL students include being unable to read cursive writing and correctly processing numbers. Wideman also found that when group work was required, groups were being formed along strict ethnic lines with little cultural mixing of the students.
"I was teaching a course last year where most of the students were ESL learners," said Wideman. "I just wasn't sure about how to conduct certain types of activities and whether I was doing things in the best interest of all my students. It was time for me to do some research and find out the answers."
This unique web resource provides information about effective lecturing and online teaching techniques, how to best teach mathematics, and conducting science labs. There are also tips about creating and marking assignments.
The Innovation Centre provides teaching and learning expertise, leadership and support to Durham College faculty, as well as introducing new learning technologies and their appropriate use in teaching and learning. The centre also offers access to highly qualified staff, a variety of computer and multimedia equipment and one-on-one training sessions.
In addition, the centre promotes an ongoing, campus-wide dialogue about web-centric instructional technology and its role in the curriculum. For more information about Teaching the ESL Learner, visit www.esllearner.ca.