Deadline: 17-Jul-23
The U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan is accepting applications to participate in the fall 2023 term of the Online Professional English Network (OPEN) Program (former E-Teacher Program).
The OPEN Program offers 8-week professional development courses developed by U.S. universities on topics such as Developing and Teaching Academic Writing, Creating and Implementing Online Courses (CIOC), Fostering Student Motivation and Engagement (FSME), Integrating Critical Thinking Skills into the Exploration of Culture in an EFL Setting, Methodology for TESOL, Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL), Teaching Grammar Communicatively, Using Educational Technology in the English Language Classroom and Professional Development for Teacher Trainers.
Courses are held September 26 – November 20, 2023. An orientation course is avialable August 21 – September 15, 2023.
Certificates and digital badges are issued by the U.S. Department of State for all those who pass the course.
Courses Offered
- Teaching for the Future: English Teaching to Take on Climate Change (New Course)
- This course is delivered by Kansas State University
- The purpose of this online course is for participants to learn about, discuss, and create English Language Teaching (ELT) materials they can use in the classroom to help prepare their students for the future. Participants will examine documents about climate change and the environment and evaluate their usefulness in their own teaching contexts.
- Developing and Teaching Academic Writing (DATAW)
- This course is delivered by Iowa State University
- As a participant in this course, you will learn what academic writing is and how to develop courses that suit the writing needs of your students. You will also develop an understanding of different approaches and key components of academic writing courses while learning the important strategies for teaching academic writing skills in a student-centered classroom.
- Creating and Implementing Online Courses (CIOC)
- This course is delivered by Arizona State University
- This course will give participants powerful tools to create and deliver hybrid and fully online courses for online learners. Using the ADDIE model for curricular design, participants will first analyze (A) students, stakeholders, and objectives by writing a learner story.
- The main outcome of the course is to have participants apply tools and strategies for creating and delivering online courses in their contexts.
- Fostering Student Motivation and Engagement (FSME)
- This course is delivered by the University of Oregon
- Fostering Student Motivation and Engagement (FSME) is an online course for English language educators who want to improve their teaching practices and increase their students’ level of motivation and engagement in learning English. Participants will develop skills to increase student motivation and engagement, acquire knowledge about differentiated instruction, develop skills to address students’ learning needs, and engage in reflection activities as a matter of professional practice.
- Integrating Critical Thinking Skills into the Exploration of Culture in an EFL Setting (ICT)
- This course is delivered by World Learning- SIT Graduate Institute
- Exploration of culture in an EFL setting requires helping students engage in authentic situations to develop the ability to navigate across a variety of cultures. This intercultural ability requires language choices and awareness of oneself as a cultural being. It also requires critical thinking skills, which are themselves culturally defined. Using experiential learning as the organizational model, this course will engage participants in analyzing personal experiences, media, EFL textbooks, and classrooms to develop the capacity to think critically about the cultural assumptions and viewpoints embedded in their teaching content and process.
- TESOL Methodology (TM)
- This course is delivered by the University of Maryland Baltimore County
- This course is designed to provide participants with current methodologies for teaching English learners (ELs) of different ages in many learning contexts. Participants will discuss and practice a wide variety of strategies and techniques for teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).
- Professional Development for Teacher Trainers (PDTT)
- This course is delivered by Arizona State University
- This course, designed for both new and experienced teachers, gives participants methods for creating, presenting, and evaluating effective teacher training workshops. You will gain tools and techniques for promoting professional development in your teaching context.
- Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL)
- This course is delivered by George Mason University
- Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) is designed to introduce you to the theory and practice of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to young learners 3-10 years old. Through engaging videos and practical readings, you will explore approaches for teaching English to children that are not only effective but also fun and engaging. You will learn techniques for teaching new vocabulary and grammar that encourage student participation.
- Teaching Grammar Communicatively (TGC)
- This course is delivered by World Learning- SIT Graduate Institute
- In this practice-oriented course, participants will explore how to adapt grammar instruction to meet their students’ needs. They will also focus on integrating grammar instruction with teaching language skills, varying grammar instruction to meet the needs of large, mixed ability classes, and using available technology effectively to enhance grammar learning inside and outside the classroom.
- Using Educational Technology in the English Language Classroom (ET)
- This course is delivered by Iowa State University
- This course is designed to help English language teaching professionals around the world acquire and maintain basic knowledge and skills in technology for professional purposes through hands-on learning. It will help teachers integrate pedagogical knowledge and skills with technology to enhance their language teaching and learning through their reading, discussion, and creation of new learning activities.
Eligibility Criteria
- Qualified candidates should:
- Be a citizen of Tajikistan and reside in the country at the time of the course;
- Not hold dual citizenship in the United States;
- Have the ability to complete academic work at a U.S. university level (CEFR approximately B2);
- Have at least 8-10 hours per week to devote to coursework;
- Have regular access (4-5 times per week) to a reliable, internet-enabled device;
- Have an understanding of English technical terms;
- Have basic technology skills related to creating usernames and passwords, using credentials to log in to secured websites, using email, searching the internet, and accessing and managing electronic files (e.g., pdf, MS Word, Excel), including downloading and uploading files;
- Have the ability to type in English well enough to participate in online discussions and submit written assignments in a timely manner.
For more information, visit U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan.