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The English Teacher

Educational Evaluation Guide

Theory and FundamentalsThe English Teacher is an online homework

book for EFL, that uses Learning objects

that can be tracked and reinforced.

 

We have defined the learning object as the

most granular items within a curricula’s

content. The learning objects (LOs) are:

unique, re-usable, defined and illustrated

and evaluated. These LOs are maintained in

a repository, where they can be selected

and grouped in units or lessons, in order to

match a curriculum or teaching plan. These

lessons or units will be available from

anywhere at anytime to the student

through an online application.

The learning platform that Online

Educational Solutions (LLC) has created

allows the study of the lessons, and

maintains a record of all the LOs through

systematic and continual evaluations. Our

Individualized Spaced Out Reinforcement

Methodology or ISORM, helps students

generate long-term retention.

 

This interaction, student-application-student

focuses the student on the learning

process; allowing the classroom time to

complete the teaching-learning process.

 

The platform maintains a record of:

Time and date of study

Time spent per lesson

Lessons studied

LOs studied

LOs in ISORM (being reviewed)

LOs being reviewed more frequently

Learned LOs

This data is presented individually per

student, allowing the instructor to have a

clear understanding of each student’s

difficulties. This information allows

instructors to generate solutions for each

student with out regard to the number of

students in the class.“Learning objects are elements of a new type of

computer-based instruction grounded in the object-

oriented paradigm of computer science.”

David Wiley 2008

IT applications, based on Learning Objects (LO), allow the implementation of Edward Deming’s best practices for Quality Control of processing and manufacturing. These practices have proven to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of industrial process and can be adapted for use in education.As exposed by Deming, the cycle “PDCA” --Plan-Do-Check-Act-- can be implemented in education using IT tools. This iterative cycle speeds up the teaching/learning process; if the student’s cognitive process is accelerated, the critical thinking development will be accelerated as well. One important function required for successful implementation of PDCA cycle is to act based on the feedback. But the key is how frequently and when the feedback is to be obtained. We must collect the feedback when feasible or at appropriate checkpoints, and also collect it at the end of the session. This method gives ample opportunities for teachers to improve their teaching process. IT applications can collect data in real time, and keep teachers and students informed, every second, about their strengths and weaknesses. The application of this model involves an iterative process of evaluation, thing that will help the student develop long-term retention of the studied material. As in any other process, Quality Control offers metrics to evaluate alternatives for reducing cost and maximizing resources.

Through years of research we have found:

Weak use of technology for

education

Time spent on leveling knowledge

Poor long term retention

Impossible to identify what every

student knows

Students waste time re-studying

what they already know

These faults and the theory of Learning

Objects as well as the Ebbinghaus

Forgetting Curve, gave birth to our

methodology: Individualized Spaced Out

Reinforcement Methodology (ISORM).

ISORM tracks every item for every student,

and reports to the teacher what the student

knows and does not know. Allowing

teachers to prescribe solutions designed

specifically to address the problems of the

student.

ISORM reinforces objects over time. This is

based on the student’s knowledge allowing

Theory and Fundamentals

the student to focus on the objects that

cause them the most difficulty. This

reinforcement concept creates long-term

retention through repetition. This process

increases the efficiency of the student’s

efforts and time., allowing the students to

review less frequently the items that they

already know.

This methodology provides the teacher with

knowledge of the students that would

otherwise be impossible to gather, allowing

them to come up with creative solutions to

their student’s difficulties.

We have found retention rates above 91%

six months after the first time an object was

covered.

Theory and Fundamentals

What is The English Teacher

The English Teacher is the application of these three Best Practices, into a package that improves the efficiency, effectiveness, and use of resources of the educational process.

The ModulesThe English Teacher includes six modules: Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading and Comprehension, Listening and Comprehension, Writing, and Conversation. Each module contains objects that have been created with a specific instructional design to develop specific skills. All objects are evaluated with different styles of questions to help support specific instructional designs. Below you will find a current breakdown as of November 26, 2008 (more content added daily).

Resources

MODULES Learning Objects

Vocabulary Over 12,000 with audio and examples. (over 40,000 words with audio and translation)

Grammar Over 400 Rules with audio and examples.

Reading Over 88 readings.

Listening Over 72 narratives.Writing Over 108 topics for students to write essays. Conversation Over 18 conversations for students to listen and record themselves in.

EYE

Creation of CurriculaThe creation of curricula is performed by OES’ academic development group. They follow the process listed below:Evaluation of The academic objectives or institutions curriculaIdentification of Objects to meet the curricula or objectiveCreation of any new object necessaryGroup objects in lessons or units Sort lessons to meet Scope and SequencePresent curricula for evaluationMake necessary adjustmentsClose Curricula

The CurriculaThe English Teacher provides the flexibility to create custom curricula. These curricula can be formed following the scope and sequence of an institution or academic objective. i.e. English for specific purposes and or English for any level of difficulty (from elementary to graduate level)

OES will prepare a standard curricula that follows the book or teaching plan. The institution can contract additional customization or can choose to make the modifications themselves.

Academic Content

The platform’s academic content is virtually unlimited. Objects can be created modified in order to meet a particular learning objective.

The platform currently includes content in order to cover the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). See table below.

In order to ensure de accuracy of the curricula institutions are required to fill out an evaluation survey.

This survey includes questions that help align our content to your particular curriculum, questions include:

Name of the books you are currently using

Hours of class per week Number of levels in the course Number of teachers Type of certification, if any

(TEOFL, CAMBRIDGE, CET) Number of students enrolled in

the program

Curricular Assessment

Click on the arrows to go to the next object.

Navigation Guide: The English Teacher WOW-Vocabulary

Audio controls:

Listen, Record, Playback

Hover over any word and hear the pronunciation and see a translation.

Cultural notes or related words.

Type the word

Wager more points if you know the word

Get a clue if you make a mistake

L1 is used to anchor L2

The Object

Navigation Guide: The English Teacher BIG-Grammar

The Object

Listen Record Play Back

Explanation and Examples

Find the Mistake

Multiple Choice Get Help

by looking at the short rule

Assessment of Grammar objects can be done via the following style of questions:

Multiple choice Change the structure Find the Mistake Fill in the Blank

Navigation Guide: The English Teacher RAC-Reading and Comprehension

Text can be designed to meet specific instructional design

Students can take notes, or write comments for later review

Multiple Choice questions are used to assess a student’s comprehension

Multiple Choice questions are used to assess a student’s comprehension

Students can take notes, or write comments for later review

Audio files for Listening and comprehension

Navigation Guide: The English Teacher LAC-Listening and Comprehension

Navigation Guide: The English Teacher WOL Writing Online

Writing Instructions are presented.

A space with a word counter is available for students to write. Note: Copy and Paste or spell check is not available or allowed in this space.

Navigation Guide: The English Teacher EYE-Conversation

Select a conversation to practice

Here is an outline of the conversation

Click the Arrow to continue to the conversation

Click on Menu to return to the EYE Menu

Watch, Practice, Participate in the conversation

Watch the entire conversation

Record yourself in the conversation

Listen to yourself in the conversation

Scroll to the next page to practice different versions of a conversation

Navigation Guide: The English Teacher EYE-Conversation… continued

Navigation Guide: The English Teacher EYE-Conversation… continued

See important cultural notes that apply to the topic of the conversations

Listen Practice or Record different versions or phrases of the conversations

Administration

The administration of the institution is done via a simple interface. The administration simply clicks on any of the following links. Reports are presented by: Module, by Study Time, By Log In dates, and for teacher log in dates.

Classroom reports:These reports give the teacher a quick look at whether the students have completed the assignments:

Evaluation and Reporting

Student Detailed Report:Clicking the magnifying glass gives the teacher an in-depth look at the student’s progress. As lessons or units are completed the student accumulates points, positive for items they know and negative for ones they do not know.

Evaluation and Reporting Continued

All learning objects are evaluated through different exercises, these results feed into our reinforcing mechanism. This evaluation of objects provides the application with the necessary information to identify weaknesses and strengths in the student. The evaluation provides up to date information to the teacher and the student. The student can see how many items he or she has studied, how many are in review, and how many are in long term memory, The teacher can get reports that provide a complete picture of the individual or the class. The tabs navigate between the different

modules.

Hovering over the different indicator lights you get additional details: See image to the right.

Clicking on the units the teacher sees a report of every object in the unit, and following the same pattern of lights; items that show difficulty can easily be identified. See picture in frame.

The lights indicate whether the assignments have been completed by the due date.

Grade

The English Teacher:Windows Internet Explorer 6 or grater.Sound Card with microphone and speakers.Flash media player:

High Speed Internet Connection

Technical Requirements

The English Teacher and the i-CET are web-based platforms designed with accessibility in mind. They are Internet based platforms accessible from any computer that meets the following criteria:

Online Educational Solutions3181 NW. 125th Avenue Sunrise Florida, 33323954-296-0568