I'm partway through my first week as a student in the TESL: Reading and Vocabulary course through U of Manitoba Extended Education. It has been a busy week, as about half of my study time has been taken up in getting back up to speed in using all the forms of communication required in taking an online course. I took an Introduction to Teaching Online course at Butler Community College about three years ago when I was teaching there, and last used their platform (Canvas) about two years ago, when I taught my last math class at Butler. It was not an online course, but all instructors were required to use the platform to communicate grades to students and to upload final grades to the college system.
I am finding the U of M platform (UMLearn) to be quite similar in layout and function. However, it does take some time to reacquaint with navigation and where to find things. A slow internet connection (satellite) doesn't help.
I am excited about the course so far. I have already learned a number of new terms (oh, the acronyms!) and some of the ways of assessing students' level of reading proficiency for various purposes (Canadian Language Benchmarks, CLB, and Common European Framework of Reference, CEFR). I have learned to think about the different reasons students need to learn English.
The most interesting aspect so far is that a student may be at different levels in each of the four skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing). This is no surprise, since I feel that I am at different levels in my own second language learning (French) and that I am most proficient at reading, then writing, then speaking and lastly listening. I think it has a lot to do with processing time.
-Vicky
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