CALL FOR PARTICIPATION – TESOL Ukraine Institute

“Principles of Designing Blended Courses in a Time of Crisis”

 2-6 July 2023

With support from the Regional English Language Office at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine through the English Language Alumni Program.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

TESOL Ukraine is pleased to announce a five-day training institute on creating online and blended courses grounded in theoretical knowledge and practical skills in teaching methodology during crisis times. The event aims to provide stress-free teaching tips for Ukrainian university teachers who teach online and in blended contexts. More than ever, teaching at universities is one of the biggest challenges, with a need to juggle between online and offline formats depending on many safety issues. University teachers need specific tools, techniques, and strategies that are effective in designing online and/or blended courses on the platform, keeping in mind the best practices from national and foreign expertise.

Over the course of five days, participants will engage in training sessions across four essential blocks of online and blended education:

• Teaching Methodology
• Designing Online or Blended Courses
• Systemic-Functional Linguistics,
• Social Emotional Learning.

They will have the chance to:

• delve into a friendly and supportive atmosphere fostered by the TESOL Ukraine community
• develop their collaboration and communication skills
• enjoy cultural experiences at the picturesque attractions of Krakow.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES FOR PARTICIPANTS

1.  Understanding of teaching methodology applied in online and blended education.
2. Increased awareness of principal issues in designing online and/or blended courses, course design tools, and structure.
3. Improved confidence in applying Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) principles in online and/or blended course design, structuring, and best practices on the platforms.
4. Developed skills in designing their own online and/or blended courses with support and review.
5. Successful assessment of project presentations at the discussion panels and publication of the projects on the Canvas LMS platform.

CONFERENCE DETAILS

 Conference Dates: July 2-6 (travel on the 2 and 7)

Location: Ibis Kraków Centrum, ul. Władysław Syrokomli 2, 30-102 Kraków, Poland

Time: 9:00 – 15:30

Working Language: English

FORMAT

 The training Institute will consist of three stages, which complete the whole course:

• The first stage will be held in person from July 2-7 in Krakow, where participants will attend sessions on four blocks.
• The second stage will be an asynchronous online course on polishing hands-on practical skills in developing online and blended courses on the Canvas LMS from September 11-October 16, 2023.
• The third stage is the follow-up online conference in the middle of November 2023, where the participants are expected to present their created courses and be ready to publish them for their student groups. Participants also have to disseminate the knowledge they have gained at the sessions and implement the courses they made into their practice.

Only participants who completed all stages will be awarded certificates for 90 hours (3 ECTS credits).

PRESENTERS

 Stuart Carroll, Ph.D. in Teaching and Curriculum, Associate Professor of Elementary and Early Childhood Education Department, the College of New Jersey, Ewing. Dr. Stuart Carroll is a highly qualified professional in teaching English as a Second Language, with significant academic and research achievements in international teaching, coordinating international summer and academic year programs, and publishing and presenting his research globally. Dr. Stuart Carroll has been awarded numerous prizes for excellence in teaching and research and is a member of professional organizations: Kappa Delta Pi, Association of Teacher Educators, and American Educational Research Association, currently engaged in the Virtual Educator Program with Sumy State University.

Maryna Tsehelska, Ph.D. in Philology from Dnipropetrovsk National University and her 30-year teaching experience includes teaching at secondary school, technical college, and pedagogical university; chairing the English Language and Methodology Department at Kryvyi Rih Pedagogical University; starting and developing private language schools. Maryna’s professional achievements include grants from the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, Fulbright (Scholar Program), and Headway scholarships. As part of the TESOL-Ukraine team since 2002, she has participated in various projects and run workshops for teachers of English in Ukraine and abroad and was a part of Hawaii-TESOL (TESOL-Ukraine’s Sister Affiliate) for the academic year 2005-06. Being the author of several textbooks for learners of English, Maryna Tsehelska is now working on the implementation of cognitive pedagogy into the teaching of English, which will potentially enhance the learning of a foreign language.

Meagan Abrahamsson is the English Language Resident at America House. She is from Detroit, Michigan, and has lived worldwide. She holds a B.A. in International Studies and German from Northern Michigan University and an M.A. in International Studies and Education from Concordia University in Irvine, California. She is a dual Italian citizen with Swedish, Polish, Russian, Welsh, and Indigenous American heritage. She’s studied German in Vienna, Spanish in Honduras and taught English to students from China, Australia, the Philippines, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria.

Iryna Liashenko, PhD in Theory and Methods of Vocational Education is an Associate Professor at Sumy State University. Iryna took part and training in the projects as a Facilitator of the Online Course Assessment of English Language Learners for the RELO, U.S. Department of State, OPEN, where she crafted design and tailored the content of the course in line with the specific needs of the participants, facilitated the activity and development within the course, monitored and evaluated the submitted assignments of the participants. She also was engaged as a Teacher and Facilitator of the Online Course Basics on Writing an Academic Research Article (WARA) for the Ukrainian-Czech Project “AgriSciences Platform for Scientific Enhancement of HEIs in Ukraine”. She is currently a Facilitator of the Online Teacher Community for the British Council and is having training as a Community Leads (CL) on the OPEN CoP.

EXPENSES

The Institute is partially sponsored by TESOL Ukraine, Regional English Language Office at U.S. Embassy, Kyiv, Ukraine and English Language Alumni Program funding opportunity.

The participants will be reimbursed travel expenses (up to 60$), four-night accommodation in the twin standard hotel rooms, breakfasts, and lunches.

The selected participants of the training institute will also be expected to pay the registration fee 500 UAH.

REGISTRATION

Registration is open until May 21, 2023. To register, please fill out the online form and through the provided link

https://forms.office.com/e/DJtRfzk6Nj

The selection criteria will take into account the participant’s relevant professional and teaching experience, experience teaching online courses, including membership in TESOL Ukraine, and their determination for participation and dissemination. Only the selected participants will receive acceptance email notifications and further guidelines by June 4, 2023.

The training Institute is an excellent opportunity for Ukrainian university teachers to improve their online and blended teaching skills and enhance their professional development.

We encourage interested individuals to register and take advantage of this opportunity. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or require further information: tesolukraine2023@gmail.com