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Creating Content-Based Instructional Materials for English Language Learners, Using Open Educational Resources

Julianne Hammink

Instructional Design & Development Coordinator

CESL, University of Arizona

https://tinyurl.com/UACESL-Mesa-OER

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CESL Global Curriculum

CGC is a set of faculty-developed instructional materials for teaching Academic English to English language learners and prepare them for university study.

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CESL’s CGC project began in 2018.

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Our Organization

  • Intensive English program
  • University Pathway program
  • Community English programs
  • Teacher Training

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Our Students

  • Most of our students intend to study at U of A
  • Dozens of countries (+ Asia, Middle East)
  • Intend to major in STEM, Health Sciences, Business, Education
  • Mostly undergrad, some grad
  • CEFR A2 → B2

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What we wanted

  • Authentic content
  • Affordable materials
  • Emulate gen-ed course content
  • Modular
  • Customizable and adaptable materials
  • A wider variety of assignment types
  • Critical thinking

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Survey: English USA (Randall, 2017)

Shifting to faculty-developed materials

29% of programs surveyed have courses that use faculty-developed materials exclusively

30% have a content-based curriculum

70% encourage faculty to develop & share materials

Copyright is a major consideration

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Survey: English USA (Randall, 2017)

Advantages of faculty-developed materials

“Versatility”

“Student-centered, not textbook-centered”

“Lack of suitable commercial materials”

“International use”

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CESL is shifting toward the use

of faculty-made materials

✓ Modifiable

✓ Distributable

✓ Aligned

✓ Authentic content

✓ Affordable

✓ Accessible

OER give us a head start on development

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Remix!

CC Licenses allow remixing & customization, which allow us to adapt authentic materials and create new things with them.

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Authentic & Relevant Content

Openly-licensed content on topics related to students’ intended majors.

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2016.00012

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Courses with OER-based content

Low-intermediate (2)

Language in Context

Reading/Writing

Listening/Speaking

Intermediate & Advanced (2)

Reading

Writing

Listening/Speaking

University Track

University Writing Workshop

Academic Vocabulary

Listening/Speaking

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Materials Design

  • Content-based
  • 6 levels (low-intermediate to advanced)
  • 15+ courses
  • 100+ chapters plus assessments and ancillary materials

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Thematic Content

Umbrella theme: American Studies

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Sample chapters:

  • Route 66
  • Louisiana Cajuns
  • Living off the Grid
  • Prisoner’s Dilemma

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Subthemes, units, topics

Subtheme 1:

​

Herpetology in America

Unit 1

OC

Chapter A:

Snapping turtles in Schenectady

Chapter B:

​

????????

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Subtheme 1:

​

Herpetology in America

Unit 1

OC

Chapter A:

Snapping turtles in Schenectady

Chapter B:

????????

Unit 1

Reading

Chapter A:

Newts in Newark

Chapter B:

????????

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Choose a subtheme,

choose a topic

What topics are already covered in this subtheme?

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Preparing instructors

Teachers → Materials developers

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Preparing instructors

All chapters were faculty-developed

  • Training included:
    • Understanding CC licenses & finding OER
    • Developing & sequencing instructional activities around OER
    • Formatting & using styles
    • Attributions
    • Using the repository

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Adapting materials

-Readability (vocabulary, syntax, length)

-Content

-Structure (add headings, add diagrams or images, divide into sections, footnotes)

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Images: pixabay.com CC0

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++++ scaffolding

Pre-reading or pre-listening, direct instruction, note taking/listening guides, guided practice

+++ scaffolding

Pre-reading or pre-listening activities, reciprocal teaching, jigsaw, focused skill work, model strategies

Familiar

Unfamiliar

Easy

Difficult

+ scaffolding

Small group work, independent work, mini-lessons, projects

++ scaffolding

Review prior knowledge, vocabulary support, scaffolding of structure, apply strategies

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Staging

How do you lead your students through the process of mastering the

-Skill?

-Material?

-Product?

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Obligatory Bloom’s slide

  • Increasing complexity
  • Gradual release of responsibility

Remember

Understand

Apply

Analyze

Create

Evaluate

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Chapter structure

Intro

Reading, picture discussion, media, questions

Section A

Content (text/media), vocabulary, graphic organizers, comprehension, discussion, activity

Skill

Explanation, examples, practice

Section B

Content , vocabulary, graphic organizers, comprehension, discussion, activity, synthesis

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Assessm’t (optional)

Project, assignment, presentation, paper...

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Process

  • Brainstorming
  • Finding
  • Planning
  • Scaffolding

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  • Making
  • Organizing
  • Documenting
  • Using

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Images: pixabay.com CC0

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Finding OER

  1. Plan
    1. Learning goals, unit template
    2. Some assembly will be required
    3. Keep a record!
  2. Brainstorm search terms
    • Outcomes, levels, subjects, topics, formats, keywords
    • Look for smaller blocks of content
    • Plan on adapting
  3. Search repositories, or filter for OER licenses
    • Flickr, Google, YouTube

http://libguides.consortiumlibrary.org/OER/searchstrategy CC BY D'Arcy Hutchings

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The OER Challenge

How quickly can you locate:

  • An open textbook about business communication
    • License:______ Source: _______________
  • A photo of a beehive, showing queen bee and workers
    • License:______ Source: _______________
  • Lesson plans for teaching language through art
    • License:______ Source: _______________
  • A short video about word roots and affixes
    • License:______ Source: _______________
  • A diagram of a budgerigar, with parts labeled
    • License:______ Source: _______________

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ZebraHighRes.png Public Domain

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CESL’s OER List

https://tinyurl.com/CESLOER

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Visit! Share! CC-BY

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Citations & Attributions

  • Openly-licensed content: Endnotes
  • © : Excerpted, full citation in footnote
  • Audio, video, interactives: linked out

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Example Materials

Academic Reading: The British Invasion

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Example Materials

Low-Intermediate: “Language in Context”

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Example Materials

Advanced Writing

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Example Materials

Advanced Listening & Speaking

https://ncase.me/trust/

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Example Materials

University Track: Vocabulary Development

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Repository

  • Box cloud storage repository
  • Metadata
  • Ancillary materials added as developed
  • Usage tracked each session
  • Ongoing revision & cleaning up

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Materials library in Box

https://arizona.box.com/v/CESL-CGC-Library

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Materials Use Tracking

To avoid repetition, material use is tracked each session, using a Google Form.

Teacher A

Teacher B

Teacher C

Teacher D

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Ancillary Materials

  • Most developed in the course of teaching
  • Added to materials library
  • Searchable
  • Materials include assessments, rubrics, assignments & projects, PPTs, games

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Moving Online

In the works…

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Ongoing Tasks

  • Quality control: our Curriculum Committee is involved in improving and expanding materials
  • Feedback from students: redesigning course evals to include more helpful questions

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Ongoing Challenges

  • Difficulty level
  • Amount of material available
  • Accommodating different teaching styles
  • Link rot
  • Unpopular topics :(

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FAQ

  • Do teachers get release time?
  • What software did you use?
  • What training did teachers get?
  • How long did it take to create X amount of materials?
  • What were student reactions to not having textbooks?

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FAQ

  • How did students receive materials?
  • How did you decide what content to create?
  • Can the materials be used for online teaching?
  • Do teachers need to follow the course content?

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FAQ

  • Do teachers need to follow the course content?
  • What problems did you have creating materials?
  • What pitfalls should we look out for?
  • How did you control quality?

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https://tinyurl.com/UACESL-Mesa-OER

hammink@email.arizona.edu