Download Syllabus with Timeline here

Teaching Struggling Readers Around the World

Fall Semester October 7 – November 24, 2019

Course Overview

Description

This course, provided through a partnership between World Learning and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, is designed for teachers, caregivers, and other interested individuals who want to learn the basics of learning to read in different writing systems around the world. Based on research in psycholinguistics, psychology, and education, the techniques presented in this MOOC have been found to be effective across learning contexts.

This course is open from October 7, 2019 - November 24, 2019. It is a 5-week course but will be open for 7 weeks to accommodate to individuals’ different schedules. Participants are expected to devote about 4 hours per week to learning in this MOOC.

For technical support related to the course, please refer to the Technical Support discussion forum.

Learning Objectives and Expected Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to

• Understand basic linguistics concepts and fundamentals of learning to read in different cultural contexts
• Identify, test, and train cognitive skills that facilitate reading development in struggling readers
• Apply evidence-based teaching methods in classes or in family contexts
• Promote story reading and vocabulary learning in children of different levels.

Assessments and Certification

In order to advance to the next activity, a participant needs to have completed previous ones. Your grade in the MOOC is based on your participation in all activities (discussions, self-checks, quizzes and self-assessments). You must earn 70% or higher on each quiz in order to advance to the next activity. You may retake quizzes for a higher score if needed. Upon completing the activities within the timeframe of the course, you will receive a certificate and an electronic badge.

Netiquette

A MOOC is a very special encounter. Its participants are from diverse cultures from all over the world, and their interaction happens entirely online, without the direct supervision of an instructor. The quality of our online interactions will be much higher if everyone follows certain basic rules of etiquette – or in our case (online), netiquette.

1. Try to be clear and direct
   Make sure that your content title reflects the content of your post and that your post is succinct and direct.
2. Make it easier for colleagues to read your comments
   • Put a blank space at the beginning of a message and between paragraphs.
   • Be lean of expression. Remember, it takes considerable time and effort to read long messages.
3. Be constructive
   Respond to colleagues’ postings or comments in an encouraging and supportive tone. Think before you write or respond. Any criticism should be constructive—if in doubt, think about how you would feel reading a posting.
4. Be open to differences in opinion
   Be open to other people’s opinions and try not to get emotional if someone disagrees with you. Make your learning experience a constructive and positive one by avoiding ‘flaming’. For example, capitals can be interpreted as shouting. Think before you push the ‘send’ button. Words are powerful and can hurt; avoid anything which could be misinterpreted in any way.
5. Accept others
   Accept your peers’ differences, e.g., cultural and language differences. You are part of a community which means caring about your own progress and that of your colleagues’.
6. Cite other people’s work
   If you use a quote or reference in your post; make sure that you cite it or provide a link to it.
7. No spamming
   Please don’t send advertisements to your peers or use your peers’ emails in any way other than how they intend it to be used.

Before You Start...

Teachers make a difference. Better informed teachers do better for their students. Explicit, systematic instruction, especially at early grade levels, is very important. Snow, Burns, and Griffin (1998) said “quality classroom instruction in kindergarten and the primary grades is the single best weapon against reading failure” (p. 343). Denton, Foorman, and Mathes (2003) showed that effective instruction can “beat the odds”. However, many studies have also shown that teachers may not be familiar with some of the linguistic concepts necessary for teaching reading. In this MOOC, we provide some of this information. When teachers are taught content and pedagogical knowledge and apply it in their classrooms, students achieve more. We hope this MOOC gives you new insight in order to maximize student learning and teacher instruction.

References
Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., & Griffin, P. (eds.) (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press

Denton, C. A., Foorman, B. R., & Mathes, P. G. (2003). Perspective: Schools that "Beat the Odds": Implications for Reading Instruction. Remedial and Special Education, 24(5), 258-261. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/07419325030240050101

Download Syllabus with Timeline here
Download Module 1 Packet
Download Module 2 Packet
Download Module 3 Packet
Download Module 4 Packet
Download Module 5 Packet