By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Understand in broad terms how learners learn, the role of the teacher as a facilitator in this process, and reflect on the relevance of this knowledge to your own teaching philosophy.
- List and describe the major theories of learning and reflect on the impact this knowledge will have in your own teaching.
- Define the basic terms relating to concepts, principles, methods, and techniques in teaching and use this nomenclature to study and analyze examples of teaching practice.
- Demonstrate your own skills in applying techniques related to the principles and concepts studied by planning a unit and lessons in groups.
- Recognize the context of learning in terms of the learners' level, goals, social and cultural background, and aptitude and discuss how this will influence choices you will need to make in a classroom.
- Formulate a taxonomy of teaching techniques in a classroom setting and illustrate how these techniques fit with the exploitation of classroom materials.
- Identify the current trends in the use of technology in learning and teaching and integrate some examples into your own learning strategies and techniques.
- Build a framework of knowledge that you can apply to planning individual lessons and courses.
- Understand and reflect on the role of technology in your own life as both a teacher and a learner.
- Reflect on your current teaching philosophy, and develop this as a basis to consider how to address your professional development needs in terms of interests, values, skills, learning style and careers/work goals.