QUICK RESOURCE SHEET #49
Curriculum design
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Recently I’ve had a number of requests to provide resources on curriculum design. In my travels around the web, I noticed that there are more and more courses devoted exclusively to this topic. What do Curriculum Designers do? Here’s a rather detailed response from WorldWideLearn, an online education directory (http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-education-guide/education/curriculum-design-major.htm):
Curriculum Designers help set the ground rules for education, training, and development. In order to achieve success as a Curriculum Designer, you must build an advanced set of skills in:
More specifically, Curriculum Designers generally manage the curriculum review process, evaluating how well an organization's curriculum aligns with program outcomes, learning methods, and assessments. More often than not, Curriculum Designers specialize in a specific subject matter.
In addition, Curriculum Designers home in on the most appropriate learning strategies for a particular organization or for a school's curriculum. They also make sound decisions, recommending the types of learning materials to be purchased. In many cases, Curriculum Designers can also supervise the individuals who maintain and distribute these essential learning materials.
Curriculum Designers are also instrumental in implementing new technology in classrooms or other learning environments. Additionally, they can hold responsibility for monitoring important equipment and software, ensuring that it is being utilized in the proper manner. Curriculum Designers also seek the expertise of computer and media specialists to determine the best way of delivering materials to students and other individuals.
In order to make the curriculum design process work smoothly, Curriculum Designers often meet with educational decision-makers, committees, and advisory groups to determine the specialized needs of a certain group of individuals.
Additionally, many Curriculum Designers train teachers and other professionals to make proper use of their technology and educational materials.
Here are some resources to help in your quest to engage in curriculum design more effectively.
http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol40/no1/p02.htm
“Within the last quarter century, communicative language teaching (CLT) has been put forth around the world as the new and innovative way to teach English as a second or foreign language. Teaching materials, course descriptions, and curriculum guidelines proclaim a goal of communicative competence. In Japan, for example, the guidelines published by the Ministry of Education in The Course of Study for Senior High School state the following objectives of ELT: “To develop students’ ability to understand and to express themselves in a foreign language; to foster students’ positive attitude towards communicating in a foreign language; and to heighten their interest in language and culture, thus deepening international understanding” (Wada 1994:1).”
http://cnets.iste.org/currstands/cstands-ela.html
“The vision guiding these standards is that all students must have the opportunities and resources to develop the language skills they need to pursue life's goals and to participate fully as informed, productive members of society. These standards assume that literacy growth begins before children enter school as they experience and experiment with literacy activities — reading and writing, and associating spoken words with their graphic representations. Recognizing this fact, these standards encourage the development of curriculum and instruction that make productive use of the emerging literacy abilities that children bring to school.”
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Drakos-Curriculum.html
“A curriculum is a vital part of TEFL classes. It provides a focus for the class and sets goals for the students throughout their study.A curriculum also gives the student a guide and idea to what they will learn and how they have progressed when the course is over… This article is designed to give new, and seasoned teachers ideas and points on how to develop a personal teaching curriculum and language targets that will, in turn, benefit the students' study goals.”
http://manama.usembassy.gov/bahrain/curriculum_dev.html
A short but useful bibliography for Curriculum Development and Materials Development.
Previous editions of the QUICK RESOURCE SHEET
#1 – Creating quizzes (and more) online
#2 – Vocabulary builders
#3 – Online discussion groups for English teachers
#4 – Grammar headaches – and how to cure them
#5 – Resources for new teachers
#6 – International Education Week
#7 – Mentoring programs
#8 – Education publications online
#9 – Applied Linguistics
#10 – English for Young Learners
#11 – World AIDS Day
#12 – Online writing guides
#13 – E-mail exchanges
#14 – Free online English courses
#15 – Effective e-mail communication
#16 – Libraries online
#17 – American Studies
#18 – Teaching methodologies
#19 – Internet tutorials
#20 – Using the newspaper – Part I
#21 – Making books
#22 - Using the newspaper – Part II
#23 – Human rights in language teaching
#24 – Blogging
#25 – Poetry and language teaching
#26 – The communicative approach
#27 - Idioms
#28 – Earth Day
#29 – Alternative assessment
#30 – Peer assessment
#31 – Self-assessment
#32 – Portfolio assessment – Part I
#33 - Portfolio assessment - Part II (Online Portfolios)
#34 – Intercultural communication
#35 – Teaching Adults
#36 – Learning disorders / Special needs
#37 – Using computers in reading instruction
#38 – Use of authentic materials
#39 – English for Medical Purposes
#40 – Sources for authentic materials
#41 – Education and technology
#42 – Academic writing
#43 – Teaching and stress
#44 – Back to school
#45 – Motivating students
#46 – Action research
#47 – Internet terminology
#48 - Fluency