Jim Duber: I understand that you've recently completed teaching a teacher-training course over the Internet. What can you tell us about it?
Maggie Sokolik: Well,it was taught under the auspices of AMIDEAST and the Integrated English Language Program for a group of Egyptian teachers, all of whom were in Egypt at the time the course was taught. And, it took place over the course of ten weeks--it was originally planned for eight, but we extended it to afford students a little bit more time.
JD: How many teachers were there?
MS: There were 27 teachers originally signed up for the course, although a much smaller number ended up completing the course. And, the purpose of the course was to help teachers learn how to integrate authentic materials into their classroom teaching. Most of them teach lower-level students in the Egyptian school system, and rely heavily on textbooks that have the sort of "textbook language" that we're all accustomed to in language classes. So, it was a way to teach them how to better integrate authentic English and authentic sources that they can find primarily on the Internet but also in print.
Use the buttons below to Stop, Pause and Play this audio file.
