Alliant Takes Part in Kingdom of Jordan E-Learning Experience
November 10, 2006 - San Diego, California – Alliant’s TESOL program is taking part in an international collaboration to develop a comprehensive English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) blended e-learning curriculum for secondary schools in the Kingdom of Jordan. The project, headed by Cisco Learning Institute (CLI), is funded by the US Department of State through the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). Alliant was the only University selected to work on the project. “Our experience with CLI has been very professionally stimulating and we thank President Cox for putting us in contact with them,” said Dr. Mary-Ellen Butler-Pascoe, Professor and Director of TESOL and Language Education at Alliant’s Graduate School of Education.  The e-learning program, English Interactive Online (EIO), was developed to improve the quality of basic and secondary English education in Jordan by providing a supplementary interactive EFL e-curriculum for students whose first language of instruction is Arabic.
San Diego TESOL faculty Dr. Hassana Alidou, Dr. Holly Wilson, Dr. Ken Kelch and Dr. Butler-Pascoe developed the curriculum and modules. In the summer of 2005, Dr. Butler-Pascoe conducted training sessions in Amman, Jordan for teacher-trainers, with Dr. Alidou conducting the pre-pilot evaluation in May, 2006 and writing the evaluation report in collaboration with CLI and Alliant’s Graduate School of Education faculty. The Jordan Education Initiative in English-as-a Foreign Language (JEI-EFL) is the result of the Kingdom of Jordan’s Educational Reform for Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) Project (2003-07). The JEI-EFL program also includes a comprehensive online professional development program for English teachers. This professional development model gives instruction in online learning principles and theory and best practices of second language teaching and learning. The EIO provides online materials and exercises including video characters that students can interact with and the ability to replay their conversation for review. These plans were outlined in a paper presented by Dr. Butler-Pascoe and CLI’s Ahmet Uludag at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education’s (SITE) International Conference on March, 2006 in Orlando, Florida. “Initial feedback from the Jordanian EFL teachers and supervisors during demonstrations and training was overwhelmingly positive,” the paper stated. “The hope is that it will serve as a prototype for other programs in the Middle East and throughout the world.” As part of the CLI collaboration, Alliant’s TESOL program in San Diego will provide a week of training, beginning November 13, to three Jordanian teacher supervisors from the Jordan Educational Initiative in English-as-a Foreign Language (JEI-EFL). Dr. Karen Schuster Webb, Dean of GSOE, Mary Ellen Butler-Pascoe, TESOL Director and other TESOL faculty will be on hand to welcome the supervisors and their escort, Program Manager of the JEI-EFL Project from CLI, Mr. Ahmet Uludag. Throughout the week the supervisors will attend presentations, seminars and hands-on demonstrations that explore the techniques and strategies for blending online instruction with classroom curriculum. Site visits and classroom observations will take place in local community colleges, adult ESL centers, and K-12 classrooms, and Alliant computer labs will be used to explore techniques for teaching online ESL. A dinner and seminar will take place November 15th at which GSOE Professor Dr. Hassana Alidou will present "International Curriculum Development." Dr. Butler-Pascoe, Dr. Holly Wilson and Dr. Ken Kelch, Director of the International Language Education Center, will conduct workshops on EFL curriculum technology integration. GSOE Technology Coordinator, Bailong Jiao, will provide technical assistance for the week. More Information Frequently Asked Questions about Alliant TESOL Programs
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