1. Intercontinental Language Instruction in an Interactive Distance Learning Classroom Seth Fleischauer with Kiki Hsu and Belinda Tsai USDLA Conference, St. Louis, MO May 4, 2010

2. Overview  Welcome  English instruction in Asia  Introduction to IDEEL  Curriculum and Methods  Technology  Research

3. English Language Instruction in Asia  Demand for English instruction is growing  Content-based learning not widespread in classrooms (Littlewood, 2007)  Lack of experienced, native-speaking English teachers (Jeon & Lee, 2006)  “Distance learning” often consists of videotaped lessons (McQuaide, 2009)

4.  I nteractive D istance E ducation in the E nglish L anguage  Experienced American teachers delivering content- based language instruction via high-tech teleconferencing equipment  Started in the fall of 2008  Currently operating at Tsai Hsing School in Taipei, Taiwan

5. Philosophy  Different from the usual approach to EFL (English as a Foreign Language) instruction in Asia  Use English, not just learn it  Distance Learning can actually help address some of the issues that teachers face with content-based learning

6. Curriculum  Content-based English instruction  Teaching English through social studies, science, literature, and math content  Both content- and skills-based lessons  Fifth through eighth grades  Two tracks: Standard and Experimental

7. Content and Student Work

8. Technology  Hi-def videoconferencing system  Standard-def individual videoconferencing  Document cameras  IP phones, group conference headsets  Fiber optic lines  Laptop computers  Google sites

11. Methods  Typical 5-step lesson plan  Individual conferencing during independent work  Group work and conferencing  Open-ended, higher order responses  Creative assessments  Qualitative and quantitative data

12. Team Teaching  Googledocs – before and after lesson  Eyes, ears, feet  Behavior management  Staff meetings  Tech experts

14. Travel  All teachers start the semester in Taiwan  Some teachers visit during the year  Fieldtrips, sports  Hands-on activities  Exhibition

16. Research  Need to evaluate the effectiveness of the Distance Learning program  Pretest-posttest design comparing the standard track to the experimental track  Taiwanese teachers give interim assessments which test phonics, grammar, and listening comprehension.

17. Results from Initial Assessment

19. First Interim Assessment

20. Second Interim Assessment

21. Goals  Research goals  Perfect Internet connection issues  Create new tiers of curriculum  Categorize lesson elements  Expand to other schools  Add consulting department

22. References Jeon, M. & Lee, J. (2006). Hiring native- speaking English teachers in East Asian countries. English Today 88, 22(4), 53-58. Littlewood, W. (2007). Communicative and task-based language teaching in East Asian classrooms. Language Teaching, 40, 243-249. McQuaide, S. (2009). Making education equitable in rural China through distance learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(1), 1-20.

23. Questions?