Mariella, 58, is a teacher of English as a foreign language at a Secondary school in Italy. Here she talks about her interest in e-learning, how she’s found the Teaching for Success program and about her hopes to become an online teacher.
“I have always been interested in innovation, e-learning, educational technology, language learning and technology and Teachers’ Professional Development. I’m also trying to explore all the situations in which English can be taught, in presence and online. I’m doing whatever I can to increase and update my skills and my competence.
I don’t remember exactly when I discovered FutureLearn, maybe on Twitter, being a follower of the British Council. Discovering a MOOC delivered by the British Council has been a surprise for me and so I attended the first of the series of three courses Teaching for Success: Practices for English Language Teaching program. Its name was Teaching for Success: the Classroom and the World, a professional development course for English language teachers around the world intended to develop the skills and practices for continuing professional development (CPD). I hope to go on and attend Teaching for Success: Lessons and Teaching and Teaching for Success: Learning and Learners. At the moment I have upgraded and I am in possession of the certificate of the first course but I think to complete the whole series. I’m also attending a course delivered by Cambridge English Language Assessment that belongs to Cambridge Assessment, a department of the University of Cambridge, Exploring the World of English Language Teaching to learn (revise in my case) what teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) involves and to explore the opportunities of English language teaching and learning.
I have been favourably impressed by the courses that I have attended and I am attending. First of all, because the teachers and educators are highly experienced and prepared. Secondly, because FutureLearn has been able to provide what usually may be lacking in an online course, the interaction with educators and with other learners that is continuous and of good quality. The division into weeks, the comments to each activity, the abundance of resources, links, and other material and the possibility to watch and easily download so many videos that, together with the content, provide a good opportunity to practise the English language. What am I going to do with what I’m learning? The certificates are proof of my continuing professional development (CPD) and I hope to apply what I am learning about the use of technology in English Language Teaching in my everyday teaching and in my future career as I would like to be, once retired, an online teacher.”