Oregon State U To Offer MOOC for K-12 Educators

Oregon State University (OSU) will launch a massive open online course (MOOC) for K-12 educators this fall in partnership with Stanford University and the Oregon Department of Education.

The course, Supporting English Language Learners under New Standards, will begin on October 1 and run for eight weeks. According to the university, it's intended to help K-12 teachers support English language learners, and it will focus on how English language learners construct claims supported by evidence, which is a key practice in both the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards.

The course is open to teachers from around the world but may be of particular interest to those from the 11-state ELPA21 consortium, which is developing an assessment system based on the ELP Standards. Educators participating in the course will work in teams to gather and analyze language samples from their students to discover how students construct claims supported by evidence. The course aims to help participants design standards-aligned curriculum that they can apply in their own classrooms.

The course will be taught by instructors from OSU and Stanford. Stanford University was one of the first universities to offer MOOCs. While OSU has offered online education for some time, this course will be its first venture into the world of MOOCs. "This will help us learn first-hand about this type of a teaching platform and identify how and where MOOCs fit in our learning ecosystem,” said Sabah Randhawa, provost and executive vice president of OSU, in a prepared statement.

The Supporting English Language Learners under New Standards MOOC will be offered free of charge and will open for registration later this summer. Further information about the course is available on OSU's site.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  •  classroom scene with students gathered around a laptop showing a virtual tour interface

    Discovery Education Announces Spring Lineup of Free Virtual Field Trips

    This Spring, Discovery Education is collaborating with partners such as Warner Bros., DC Comics, National Science Foundation, NBA, and more to present a series of free virtual field trips for K-12 students.

  • glowing padlock shape integrated into a network of interconnected neon-blue lines and digital nodes, set against a soft, blurred geometric background

    3 in 4 Administrators Expect a Security Incident to Impact Their School This Year

    In an annual survey from education identity platform Clever, 74% of administrators admitted that they believe a security incident is likely to impact their school system in the coming year. That's up from 71% who said the same last year.

  • horizontal stack of U.S. dollar bills breaking in half

    ED Abruptly Cancels ESSER Funding Extensions

    The Department of Education has moved to close the door on COVID relief funding for schools, declaring that "extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion."

  • pattern of icons for math and reading, including a pi symbol, calculator, and open book

    HMH Launches Personalized Path Solution

    Adaptive learning company HMH has introduced HMH Personalized Path, a K-8 ELA and math product that combines intervention curriculum, adaptive practice, and assessment for students of all achievement levels.