Developing Online Teaching Skills: The DOTS Project

Abstract

Language teachers, whether they teach in formal, non-formal or informal contexts, often feel the need (or the pressure) to use information and communication technology (ICT) in their teaching. Over half of the teachers in a survey conducted in 2010 report that they have received formal training in using ICT in their teaching (Beaven et al., 2010); nevertheless, they and the other teachers surveyed feel the need for ‘high quality, appropriate and ongoing forms of training’ (Chapter 2) to become aware of the range of available online tools (for a review of open educational resources see Chapters 6 and 7). Moreover, teachers report that the training should be hands-on and include a social element, allowing them to share experiences with other teachers (Emke & Stickler, 2015). In addition, it is crucial that teachers are able to use ICT tools for specific pedagogic purposes (see Chapter 5 for an overview of skills that teachers need in order to use ICT in teaching), and that their training is time efficient and just-in-time (see Chapter 3). Finally, as shown in Chapter 4, learners also consider it important that teachers are competent users of the available IT tools.