Instructional design & materials development

What is the role of design in teaching and materials preparation?
What are the main phases of instructional design?
How can we apply the phases of instructional design in course building and materials development?
How can we use instructional design for self-reflection?

Ready-made coursebooks vs teacher-generated materials

What is wrong with textbooks?
Why do we need teacher-generated materials?
What are the main advantages of teacher-generated materials?

Teacher–generated materials and how to present them

How can we develop materials that have an effect on learners?
How can we present materials in a motivating way?
What are the main principles of design that help materials affect learners?

Making materials relevant to learner's needs

How can we connect learning outcomes with the learners' needs?
How do learning outcomes shape instructional materials?
How can the presentation of materials support understanding?

Structuring activities to teach skills and systems

How can we make the input comprehensible?
What activities can contribute to learning systems?
How can activities balance different language skills?
How can tasks help integrate different skills and systems?

Making instructional materials authentic

How do materials expose learners to language in authentic use?
How can we make output meaningful?
What activities provide opportunities for interaction in a variety of discourse modes?

Using different task types to teach skills and systems

What task types can contribute to teaching reading and writing?
What task types can contribute to teaching speaking and listening?
What task types are effective for teaching vocabulary and grammar?

Efficiency in materials development

What techniques help teachers and instructional designers save time?
What are the main principles of efficiency in design thinking?
How can we apply the principles of efficiency in materials development?

Transforming authentic resources into teaching materials

What are the differences between resources, materials, and technologies?
How can we select authentic resources for language teaching?
What principles can help us adapt authentic resources (ranging from fiction books to movies) for our courses?

Group presentations

Presenting a set of activities that are

• sequenced and structured to teach as receptive as productive skills;
• self-generated for the course you are currently teaching or want to teach;
• based on authentic resources (articles, videos, podcasts, etc.);
• related to the principles discussed throughout the course.