British Council – COELT

The Certificate in Online English Language Teaching programme (COELT) aims to support thousands of primary and secondary school South African teachers develop the skills to teach effectively online. Funded and supported by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the British Council South Africa, TCE developed a 40-hour online training course (COELT) aimed specifically at teaching online in low resource contexts.

• Training South African teachers in an innovative approach to using WhatsApp to deliver live language lessons, as a solution to live online teaching in data-poor environments.
• Course content included teaching online for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
• Mentoring, coaching and supporting groups of Master Trainers to deliver the COELT to cohorts of South African teachers, following a cascade model.
• Mentoring, coaching and supporting a core group of Master Trainers to become Master Trainer Trainers within a National Training Team, to ensure programme sustainability.
• Design and development of online training materials to deliver COELT in four modes: partly self-study; live online; live in-person; and blended.
• Design, development and delivery of a live online 6-hour Essential Digital Skills training course for technology-challenged teachers.
• Design, development and facilitation of a Professional Learning Community/Community of Practice for COELT graduate teachers to ensure continued professional development (CPD).
• Design, development and facilitation of a Professional Development pilot programme for practising online teachers after COELT graduation.