Online writing teams - online, but not always on track - Maureen McGarvey

In 2009 International House London decided to write two new online teacher training courses, one leading to an externally accredited teaching exam and one an adaptation of a popular face to face two week course. These courses will be launched in May 2010. This talk follows the process of setting up and managing the writing team, none of whom were familiar with writing online courses and none of whom had experience in course writing. Particular focuses in this talk will be:

• Teachers being new to writing and the challenges this poses
• Teachers adapting face to face materials to online materials
• Teachers creating entirely new online courses
• Teachers adapting their methodology to an online environment
• Teachers learning how to use technology [Moodle]
• Managing a team of novice writers writing online materials, and how best to support them
• Managing others’ creativity
• Organisational learning International House London has gained as a result of this process, and how this has influenced future decisions we may make about new courses.

Data collected during the writing period will be used to illustrate and support the points raised. The talk will suggest a framework for online writing projects which is applicable in a range of contexts.