Distance Learning Teaching Certificate.
- Improve your teaching skills when working with children and adults.
- Study with highly experienced tutors with this home study course.
- Start at any time.
This course is designed to fill a gap between an extensive education degree, and very short "train the trainer" type courses. It will provide a foundation for teaching people of any age; giving you basic communication skills for delivering a learning experience, either in a classroom, or face to face, and more.
Course Structure and Content
You are required to study three Core Modules of Classroom Delivery Skills. Delivering Distance Education and Educational Psychology. You can then chose three Elective modules from the list give below.
The Core Modules
These modules provide foundation knowledge for the Certificate in Teaching.
Classroom Delivery Skills BGN106
Delivering Distance Education BGN108
Educational Psychology BPS105
The Elective Modules
In addition to the core modules, students study any 3 of the following 9 modules.
Child Psychology BPS104
Leadership BBS110
Motivation VBS111
Research Project I BGN102
Workshop I BGN103
Adolescent Psychology BPS211
Developmental Psychology BPS210
Ecotourism Tour Guide Course BTR301
Life Coaching BPS305
Note that each module in the Certificate in Teaching is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.
Course Duration: 600 hours.
The Core Modules: Lesson Structure
There are 8 lessons in the Classroom Delivery Skills module, as follows:
Lesson 1. Interpersonal Communication in Education
- Basic principles of communication
- Verbal and non-verbal communication
- Factors affecting communication
- Self-awareness and communication
- Reactive patterns
- Intentions
- Teacher student ratios
- Factors affecting communication in a classroom
- Student diversity
- Student expectations
- Teacher's needs and expectations
- Society and culture
- Communication and education approaches
- Teacher-centred and student-centred learning
- Verbal skills for classroom teaching
- Questioning skills
- Lecturing or giving a talk
- Elements of lecturing.
Lesson 2. Listening Skills
- Stages of listening
- Key elements of listening in a classroom
- Obstacles to listening
- Anxiety
- Hearing
- Lack of interest
- Bias
- Selective attention
- Negativity
- Listening skills
- Active listening
- Empathic listening
- Responding to received communications.
Lesson 3. Understanding Motivation
- What is motivation
- Variables of motivation
- Theories of motivation
- Maslow's theory of motivation
- Motivations
- Primary motivator, Unlearned motivators
- Secondary or learned motivators
- Motivation and anxiety
- Motivation and distress.
Lesson 4. Motivational factors
- Incentives
- Internal and external incentives
- Relational nature of incentives
- Enhancing intrinsic motivators
- Social reinforcers as incentives
- Influence of groups on individual motivation
- Social loafing.
Lesson 5. Applying Motivation to Education
- Motivation and goals
- Expectations
- Vicious and virtuous cycles
- Practical applications
- Assessing a person's current situation
- Dealing with emotions
- Identifying existing barriers to learning
- Establishing goals and priorities
- Locating and applying useful resources.
Lesson 6. Stress Management
- Flight or fight response
- Long term problems
- What happens when a person is stressed
- Stress management program.
Lesson 7. Conflict Management
- What is conflict
- Conflict handling techniques
- Anger
- Dealing with anger in others
- Modifying anger
- Role play and conflict management.
Lesson 8. Mediation and Negotiation
- What is negotiation?
- Establishment groups
- Community groups
- Joint problem solving approach
- Effective negotiating behaviour
- Mediation
- Mediator's responsibilities
- Facilitation
- Attributes of a good facilitator
- Balance of power
- Power imbalance
- Group work and discussion
- Conflict training exercises.
The 9 lessons in this module are outlined below:
Lesson 1. Scope and Nature of Distance Education
- Trends in Education
- Changes in the World and their Impact on Distance Education
- Growth in Distance Education Industry
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Education
- Forms of Distance Education
- Traditional Distance Education (paper-based education)
- Mentor guided projects or research
- Video or audio courses
- Real Time Conferencing
- Online
- E Learning
- Blended learning
- What Style of Study Works Best
- Adapting Teacher-Learning Models to Distance Education
- Exposition Model
- Behavioural Model
- Cognitive Development Model
- Interaction Model
- Transaction Model
- Comparing Online Education with Traditional Distance Education
Lesson 2. Getting the Student Started
- Profiling Students who are New to Distance Education
- Making the Transition
- Getting Past the First Lesson
- How to Do Assignments
- Time Management
- Writing Style
- Completing Assignments
Lesson 3. Supporting Students
- Introduction to Nature and Benefits of Support Services in Distance Education
- Types of Support Services
- Guidelines for Counselling New or Prospective Students
- Guidelines for Completing Assignments
- Help with Research
- Student Feedback
Lesson 4. Real Time Support
- Introduction
- Dealing with Practical Work
- Telephone Conference
- Online Chat
- Video Conferencing
- Mentoring
- Workshops and Attended Events
- Conducting Structured Exercises in Small Groups
- Listening Skills
- Empathic Listening
- Conflict
Lesson 5. Managing Resources
- Scope of Resources
- Cost of Resourcing
- Considering Resourcing Options
- PBL Project to manage resources for a specified distance education course.
Lesson 6. Assessment
- Introduction
- Various Approaches to Assessment
- Grading
- Types of Assessment for Distance Education
- Submitting and Processing Assignments
- Marking Exams
- Exam Procedures and Processes
- Plagiarism
- Practical Examination
Lesson 7. Student Administration
- Introduction
- Advice for Prospective Students
- Enrolment Procedures
- Student Records
- Managing Feedback and Course Improvement
Lesson 8. Communication Skills
- Introduction
- Interpersonal Communication Skills for Distance Education
- Classroom Education does not Suit Everyone
- Understanding What Impairs a Student's Focus
Lesson 9. Supporting Graduates
- Cost v. Benefit
- Alumni
- Direct Support
- Assistance with C.V.'s
- Networking Services
- Career Advice
- Ongoing Use of Student Services
- News Bulletins
There are 7 lessons in this module, as shown below.
Lesson 1. Introduction -Development & Learning Theory
- Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
- Schemes
- Assimilation and Accommodation
- Equilibration
- Piaget’s Stages of Development.
Lesson 2. Behavioural Learning
- The Evolution of Behavioural Theories of Learning
- Thorndike’s Theory of the Law of Effect
- Skinner’s Theory of Operant Conditioning
- Principles of Behavioural Learning; Reinforcers
- Positive and Negative Reinforcement
- The Premack Principle
Lesson 3. Information Processing
- Information Processing Theory
- A Model of Information Processing
- Perception
- Gestalt Psychology
- Attention
- Short-Term Memory
- Long-Term Memory
- Division of Long-Term Memory
Lesson 4. Memory Retention & Loss
- Remembering and Forgetting
- Interference
- Inhibition and Facilitation
- Primacy and Recency
- Learning Strategies
Lesson 5. Individual Needs
- Effective Instruction
- The QAIT Model
- Quality of Instruction
- Appropriate Levels of Instruction
- Incentive;Time
- Between-Class Ability Grouping
- Within Class Ability Grouping
- Effective Use of Ability Groups
- Mastery Learning
- Outcomes-Based Education
- Individualised Instruction
Lesson 6. Constructivist Learning
- What is the Constructivist View
- Top Down or Bottom Up Processing
- Generative Learning
- Discovery Learning
- Reception Learning
- Activating Prior Knowledge
Lesson 7. Motivation
- Intrinsic Motivation
- Extrinsic Motivation
- Factors Affecting Motivation
- Motivational Theories
- Behavioural Learning Theory
- Human Needs Theory; Dissonance Theory
- Cognitive Dissonance Theory
- Personality Theory
- Attribution Theory Expectancy Theory;
- Improving Motivation
- Nurturing Interest/Curiosity
- Providing Incentive to Learn
Everyone Learns Differently
Different people have a natural tendency to learn in different ways. One person may learn fast, while another may be slow. Some people flourish in a classroom environment, and others never do.
When you are able to understand what a person's learning style is; you are then in a better position to help them learn.
Different concepts and theories have been developed to help understand variations in learning styles. Here is one, developed by the education theorist, David Kolb.
Diverging Feeling and Watching
This style is characterised by:
- A learner with this learning style will look at things from different perspectives.
- They will be sensitive.
- Prefer to watch rather than do.
- Perform best at viewing concrete situations from differing points of view.
- Like to gather information.
- Have an open mind.
- Tend to prefer to work in groups.
Kolb called this the diverging style as the learner with this style will perform better when there is a need to generate lots of ideas, such as brain storming.
Assimilating Watching and thinking
This style is characterised by:
- Has a concise, logical approach.
- Prefers concepts and ideas to people.
- Look for good clear explanations rather than practical opportunities.
- Understand wide ranging information.
- Prefer to organise in clear logical format.
- More interest in abstract ideas and concepts.
- Prefer theories rather than practical value.
- Effective in science and information careers.
- Prefer lectures, readings, exploring models, having time to think through things.
Converging Doing and Thinking
This style is characterised by:
- Solve problems.
- Use own learning to find solutions to practical problems.
- Prefer technical tasks.
- Less interested in people.
- Like to find practical ideas and solutions to problems.
- Often best at specialist and technological abilities and skills.
- Like to experiment with new ideas.
Accommodating Doing and feeling
This style is characterised by:
- Prefers the hands-on approach.
- Prefers intuition to logic. Will often work on gut instinct rather than logical analysis.
- Will prefer a practical and experiential approach.
- Like new challenges and experiences.
- Will tend to rely on the analysis of others rather than do their own analysis.
- Like to carry out plans.
- This style is the prevalent style in the general population.
Understanding and appreciating these differences, can help teachers better determine the most effective ways of teaching their students. It can also help students make much more informed decisions about the courses they choose to study.
Opportunities to Work in Education
In the past, most jobs in education involved standing in front of a class and talking. The world has been changing though, and all sorts of new opportunities keep emerging. At the same time, the opportunities to work as a classroom, teacher are not the same as they once were (in many ways).
Education professionals today and in the future, are likely to need different and more diverse training, in order to differentiate themselves from other "educators", and get the diverse and different work opportunities that are emerging. This is where this course comes in; having been designed to diversify the educators skills and broaden their awareness of what is new and emerging in education.
The course does this not just through the subjects that are covered; but also through the way we cover what you learn. This course is "experiential" in nature. It incorporates problem based learning methodology in places; and offers a student a lot of flexibility to move their learning along individualised paths. In these ways, every student studies as an individual, learning a different mix of things to the next student; but with strong support from our expert academic team of tutors.
How the Course Works
You can start the course at any time.
It is studied by distance learning, so you can study in the comfort of your own home. But this doesn't mean you are all alone in your studies. Our highly qualified and friendly tutors are there to help you every step of the way. If you have any questions at all, they are always happy to help.
Each lesson includes set tasks, and is completed with an assignment which the student submits to their course tutor. The tutor will mark the assignment and return this to the student with comments and suggestions for further reading.
How the Certificate is Assessed
The Certificate requires around 600 hours of study. This is made up of six 100-hour modules.
To pass the course –
- Pass all assignments on the six 100-hour modules. There will be an assignment at the end of each lesson to submit to your tutor for marking and feedback.
- Pass six examinations – one on each module. These are usually taken at the end of the module and can be arranged at a time and location to suit you.
Enrol today
You can enrol on the Certificate In Teaching today - just head to "It's easy to enrol" at the top of this page and select your payment and study method options.
If you have any questions - please contact us, we will be more than happy to help - phone us on (UK) 01384 442752, or (International) +44 (0) 1384 442752, or use our FREE COURSE COUNSELLING SERVICE.