This is an online discussion for an Education major course. The course is Testing and Curriculum Development. I want you to answer the three questions that are at the end of my teacher's post. Write1-2 paragraphs answers per question. I also copied a classmate's answers, so you can understand what you are expected to answer. Please deliver well writtened answers and with no grammatical or speeling mistakes. Thanks Here is what my professor posted: "Hello, students! In Chapter 11, Adopting and Adapting an Existing Course Book, deals with how teachers interact with and make use of course books and materials in the language class, decide which essential features must be present in a course book for it to be considered appropriate, and evaluate potential course books for use within a specific context. This chapter mentions four major ways that a teacher may consult course material. First, a teacher may rely heavily on the course book, making few and minor changes to the way the material is presented. Teachers may adopt this relationship with the course book for a variety of reasons. They may be required to use and adhere to the course book by administrations or others in charge of curriculum design. Teachers may also rely on the course book because of inexperience, lack of training, or a strong belief in the quality of the book. Finally, teachers may stick to the course book because students (or their parents) have demonstrated a desire to cover it completely. Even if teachers have chosen to follow the book closely, there is still some flexibility in how materials can be used; for example, the teacher can choose the number of repetitions, decide which parts will be covered in class or at home, or create game-like competitions from activities presented in the book. Also, most course books do not contain methods of assessing progress, so teachers will have to be involved in developing ways to assess and measure student learning themselves. A second option is that teachers may use a course book but make adaptations. Some possible reasons for this include a lack of successful activities, time constraints, and inclusion of content that is not representative of student proficiency, age, knowledge, interests, or skills. Teachers may also make adaptations if the book does not include principles, language items, skills, ideas, discourse, or strategies that relate to learner needs and course goals. Nation and Macalister mention six ways that course books can be adapted: by adding or omitting content, changing the sequencing of the content, changing the format, changing the presentation, adding or omitting monitoring, and adding or omitting assessment. A third option is for teachers to use source books rather than course books. Some suggested types of source books include conversation books, timed reading books, intensive-reading books, listening texts, and teacher-made materials. When teachers are unable to find an appropriate or up-to-date course book, this may be the best route to take. Teachers may choose this option because it allows them to gather materials that directly relate to their students needs and interests, and it allows teachers the opportunity to showcase their own skills of material development. One problem with using source books is that it can be difficult to make a course seem unified when pulling in materials from many places. To make courses more cohesive, teachers may choose to organize the course around a selection of themes that help to connect the variety of resources. Finally, teachers may choose to use computers and the internet as major resources within a course. The development of new technology has given teachers and learners access to self-access centers, language learning labs, computer-mediated and collaborative activities, vast sources of free information, and the use of corpora. Whether teachers choose to use technological resources greatly depends on the environmental constrains and how well the use of technology supports course principles and goals. While many students may hope and expect to use technology as a part of the language course, teachers must decide if its use will result in better teaching and learning before including it in the curriculum. To evaluate the usefulness of a course book, teachers should think about the book in relation to the elements of the curriculum design. How well does the book support the environment, student needs and interests, prioritized principles, proficiency level and sequencing, and monitoring of student progress? Teachers must also decide which course book features are absolutely essential (some examples of these features are listed in Table 11.2, p. 167 and Table 11.3, p. 168). By choosing and prioritizing these features, teachers can more easily eliminate books that will not be a good fit. For the remaining course books, Nation and Macalister recommend developing a system weighing the value of the essential features and scoring each book on how well these features are represented. By developing a ranking system, teachers can set up specific criteria to help them make their decisions, and they will also have a way of presenting their choices when asked to supply reason for these decisions. While choosing a course book is just one of many decisions a teacher may have to make, it is important that teachers deal with the decision thoughtfully and carefully so that both teachers and students have access to the best materials to support language learning goals. Some questions for you: 1. As a language learner, which of the four relationships between the teacher and course materials (strict textbook use, adapted textbook, source books and materials, or technology) were most common in your language classes? How well did you feel that these materials suited your needs as a learner? 2. Without necessarily knowing the contexts of your future classes, which essential features do you think are most important, in general, when selecting a course book or course materials? Based on your own learning experiences, which features might be most important to your students? 3. Have you participated in courses (as a student or a teacher) that relied heavily on the use of technology? In what ways did the use of technology support or hinder learning? How did the teacher prepare students to use the technology successfully?" A sample of a classmate's answers: "In my perspective, this chapter is the most interesting and significant chapter so far because as teachers we are always adapting and adopting course books. Thank you, Kasie, for your summary; it helps me to organize my ideas about the chapter. Thank you for the thought-provoking questions as well. To answer your first question, I think" strict textbook use" is the most common relationship between teachers and course materials in the classes I had not only language classes. In Saudi Arabia, teachers, unfortunately, have to follow the course book very closely, and we have observers in the ministry of education who are observing teachers to make sure that they follow the course books in their classes. I think this refers to the controlling educational system that we suffer from in my country. It also indicates trust issues with teachers, and this is sorrowful. If teachers are not trusted to teach, choose the appropriate textbooks or at least make the necessary changes in the existing textbooks, why were they hired in the first place? I think as a teacher, it is important to adapt course books because of many reasons, such as students different needs, students various proficiency levels, and time constraint. To answer your second question, I think the essential features when selecting course books are choosing a book that has the appropriate vocabulary and grammar for the learners and a book that suits the length of the course. In my practicum, the number of lessons and units in the grammar book I had was not suitable to the course length. That book was meant to be used in two-hour classes four times a week, and I was teaching one hour class four times a week. I had a hard time to cover the assigned material on time and make sure that my students were following me. My host teacher and I decided to use technology to solve this problem, so we were using online activities and discussions on Blackboard to cover the material that we couldn't discuss in class time. That was hard for the students and me; therefore, I think the length of the book must suit class time or length. I also believe that the vocabulary and grammar level should be appropriate for learners because I remember when I was an intermediate EFL student, I had a grammar class and most of the themes of the grammar book in that class were about business. I was not familiar with business terms and vocabulary, so I spent a long time translating and trying to understand the vocabulary of that book even though the subject was grammar! To answer your third question, I participated in courses that relied heavily on technology use. I had two online courses at SPU. In one course, we used Blackboard, but for the other one, we used Canvas for the first time. I think technology, of course, facilitates the learning and teaching process, but rarely it hinders learning. For example, when Canvas was used for the first time, it took time from our professor and us to understand its features. I think technology prevents learning at the very beginning until people become familiar with using it. I am a big fan of using technology in classes. Thus, I admire the idea of flipped classrooms."

This is an online discussion for an Education major course. The course is Testing and Curriculum Development. I want you to answer the three questions that are at the end of my teacher's post. Write1-2 paragraphs answers per question. I also copied a classmate's answers, so you can understand what you are expected to answer. Please deliver well writtened answers and with no grammatical or speeling mistakes. Thanks Here is what my professor posted: "Hello, students! In Chapter 11, Adopting and Adapting an Existing Course Book, deals with how teachers interact with and make use of course books and materials in the language class, decide which essential features must be present in a course book for it to be considered appropriate, and evaluate potential course books for use within a specific context. This chapter mentions four major ways that a teacher may consult course material. First, a teacher may rely heavily on the course book, making few and minor changes to the way the material is presented. Teachers may adopt this relationship with the course book for a variety of reasons. They may be required to use and adhere to the course book by administrations or others in charge of curriculum design. Teachers may also rely on the course book because of inexperience, lack of training, or a strong belief in the quality of the book. Finally, teachers may stick to the course book because students (or their parents) have demonstrated a desire to cover it completely. Even if teachers have chosen to follow the book closely, there is still some flexibility in how materials can be used; for example, the teacher can choose the number of repetitions, decide which parts will be covered in class or at home, or create game-like competitions from activities presented in the book. Also, most course books do not contain methods of assessing progress, so teachers will have to be involved in developing ways to assess and measure student learning themselves. A second option is that teachers may use a course book but make adaptations. Some possible reasons for this include a lack of successful activities, time constraints, and inclusion of content that is not representative of student proficiency, age, knowledge, interests, or skills. Teachers may also make adaptations if the book does not include principles, language items, skills, ideas, discourse, or strategies that relate to learner needs and course goals. Nation and Macalister mention six ways that course books can be adapted: by adding or omitting content, changing the sequencing of the content, changing the format, changing the presentation, adding or omitting monitoring, and adding or omitting assessment. A third option is for teachers to use source books rather than course books. Some suggested types of source books include conversation books, timed reading books, intensive-reading books, listening texts, and teacher-made materials. When teachers are unable to find an appropriate or up-to-date course book, this may be the best route to take. Teachers may choose this option because it allows them to gather materials that directly relate to their students needs and interests, and it allows teachers the opportunity to showcase their own skills of material development. One problem with using source books is that it can be difficult to make a course seem unified when pulling in materials from many places. To make courses more cohesive, teachers may choose to organize the course around a selection of themes that help to connect the variety of resources. Finally, teachers may choose to use computers and the internet as major resources within a course. The development of new technology has given teachers and learners access to self-access centers, language learning labs, computer-mediated and collaborative activities, vast sources of free information, and the use of corpora. Whether teachers choose to use technological resources greatly depends on the environmental constrains and how well the use of technology supports course principles and goals. While many students may hope and expect to use technology as a part of the language course, teachers must decide if its use will result in better teaching and learning before including it in the curriculum. To evaluate the usefulness of a course book, teachers should think about the book in relation to the elements of the curriculum design. How well does the book support the environment, student needs and interests, prioritized principles, proficiency level and sequencing, and monitoring of student progress? Teachers must also decide which course book features are absolutely essential (some examples of these features are listed in Table 11.2, p. 167 and Table 11.3, p. 168). By choosing and prioritizing these features, teachers can more easily eliminate books that will not be a good fit. For the remaining course books, Nation and Macalister recommend developing a system weighing the value of the essential features and scoring each book on how well these features are represented. By developing a ranking system, teachers can set up specific criteria to help them make their decisions, and they will also have a way of presenting their choices when asked to supply reason for these decisions. While choosing a course book is just one of many decisions a teacher may have to make, it is important that teachers deal with the decision thoughtfully and carefully so that both teachers and students have access to the best materials to support language learning goals. Some questions for you: 1. As a language learner, which of the four relationships between the teacher and course materials (strict textbook use, adapted textbook, source books and materials, or technology) were most common in your language classes? How well did you feel that these materials suited your needs as a learner? 2. Without necessarily knowing the contexts of your future classes, which essential features do you think are most important, in general, when selecting a course book or course materials? Based on your own learning experiences, which features might be most important to your students? 3. Have you participated in courses (as a student or a teacher) that relied heavily on the use of technology? In what ways did the use of technology support or hinder learning? How did the teacher prepare students to use the technology successfully?" A sample of a classmate's answers: "In my perspective, this chapter is the most interesting and significant chapter so far because as teachers we are always adapting and adopting course books. Thank you, Kasie, for your summary; it helps me to organize my ideas about the chapter. Thank you for the thought-provoking questions as well. To answer your first question, I think" strict textbook use" is the most common relationship between teachers and course materials in the classes I had not only language classes. In Saudi Arabia, teachers, unfortunately, have to follow the course book very closely, and we have observers in the ministry of education who are observing teachers to make sure that they follow the course books in their classes. I think this refers to the controlling educational system that we suffer from in my country. It also indicates trust issues with teachers, and this is sorrowful. If teachers are not trusted to teach, choose the appropriate textbooks or at least make the necessary changes in the existing textbooks, why were they hired in the first place? I think as a teacher, it is important to adapt course books because of many reasons, such as students different needs, students various proficiency levels, and time constraint. To answer your second question, I think the essential features when selecting course books are choosing a book that has the appropriate vocabulary and grammar for the learners and a book that suits the length of the course. In my practicum, the number of lessons and units in the grammar book I had was not suitable to the course length. That book was meant to be used in two-hour classes four times a week, and I was teaching one hour class four times a week. I had a hard time to cover the assigned material on time and make sure that my students were following me. My host teacher and I decided to use technology to solve this problem, so we were using online activities and discussions on Blackboard to cover the material that we couldn't discuss in class time. That was hard for the students and me; therefore, I think the length of the book must suit class time or length. I also believe that the vocabulary and grammar level should be appropriate for learners because I remember when I was an intermediate EFL student, I had a grammar class and most of the themes of the grammar book in that class were about business. I was not familiar with business terms and vocabulary, so I spent a long time translating and trying to understand the vocabulary of that book even though the subject was grammar! To answer your third question, I participated in courses that relied heavily on technology use. I had two online courses at SPU. In one course, we used Blackboard, but for the other one, we used Canvas for the first time. I think technology, of course, facilitates the learning and teaching process, but rarely it hinders learning. For example, when Canvas was used for the first time, it took time from our professor and us to understand its features. I think technology prevents learning at the very beginning until people become familiar with using it. I am a big fan of using technology in classes. Thus, I admire the idea of flipped classrooms."