Abstract:

Recent research (Coady, Harper, & de Jong, 2011; Micek & Harr, 2010; Smolen, Zhang, & Detwiler, 2013) indicates that service learning, or community engagement is becoming more frequently implemented across educational contexts to help students and teachers find their place in the world, where they have power and agency, and where they can make a change. This virtual presentation will spotlight a communit-E-ngagement project that was implemented in an online graduate program for pre- and in-service Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) teachers. The presentation will highlight how the communit-E-ngagement project helped enriched the online MA TESOL teacher preparation program, and assisted the teacher candidates to successfully work in globalized spaces. The presentation will also include a discussion of the benefits, limitations, and recommendations for improvement of the communit-E-ngagement project in an online learning environment.

Keywords:

Online learning, academic literacy, community engagement, Communit-E-Ngagement, teacher education, pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, TESOL.