Open Learning English 10.. too much for ESL.

I have done a review and pilot test of the on line learning module English 10 for teaching English as a second language

Summary

Open Schools BC has a number of free and costed on line and off line teaching modules. English 10 is one of the available courses and can be done on line or downloaded. I registered as a student and downloaded, printed out and reviewed all 9 modules and bought the Sightlines text book and the novel The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. The principle advantage of the course is that students can get an credit for English 10, and this could be an advantage to a student who has failed the course or who wants to fast track their studies. I do not recommend using this resource for teaching English as a second language. I would consider using the Sightlines text as a resource for reading material for students who have a reading level at Lexile level of 1000 or above.

Technical issues

The three required modules cost $ 30.00 each to download. However I accessed the modules for free by logging in as a student and registering for the course. I suspect that if I paid the $30.00 for each of the three modules they would have been laid out better as I printed out the material from the on line course. Thus my comments may not reflect the paid version. In retrospect it would probably be better to buy the modules and download them.
There is too much paper. Once the modules have been printed out, there is a manual about 2 inches thick. That is very expensive on paper and ink to print out for every student. Part of the reason why there is so much paper is because there are a lot of blank pages. However you can pay to download the modules from a different page on the website.
About 50 additional separate student assignment pdfs had to be downloaded from links within each module.
Then the assignments had to be merged for each chapter using a pdf software editor which costs about $ 8 a month. I added the pdfs to the end of the chapters.
Once everything is printed out there were no page numbers and they had to be added using the pdf editing software.
The downloading and editing took about 10 hours@ $ 25.00 hr for a labour cost of $250.
The numbering of the modules, sections and assignments is confusing. It would have been better to use legal numbering e.g. 1.1.2 throughout the modules.
The reading exercises are from Sightlines. There were about 50 pages of readings from the Sightlines that I photocopied to save my student from having to buy the book and also so I don’t have to lug the book around. This adds to the paper overkill and confusion of too much paper.
There are some online links to activities that can’t be printed out, requiring one to go back and forth between on line and paper.
The are many links to a grammar manual that would also need to be downloaded for about $30.00. I downloaded the grammar manual as a separate project and have used it with all my students and have reviewed it elsewhere.
Having the material as a PDF means you can’t edit it without a PDF editor.
The course was published in 2008 before the explosion of on line learning opportunities.

Total costs

Module 1	$ 30.00
Module 2	$ 30.00
Module 3	$ 30.00
Sightlines second hand	$ 20.00
Grammar module	$ 30.00
The Crysalides second hand	$ 6.00
Printing/paper/ink	?
Total	$ 146.

Content

I found the content of English 10 very heavy on ‘filler’ and low on educational content. I have only reviewed the first three modules, but they are mainly about how to read a book, a newspaper, a web page and some reading and writing exercises which one can create without an educational tool. One of the units is an exercise about the layout of a book, table of contents etc.
The reading level is too high for my current student. I pilot testing the first 3 modules so far with an ESL student who is 17 in grade 10 and has only been in Canada for 1 year. She as said to me that the content is a bit too advanced for her. She has tested as a Lexile reading level of 690-770. I don’t know the reading level of English 10, Sightlines or the Chrysalids is, but I would assume it is in the Lexile level over 1000.
The Sightlines text has some good content, almost exclusively Canadian which is a plus and a minus. That is a rather narrow review of literature. The material is probably higher reading level than the reading level of my current student. There is no information about the reading level of the material in the text.
My students need short-term projects and this is a long-term project. I think it’s too hard for them to maintain their interest in something that’s this lengthy. It’s too intimidating.
It would be more efficient to just buy a textbook and give the textbook to the student. It is a good idea to have a text book so you have a ‘course’ to follow. This is the main advantage of the English 10. There are many websites and text books with very good ESL material that have better layout and better educational content.
The Chrysalis is a dystopian novel written in the 1950s with quite a bit of challenging vocabulary. I think a more contemporary novel at a lower reading level would be a better choice for ESL. I could not find a reading level but Pearson gives it a level 3 intermediate.

How to access the material

How to Register https://ocr.openschool.bc.ca/login/index.php

Pre test will be required. It takes about 2 hours. There will be an exam at the end

If you want credits you need to go through your school to register.

Online version https://order.openschool.bc.ca/Product/CourseDetail/k12s_7540005472

Print version https://order.openschool.bc.ca/Product/CourseDetail/k12s_7540005338