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About registering, participating and getting certification

Do I need to register? If so, where is the registration form?

You've already registered for "Vocabulary matters" when applying to join our Yahoo Group You don't need to do anything else before Jan 13, 2014. Just refer to our message "Getting Started" if you'd like to start "warming up" before then...

I'm not a techie. Do you think I'm OK for this session?

Everyone in the Vocbulary matters team is willing to give you any support you need to get started exploring new possibilities for your classroom. We are all somewhere on the learning curve. You won't feel alone at all in this group.There will always be someone willing to offer a helping hand whenever you feel at a loss. So don't hesitate to write to the Yahoo group when you have a question, a doubt or simply don't know how to do something.

And remember: the only silly questions are those you don't ask when you need to. ;-)

How long will course materials be available?

The session moderators have agreed to keep this vocab matters wiki open for public access. Once you have joined the WonderfulWords Participants wiki you will have access for as long a pbworks leaves it there. This means you can always get back to all our online resources at your convenience, even when the session is over .

What happens if I fall behind, or if I'm away for a week or two during the course? Can I still go on?

Although we'll have Weekly Tasks, feel free to accomplish them at your own pace! We'll always be around to guide you. We encourage participants to follow the tasks set for each week because of the rich interaction that goes on among everybody. However, we totally understand how hectic the life of an educator can be! This session is meant to be flexible and to fit your own schedule.

Can I get a certificate for my participation?

Due to the informal nature of interaction at EVO, we are unable to certify your participation. Nevertheless, the session moderators can issue informal certificates of participation if requested and upon active participation during the five session weeks.

About our Group

How do I join your Group?

1. Request to join wonderful words yahoo group - Do tell us a little about yourself when you request to join, so that we don't let in spammers
   
2. Request to join the wiki WonderfulWords Participants
3. Set your membership preferences. choose how you receive group messages, This is explained by Yahoo and by pbworks when you join, and we can help

Acronyms

What does EVO stand for?

EVO stands for Electronic Village Online. It is a creation of TESOL's CALL Interest Section. In this age of electronic communication it seems a natural way to bring the issues of our profession to the international stage. Our goal is to allow learning anywhere, anytime, with as little expense as possible for a global audience. Thus EVO moderators and trainers are all volunteers, and participants need only provide their own Internet access to take part in activities.

The EVO is a set of online courses that takes place every year for five weeks, January-February. Sessions include a range from simple discussions to hands-on workshops. They can serve as a run-up or preview to the TESOL Convention.

An online course is the perfect venue to pre-discuss papers from Academic Sessions or Intersessions, or to carry on a discussion important to your member group in a timely fashion. EVO provides an invaluable service to teachers all over the globe, for it brings the convention to those who cannot travel. We had over 2,000 participants in 2012.

For more inforation about the EVO sessions, access http://evosessions.pbwiki.com/

What is ICT4ELT ? 

ICT4ELT is a first steps workshop, it's another EVO online session. Webheads in Action is an international Community of Practice that experiements with CMC (computer mediated communication) tools. ICT4ELT deals with a wide range of tools including blogs, wikis, podcasts, voice forums, etc. Maybe it could be your next step after taking our session!

What is GMT? Why is it important for our session?

Greenwich Mean Time, which is now officiallycalled UTC   is the international reference for determining the relative time in all the countries of the world. If you're, for instance, 3 hours behind, you'd say you're "-3 GMT".  If in your area it's 4 hours later, then you are "+4 GMT". Check out the time zone map

 We use it as the standard time for our synchronous activities, because we have participants from all over the world and in different time zones. Check the World Clock for your local time or try Qlock and mouseover the map in your area.

Our Session Online Spaces

WonderfulWords YG: main environment, message board for announcements and discussions >>> Group Code: r1x8tp 

Our VocabMattersWiki: syllabus, weekly tasks, weekly discussion threads and some of the tutorials - this is where you are now :-)

Our WonderfulWords Participants private wiki: where you can add your photo, follow the ongoing discussions, add your suggestion etc.

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Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, an international education association                                                                                                          back to the syllabus page