Open AccessFailing Forward: Educative Curriculum Materials, an English Teaching App, and a Revolution
Author(s) -
Janine J. Darragh,
Gina Mikel Petrie,
Stan Pichinevskiy
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of designs for learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2159-449X
DOI - 10.14434/ijdl.v12i2.31161
Subject(s) - curriculum , christian ministry , set (abstract data type) , scripting language , function (biology) , pedagogy , mathematics education , sociology , engineering , psychology , computer science , political science , evolutionary biology , law , biology , programming language , operating system
Educative Curriculum Materials (ECMs) are teaching materials that have the dual function of providing learning activities to students and providing professional development to the teachers that use them. Answering a call for professional development opportunities, and with input from English teachers in rural Nicaraguan schools, the designers created a set of ECMs aligned with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education Curriculum. When physically bringing the completed materials to educators in rural Nicaraguan schools became impossible, it was determined that the delivery system had to change. With support from a team of undergraduate computer science students, the ECMs were transferred to a digital delivery system, the new format allowing for even more English teaching and learning support. This paper shares how a revolution in Nicaragua and failed project ultimately led to the creation of the English teaching app Reaching for English.