School Details - Springfield
The CELTA course is located on the campus of a large public university in Springfield, Missouri. The location on campus allows trainees to take advantage of many resources and facilities other programs cannot provide, including: state of the art library, abundant computer labs, and a world class fitness center.
Springfield is known for its big-city attractions and small-town charm. Also known as the "Queen City" of the Ozarks, Springfield acts as a central shopping and entertainment hub for the smaller surrounding communities..
Springfield is a three hour drive away from Kansas City and three and a half hour drive from St. Louis. The Springfield-Branson National Airport is also located within the city and offers flights to destinations across the country.
Course Description
The CELTA is the most widely recognized ESL teacher training course in the world and provides trainees with practical skills to teach students from all over the world, at any level.
This course enables trainees to:
- aquire essential knowledge and familiarity with the principles of effective language teaching
- build a range of practical skills for teaching Englsh to adult learners
- demonstrate their ability to apply their learning in a real teaching context
CELTA Online
The Cambridge CELTA Course Online is a blended learning course, combining online study with face-to-face teaching practice. The CELTA Online provides the traditional CELTA coursework in an on-line platform, allowing for greater flexibility. The on-site component of CELTA Online ensures trainees gain valuable teaching experience with six hours of peer observed teaching. An experienced Missouri State CELTA trainer provides oral and written feedback on each teaching practice session.
Course Format
The content of the online course follows exactly the same syllabus as the face-to-face intensive course. The online course includes two parts:
Online Component
This includes interactive course content, forum discussions, live sessions, written assignments and guided video observations. This can be done in your own time although there will be deadlines set by the online trainer. You should be prepared to spend a minimum of five hours a week online. There are seven required live sessions throughout the course (times will be arranged to fit the availability of the trainees, when possible).
Face-to-face Component
This includes six hours of teaching practice, supervised lesson planning, feedback, peer observation and three hours of experienced teacher observations. You must be in Springfield, Missouri for this component. The University of Cambridge requires candidates on all CELTA courses, whether online or face-to-face, to teach for a total of six hours during the course and be assessed by their trainer.
Assessment
The Online CELTA is assessed and moderated according to the same criteria as the intensive face-to-face courses and leads to exactly the same qualification. The fact that you’ve taken the CELTA online rather than face-to-face will not appear on your certificate.
Course Dates
February 13 - June 23, 2017 (on-site component May 30 - June 9, 2017)
Benefits of CELTA Online
Online materials can be accessed at any time, giving you the flexibility to fit your training around other commitments. You can take the course from anywhere in the world!
Course material is spread over 15 weeks, providing an increased amount of time for you to reflect on and develop what you have learned.
Because the on-site portion of the course is just two weeks, accommodation and travel costs are reduced (compared to the intensive CELTA) for those coming from out of town.
Technical Requirements
Note that you do not need advanced computer skills to take the online CELTA course: the ability to use email and the internet and have basic typing skills is all that is required.
To run the Cambridge CELTA Course Online you'll need:
A laptop or computer and monitor with minimum screen resolution of 1024x768 pixels
A reliable broadband-speed connection to be able to handle progressively downloading videos and virtual classroom sessions
A good quality USB headset with headphones and microphone
Minimum hardware requirement:
Windows XP Home and Professional 800MHz Processor with 256MB RAM
Windows Vista 1GHz processor with 1GB RAM
Windows 7 or 8 or 10 1GHz processor with 1GB RAM
Mac OSX 10.3 or higher 1GHz processor with 1GB RAM
The course does not currently run on iPad
Software requirements:
These web browsers we recommended for the Cambridge CELTA Course Online
Firefox 3 or higher
Safari
Internet Explorer 8 or higher
Please do not use Chrome since some of the course features will not work in this browser.
Microsoft Word
You will need Microsoft Word for the course (either PC or Mac version).
Required plug-ins
Your browser will require the following free plug-ins to be installed and enabled:
Adobe Flash Player 9 or higher
The latest Java player
The latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader
Accommodation Options
Guest housing on the campus of the university:
$30/day for a queen room
Room in a private residence:
$700 for the 5 weeks
Extended stay hotels in the area:
from $25 and up per day
Timetable
Online at a time that it suits you + face-to-face teaching practice.
Help for Jobs
The course includes two workshops that focus on resume building and job hunting. In addition, the trainers share with trainees their experiences searching for and finding work teaching English abroad.
How to Apply
1. Choose the start date which interests you. If you’re still unsure, please choose an approximate date for now - you will be able to specify later.
2. Register your details with Cactus TEFL (1 minute) to help us track your application.
3. Download the application form and save it on your computer.
4. Complete it offline in your own time
5. Go back to www.cactustefl.com, sign in and submit your completed form.
You can also submit an application by email. We will explain how to do this on the application form. Please contact us if you have any problems with the application procedure.
