Frequently asked questions

are olt courses for credit?

Courses offered by the Online Language Teaching initiative are not for credit; however, participants will receive a certificate upon successful completion of each course. 

At what time are the courses Offered?

The vast majority of course work is conducted asynchronously, meaning that there are almost no synchronous meeting times. You’ll work on your own and interact with instructors and other participants using asynchronous written and video discussion boards. However, there may be a small number of live sessions to be scheduled based on participants’ availability; a recording of the session will be posted later for those who aren’t going to be able to attend live.  

How are our courses different from other "intro to teaching online" programs?

We know there are a lot of free and paid resources out there for those who want to transition to an online environment. Many of them are strong, rigorous, and effective, and we encourage you to seek out the opportunities that best fit your needs. Our courses may be unique in the fact that they: 

  1. Have a specific focus on language teaching and learning
  2. Have a small, seminar-style cohort-focused curriculum similar to what you’d find in a graduate course
  3. Offer extensive and personalized instructor feedback and interaction

can MSU faculty enroll in olt courses?

Yes, absolutely!

Which departments at MSU are driving this initiative?

The Online Language Teaching initiative is a project initially supported jointly by the English Language Center (ELC) and the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) in the College for Arts & Letters at Michigan State University. 

The courses are currently funded by the generous support of the National LCTL Resource Center (NLRC), the new Title VI Language Resource Center at MSU.

DO OLT Courses count towards the MI SCECH program for continuing education?

 The short answer is, no. There are no continuing credits associated with this program as of yet. CLEAR (the former Title VI Language Resource Center at MSU) used to offer SCECHies for summer PD programs and we’ve had a number of conversations about resuming that as part of CeLTA’s outward-facing initiatives, but we haven’t made decisions on that front yet.