FAQs

NILE Online is a suite of more than 25 teacher training and development courses for teachers of English, teachers who teach other subjects through English, teacher trainers, and other language education professionals. All the courses are hosted on an eLearning platform called Brightspace, with live sessions via Zoom.

The courses run in an asynchronous virtual learning environment (VLE) called Brightspace, with complementary live sessions via Zoom. Both platforms are highly interactive and collaborative. You will work with a variety of media and content and learn as you interact with your tutor, the materials, and your fellow course participants.

We work with a team of writers, course developers and tutors worldwide. Participants are also based worldwide – when you do a course with NILE Online you will have the chance to meet people from all around the world, to share with them, learn from them and learn with them.

NILE Online courses have a minimum of 6 participants and a maximum of 18 participants, so individual tutor support and a strong sense of individual and group identity is guaranteed. Some NILE Online courses (e.g. the NILE MA module in Developing Learner Autonomy; Cambridge DELTA modules) are designed for individual study with tutor support.

Your tutor will be available for you to contact throughout the course. He or she will also moderate and contribute to discussions, answer questions, give group or individual feedback on some tasks and summarise the group’s contributions at the end of each unit. In addition, you will get personal help with your final assignment and receive individual feedback.

NILE Online builds upon more than 25 years of experience in training teachers worldwide. Since we launched NILE in July 1995 we have trained over 70,000 teachers in and from 90 countries and have established a worldwide reputation in teacher training for ELT. NILE Online takes this wealth of experience and applies it to the online mode, opening up a whole new world of teacher training possibilities for teachers who are unable to come to Norwich and work with us face to face. When you take a NILE Online course you get the same quality tutors, materials, training and support, from the comfort of your own home or workplace.

Most NILE Online courses last 6 or 8 weeks with an additional period at the end in which you complete an assessed piece of work.

NILE Online courses require approximately five to seven hours per week study time. This is followed by approximately twenty hours during which you will work on your assessed projects. DELTA and MA modules will generally demand more of your study time. You will find more information on this in the DELTA and MA sections.

Most of the course work is done asynchronously (i.e. not through real-time interaction); you will be able to choose when and where you study, as long as you stick to Unit deadlines. Courses will also feature synchronous sessions such as live webinars, and these will be at a time agreed by participants and the course tutor.

Most courses will feature a number of these live sessions, and you will have a chance to agree on the day and time with your tutor and the other course participants.

Deadlines are there to help you plan and manage your study time, but they are not set in stone. If you do miss the occasional deadline, our tutors will work with you to get you back on track and ensure you have the chance to finish the course on time.

If you can open a webpage and send an email you’re ready to do one of our courses.

You will need a computer, a headset (with microphone) and an internet connection. You can do much of the course on a tablet or mobile device, but a larger screen and a keyboard can be more effective for online study at this level.

Yes - the technology employed is user-friendly, and always made accessible with clear, straightforward instructions. We also have a technical support team to help you.

The NILE Online certificate is based on the assessed products. The pass mark for NILE Online courses is 60%, with an additional Certificate of Distinction for those receiving a mark of 80% and above. Certification is also based on participation in 80% of course activities.
Most NILE courses can also be extended to include the Trinity Certificate for Practising Teachers (Trinity CertPT).

Yes. You will usually have access to your course and the NILE Library Online for two months after the end of the course. During this time you can download your resources from the course: your notes, summaries, articles, videos etc.