Added an ELICOS program on scope, what’s next?

You have just added an ELICOS program, and now you can offer the program. What’s next?

It’s time to face reality! You will need to do many things to get the ELICOS class up and running, such as marketing, administrative training, teacher preparation, designing assessment tools, assessment validation, adding ELICOS materials in the LMS, and more. 

Here are some points to consider for the preparation. 

1. Decide Your Market and Start Recruiting: Deciding whether to recruit onshore or offshore students will be crucial. The offshore requirement provides 3 to 6 months for students to commence their studies. In contrast, it can be in a few weeks for onshore students. If you are ready to begin the class, recruiting onshore students will be fine, but if you need more time, I suggest you start with offshore marketing. 
2. Prepare assessment tools: Conduct assessment validation and prepare test papers (assessment tools) for students and teachers (the teacher’s version will include answers) to use.
3. Prepare the LMS for the ELICOS program: Unlike a VET program, ELICOS programs can have many assessments. Therefore, it’s extremely worthwhile to add Listening and Reading assessments in the LMS as quizzes, to save teachers time and eliminate any manual marking.
4. Prepare Resources: If you have a core textbook, pre-purchase them to hand them out when the course commences. If you are making copies for students, follow the copyright regulation. If you want to add the hardcopy resources to the LMS, contact the copyright owners and get relevant copyright to use the resources online.
5. Prepare to give real-life learning: Your students came to Australia to learn English and to experience Australian life and culture. Therefore, prepare ways for learners to experience Australian culture, such as speaking with Australians in a real-life situation, by ordering a coffee at a cafe after studying to learn how to order food in class. Think of ways to bring aspects of the local culture such as slang and local foods to help facilitate student engagement and excitement in the class!
6. Prepare Survey papers: As part of the continuous improvement process, ELICOS colleges are required to conduct student and teacher surveys on assessments. Prepare the surveys so that your teachers will have them when needed. Furthermore, make sure you keep them as evidence for compliance purposes. 

These are some recommendations on what you could do after adding an ELICOS program added to your scope. If you need help with any of the tips mentioned above, feel free to contact us.