{"id":7847,"date":"2019-07-31T07:29:52","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T07:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/44.242.7.17\/community\/?post_type=course&#038;p=7847"},"modified":"2026-04-22T04:20:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:20:48","slug":"course-materials-design-selection-and-use","status":"publish","type":"course","link":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Course Materials: Design, Selection, and Use"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"vibe_editor_shortcode\">Coursebooks are a useful resource, but they need to be used selectively, critically and creatively. This course provides some practical tools for teachers to help them use their materials effectively. It begins with a definition of the term \u2018teaching materials\u2019, followed by an exploration of background issues. These include advantages and disadvantages of using a coursebook in general; paper versus digital materials; criteria for design, evaluation and selection of a coursebook. The main focus then shifts to coursebook use; some reasons why we might want to adapt its material by omitting, changing or supplementing, and some useful guidelines on such adaptation, illustrated by a number of practical examples.<\/p>\n<h3>Choose the study option that works best for you<\/h3>\n<h4>Personal Learning &#8211; $59<\/h4>\n<p>In this course, you will read articles recommended by the instructor, watch four recorded sessions, and answer four discussion questions. This is not a live course, however, working through these steps will certainly add to your knowledge base. Teachers\u2019 feedback on this original live course was extremely positive!<\/p>\n<h3>Upgrade to get your professional development certified with iTDi<\/h3>\n<h4>Professional Development Hours Certified &#8211; $79<\/h4>\n<p>If you would like to receive a Certificate of Completion verifying 20 hours of professional development credit, email your answers to the discussion questions in a separate word document to <span \n                data-original-string='UZg19NzbESAPfK68SwKzng==4d4f0pvppWwbmxlxGrWD8PmO2Ass6isGREUUWyDl8CVoVA='\n                class='apbct-email-encoder'\n                title='This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.'>su<span class=\"apbct-blur\">*****<\/span>@<span class=\"apbct-blur\">**<\/span>Di.pro<\/span> for evaluation.<br \/>\nOur iTDi team will review your submissions, and confirm that you have invested time into your answers, reflected on your own context, and received a valuable professional development experience.<\/p>\n<p>For certification purposes, please tell us your name as you wish it to appear on your certificate, your email address, and the name of course you have completed.<\/p>\n<style> #button8074{} #button8074:hover{}#button8074:hover{}<\/style><a target=\"_self\" id=\"button8074\" class=\"button primary\" href=\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/enrol-course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use-self-study-with-penny-ur\/\">Take this course<\/a>\n<h3>Scholarships<\/h3>\n<p>As always, iTDi believes that all teachers deserve the same opportunity to improve themselves. Therefore, a limited number of scholarships will be available for this course. Please apply through our scholarship application. <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/vJtWuAPjZb93Uv7u7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><button class=\"uk-button\" type=\"button\">APPLY<\/button><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>About Penny Ur:<\/h3>\n<p>Penny Ur has more than thirty-five years&#8217; experience as an English teacher in elementary, middle and high schools in Israel. Now retired, she has taught B.A. and M.A. courses at Oranim Academic College of Education and Haifa University. She has presented papers at TESOL, IATEFL and other English teachers&#8217; conferences worldwide. She was for ten years the editor of the Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers series. Her books include Discussions that work (1981), Five minute activities (co authored with Andrew Wright) (1992), Grammar practice activities (2nd Edition) (2009), Vocabulary activities (2012), A course in English language teaching (2012), and Discussions and more (2014), all published by Cambridge University Press.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/self_study-90x120.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"alignleft size-mini wp-image-7312\" width=\"90\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/self_study-90x120.png 90w, https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/self_study.png 189w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 90px) 100vw, 90px\" \/><em>iTDi Advanced Skills Self Study courses allow you to access and enjoy the content of popular Advanced Skills live courses, at your own pace and at a time that is convenient for you. <\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vibe_editor_rich_text\">\n<p style=\"\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"\"><strong>Be sure to check out our Live Courses. They include content like this, plus live sessions and discussion in a private forum with your instructor and a group of like-minded education professionals from around the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vibe_editor_shortcode\">\n<div style=\"margin: 32px 0; text-align: center;\">\n  <a href=\"\/community\/2026-live-courses\/\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; gap: 8px; background: #009dd8; color: #ffffff; font-size: 0.9375rem; font-weight: 700; padding: 13px 28px; border-radius: 50px; text-decoration: none; font-family: 'Work Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\"><br \/>\n    <svg width=\"15\" height=\"15\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><line x1=\"19\" y1=\"12\" x2=\"5\" y2=\"12\"\/><polyline points=\"12 19 5 12 12 5\"\/><\/svg><br \/>\n    See all 2026 Live Courses<br \/>\n  <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some teachers use coursebooks. Some teachers design their own materials. Most teachers do both! Penny Ur\u2019s course will help us to choose good coursebooks, make better use of the coursebooks we have, and adapt or create teaching materials. Whether you are a teacher who wants to feel more confident using and supplementing coursebooks, or an ELT materials writer who wants insights into the ways coursebooks are, or can be, used by teachers, you will want to take this course. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4013,"featured_media":7850,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"inline_featured_image":false,"_vibebp_attr":"","_vibebp_dimensions":"","_vibebp_responsive_height":"","_vibebp_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"course-cat":[570],"coauthors":[3152],"class_list":["post-7847","course","type-course","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","course-cat-advanced-skills-self-study"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Course Materials: Design, Selection &amp; Use | iTDi Course<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn to use ELT coursebooks creatively and critically with Penny Ur. This self-study course covers materials evaluation, selection, and practical adaptation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Course Materials: Design, Selection &amp; Use | iTDi Course\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn to use ELT coursebooks creatively and critically with Penny Ur. This self-study course covers materials evaluation, selection, and practical adaptation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iTDi TESOL online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iTDi.Pro\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-22T04:20:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Course-Materials-featured.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@iTDipro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"Penny Ur\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/course\\\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/course\\\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\\\/\",\"name\":\"Course Materials: Design, Selection & Use | iTDi Course\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/course\\\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/course\\\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/Course-Materials-featured.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-31T07:29:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-22T04:20:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn to use ELT coursebooks creatively and critically with Penny Ur. This self-study course covers materials evaluation, selection, and practical adaptation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/course\\\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/course\\\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/course\\\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/Course-Materials-featured.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/Course-Materials-featured.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/course\\\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Courses\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/course\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Course Materials: Design, Selection, and Use\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/\",\"name\":\"iTDi TESOL online\",\"description\":\"Professional development created for teachers by teachers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"iTDi TESOL online\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/INTERNATIONAL-600-\u00d7-180-px.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/INTERNATIONAL-600-\u00d7-180-px.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":180,\"caption\":\"iTDi TESOL online\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.itdi.pro\\\/community\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/iTDi.Pro\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/iTDipro\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/international-teacher-development-institute\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/itdipro\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@iTDiVideos\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Course Materials: Design, Selection & Use | iTDi Course","description":"Learn to use ELT coursebooks creatively and critically with Penny Ur. This self-study course covers materials evaluation, selection, and practical adaptation.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Course Materials: Design, Selection & Use | iTDi Course","og_description":"Learn to use ELT coursebooks creatively and critically with Penny Ur. This self-study course covers materials evaluation, selection, and practical adaptation.","og_url":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/","og_site_name":"iTDi TESOL online","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iTDi.Pro\/","article_modified_time":"2026-04-22T04:20:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Course-Materials-featured.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@iTDipro","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes","Written by":"Penny Ur"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/","url":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/","name":"Course Materials: Design, Selection & Use | iTDi Course","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.itdi.pro\/community\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Course-Materials-featured.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-31T07:29:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-22T04:20:48+00:00","description":"Learn to use ELT coursebooks creatively and critically with Penny Ur. This self-study course covers materials evaluation, selection, and practical adaptation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Course-Materials-featured.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Course-Materials-featured.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/course-materials-design-selection-and-use\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Courses","item":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/course\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Course Materials: Design, Selection, and Use"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.itdi.pro\/community\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.itdi.pro\/community\/","name":"iTDi TESOL online","description":"Professional development created for teachers by teachers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.itdi.pro\/community\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.itdi.pro\/community\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.itdi.pro\/community\/#organization","name":"iTDi TESOL online","url":"https:\/\/staging.itdi.pro\/community\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.itdi.pro\/community\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/INTERNATIONAL-600-\u00d7-180-px.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/INTERNATIONAL-600-\u00d7-180-px.jpg","width":600,"height":180,"caption":"iTDi TESOL online"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.itdi.pro\/community\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iTDi.Pro\/","https:\/\/x.com\/iTDipro","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/international-teacher-development-institute\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/itdipro\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@iTDiVideos"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/course\/7847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/course"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/course"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7847"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/course\/7847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36017,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/course\/7847\/revisions\/36017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"course-cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/course-cat?post=7847"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}