Business Language in Focus
Business Language Networking through NOBLE (2013)
Margaret Gonglewski, The George Washington University
NOBLE fosters innovative teaching and learning approaches that prepare students with skills for the 21st century global workplace. While NOBLE began in 2009 with a focus on the language study for business purposes, the need for a venue promoting language study across professional fields became evident. NOBLE then began to expand to compile resources on language study for other purposes and to support faculty teaching in these areas.
NOBLE was founded as a doctoral Education Technology project in 2009. NOBLE…
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is a learning community which provides resources and professional development to help educators prepare their students to be global professionals and leaders
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focuses on empowering K-12 educators, but also encourages and facilitates articulation with educators in higher education (specifically community colleges)
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promotes collaboration among world language and professional school faculty (CTE at the K-12 level) to connect the study of languages, cultures, and area studies along with technical skills
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encourages and facilitates connections between educators and professionals in industry
The University of Florida’s (UF) Center for Latin American Studies has provided Title VI funding and support for the NOBLE project since 2009 when the first group of K-12 teachers met in Florida to discuss the development of business language courses in Florida. NOBLE was then established as an online learning community (Community of Practice -CoP). While the initial focus of NOBLE was primarily business, the project has gradually expanded to support language and culture study across professional fields such as healthcare, STEM, and law enforcement.
The former UF Center for International Business Education & Research (CIBER) also provided modest funding for the project. NOBLE continues to work with other CIBERs around the US, such as FIU CIBER and GWU CIBER.
To learn more about NOBLE initiatives, please view the Slideshare below: