Exploring the Competences of the Telecollaborative

EXPLORING THE COMPETENCES OF THE TELECOLLABORATIVETEACHER

Robert O’Dowd

University of León, Spain

[email protected]

www.uni-collaboration.eu

Twitter: Robodowd Skype: robodowd

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Plan for this morning

• Outline what me mean by ‘telecollaboration’ or ‘online intercultural exchange’

• Explore an example telecollaborative exchange at university level

• Identify some of the critical incidents which emerged for the teachers running the exchange

• Present a model of telecollaborative competence for teachers

• Outline how the INTENT project group is helping to train teachers in telecollaborative competencies…

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Student mobility in Europe

In 2020, at least 20% of those graduating in the European Higher Education Area should have had a study or training period abroad.(Communiqué of the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009)

But what happens to the remaining 80%?

http://ec.europa.eu/education/doc/2008/mobilityreport_en.pdf

Telecollaboration: Online International Learning from the Classroom

• In Language Learning & Technology (2003) Belz defines the main characteristics of FL telecollaboration:

• ‘institutionalized, electronically mediated, intercultural communication under the guidance of a languacultural expert (i.e., teacher) for the purposes of foreign language learning and the development of intercultural competence’ (2003: 2).

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Research studies show its value for development of:

• Learner autonomy (O’Rourke, 2007)

• Linguistic competence (Belz and Kinginger, 2003; Ware and O’Dowd, 2008)

• Intercultural competence (Mueller-Hartmann, 2000; O’Dowd, 2003; Ware, 2005)

• Online literacy skills (Guth and Helm, 2010; Hauck, 2007)

• Independent and informal learning - online fan communities (Thorne et al., 2009), SpeakApps tools (http://www.speakapps.org/)

Success at primary and secondary levels through networks such as etwinning and ePals.

How does Telecollaboration contribute to Foreign Language Education?How does Telecollaboration contribute to Foreign Language Education?

A Practical Example: Connecting classes in Spain, UK, Germany and Israel

Koblenz

León

Coventry

Tel Aviv

Number of students participating:

Spain: 90-100Germany: 160Israel: 60UK: 100

Timeline: Late October – Mid-December 2012

Tools used: Moodle platform Blogger

Tasks:…

A Practical Example: Connecting classes in Spain, UK, Germany and IsraelA Practical Example: Connecting classes in Spain, UK, Germany and Israel

Task 1: Create a blog to present aspects of your local culture and provide feedback

Task 2: Carrying out group interviews based on cross-cultural themes of interest

Task 3: Use online content to create academic essays and presentations

Your thoughts….

• What are the particular skills and attitudes which a teacher will need to take part in such an exchange?

• In other words, what makes a telecollaborative teacher different to other CALL teachers?

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The Challenges of Telecollaboration for Teachers- Critical Incident 1

• E-mail from a coordinating teacher when the tasks/timetable /platform had been agreed weeks before:– “How would you feel if I asked all your students to give

feedback to my students on a grammar project they are creating in Mahara in October?”

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• E-mail from a coordinating teacher during the blog task…– Hi Everyone

Task one is going well with my students who are really getting into it. However just to let you know, for the second week running we have experienced problems with the Moodle site which just crashes at the beginning of our session (at about 12.00 German time). This is a real problem as we can't continue and the students get frustrated....

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• E-mail from the Israeli teacher when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out…– Interestingly, yesterday I had to deal with a few upset students in a blog

group who were responding to a comment [from Germany] regarding the war situation, which they felt was insensitive. .

• The German comment:– …. I can understand that the rockets are very scary and i'm very glad that we in

Germany don´t have war like you. And i think Israel isn't alone in charge for this conflict. But can you understand the people in Gaza? Is it ok to keep these people there like in prison ? And why it isn't possible or why it´s so complicated to find a solution for all the people in your region? And why the people especially the young don't do something for the international understanding between these cultures? So it´s time so sit together, talk and finish this war. And both parties must grant facilities. Greetings from Koblenz…

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The Challenges of Telecollaboration for Teachers- Critical Incident 4 (intercultural faux pas)

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The Challenges of Telecollaboration for Teachers- Critical Incident 4 (intercultural faux pas)

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• E-mail from a coordinating teacher explaining lack of participation from her students:– I wanted to write to you to explain why we are currently the

'black sheep' in the project....some of my colleagues have not been very supportive of this initiative and I needed them on board because they were seeing students in smaller groups and providing tutorial advice to them. I was speaking to XXXX about this earlier today and she told me it had happened to her as well on some telecollaboration projects.

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Telecollaboration is inherently ‘intercultural’ – both in practice and in its underlying pedagogical principles

The telecollaborative teacher is not alone – usually two or more teachers working together from different cultural and institutional contexts - requires of the teacher keenly refined intercultural skills and attitudes of intercultural competence

Telecollaboration tends to be a long-term, complex activity which permeates the whole FL course – themes, tasks, classroom interaction etc.

In telecollaborative set-ups, teachers need to be able to react quickly to emerging problems, issues and new learning opportunities.

What differentiates Telecollaborative Competence from ‘Traditional’ Online Competence for FL Teachers?

What differentiates Telecollaborative Competence from ‘Traditional’ Online Competence for FL Teachers?

The Telecollaborative Teacher…The Telecollaborative Teacher…

Can integrate seamlessly and effectively the content and themes of the telecollaborative exchange into his/her contact classes before, during and after the exchange itself.

has knowledge of the common causes of organisational and intercultural problems in online exchanges and can apply a series of techniques and strategies to deal with these problems

Can negotiate effectively with the partner-teacher the structure and organisational technicalities of the exchange which take into account both institutional contexts (calendars etc.) as well as the needs and interests of both sets of participants

Has a willingness to look for compromise with the partner-teacher in relation to task design, exchange structure and other issues

Model of Telecollaborative Competence

for Teachers

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Developing TC Competence among University Practitioners

INTENT (Integrating Telecollaborative Networks Into Foreign Language Higher Education )

Financed By The European Commission - Lifelong Learning Programme

Objectives: Carry out a survey of

telecollaboration in European universities

Develop a platform and set of tools to overcome barriers and facilitate telecollaboration in universities

Hold a series of workshops around Europe and an international conference on telecollaboration

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INTENT Activities Report on Telecollaborative activities in European universities

University Language Classes Collaborating Online

A Report on the Integration of Telecollaborative Networks in European Universities

http://intent-project.eu/sites/default/files/Telecollaboration_report_Final_Oct2012.pdf

Training Workshops The Italian workshop will be held in collaboration with the Centro Linguistico di Ateneo at the University of

Padova, Italy on 21-22 March 2013. The French workshop will be held at the University of Grenoble III, France on 5 April 2013. The Polish workshop will take place as a joint event with the PL-CALL Conference, in Warsaw on 9-10 May,

2013. The UK workshop organised by the Open University will take place in London, UK on 18 October 2013.

http://intent-project.eu/?q=node/35

A platform for finding partners, resources and tools www.uni-collaboration.eu

An international conference on Telecollaboration at university level: 12-14 February 2014 at the University of León, Spain

www.uni-collaboration.eu

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If you choose ‘classes’ then you’ll be able to search or browse a list of classes which are interested in taking part in online exchange

projects...

In the ‘Tasks’ tab in the top menu bar, you’ll find collections of tasks and task sequences (i.e. collections of interconnected tasks) to use in

your online exchange projects…

Click on the ‘Training’ tab in the top menu bar- Here you’ll find accounts of different exchanges (‘Sample Projects’) and information on

how to set up and run an exchange (‘Training modules’)

When you choose a ‘sample project’, click on the different tabs to read about the project, the tasks it used and how educators and students

evaluated the project…

Tak!• Contact and suggestions

welcome:– [email protected]

• Read the INTENT Report on Telecollaboration in Europe: – http://www.scoop.it/t/intent-

project-news– Join our platform for

university collaboration and networking:

– www.uni-collaboration.eu

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Exploring the Competences of the Telecollaborative

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