Blended Learning at the Department of Foreign Languages

Blended Learning at the Department of Foreign
Languages at the Faculty of Economics of the Technical
University in Liberec
Blended Learning na katedře cizích jazyků Ekonomické fakulty
Technické univerzity v Liberci
Stanislava Pavlíková, Ivana Pekařová
Abstrakt: Na Katedře cizích jazyků Ekonomické fakulty Technické univerzity v Liberci byl LMS
Moodle vybrán jako nástroj umožňující studentům rozvíjet své jazykové dovednosti i nad rámec kontaktních hodin, které jsou omezené. Tvůrci kurzů rozšiřují možnosti práce o řadu online jazykově
zaměřených úloh, které přesně odpovídají studovaným materiálům a studenti si díky nim mohou
procvičovat nově nabyté znalosti a upevňovat je v samostatných aktivitách. Efektivita a různorodost
kurzu je podpořena atraktivními a důmyslně propracovanými učebními materiály. Jejich tvorba by
pro učitele jazyků, kteří nejsou IT profesionály, byla příliš náročná, pokud by neměli možnost využít
odborné pomoci. Díky účasti v řadě kurzů, které byly součástí společného projektu Technické univerzity v Liberci a Technické univerzity v Drážďanech, jsme se postupně naučili používat počítač jako
nástroj, zdroj informací i prostředníka ve funkci lektora. Následně jsme zahrnuli softwarové aplikace
do kurzů tak, aby byli podpořeni studenti s různými učebními styly. Některými z těchto nástrojů jsou:
SpellingCity, Voki, Wordle, Wordsift, VocabGrabber, Wizig, Hot Potatoes. Článek stručně nastíní jak
tyto aplikace používat, aby obohatily technicky podpořenou jazykovou výuku.
Klíčová slova: e-learning, samostudium, samostatnost studentů, rozvoj jazykových dovedností,
LMS Moodle
Abstract: At the Department of Foreign Languages at the Faculty of Economics, due to the limited
number of contact hours, the Learning Management System (LMS) Moodle was selected as a tool
to enable students to both complement and reinforce their language skills. The facilitators extend
the scope of classroom work by a series of online tasks with the language focus directly relevant
to the study material, with which students can practise their newly acquired skills, reinforce their
knowledge, and get engaged in autonomous language learning. The efficiency and variety of the
course is increased with attractive and sophisticated teaching materials. To create them would be
rather complicated for teachers of languages, who are usually not IT professionals, if they did not
have access to any professional help. Through participation in a cycle of courses, which was part
of a joint project of the Technical University of Liberec and the Technische Universität Dresden, we
have been gradually learning about utilising computers as a tool, resource and tutor. Consequently,
various software and computer programmes have been integrated into the curriculum to enable our
students with different dominant language learning styles and strategies to acquire the necessary
language knowledge. Some of the tools used are SpellingCity, Voki, Wordle, Wordsift, VocabGrabber, Wizig, Hot Potatoes and others. The aim of this article is to illustrate how these programmes
have been utilised in adding a technologically enhanced language learning component to our regular
curriculum.
Didaktika výuky cizích jazyků
19
Key words: e-learning, self-study, independence of students, development of language skills, LMS
Moodle
Introduction
Many researchers have reported on the theoretical ideas that support the use of multimedia technology for EFL teaching (for example, Dudeney 2000). This research
shows that using multimedia technology in the classroom allows students to work
individually at their own pace and according to their own needs. Furthermore, the
technology increases student motivation due to the interactive nature of the activities.
It provides a more dynamic and attractive content for students. The technology trains
them to self-assess their progress and promotes autonomous, task-based approaches
to learning. Students thus experience real-life language situations and contexts. They
are introduced to a variety of print, audio, and visual materials that match different
learning styles and preferences. When seeking a solution to our unfavourable conditions, it was only logical to follow the recommendations of the experts. We first
considered all of the didactic aspects such as connections with real life, authenticity,
providing feedback and enough space for self-organization. We encourage multiple
learning styles; we offer multiple representations of knowledge and its transfer to similar situations. Thus the knowledge is actively constructed by the mind of the learner.
Since we have insufficient time for teaching due to our rather large groups of mixedability students, we have decided to take advantage of the continuing advances in multimedia technology and to make an effort to integrate this technology with in-class
instruction. We decided to remedy our problematic situation by extending the scope of
work available via (LMS) Moodle. Our school has an administrator who is responsible
for the maintenance and upgrading of the system so that teachers do not have to worry
about technical problems most of the time. We have provided training to the teaching
staff so that everybody is able to create their subjects in the LMS. Each teacher is
then encouraged to create a subject within Moodle and fill it with tasks his or her
students are expected to complete in their leisure time. In doing so, we achieve manifold objectives: required information is provided for everybody’s reference; the tasks
are directly relevant to the study material, which are challenging, success-oriented and
motivating. The tasks enable students to practise further and get immediate feedback
online. Students can contribute to the development of the interaction in the group
with materials they upload themselves. Over the months we have been learning how to
design effective computer-based activities and integrate them into our teaching. Due
to the participation in the joint project we have cooperated with the excellent Polish
tutor Gosia Kurek, who opened the gate to our further learning.
The decision of weaving Information and communication technology (ICT) into our
classes of English was not perceived as a panacea to solve all the problems; we tried
to assess all the advantages and disadvantages. Eventually, directing students to the
completion of a specified number of activities as a mandatory task has started to bring
20
Methodology
its results. Students are also provided with a list of supplementary activities that are
optional for those who finish the obligatory repertoire and still feel they need extra
practice.
1 Individual software types and applications
1.1 Information and reference materials
In this section requirements for students are uploaded. Everybody can check what is
expected and by what deadline. They can plan their time accordingly and submit the
tasks when expected. Any supplementary information is added in this section. There is
a link to the glossary prepared by the publisher for the key books, which in our case is
the Macmillan series The Business. Students are also provided with a link to all other
materials prepared and available online. Material published there can be submitted
by the teachers at the beginning of the semester and students are invited to print it
out and bring it to classes as requested, which reduces our copying costs and ensures
everyone is fully prepared. Additionally, material covered in classes is summed up for
further reinforcement, or for informing those who were absent.
1.2 Interactive exercises
Depending on the level of students, we have to focus on the further practice of
spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and four language skills. Additionally,
we may provide guidance in pronunciation, presentation preparation and academic
writing which need to be mastered by students at a higher level language.
Hot Potatoes
Hot Potatoes is free software which we have used in numerous activities where students work with all of its applications. They can practise language items through
matching, crosswords, gap filling, quizzes, and mixing language items. We can attach
pictures, reading texts, video and listening files. It is also simple to use this software
to create simple dictations.
SpellingCity
SpellingCity is a free site which allows teachers to enrich teaching by entering lists of
spelling words. The programme then teaches spelling and generates tests and games
from the lists of words entered. The programme pronounces words entered and uses
them in sentences. Teachers can make use of the following features:
• upload word lists one week at a time or for the whole year,
• customize sentences,
• share and import lists,
Didaktika výuky cizích jazyků
21
• teach spelling, vocabulary and word meanings with interactive games,
• print worksheets to practice handwriting, spelling and vocabulary,
• print spelling lists and games,
• give practice and final spelling tests.
Students have three options to choose from with each spelling list:
a) The first one is “Test me” where each word is repeated with a live voice and used
in a sentence.
b) The second one is “Teach me” where the word is spelt and displayed.
c) The third one is “Play a Game” where the spelling list can be used in one of 14
educational games.
The games include a version of hangman and a word search, the practice of writing
sentences, matching, alphabetizing, unscrambling, solving crosswords, etc.
To make word lists, teachers must be registered, but students do not have to be.
Spelling lists are created and saved on the home page by clicking on List Management.
Currently there are over 42,000 spelling words and customizable sentences available.
Each word and sentence is read by a real person. This tool offers free handwriting worksheets for handwriting practice with the words saved. Teachers can make
use of free teaching resources with lists and lesson plans for teaching high frequency
words, compound words, homophones, contractions or possessives. From the following printscreen it is obvious that the only work for the teacher is to select the list of
lexical items to be practised and the rest is created by the computer. The programme
is user friendly and teachers can watch a video which will guide them through all of
the tools and setting options.
Fig. 1: Sample vocabulary list in the programme
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Methodology
Voki
Voki is a tool teachers may use from time to time to remind students of homework,
to announce things or add variety into their messages for students. In the LMS the
students will see a little picture of a speaking personalized avatar and by clicking on
the small arrow, they will hear the message the teacher has included.
Fig. 2: Sample avatar
The programme enables teachers to customize the avatar’s appearance and the properties of the file. The audio file of the message itself can either be added via a microphone connection or it can be typed in and then the computer will read it out using the
accent selected. It is necessary to bear in mind that unknown words – like Liberec, for
example, will be pronounced as would be pronounced as literally written – the same
as with a native speaker encountering for them for the first time. This could provide
valuable memorable experiences to students who will remember the ’accurate’ pronunciation of their home town in correct English albeit wrongly in their native tongue.
Jing
In connection with the previous two sources, it is necessary to also add the name of
a programme called Jing. When we discovered this user-friendly programme, it finally
became easier for us to make instant screenshots and save them to be used in any
other type of document or application.
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Wordle, Wordsift and VocabGrabber
Wordle It is a tool for generating “word clouds” from a text or from a list of words
that its user provides. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more
frequently in the source text. Users can modify the clouds by choosing different fonts,
layouts, and colour schemes. Making clouds is really easy and intuitive. Moreover, if
a problem appears, the registered user can ask for help at: http://groups.google.com/
group/wordleusers?lnk=srg, which is a resource for Wordle users to ask questions,
share experiences, and inform each other. Wordle was used to convert an extract from
a text on page 7 of The Business Pre-intermediate (Richardson et al., 2008).
Fig. 3: Sample word cloud
Some ideas of tasks using word clouds are presented below. Altogether 48 of them
can be studied at the address: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_
157dpbsg9c5
– Reading tasks: students get the clouds before reading the text and they try to ascertain the gist of the original article.
– Reading tasks: students get the clouds after reading the text and they reconstruct
the story.
– Teaching and revision of vocabulary with a cloud of words help visually oriented
learners.
– Writing tasks: students write articles using the words from the cloud.
All of the suggested techniques for working with word clouds are fully in correspondence with methodological advice of EFL experts (for example, Harmer 1991).
The very same text will look like this if you use another programme called Wordsift.
24
Methodology
Fig. 4: Sample wordsift representation
Both programmes select the key vocabulary and organise it in a visual representation
one can work with both in face to face and online classes; the latter one is directly
linked into a programme called visual thesaurus. It provides teachers and/or students
with challenging alternatives to apply Buzan’s mental maps (1993). Users can access
maps for individual vocabulary items by clicking on them in the interactive wordsift
visual representation. The following example is for one word in our list – surprise.
Fig. 5: Visual representation of one word from the word cloud
There is also another programme called VocabGrabber, which provides similar options.
1.3 Presentations
If teachers need to prepare a slide presentation, they can save work and utilise the resources available at the site of the online slide sharing hosting service calledSlideShare.
Users can find this offer of available features:
• Embed slideshows into your own blog or website.
• Share slideshows publicly or privately. There are several ways to share privately.
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• Synch audio to your slides.
• Market your own event on SlideShare.
• Join groups to connect with SlideShare members who share your interests.
• Download the original file.
1.4 Dictionaries
Certainly, all students and teachers do possess a good dictionary. Yet, the Wordsmyth
dictionary is a truly revolutionary tool available for anybody learning English. It includes clear and complete explanations for dictionary entries, antonyms, synonyms, related words, real audio pronunciations, example sentences and various other functions.
By simple inclusion of the selected lexical items users can see anagrams, crosswords
and quizzes created in seconds in front of their eyes.
Fig. 6: Sample map of an entry
Fig. 7: Sample test created by the online dictionary
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Methodology
1.5 Wizig
Wizig helps teachers in synchronous and asynchronous teaching through a Virtual
Classroom. The other features offered are online testing, content sharing, sending
messages and payment management.
Academic teachers i.e. teachers from schools of higher education, colleges and universities can now access the benefit of unlimited recordings for free. All academic
teachers can avail themselves of this opportunity by confirming their affiliation with
their academic organizations.
The site below will inform readers about all the possibilities for teachers: http://www.
wiziq.com/teachers-tour
Teachers can give online classes, manage tutorials, create tests and also get students
to teach each other.
a) The online classes have to be scheduled, students invited, and there is a possibility
of recording settings. Before the first online class is launched, the teacher must
be carefully prepared. In the virtual classroom the teacher interacts live with the
students, chats live and answers students’ questions. After the class the recording
can be saved online or downloaded and shared offline.
b) The other feature provided is managing tutorials. Teachers can upload their tutorials which are in different formats such as doc, PDF, spreadsheet, flash, audio, or
video. Tutorials can be either private or public and sent to the students or shared
in the Virtual Classroom.
c) Teachers can create a question bank and tests, send the tests to their students and
check their performance.
Conclusion
Our current experience has been very positive and rewarding. While some unfavourable conditions could not be changed, some improvements to the programme
were possible, including problems associated with larger class sizes, the lack of contact
hours, mixed-ability levels within the same class, and the need for student autonomy.
The key element was to join multimedia technology with traditional classroom English
instruction. This connection was not meant to replace the classroom, textbook, or
teacher. Rather it was to supplement them to develop the students’ mastery of 4 skills,
as well as vocabulary and grammar knowledge. We succeeded in increasing students’
awareness and understanding of their own learning processes. We also developed an
autonomous attitude in students toward their own language learning, helping them to
recognize and incorporate pertinent strategies for independent learning. Furthermore,
we encouraged students to think critically and express themselves reflectively. The
tools described above can be real timesavers. Some of them are rather simple, while
Didaktika výuky cizích jazyků
27
others are more complex, involving many different functions, varied types of communication with students testing them, and these tools involve audio and video formats.
All of the tools are available for immediate implementation; it is up to their users to
what extent they use them.
Literatura
Buzan, T., Buzan, B. The Mind Map Book: How to use radiant thinking to maximize your brain’s untapped potential. Harlow: Pearson Education, 1993. ISBN 0452273226.
Dudeney, G. The internet and the language classroom: A practical guide for teachers. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-521-78373-9.
Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Pearson, Longman, 1991. ISBN 0-582-09133-0.
Kafai, Y., Resnik, M. Constructionism in Practice. New York: Routledge, 2008. ISBN 0-8058-1985-1.
Richardson, K., Kavanagh, M., Sydes, J., Emmerson, P. The Business, Pre-intermediate. Oxford: Macmillan,
2008. ISBN 978-0-230-02156-3.
Online sources
Czech Moodle Homepage [on line]. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://moodle.cz/
Hot Potatoes Homepage [on line]. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://hotpot.uvic.ca/
SlideShare Homepage [on line]. San Fransisco: SlideShare Inc. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http:
//www.slideshare.net/
SpellingCity Homepage [on line]. Vkidz Inc. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://www.spellingcity.
com/
SpellingCity Teacher Training Page [on line]. Vkidz Inc. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://www.
spellingcity.com/how-to-videos.html
TechSmith Jing Homepage [on line]. Okemos, Michigan: TechSmith Corporation [accessed on 30. 11. 2010].
Available at: http://www.techsmith.com/jing/
Visual Thesaurus Homepage [on line]. New York: Thinkmap Inc. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http:
//www.visualthesaurus.com/
VocabGrabber Page [on line]. New York: Thinkmap Inc. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://www.
visualthesaurus.com/vocabgrabber/
Voki Homepage [on line]. New York: Oddcast Inc. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://www.voki.
com/
Wordle Homepage [on line]. Jonathan Feinberg [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://www.wordle.
net/
WordleUsers Homepage [on line]. Mountain View, California: Google Inc. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available
at: http://groups.google.com/group/wordleusers?lnk=srg
WordSift Homepage [on line]. Stanford University: Greg Wientjes production [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://www.wordsift.com/
Wordsmyth Page [on line]. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://www.wordsmyth.net/?mode=gm
WiZiQ Homepage [on line]. Chandigarh, India: authorGEN Technologies. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available
at: http://www.wiziq.com/
WiZiQ for Teachers [on line]. Chandigarh, India: authorGEN Technologies. [accessed on 30. 11. 2010]. Available at: http://www.wiziq.com/teachers-tour
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Methodology
Autorky
Ing. Stanislava Pavlíková e-mail: [email protected], Technická univerzita
v Liberci
Vystudovala obor Automatizované systémy řízení na ČVUT Praha (Fakulta stavební)
a posléze anglický jazyk na Univerzitě J. E. Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem. Od roku
2010 je externí doktorandkou na Univerzitě Hradec Králové oboru Informační
a komunikační technologie ve vzdělávání. Od roku 1997 působí na Technické
univerzitě v Liberci jako odborná asistentka na katedře cizích jazyků. Vyučuje
angličtinu v prezenční i kombinované formě studia na fakultách textilní, strojní,
mechatronické a ekonomické. Pravidelně se zúčastňuje seminářů a konferencí doma
i v zahraničí. V poslední době se zaměřila ve svých publikacích a různých projektech
na problematiku využití nejnovějších informačních technologií ve výuce anglického
jazyka.
PhDr. Ivana Pekařová, M.A. e-mail: [email protected], Technická univerzita
v Liberci
Vystudovala anglický a český jazyk na Filozofické fakultě Univerzity Karlovy v Praze
a o dva roky později složila na stejné instituci rigorózní zkoušky v oboru anglický
jazyk. V roce 2001 ukončila dálkové studium oboru Educational Management“ na
”
University of Nottingham ve Velké Británii. Po praxi na středních školách působí od
roku 1992 na Technické univerzitě v Liberci jako vedoucí katedry anglického jazyka
a asistentka děkana Fakulty pedagogické a odborná asistentka na katedře cizích
jazyků Fakulty ekonomické. Vyučuje angličtinu v prezenční i kombinované formě
studia na fakultách textilní, mechatronické a ekonomické. Pravidelně se zúčastňuje
různých vzdělávacích akcí doma i v zahraničí a několikrát se účastnila na výuce na
partnerských institucích v zahraničí. Hlavním zájmem jejích publikací a účasti na
projektech je e-learning a on-line podpora studentů.
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