ELT and Blended Language Learning: From theory to practice

1. ELT and Blended Language Learning:From theory to practice Prof Dr Piet Desmet Johan Strobbe K.U.Leuven March 2006 Brussels-British Council

2. Tomorrow’s technology combined with yesterday’s methodology? • Invest in wine or in bottles?(pedagogy-driven v technology driven) • - New window, same shoplearning environment for the conjugation of verbs or vocabulary • Dos on diskette  Windows on CD-ROM  website  LMS • Can we really drive our 4x4?First installation of multimedia language class, only then question of use and integration  need of a digital methodology (extra driving licence) March 2006 Brussels-British Council

3. 2. Build a garden shed or renovate the house? - The tail wags the dog. impact of e on c - Cherry on the cake or javanais?extra feature (bonus/discount) or integrated part of the curriculum - Give the public what they want? learner –centred approach also for e? - The human factor: teachers ready for BLL? learners: focus on engine or driving comfort? March 2006 Brussels-British Council

4. 1. How to transcend ‘traditional’ CALL 1.1. What is ‘traditional’ CALL? • Activities: exercise types: closed (MC, drag & drop, etc.)level: beginners/false beginners • Interactivity:feedback: local (right-wrong – correct answer) program-controlled limited tracking & logging • Content/domains: knowledge based (lexicon, grammar, etc.) • Support: stand alone (diskette/CD-ROM) • Formula: sheer independent learning minimally integrated March 2006 Brussels-British Council

5. Number of possible answers Degree of predictability of the answers closed exercises one maximal half-open exercises several high open exercises unlimited limited 1.2 Recent tendencies1.2.1 Learning activities Closed, half-open and open exercises closed: MC, drag-and-drop, fill in the blank, ordering/matching, cross words, etc. half-open: translation (of set passages) reformulation correction dictation open: essay-question March 2006 Brussels-British Council

6. 1.2.2. Interactivity ° types of feedback general and specific error-specific intelligent (e.g. Approximate String Matching, parsing, etc.) ° learner control “follow the guide” v “do it your own way” reports for the learner based on tracking & logging data ° Human-machine interaction -> human-machine-human interaction IT -> ICT March 2006 Brussels-British Council

7. 1.3. Content lexicon listening skill grammar reading skill pronunciation speaking skill spelling writing skill Landeskunde/civilisation intercultural competence = knowledge domains = skill domains ->no specific c- or e-domains! 1.4. Support Evolution in support: Diskette -> CD-ROM/DVD-ROM -> static web -> dynamic web -> LMS -> web services Evolution in functionality: Technology: availability anytime, anywhere? installation low threshold (specific software?, plug-ins?, etc.) editability upgrades & updates compatibility communication with other systems, exportability of the data, etc. Educational technology: multimedia possibilities? interface grafism, dynamic frontend registration learner login ->report for the learner? collaborative learning Learning Community? reports for the content developer March 2006 Brussels-British Council

8. 1.5. Formula • From e-learning to blended learning c-mix e-mix • From private study to guided autonomous learning • From minimal to maximal integration • (cf three cases) March 2006 Brussels-British Council

9. 6. Underlying methodological principles: from behaviourism to socio-constructivism • 6.1 View on learning • From absorption to the construction of knowledge (task based, skills based) • From input-output to independent learning (BZL) • From individual work to collaborative work • 6.2 View on teaching • From ‘sage on the stage’ (instructor) to ‘guide on the side’ (facilitator, guide) March 2006 Brussels-British Council

10. 2. BLL: another buzz word? Blended learning seems to mean that there will be some e-learning and some classroom learning. It is in vogue for a simple reason. No one wants to spend that much on e-learning, and people in general want to preserve what they have, so they have made up this name for not changing much and called it blended learningRoger Schank (From: Epyc white paper Blended Learning) March 2006 Brussels-British Council

11. 2.1 Definitions • Rochester Institute (2004): blended learning aims to join the best of classroom teaching and learning with the best of online teaching and learning. • Colis and Moonen (2001): blended learning is a hybrid of traditional face-to-face and online learning so that instruction occurs both in the classroom and online, and where the online component becomes a natural extension of traditional classroom learning. March 2006 Brussels-British Council

12. Heinze and Procter (2003-2004) Blended Learning is learning that is facilitated by the effective combination of different modes of delivery, models of teaching and styles of learning, and founded on transparent communication amongst all parties involved with a course. March 2006 Brussels-British Council

13. 3.1 The BLCC- case • integrated language learning environment (ILLE) • focused on business language & communication (Dutch, English, French, German) • developed by our university & BLCC (www.blcc.be) • created with our authoring tool IDIOMA-TIC • integrated within the LMS Cognistreamer • c-learning activities within the multimedia language labs of KULAK March 2006 Brussels-British Council

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15. Formula E-learning not only for remediation or differentiation purposes, but integration of e- and c-learning. 10 weeks access to the e-environment with 8 contact sessions of 3 hours • Electronic starting test • Before each session: prepare one of the 6 modules of the e-course “Professional communication” (cf. supra) • 6 sessions (each devoted to one of the 6 modules) - c-learning: role-playing - c-learning: synthetic activity - e-learning: evaluation - e-learning: telephone skills or speaking of finance/speaking of quantity or grammar • Between the sessions: e-coaching + analysis of tracking & logging results (-> individual coaching) March 2006 Brussels-British Council

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17. Content Not only knowledge-oriented…pronunciation & spelling, lexicon, grammar … but also receptive and productive skills listening, reading, writing, speaking (at least exercises preparing for communication) March 2006 Brussels-British Council

18. Professional communication (speech acts): 6 modules Module 1:Socialising Saying hello – Introducing yourself or someone else – Welcoming visitors – Making an appointment – Inviting people, accepting and refusing invitations – Thanking people – Apologising – Saying goodbye Module 2: Communication Starting off – Giving the floor – Reporting – Asking for repetition and clarification – Buying time – Structuring your speech/your text Module 3: Dealing with information Asking for information – Giving information – Expressing your opinion Module 4: Giving orders, asking for permission, offering help Module 5: Assessing a person, a situation Module 6: Plans & projects March 2006 Brussels-British Council

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20. Follow the guide (road map) v Your own way March 2006 Brussels-British Council

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