1.According to Nancy, one of the Spanish language distance education teachers surveyed by Sánchez-Serrano (2008), “the online curriculum should be designed to match, as closely as possible, the needs of the environment and of the students, while not attempting to imitate its face-to-face counterparts as the perfect model” (p. 157). This sentiment is echoed in the comments by Stickler and Hempel in Episode 5 of the CALLspot, who point out that putting powerpoints and lecture notes online is not enough for online instruction.
How should a curriculum and lessons for online language instruction differ from a curriculum and lessons for face-to-face language instruction?
According to Sánchez and Serrano the traditional curriculum is often mirrored to some extent in the online course. What I find intriguing is the option to teach/learn certain elements in a different order, which was also Oswald's suggestion in the text. Since the online material is always there the student can choose in what order to proceed (p.157). As a student I find it helpful to have all my resources in one place and to also see what the final task will be ahead of time. I can then do all the exercises keeping the final task and the goals of the course in mind. As a teacher,this can also be done for face-to-face classes, but sometimes documents have a tendency to be made into paper airplanes and fly away (at least for some of my students). Having all the documents available online would therefore be an advantage.
ReplyDeleteI agree - to have access online to all the documents of the course at the same time as some type of reading schedule helps. I also think that the distance education teacher needs to take into account the group dynamics (as stated in the literature as well); ie the different ages and experiences of the group, that seem to be able to vary much more within the distance group compared to the class room group. Also, since the teacher is not always present, there must be clear guidelines for questions and answers, as well as clear instructions on how to use the material and what is expected. I imagine that online, the students communicate more student-teacher and in the physical class room perhaps more student - student.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Lisa and Tina wrote above. It was also mentioned in the article that the students expected the teacher to be available all the time, like the material. I think it is important to have schedule student-teacher time and make it clear that the teacher, even online, can't be available 24/7, also to avoid causing frustration for the students.
ReplyDeleteWhen a teacher wants to give a course online or mix it with classrooms teaching, the important questions, in my opinion, are: what is the purpose of this course, what do students need to learn/understand/achieve and what is the best way to do it? It's then important to choose the best tools/ways to achieve the courses goals. Every course is a different case and will have different needs but to take the time to reflect will increase the chance to make a really good job with the students. Every step that students will have to take (with the teacher, with other students or alone) during the course should be carefully prepared.
ReplyDeleteCommunication with the students is also a very important aspect: what are we working with, when will everything happen, how, why, etc? Those questions need to be very clear for everyone.
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ReplyDeleteHow interesting to read all your comments above!
ReplyDeleteI think Shannon's question is difficult to answer without specifying what kind of online language course you give, the level of the students and what technical resources you have at your disposal.
I do not see why online instruction should change our curriculum (I assume this is the content of our courses). However it is quite obvious that some lessons have to change during online instruction.
What are the goals of the course? What should the students learn? What methods should they use? There is no difference between an online course and a traditional course in the time a teacher has to use preparing it (initially I guess it takes more time). Also, online teaching might offer other tools for teaching/learning, but the content is still the same. When we start to use online courses in order to save money, I think we underestimate the professional work of the teacher.
Interesting comments from all of you!
ReplyDeleteMaybe a curriculum for online language learning has to incorporate standards for technical skills as well as language skills. This could address the problem with students referred to as “technophobes”. There might also be a need to put more emphasis on productive skills in an online environment. According to Charles, one of the teachers in Sánchez-Serrano (2008), the lack of physical interaction is often supplemented by other skills such as reading and therefore online learners end up doing more work than students in a face-to-face environment. Nancy, another teacher in the Sánchez-Serrano study, also expresses the need to consider those students who might be fluent in the language but need to learn how to express themselves academically. Stickler and Hempel highlight the importance of self-assessment for online learners, something a curriculum could address.
For effective online language instruction Stickler and Hempel stress the importance of clarity and feedback. I think this is equally important in face-to-face instruction. There has to be explicitness in all parts of the teaching process and a lot of feedback and encouragement from the teacher to keep the students on track and motivated!
Interesting comments from all. From Serrano's article, it's clear that all of the teachers were positive to this kind of teaching. There had been problems, but they had been solved. To avoid difficulties and hindrenses, very clear instructions on all levels seem to be needed, like most of you already said. Also, I think interaction between the students need to be encouraged by the teachers. Fellow students are a resource that ought to be highlighted in digital distance courses. Maybe the curriculum for on-line-courses should then include interactions and activities of this kind as well as self assessment?
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree, very interesting comments from everyone. It seems like one of the great challenges of distance language learning is letting students practise oral interaction and production. It says in Sanchez Serrano that there are differences in the treatment of each skill in distance learning (p. 156). All skills are not treated the same and oral skills seem to get less attention than the other skills. Sanchez ad Serrano refer to three teachers who all agree that there is a need for more oral practice in the online classroom. It is part of their syllabus but they do not seem to have done it in practice.
ReplyDeleteI believe this could be arranged in different ways. Just like our group had online oral ppt presentations, this could be done in a language learning distance course as well. It is also possible to break the group into smaller groups and have discussions and conversations with the teacher listening to and commenting on the discussion at various times.
Interesting reading. I agree with several of you (if I understand you right), that the main question must be the purpose of the course - what are students supposed to learn? When we know the answer to that question, we can start asking ourselves how they can learn it. Sadly, though, schools all over the world, it seems, are repeating the mistake of beginning with the HOW question before the WHAT question when designing curricula and didactic approaches.
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