MASTER IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AUTONOMOUS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS September, 2017

SETTING AND OPTIMIZING LANGUAGE RESOURCE CENTRES Tutor Patricia Alvarez Some sections of this presentation were adapted with permission from Steve Dale Director Semantix (UK) Ltd Collabor8now Ltd

Key concepts on collaboration Your web 2,0 tools SESSION AGENDA Key concepts on collaboration Your web 2,0 tools A sample collaborative project LOs the main components of a collaborative project A learning community: The ingredients Your VLRC some tips to consider SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES TO FOSTER SELF-DIRECTED LANGUAGE LEARNING IN COLOMBIA -DIAGNOSING THE CURRENT STATUS IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS-

Key Concepts on Collaboration Collaboration entails.. a meaningful central activity (e.g., playing a networked computer game, developing a project) the social relations that develop as a result of jointly constructed goals for the common endeavor. ( Donato, 1994)

Key Concepts on Collaboration recognition of individuals as parts of a cooperative activity the acceptance of the contributions of individuals in the service of a larger goal ( Donato 1994)

Key concepts on Collaboration Collaborative groups… build coherence within and among social relations and knowledge located and distributed in its members. collaboration co-constructs new knowledge that goes beyond any knowledge possessed by a single member in isolation (Donato, 1994). .

The goal of collaborative learning… involves apprenticing, initiating, and transforming individuals into participating and contributing members of social networks in various communities in which they live (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Sfard, 2003).

For the language learner collaborative learning implies… participate in social activities, either as individuals referenced to a social network or directly connected to others, promote future learning and development through expanding participation, create the potential for the individual’s reciprocal contribution to the community (Dyson, 2000; Putney, Green, Dixon, Durden, & Yaeger, 2000)

Some affordances of our teaching groups What we have… We are part of a community whose members are from different places in this country We all want our students to become better learners

Some affordances of our teaching groups We want our students to be able to use the target language to interact with others Perhaps we would like them to interact with native speakers rather than with other speakers of Spanish.

Some affordances of our teaching groups How about giving our students the opportunity to get to know other Colombian / foreign students…. See how they live What they enjoy the most Their habits Their schools Their families

A sample collaborative project How about having them share.. A day of their life? ….

A sample collaborative project What communicative skills do they need to practice? What do they know about this topic? What language would they need?

A sample collaborative project How about sharing their writings or videos enhanced by pictures of their own places, their schools and families? What would you need to teach them? How would you prepare them to succeed?

The main components of a collaborative project: learning objects (LOs) Dickens, A. and Corner, A. (n.d.) have characterized a learning object as a “particular type of online electronic learning material that is generally defined as a small, digital and self-contained unit of learning” A key quality of a learning object contains a high level of interactivity, will have defined learning outcomes and specific tasks or activities for the learner

The main components of a collaborative project: LOs For the purposes of our collaborative project we will design a minimum of three activities. Please take a close look at the Conceptualizing and Characterizing a LO document for additional input.

The main components of a collaborative project: LOs Now it is your turn… Take a look at this LO How is it structured? What can learners learn from it? What scaffolding opportunities are they offered?

What is a learning community ? What are the requirements ?

A learning community An environment connecting people and encouraging the sharing of ideas and experiences

A community…

A domain of interest… SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES TO FOSTER SELF-DIRECTED LANGUAGE LEARNING IN COLOMBIA -DIAGNOSING THE CURRENT STATUS IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS-

A place to meet… SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES TO FOSTER SELF-DIRECTED LANGUAGE LEARNING IN COLOMBIA -DIAGNOSING THE CURRENT STATUS IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS-

Someone to facilitate…. Screenshoots taken from: http://virtual.unisabana.edu.co/user/index.php?id=5399 SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES TO FOSTER SELF-DIRECTED LANGUAGE LEARNING IN COLOMBIA -DIAGNOSING THE CURRENT STATUS IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS-

Your VLRC: some Have you given your centre a name and a URL easy for your learners to remember? Do you know the difference between the centre, a web page, a blog, that place, etc. Will you make it sufficiently appealing for you learners?

Your VLRC: some Have you hosted it on a CMS which allows you to structure it in separate sections that facilitate navigability? Have you included the required tabs and the additional ones you consider necessary? Have you recently visited it and done some house work?

Resources Collaborative project samples World without oil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-hzUGFD-Gc Composting, a viable solution http://rochi-vrc.blogspot.com/p/composting.html Sample LO http://www.elanguages.ac.uk/los/eap/practising_listening_skills_for_lectures.html LO template http://loc.llas.ac.uk/lob/1467/standalone/index.html