Summer School on Integrating e-Learning and Web2.0 into Language Teaching
From Wikipedia
Contents |
ICT tools and Hands-On Training on developing Interactive Language Learning Units and Exercises
5-10 September 2010, Chania, Crete, Greece
Ever struggled to find, develop or adapt language learning units and exercises for your students using ICT tools and the Internet?
The 2010 Summer School organized by the LaProf project (www.laprof.eu) and hosted by MAICh (http://www.maich.gr/) and AgroKnow (http://www.agroknow.gr/) is aimed at providing a synthesized set of insights, skills and experiences to develop interactive learning units and exercises using basic and popular tools that can be found online.
This 5-day course will include presentations and practical sessions (hands-on labs) on designing and implementing learning units using e-Learning methods & Web2.0 tools, organizing material in personal e-portfolios, finding material online in learning portals, and examining case studies for teaching professionals (e.g. IT professionals, agricultural professionals).
Full Description of Training Contents
Preparation
- a web site with: course description, programme, educational material and relevant sites prior to the start of the course, guidelines for travelling.
- recent reports from European surveys on the field of online language learning opportunities.
- slides of the lectures that will be delivered during the training course and course methodology.
- invitation and guidelines on how to prepare an example learning unit that includes ideas for interactive language exercises, in order to evolve this into an online learning unit with interactive exercises during the course.
- invitation to participate to the LaProf user groups (http://www.laprof.eu).
Objectives
There is a strong need for language learning methods and materials that may enable interactive and technology-supported language teaching in various levels. A very popular approach is using e-Learning technologies and Web2.0 tools to develop open and accessible learning content which can be shared among the members of a community of practice (e.g. language teachers). By this approach, the language teachers can be involved in the creation and usage process of the content using basic and popular tools that can be found online. This course aims to help language teachers achieve this by getting involved into the methods and practices of how interactive language learning units and exercises can be developed. In this way, the course tries to encourage teacher-driven innovation in the development of effective and high quality language learning and teaching material.
Emphasis is on networking and target group learning and working together. Tutorial and training material will be made available for teachers on how to design and create learning units and exercises, and how to share them with other teachers within a community. The course will be based on real case studies from language teaching of professionals and immigrating workers that wish to learn the language and terminology that is required for them in order to professionally function and adapt in a targeted country. The aim is to help potential learners to acquire a good knowledge of terminology in the native language that will help their professional and cultural integration in the countries of destination.
Topics will include (among others): how to design language learning units using e-Learning methods & tools, how interactive language learning exercises can be designed and implemented using Web2.0 tools, how language teaching material can be organised in personal e-portfolios and can be found online in learning portals, case studies for teaching professionals (e.g. IT professionals, agricultural professionals).
Methodology
Relevant topics relate to areas relevant for e-Learning and ICT tools applied in learning and teaching. These include:
- WWW and educational uses for language teachers,
- Strategies for searching information and educational material online,
- Introduction to the concept of learning objects,
- Introduction to learning repositories and portals,
- Introduction to preparing, uploading and sharing language learning resources,
- Introduction to metadata, educational metadata, and metadata-based searching
- Social metadata and Web 2.0 tools (folksonomies & social tagging), presentation of popular social tools (e.g. Flikr) and scenarios for their use in the classroom,
- Pedagogical strategies and best practices for using digital teaching & learning resources in the classroom,
- How to design language learning units using e-Learning methods & tools
- How interactive language learning exercises can be designed and implemented using Web2.0 tools
- How language teaching material can be organised in personal e-portfolios and can be found online in learning portals,
- Case studies for teaching professionals (e.g. IT professionals, agricultural professionals).
The training course lasts 10 hours of lectures and demonstrations, and 15 hour of hands-on workshops.
The lectures and the demonstrations of the training course will be held in an auditorium equipped with a data projector and a laptop, whereas, the workshops will be held in a multimedia laboratory where each participant will have direct access to a PC and will carry out planned exercises.
Follow-up
During the weeks following the training course the participants will have the opportunity through conducting specially designed mini-projects to further apply what they have learnt by producing educational resources following the learning objects paradigm and sharing them through the establishment of a language teachers’ community of practice. The participants will be welcome to systematically participate to the LaProf project user group. The training team will provide to the participants all the necessary guidelines and support to implement the proposed approaches in their classroom.
;
Programme of the training activities (tentative)
- 1st DAY - Sunday: Introduction and overview of the Course from Dr. Yiannis Livieratos. Presentation of the participants. Introductory Keynote Talk.
- 2nd DAY - Monday: Designing language learning WebQuests: Approaches, Tools, Technologies [Lecture/Demonstration, 3 hours]. Hands-on work on designing and preparing a WebQuest on Wiki [Workshop, 2 hours].
- 3rd DAY - Tuesday: Creating interactive language learning exercises using Web2.0 (LeFo) tools based on target languages texts [Demonstration, 2 hours], Hands-on LeFo usage for exercises, elaboration of a Wiki-based page per unit [Workshop, 3 hours]
- 4th DAY - Wednesday: Educational Metadata and the IEEE LOM Standard [Lecture/Demonstration, 3 hours], LaProf Web Portal, hands-on uploading and annotation exercise [Workshop, 2 hours]
- 5th DAY - Thursday: Elaborating on initial WebQuest ideas and developping fully one WebQuest and its supporting learning units per participant. Uploading all material in Wiki and Portal. [Workshop, 3 hours]
- 6th DAY - Friday: Presentation of Participants WebQuests [Workshop, 3 hours]. Conclusions and closing ceremony
About Chania
Chania (http://www.chania.gr/en) is the second largest city of Crete (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crete) lying along the north coast of the island. It is situated 70 km west of Rethymno and 145 km west of Heraklion, being one of the oldest cities in Crete, with a rich and tumultuous history. The city has preserved its traditional architecture and most of its monuments from Venetian and Turkish times. The Venetian harbour with its lighthouse and the old town in the centre have bestowed on Chania the reputation of the most picturesque city in Crete, welcoming thousands of visitors each year.
- Climate
The city enjoys a typical Mediterranean climate, with average temperatures of 25 degrees in September.
- Accommodation in Chania
Accommodation with full board on the premises of MAICh is provided to the participants.
- Transportation to Chania/MAICh
MAICh is located in the beautiful city of Chania. <br>
There are three possible ways for arriving to Chania by air
-Direct flight from Hometown to Chania (wherever is possible)
-Flight from Hometown to Athens and then Chania
-Flight from Hometown to Iraklion, Crete, and then by bus or taxi to Chania.
Iraklion is 145 Km (90 miles) from Chania. The bus fare is 9,4 € (aprx US$8) and takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes. The taxi costs approximately 73.40 € (US$70).
Flights between Athens and Chania are offered by
-Olympic Air www.olympicair.com, tel +302103550500
-Aegean Airlines http://www.aegeanair.com/
Fees
For EU participants:
- The total fee of the course is 700 euro, including accommodation and all meals (500 euro) and the course fee (200 euro).
- Cancellation Fee: Cancellations before 5 August 2010 will receive a full refund. On or after the 5 August 2010, a non-refundable cancellation fee of €200.00 will be charged.
For Greek participants, please contact the organizers for information about the course fees.
Content Information
- For more information please contact the Training Course Organizers:
Giorgos Koubouris, koubourisg[at]gmail[dot]com,
Mădălina Ungur, madalina.ungur[at]gmail[dot]com,
