Thursday
Regine Hampel from The Open University - Designing tasks for online language learning (Seminar)
At 16:00 in 4SB.5.3.
Abstract: Asynchronous online tools such as forums, wikis and blogs lend themselves to negotiation of meaning and co-construction of knowledge amongst learners across time and space. Tasks play a crucial role in this (Ellis 2003, Klapper 2003) and there is an expanding body of work on task-based language learning and teaching in online settings (e.g. Doughty & Long 2003, Hampel 2010, Thomas & Reinders 2010). However, not enough is known about how tasks need to be designed to make best use of the possibilities of complex virtual learning environments (VLEs) to motivate and support learners, foster interaction, and contribute to knowledge construction. This presentation charts the design of online tasks and their use by students in a distance language course (CEFR B2) over the period of two years. The course was offered for the first time in 2009 to approx. 160 students in a blended format that included a Moodle platform with online learning activities. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and we examined students’ engagement with as well as their perception of these activities (Price, Hampel & Pleines 2010). As a result, changes were made to the virtual learning environment and in 2010/11 another study was carried out on the impact of these changes in terms of student participation and interaction.
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