Online, Sustainable, Personal:Technology and Tasks forLanguage LearnersSharon ScinicarielloUniversity of Richmond, Virginia

IALLT @ CALICO 2014Athens, Ohio

What Is This About?

Not ‘Open, Online, Massive’ Not Revolutionary Teaching learners to create their own

technology-based tasks helps learning become more personal, increasing engagement

Integrating these activities can make language learning and language programs more sustainable

What Is Sustainability?

Development of learners’ lifelong learning skills

Development of programs and curricula to address evolving language-learning needs Languages for specific purposes Less-commonly-taught languages Independent learners▪ Faculty, students, and staff members

engaged in campus internationalization efforts—study and research abroad, global partnerships

Technology

Wealth of resources for acquiring language Resources designed for learners Authentic materials

Tools for using the language For documenting and evaluating learning For communicating

Problem and Solution

Learners do not know how to evaluate and use resources to learn Teachers and textbooks do this for

learners Teach learners to engineer their own

learning experiences Experiences will incorporate technology

both as resource and as learning platform

Our Experience: SDLAP

Self-Directed Language Acquisition Program First ‘beta’ run in spring 2009

Goal: Create a sustainable program to promote sustainable language learning LCTLs not taught in curriculum Flexible, personal Supports study abroad, ‘critical

language’ scholars, and coordinates with CLAC

Cannot be used to fulfill language requirement

The Structure of the SDLAP

Introduction to Self-Directed Language Learning (1/2 unit) One 75-minute meeting each week Language learning strategies How languages work Interaction of culture and language

Self-Directed Language Learning (1 unit) Task-based language learning Cultural discussions (on line) and

projects

Organizing Priniciples

Learn how to learn Foundation for future learning

Learn through tasks Organize learning around goals and

tasks Goals and tasks are highly individualized

Learn how languages work The purpose of grammar

Learn how language and culture interact Communicative competence

Role of Tasks

Emphasize real-world language use and communication-based outcomes

Bridge the gap between ‘experiential’ and ‘formal’ knowledge Situate / contextualize the acquisition of

formal structures Motivate through accomplishment

Role of Technology

Resources CALL programs Distributed and streaming media Texts▪ Internet Children’s Digital Library

Virtual language partners and examiners Platform

Organizing and documenting learning Creating community of learners

First Tasks with Technology

Get started with content and platforms Bookmark sites in Diigo Annotate others’ bookmarks in Diigo Respond to autonomous learning

question in Ning discussion group Evaluate resources in both Diigo and the

Ning blog Plan learning in terms of goals and

tasks Be explicit about the role of technology

Process

Set long- and short-term goals Break down goals

What skills do I need to complete this goal?

What knowledge (language,culture) do I need?

Plan learning tasks to acquire knowledge and skills Online resources

Reflect upon success of learning tasks Document and reflect

Examples

Talking about soccer in Turkish Greek Cypriot seeking common ground

with Turkish peers What do you need to know to talk about

soccer? Expressing emotions, disagreement, etc. Cultural project: analysis of Turkish

teams Technology: radio and TV commentary;

news; sports sites Talking business in Korean

Creating Technology-Based Learning Tasks

Works two ways Identify skills and knowledge needed,

then find resources▪ YouTube, online texts and courses

Create learning tasks for specific resources▪ Bollywood, Korean drama

Using resources What can I learn from this resource?▪ Language, culture

Creating Technology-Based Learning Tasks

Document goals and tasks for specific week What should I be able to do by the end

of week? Which resources will I use? How will I use each resource?

Create and teach a technology-based lesson to someone else Do I have a clear goal for this activity? Have I found appropriate resources? Does this activity engage the learner?

Student Reaction

Generally very favorable Students are grateful for opportunity

to pursue their own interests Students tell us they use the

strategies learned for further work in language and other disciplines

Word-of-mouth expansion of program to its capacity

Faculty and staff participation

Student Reaction

Overall, I would consider this semester a success. Not only am I planning on continuing learning Farsi, but I am going to use the skills that I gained in this class to learn other languages as well (as I will be living abroad next year in a country whose language I do not yet speak). --student reflection May 2009

Student Reaction

Even though I do not like learning new languages I found this course very interesting. Now I know I can learn on my own and in the future I might use some of these strategies and activities that I have learned this semester.

Motivation is the key to become a successful self-directed language learner. Setting goals of your own interest is very important because it keeps you interested in the course and gives you the will to want to learn. --student reflection spring 2010

Student Reaction

It was a great experience walking through the streets of Sarajevo and Mostar having learned about the history and having developed some language skills.

As a side note, I must admit those concrete artifacts that you pushed me to produce throughout those two semesters of SDLAP are a component of the course that I continue to use in some variation today. I think it’s especially useful for keeping track of progress and staying motivated. --letter received April 2014 from 2012-2013

participant

Student Reaction

It’s definitely hard being a language learner when you have other important things to do as well. For example, learning a language at the same time as doing work for other classes.

Learning not in a classroom setting is really difficult when you can’t rely on a teacher, who is very knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the Korean language, to explain certain things that are confusing. --student reflection spring 2014

Proposal: Best of Both Worlds

Integrate learner-designed technology-based tasks into regular courses Address personal learning goals of

students Teach skills for lifelong learning Promote learning beyond the curriculum

Start slowly and build skills in stages Build in self and peer assessment Teacher available to suggest

resources and, as necessary, provide explanations

Process

Analysis of teacher- or textbook-created task What is the goal of the task? How does the resource match the goal? How do the activities contribute to

achieving the goal? Find resource to accomplish same or

similar goal Create task for teacher-selected

resource Create personal goal and create task

Challenges

Faculty development Coverage Communicating about process Use of technology to document task

completion Assessment

Resource evaluation and choice Librarians Peer informants

Technology support

Thank you!

http://sdlapur.ning.com Links to Diigo groups Links to SDLAP wiki (syllabi, resources,

info) sscinica@richmond.edu