Language learning and teaching supported by e-learning

G. PERROTTON, B. PERROTTON

LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING SUPPORTED

BY E-LEARNING

Аннотация

Статья посвящена изучению и преподаванию иностранного языка с применением компьютерных и информационных технологий на основе разнообразных методов и форм, сочетающих непосредственное и опосредованное техническими средствами (дистанционное) взаимодействие субъектов учебной деятельности. В сфере обучения иностранным языкам, компьютерное обучение открывает дополнительные возможности как для обучающихся, так и обучающих. Статья посвящена подготовке обучающихся, и поэтому организатор должен определить структуру организации учебных материалов, выявить область знаний учащихся и определить потребности в новых знаниях, при этом, помня о большом значении материалов для самооценки и о том, как они могут/должны быть представлены. В статье говорится о разработке материалов для компьютерного обучения; объясняется, почему проектирование должно осуществляться на основе проверенных и природосообразных методов обучения, известных студентам, работающим с электронными материалами. Внимание читателя обращается на тот факт, что время, место и расстояние не имеют никакого значения для получения доступа к учебным материалам, т. е. где бы ни находился учащийся, он имеете преимущества и возможности изучения иностранного языка. Коротко говорится об уже приобретенном опыте.

Introduction

There a many methods of teaching, but in our case we speak of mixed-mode/ blended / resource-based learning/teaching which means an approach to foreign language learning and teaching that combines face to face and distance teaching in which an instructor/teacher meets students (face to face and through technical means) and a resource-base of materials and learning activities are made available to students. Such a blended course is drawn on the same theoretical principles which belong to face to face courses. E-learning provides additional opportunities to the language learner and the language teacher as far as learning/teaching practices are concerned. It can make an information available and play a part in a student’s self-construction of knowledge making resources accessible when they otherwise may not be – attention must be given to the contribution e-learning can make to learning as such, so that any use of it becomes a component of the overall course design. It is generally agreed that dialogue and communication with instructors are important contributions towards successful language learning, yet materials should be provided on paper and/ or on CD-Rom.

Learner Preparation

A variety of pre-learning activities should be used to prepare learners for the details of the e-learning materials, and to get them connected and motivated to learn/work with the e-learning materials. A rationale should be provided to inform learners of the importance of working with the e-learning materials and to show them how it will benefit them.

A concept map might be provided to establish the existing structure, to incorporate the details of the e-learning materials and to activate them. This might help learners to get some kind of “picture” of what they’ll be confronted with. - Learners must be informed of what will be expected of them and what can be achieved. An advance organizer should therefore be provided to establish a structure to organize the details in the e-learning materials – or to bridge what learners already know and what they need to know; they must be able to check if they are ready for this kind of material. That’s why self-assessment material is important right at the beginning of the e-learning materials – this has been provided for by our Russian teachers, but could also be handed out on paper before giving access to the CD-Rom.

Motivation and discipline are very important for the success of e-learning. According to the different kinds of learners some can be very successful and others will have problems. Therefore it is important to offer an interesting platform with a big variety of areas and links due to the subject.

Designing E-Learning Materials

The development of effective e-learning materials should be based on proven and sound learning methods which are known to the students having to work with the e-learning materials – the design of the e-learning materials determines the effectiveness. Learning strategies should be selected to motivate learners, promote meaningful learning, facilitate contextual learning and of course very much more…

Russian colleagues know best what can be expected from their students - they know their approaches to learning/teaching and know the methods that they are accustomed to. Therefore, they have applied methods known to their students within the project.

Learners should be told explicitly the outcomes of their learning – so in the end they can judge for themselves whether or not they have achieved the aim of the lesson. That’s why learners must have the opportunity to test themselves, which in our case is done at the end of a chapter, giving the learner some kind of feedback.

In addition, strategies should be used to allow learners to perceive and attend to the information so that it can be transferred to working memory - simpler and more complicated materials can be used to accommodate learners at different levels - all this is part of the exercises within the e-learning materials.

►E-learning materials should be presented in sequences which are connected logically and appropriately to promote learning – it could take the form of simple to complex, known to unknown, and knowledge to application - this also has become part of the types of lessons and exercises within the e-learning materials produced by our Russian colleagues.

►E-learning materials should be presented in different modes to accommodate individual differences in processing and to facilitate transfer to long-term memory – in our case textual, verbal and visual to encourage encoding in different types of lessons and exercises.

►E-learning learners should be provided with a variety of learning activities to achieve the required outcome and to accommodate learners’ individual needs. Examples of learning activities include reading textual materials, and listening to audio materials – both are part of the e-learning materials designed. Learners are also encouraged to conduct research on the Internet and link to further information on the relevance of the materials. --- Ideally, they should give feedback to the teacher/ instructor/ tutor and should write a summary to promote higher-level processing and finish the lesson.

Advantages/ Chances

For learners, e-learning knows no time zones and location and distance are not an issue – students can access the materials at any time. Working with the CD-Rom ought to be combined with the possibility of contacting the instructor/ teacher/tutor online anytime from anywhere in order to achieve the desired learning outcomes. Their chances are personal improvement during a time which they can determine themselves, independently.

Consideration should be given to students with different learning styles:

Assimilatores, for example, prefer high instructor presence, while accommodators prefer low Instructor presence.

Looking at this brings as back to the point that we have to look at the different kinds of learners and try to make the system flexible and therefore effective for all e-learners. In the last few years Germany has improved on e-learning but this has happened mainly in the industry like e. g. the firm: Siemens or the German railway. Other educational institutions work with online based material but rather superficially and without a system. Universities are starting with Projects focusing on e-learning because they know its becoming an important development in the learning culture. The University of Oldenburg e. g. is working on an e-learning project with the Hosei University in Tokyo. This won’t just be e-learning as we practice with our CD-Rom. There will be a face to face presence over web-cams – so the teacher will see the class in Tokyo and they will see me. Further we prepare students for the University-entrance online examination. They have to send their work per mail and get a correction online. There is a platform where they can download the relevant texts and work on them. There is also a chat room for communication between the students. In this case this kind of preparation for exams has shown that only accommodate students have been really successful.

Experiences as far as the German language Cd-Rom is concerned

Learners exist as users, whose experience can be reconstructed through, for instance in our case, interviews. Their experience with the e-learning materials gives helpful information as far as alterations/ changes/ additions are concerned. I think it will be very interesting for our Russian colleagues to hear about them – some very useful information has already been received and alterations have been made accordingly, so far.

Conclusion

The presence of a teacher is very important for many students. This shows that blended learning can be an effective additional method. Students with different learning styles can benefit from a bigger variety of possibilities according to their individual needs. The CD-Rom brought out through the TEMPUS FLERTUV Project with a mixture of different experiences through the Russian and German teachers producing it can be used - and already is - by a variety of students in russian speaking countries like e. g. in Saratov, Samara and Volgograd. Because of the presence of German industries like Bosch in Saratov the CD-Rom with its emphasise on technical German can support especially students who apply for a job in this area.