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E-tutoring :. promoting active learning online within the field of languages, linguistics & area studies Shirley Bennett University of Hull. From English as a Foreign Language Linguistics Teacher Training for EFL English for Academic Purposes To eLearning
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E-tutoring : promoting active learning online within the field of languages, linguistics & area studies Shirley Bennett University of Hull
From • English as a Foreign Language • Linguistics • Teacher Training for EFL • English for Academic Purposes To • eLearning … applying approaches and strategies into new fields and disciplines
When some people look at the Internet, they see it as a way to deliver instruction. When other people look at it, they see a huge database for students to explore. When I look at the Internet, I see a new medium for construction, a new opportunity for students to discuss, share, and collaborate on constructions. (Garrison and Anderson 2003, 39)
Master of Education in eLearning 20 credit modules Wholly online
Original idea from active FACE-TO-FACE learning Original - • an innovative teaching and learning project at the University of York funded from TQEF • face-to-face, undergraduate module at Level 5 Adapted - • to reflect Masters level study (FHEQ Level 7) • to reflect the opportunities and challenges offered by wholly online learning
eLearning – Context, Management & Implementation The task central to the active learning: The writing of an e-dossier, planned and edited as a group, and comprising papers researched and written by the individual members of the learning-set, developed through an iterative process of critical friend review intendedto develop critical and analytical thinking and deepen own understanding of course focus.
Aims – why did I choose this approach? • Student-centred active learning activity achievable online • Provision for depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding • Development of critical writing skills in a supportive collaborative forum • Development of skills for dissertation in a supportive collaborative forum
Workshop 2 – From research / exploration to writing and review Workshop 3 – Ongoing Critical Friend Review towards collective publication Workshop 1 – Making plans and writing proposals
Achieving your aims through active learning online – tutor tips for success 1. Clear structure for the learning process • Structure and timing • Preparation!
Achieving your aims through active learning online – tutor tips for success 2. Supportive, structured and clear activities • Ensure learners are given a specific task to complete and a specific reason to support and help each other • Let them prepare – don’t expect them to swim from the start • Clear Instructions!
“Putting students into groups and telling them to cooperate does not guarantee that students will know how to cooperate and interact effectively.” (Burford, S. and L. Cooper)
Achieving your aims through active learning online – tutor tips for success 3. Balance of flexibility and control • time-scales and deadlines – avoid slippage, but provide flexibility around life-problems, reliability or not of technology • group roles – student choice V allocation
Achieving your aims through active learning online – tutor tips for success 4. Active role for the e-tutor as well as active engagement by e-learners • asynchronous discussion for exploration of ideas, analysis, review • online “meetings” for decisions • student-space for collaboration
The teacher, or … the facilitator, plays a key role throughout the e-learning experience - even when discourse and activities are controlled by the students. The teacher is an ever-present and key person, managing and monitoring the process. (Garrison and Anderson 2003, 75)