Final Project

 

Over the duration of the course you are asked to plan, revise then present and defend a technologically-enhanced language learning project. This will done with your telecollaboration groups and will take shape along several drafts. The different draft phases will be teacher-supported with in-class discussion and activities of theory and method (e.g. how to set objectives, how to ensure accurate scaffolding, how to plan sub-tasks, how to assess, etc.) as well as in-class and online peer collaboration through constructive feedback.

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There are some essential features that the project must contain: 1) there must be at least some explicit focus on intercultural competence (sometimes called global citizenship, global cosmopolitanism, etc.).; 2) there must be innovative use of technology (as an integrated part of the project); and 3) must aim to teach 21st century comptences and 4) obviously, it must have a language learning focus and be telecollaborative.

 

Here is an outline of the entire process:

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Design of the Group Project

 

You will work throughout the course on your project. You will start with initial ideas that become your first draft, which you will revise your several times, frequently based on feedback from your in-class and online peers. Here are a few things to bear in mind in the design:

•  Your project should be well-sequenced (the activities build on each other so that students are using prior knowledge to continue their learning)

•  It should integrate different types of interaction (cooperative work, individual work, pair work)

• The activities should all be clearly tied together so that the students understand the ‘big picture’ of where they are going with the project.

• It should integrate multiple-competence aims (linguistic, intercultural, digital, social, etc.)

• It should include some use of technology.

• There should be clear support for the students to be able to achieve the expected outcomes of the project.

• It should include assessment activities throughout the project implementation.

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Publication of Group Project

 

Selected projects will be included in a co-authored teaching materials compendium. This means the projects must be carefully proofread and include teacher instructions for each lesson. For publishing purposes, it should be written in a text-based document (googledocs or similar) where you can insert videos if needed.

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A short introduction: Briefly contextualize your project (target level of participants, subject area(s), main aims, focused competences).  This should not be more than ½ a page – be succinct but make it interesting enough for the reader to want to continue reading. In short, tell other teachers what your project is about and what it aims to do and why it is interesting.

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Background of the main social issue highlighted in the project: Provide a synopsis of the issue, problem or theme the learners will be focusing on. This should be based on other literature so you will have to do a bit of investigative work. Make sure you provide citations correctly. This should  be between 1 1/2 to 3 pages of text (depending on use of graphs, illustrations). Make sure it is coherent and not just a bunch of ideas thrown into a pot. If you use illustrations, you must make sure they are free of copyright. Any other sources must be referenced in APA style.

 

Project lessons: Provide the planned sequence of the lessons in the project (teacher’s book). A lesson plan template will be provided. It should  include complementary materials and assessment tasks. You should also describe the use of technology accurately (e.g. you may need to add extra instructions on how to use specific tools). This section should include enough detail to allow another teacher to follow your planning. In short - what would a substitute teacher have to know to teach one of the lessons if the regular is ill or taken away on an alien ship?

 

The important thing is that you should prepare it so that it looks 'professional' and ready for publication. You can consult the criteria that will be used to evaluate your project here. Due to the huge variation in the amount of work involved in the various technologies, it is impossible to give a page requirement for this project (especially since most probably won't have pages at all).  During the course, we'll be looking at a variety of final projects from previous years to give you some ideas.

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You will be required to create a poster and present it at the end of the course.

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Links of final version of your projects (templates) should be posted here.

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