Innovation Showcase (Asynchronous Session)
Speak up! Fostering Oral Communication in the English Classroom through Dialogic Musical Meetings View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Judit Palencia Gutiérrez
This study, carried out in Spain in 2016, analyzes new dialogical pedagogy techniques based on deeply rooted in constructivism to improve the level of English education in Spainish high schools. Spain is the second worst country in the European Union when it comes to English command, especially with regards to oral output; as a consequence of several factors, such as the deficient preparation of teachers, cuts in the education budget, and dubbed films. This paper presents the outcomes of a Second Language Acquisition innovation project carried out in a high school in Oviedo, North of Spain. After analyzing data collected to study their low command of the language, the participants, more than 20 students from 4th E.S.O. (Spanish equivalent for US high school 10th grade), performed tasks that prepared to give them insight and training to then participate in a musical gathering; where they, without the intervention of the teacher, listened to English music and discussed in the targeted language about some songs and their lyrics. This meetings were recorded to posteriori analysis with the students. Examples of this kind of activities, which greatly rely on theories from Stephen Krashen, Ramon Flecha, Vygotsky, as well as concepts from Constructivism or Second Language Acquisition, will be given. The excellent outcomes are analyzed and exemplified with a video of one of our musical meetings as an example of how to implement media and technology in the Foreign Language classroom.
Building Resilient Learning Communities through Educational Equity View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Carolyn Stevenson
The year 2020 has created a need for resilience in the higher education community, resulting in a need for educators to be innovative in approaches to teaching and learning.This presentation discusses how open degree plans and open educational resources can provide access to higher education. Prior learning assessment and portfolio assessment will also be discussed in terms of gaining college credit for life experience. Participants will be engaged in the presentation through a discussion on the and use of OERs in their classroom. A demonstration will also be provided that highlights OERs and ways to integrate these resources into the classroom.
Improving the Online Classroom Experience Through Flexibly Designed Curriculum and Robust Instructor Support View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Janet Shih, Maria Weaver
In the year 2020, the e-learning industry has seen a rapid, albeit unexpected, transition into mass distance learning. As a provider of adult learning and professional education, General Assembly found itself having to modify curriculum designed for a physical environment to meet the learning needs of a online space from February to March of 2020 due to Covid-19. Recognizing this was much more than merely changing the delivery medium from in-person to fully online classrooms, the Instructional Design Team completed an extensive analysis on 1) how we historically planned for in-person and online deliveries and 2) how we supported instructors beyond the initial technical setup and how-tos. Through the analysis, the team discovered that robust facilitation support in the lessons, when paired with instructor ongoing training on curriculum implementation, is key to sustaining instructor motivation and the online classroom learning experience. We focused our efforts on developing objective-led learning experiences and supporting instructors in implementing learning activities such as small group critiques, pair designing or programming, hands-on workshops, and open discussions that mirror those in a physical setting. In this case study, we examine the General Assembly’s process of developing easy-to-adopt and flexibly designed curriculum that also serves to support the instructor in delivering authentic learning experiences. From our findings, we share our tried-and-true practices to help other organizations transcend social distance in learning as well as our next steps for continuous improvement.
Transforming Intercultural Curriculum : Cultivating Interculturality in e-Learning View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Angela Lee Smith
The concept of interculturality focuses on how the products and practices are related to the perspectives of culture. Fostering the development of interculturality in language learning has become increasingly challenging in times of COVID-19. However, how effective students are in building their intercultural competence depends not solely on the length of an experience abroad but on the quality of the structured and guided learning opportunities even during the pandemic. With these insights in mind, the presenter suggests an inventory of intercultural reflection tasks. These tasks facilitate high-quality remote learning experiences of interculturality whether students can study abroad or not. This session demonstrates intercultural reflection tasks that foster interculturality in remote learning environments. Those tasks were designed thematically by integrating the Interculturality Can-Do Statements, the Communication Standards, and the Cultures Standards. In the session, the ten most suggested intercultural reflection themes, collected from the study-abroad student focus group discussion on their pre-and post-study abroad experiences and goals, are presented. The intercultural reflection task modules contain a total of twenty tasks under these ten themes. Each task module has a pinpointed title under the specific topic of the related reflection theme. Students can monitor their intercultural learning experiences and reach their goals by using reflection tasks and self-assessment tools presented in this session. Further, language instructors can refer to these tasks and integrate them into their everyday lessons to help students raise their awareness of cultural products, practices, and perspectives on their own and other cultures.
Effective Online Discussions: Creating Activities that Build Communities and Engage Students View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Sean Nufer, Veronica Estrada
Discussions are a method for measuring seat time for online activity, but regularly fail to fully engage students or stimulate critical thinking. They are often perceived as routine and obligatory. When students are engaged through meaningfully interaction (i.e. social learning) and high level synthesis, the results are a connected community of learners that achieve outcome mastery. Where discussion can be improved begins with the design and pedagogy. While maintaining proper curriculum alignment of learning outcomes through program outcomes, discussion assignments can shift the focus of the task from reflections of assignment readings to synthesis and application of critical thinking – mirroring more of a Socratic method common in face-to-face classroom discussion activities. Although online discussion formats tend to be fixed and methodic in structure, the reality is that discussions should in fact be designed specifically to meet the needs of the learning objectives and reflect the content and outcomes of the course.This session presents various tools, techniques, and novel approaches for integrating stellar online discussions in your courses based on research conducted at Pacific Oaks College and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, which compared traditional models of online discussion boards with avant-garde approaches to improving student interaction as a means to effectively build an online community within the classroom, help to foster student engagement, and enhance teaching and learning. We discuss several examples of novel approaches to online discussions, review the analysis of the discussion format efficacy, and offer recommendations based on our findings.
