Abstract:

Online teaching represents a challenge for both instructors and students in Higher Education. Various strategies need to be adopted to scaffold content development and foster students’ active learning in online learning environments while also making them feel part of a community (Hampel and Stickler 2015; Stanojević 2015; Cope and Kalantzis 2017; Tabassum 2017). In this light, the present study aims to analyze the effectiveness of the various strategies used to teach an applied linguistics course online due to the COVID-19 emergency. The study has been conducted in a Master’s degree class of foreign language didactics focusing on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) (Coyle Hood, and Marsh 2010) taught at an Italian university. Within a socio-cultural framework (Hamper 2015; Selwyn 2016; Hampel 2019), to make the online applied linguistics class effective and engaging, the instructor has used a wide array of digital tools, available as Open Educational Resources, to device technology-enhanced activities aimed at helping students to experience active learning, critical thinking, and co-construction of knowledge. As a course assignment, learners have also produced digitally-enhanced student-generated artefacts collaboratively using various educational technologies. The data for this study have been gathered through an online questionnaire administered to students at the end of the course. The results emerging from the analysis of the data may be useful to other Higher Education Institutions planning to implement similar courses in online learning environments.

References:
[1] Coyle D., Hood P., Marsh D. (2010). CLIL Content and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2] Cope B., Kalantzis M. (2017). “Conceptualizing e-learning”. In Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis (eds.), E-Learning Ecologies: Principles for New Learning and Assessment. New York and Abingdon: Routledge. 1–45.
[3] Hampel R. (2019). Disruptive Technologies and the Language Classroom: A Complex Systems Theory Approach. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
[4] Hampel R., Stickler U. (2015). “Transforming Teaching: New Skills for Online Language Learning Spaces”. In R. Hampel and U. Stickler (eds.), Developing Online Language Teaching: Research-Based Pedagogies and Reflective Practices. New York: Palgrave Mcmillan.
[5] Stanojević M. (2015). “Developing Online Teaching Skills: The DOTS Project”. In R. Hampel and U. Stickler (eds.), Developing Online Language Teaching: Research-Based Pedagogies and Reflective Practices. New York: Palgrave Mcmillan.
[6] Hampel R. (2015). “Theoretical Approaches and Research-Based Pedagogies for Online Teaching”. In R. Hampel and U. Stickler (eds.), Developing Online Language Teaching: Research-Based Pedagogies and Reflective Practices. New York: Palgrave Mcmillan.
[7] Selwyn N. (2016). Education and Technology. Key Issues and Debates. London: Bloomsbury.
[8] Tabassum A. (2017). “Active Knowledge Making: Epistemic Dimensions of e-Learning”. In B. Cope and M. Kalantzis (eds.), E-Learning Ecologies: Principles for New Learning and Assessment. New York and Abingdon: Routledge.

Keywords:

Distance learning, Higher Education, digitally-enhanced practices.