Abstract:

The Post-Graduation Program in Translation at Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa has been held for eleven years, seven of which in the traditional face-to-face format and the last four in a b-learning and e-learning format. This experience has provided us with a perception of difficulties felt by both students and lecturers into adapting their expectations and attitudes to this new learning environment. In fact, some lecturers still have not internalized that an e-learning environment demands a new approach to both their teaching methodologies and strategies and their profile. On the other hand, some students are still unaware of the need to adapt and act according to a new learning experience that requires a different posture and commitment. Considering that many identify as shortcomings the lack of face-to-face communication and group spirit, this academic year an innovating approach will be implemented so as to bridge these gaps. Firstly, most sessions will be recorded using a Virtual Learning Environment (wiziq©) allowing all students to attend and participate, as well as be able to view the session whenever they wish. Each recorded session will end with a question that students must answer orally or in the seminar forum. Moreover, a chat will be available for pair work which students can use at their own discretion. To promote group spirit, a forum and a chat will be open in Moodle for students only. Additionally, a Facebook group will be created where daily posts by lecturers will inform students of various themes pertaining to the program; students are required to comment at least one post each week and they can also post news themselves. Moreover, students will be asked to create a wiki, where they can save and share resources as well as monitor different versions of their work. These wikis will be linked to a class wiki, so that all students may have access to all wikis. Considering that, from a sociocultural point of view, knowledge is produced based on dialog and interaction, these therefore play an important role in the learning process, including when that process takes place in a computer-mediated environment (Stevenson, M. & Hedberg, J., 2013).

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) has analyzed how tools influence communication and the building of knowledge (Stahl, Koschman & Suthers, 2006). Based on these studies, we aim to carry out a qualitative exploratory study based on semi-structured interviews to students that attend this program so as to understand their perceived satisfaction in terms of the program and the usefulness of the tools introduced in this academic year. This will be the first stage of a medium-term study on perceived satisfaction concerning the use of electronic tools for learning (including blended and e-learning formats), which will later include lecturers and students attending other cycle programs.

References:
[1] Stahl, G. Koshman, T., & Suthers, D. (2006).Computer-supported collaborative learning: An historical perspective. In R. K. Sawyer (ed.). Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 409-426.
[2] Stevenson, M. & Hedberg, J. (2013). Learning and design with online real-time collaboration. Educational Media International. 50 (2), 120-134.

Keywords:

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, blended-learning, e-learning, perceived satisfaction, Virtual Learning Environment.