Abstract:

In 2011, Raúl and Juan Diego (first two authors) began teaching the preservice English methods course Communicative Competence III at UPB-Medellín. The first stage of their work focused on creating the course and implementing the idea of WebQuests (Dodge, 1997; March, 2000), as a rather unique experience in Colombia. The course has continued ever since, welcoming two other cohorts in 2011 and 2012 and at present working with a fourth cohort. In addition, their work has triggered a parallel process of documenting and sharing their experiences where students and instructos have become co-authors (Mora, Martínez, Zapata-Monsalve, Alzate-Pérez, & Gómez-Yepes, 2012, Mora, Martínez, Alzate-Pérez, Gómez-Yepes, & Zapata-Monsalve, forthcoming).

During these three semesters, the reflections and interactions among instructors and students have gradually improved the course and the WebQuests themselves in terms of implementation, contents, task sophistication, and quality of internet resources. This trans-formative evolution and the need to keep a longitudinal record of this curriculum development process become the object of this presentation. Through the accounts of the two instructors and four students from the second and third cohorts, this presentation provides evidence of the importance of continuity to solidify preservice teacher education programs. Relying on a multivocal (Mora Vélez, 2010) account, both students and instructors will feature a narrative that shows how the course has progressed from the novelty of the first cohort, to a process of accommodation with the second, to a solidified proposal in the third.

This presentation also addresses Raúl and Juan Diego’s concern to expand students’ options to participate as co-authors beyond the first cohort (Mora, et al., 2012, p. 2099). The process of co-authoring and engaging in critical reading and writing of one’s practice have become key elements to improve practice as a collective reflexivity where instructors and students ultimately have learned from each other. In addition, this presentation also responds to the need to look for longitudinal analyses of preservice teacher education practices (in our case, the implementation of WebQuests within the curricular transformation process), a suggestion already present in the literature (Clift & Brady, 2005).

The first part will briefly revisit how the instructors designed Communicative Competence III and its articulation to the curricular transformation process at their institution. We will also discuss the students’ initial response and how co-authoring became a useful tool to reflect on the evolution of the course and the students’ learning strategies. The second part will discuss the progression between the second and third cohorts through the intertwined narratives of the students and the instructors. We will discuss what the instructors and students did and how we have continued positioning Communicative Competence III to meaningfully respond to curricular and social demands. The students will share what they and their classmates did in class. They will show how their work with WebQuests has provided a different way to look at technology, methodology, and pedagogy, as well as reassess their learning and teaching strategies.The final section will discuss the implications of this evolution, including a closer look at how students continue appropriating WebQuests to rethink their practice as prospective second language teachers.

Keywords:

WebQuests, preservice teacher education, English education, ELT, technology mediation.