Sha ing sys ems, sha ing language: designing and wo king in a i ual
depa men
Clai e McA inia and Jane Hughes
Educa ion and P o essional De elopmen , Uni e si y College London
con ac e-mail: [email p o ec ed]
Abs ac
Less widely augh languages p esen special p oblems. O en s uden s may be ab
ini io lea ne s who mus p og ess e y apidly om beginne o highly compe en .
App op ia e lea ning ma e ials a e sca ce. Small s uden numbe s es ic he ange
o lea ne asks. To add ess hese p oblems, and d awing on esea ch me hods om
bo h CALL and Compu e Science domains, we in es iga ed he use o a i ual
lea ning en i onmen (WebCT) as a ool o collabo a i e language eaching and
lea ning. A web-based i ual depa men was c ea ed, b inging s uden s and u o s
om di e en ins i u ions oge he o p ac ise he a ge language (s uden s) and
sha e he de elopmen o quali y esou ces ( eache s).
The Vi ual Depa men links h ee UK Danish depa men s. This en i onmen
p o ides sha ed wo king a eas o s uden s and eache s. Teache s design and use
esou ce ma e ials and s uden s comple e asks. Lea ne ask design was d i en by
pedagogical needs bu he echnology also o e ed oppo uni ies which shaped he
lea ning asks o some ex en . A key ea u e o he sys em is i s ange o
communica ion ools, a ound which some collabo a i e asks ha e been designed
and on which s uden s ac oss he coun y can wo k oge he . The sys em enables
eache s o c ea e a wide a ie y o au hen ic asks and exe cises o s uden s han
p e iously.
The pape p esen s he esul s o e alua ing he i ual depa men in use o e one
academic yea wi h i s , second and ou h yea s uden s, and hei eache s.
• U1. Backg ound: di icul ies o small language depa men s
Uni e si ies in he Uni ed Kingdom o e s uden s he oppo uni y o lea n a wide ange o Eu opean (including
Sla onic and Eas Eu opean), A ican and O ien al languages. Many o hese languages a e classi ied by he UK
unding and admissions agencies as ‘mino i y’ languages, no because o he numbe s o speake s using hem
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wo ldwide, bu because o he small size o he depa men s eaching hem, and he small numbe s o eache s
and s uden s accommoda ed by hese depa men s.
These small language depa men s ace a numbe o p essu es in hei e o s o p o ide s uden s wi h an
exci ing, s imula ing and au hen ic lea ning expe ience in a less widely augh language (Roed e al, 2001).
Fi s ly, eache s o mino i y languages in highe educa ion o en wo k in almos comple e isola ion. I languages
such as Danish, Finnish, o Romanian a e o e ed, i is likely ha he uni e si y conce ned will ha e only one
eache pe language. Social in e ac ion wi h colleagues is he e o e limi ed o impossible, as is hei assis ance
and suppo in de eloping cou se ma e ials and new app oaches o eaching. Secondly, he small numbe o
s uden s in class ( ypically be ween one and i e) means ha eache s a e es ic ed in he a ie y o eaching
me hodologies hey can adop . The s uden s hemsel es a e limi ed by he size o hei g oups as hey may ha e
ew ellow s uden s wi h whom o p ac ise he spoken language, o wi h whom hey can collabo a e on
assignmen s o p ojec s. Thi dly, he size o he ma ke ends o dissuade publishe s om p oducing new
ma e ials o eaching and lea ning hese languages. Fi zpa ick (2000) highligh ed he acu e sho age o such
ma e ials.
New echnologies, in pa icula web-based echnologies, a e o en seen as means o alle ia ing p oblems o
deli e y which may ha e pe sis ed in uni e si y cou ses o some ime. By emo ing obs acles o geog aphical
dis ance, as well as p o iding access o a much wide a ie y o esou ces, hey o e he oppo uni y o ackle
pedagogical p oblems in inno a i e ways (Wa schaue , 1996). In pa icula , he ad en o Vi ual Lea ning
En i onmen (VLE) ools has opened up he possibili ies o in eg a ing web-based con en wi h communica ion
ools, a combina ion ha seems o p omise much o language lea ne s. Teache s, oo, migh bene i om a
i ual en i onmen , in which hey could exchange ideas, iew and commen on one ano he 's eaching ma e ials.
This, hen, was he con ex o he esea ch: p oblem a eas iden i ied in e y small o eign language depa men s
and he eme gence o echnology whose use migh alle ia e hem. P o iding he echnology is no he whole
answe , howe e . G udin (1994a) among o he s, shows ha , o echnology o be adop ed in a gi en wo k
si ua ion, i s design mus ma ch wha use s eally equi e o do hei jobs and i mus be easy o hem o
inco po a e i s use in o hei daily wo k. This esea ch aimed o ind ou whe he a VLE and selec ed au ho ing
ools could mee he needs o eache s and s uden s in e y small language depa men s and whe he hey would
be able o use hem in o de o imp o e hei wo king expe ience. The esea ch ook place as pa o he Vi ual
Depa men s o Mino i y Languages (VDML) p ojec F1F.
1P
P VDML – h p://www.ucl.ac.uk/epd/he du/ dml/ - was a wo-yea p ojec , which inished in
Sep embe 2002. The p ojec was led by UCL. The o he pa ne s we e he Uni e si y o Edinbu gh and he
Uni e si y o Hull. I was unded by JISC unde he 5/99 DNER P og amme.
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• U2. Resea ch me hods
• 2.1 O e iew
An ini ial needs analysis was unde aken, in o de o de ine mo e ully he p oblems expe ienced by eache s and
s uden s and hence o cla i y he esea ch aims. Possible solu ions we e explo ed by using a VLE ool, WebCTF2F,
o c ea e a p o o ype i ual depa men linking h ee UK uni e si y depa men s, and o e ing wo king a eas o
bo h s uden s and eache s. Lea ning echnologis s and language eache s wo ked in pa ne ship o c ea e he
p o o ype and de elop online language lea ning ma e ials o s uden s o use in he i ual depa men .
Ques ionnai es, in e iews and ocus g oups we e used o cap u e he s uden s' subjec i e expe ience ; hei
ac i i y in he i ual depa men was also acked. Teache s' expe iences we e explo ed h ough discussions and
w i en no es, by obse ing hei use o he p o o ype i ual depa men and by keeping eco ds o hei eques s
o echnical suppo . In o de o accoun o some o he indings, a usabili y e alua ion o he ile managemen
acili ies o WebCT was ca ied ou .
• 2.2 Needs Analysis
A su ey (King, 2001) o app oxima ely 60 eache s and 400 s uden s om la ge and small depa men s was
ca ied ou by means o a ques ionnai e and ocus g oups (Lun and Li ings one, 1996). The ques ionnai e aimed
o es ablish subjec s' exis ing le els o expe ise wi h web-based o CALL esou ces, and hei con idence in
compu e use gene ally. I also sough o elici hei belie s abou he ole o compu e s in language lea ning and
wha hei expec a ions o CALL and u u e ma e ials migh be. The ocus g oups we e conduc ed wi h s uden s
o Danish and we e in ended o explo e p oblem a eas and s uden s’ expe iences o lea ning in small language
depa men s.
Acco ding o hei ques ionnai e esponses, s uden s el ha compu e s could be used mo e in hei lea ning.
Those who we e al eady using CALL so wa e o o he compu e -based suppo we e mo e likely o belie e his
han s uden s wi h li le o no such expe ience. Mos s uden s we e web li e a e and used e-mail, bu he majo i y
made li le use o hei depa men s’ websi es and gene ally associa ed compu e -assis ed lea ning wi h g amma ,
ocabula y and w i en asks a he han exe cises in ol ing spoken language o communica ion (King, 2001).
S uden ocus g oups ein o ced he eache s’ iew ha s uden s had insu icien oppo uni ies o p ac ise spoken
language, o o do g oup ac i i ies. The s uden s we e also awa e o he lack o au hen ic esou ce ma e ials, and
sough mo e connec ion wi h Danish speake s and Danish as spoken in Denma k.
Teache s epo ed ha mos o he ex books a ailable o Danish we e a ge ed a immig an s li ing in
Denma k, wi h li le ma e ial a ailable beyond beginne s’ le el. Audio and ideo esou ces we e limi ed, and
hea ily sc ip ed; hey we e eluc an o use hese as hey did no p o ide an au hen ic imp ession o spoken
Danish. The eache s ound ha hey we e ha ing o p oduce hei own ma e ials o use in he class oom (Roed
2P
P h p://www.webc .com/
3
e al, 2001)F3F. Finally, i was clea om bo h ques ionnai e and discussions wi h eache s ha hey we e no used
o de eloping lea ning ma e ials collabo a i ely. I was an icipa ed ha his was one o he human ac o s ha
would need o be add essed, since he eache s would be asked o change hei wo king habi s in o de o wo k
oge he in he i ual depa men .
The needs analysis showed ha he expe iences o lea ne s and eache s in he Danish depa men s esembled
hose o many o he eache s in small o ‘mino i y’ language depa men s: eache s wo king alone, a small
numbe o s uden s, and e y ew ‘o - he-shel ’ esou ces on which hey could d aw. This was el o con i m
ha hey we e app op ia e depa men s in which o pilo a i ual depa men and wi h whom o ca y ou he
esea ch.
The su ey sugges ed ha he ocus o he pilo should be on de eloping bo h ma e ials and oppo uni ies o
communica ion. The i ual depa men mus acili a e communica ion be ween eache s, and be ween s uden
g oups; i should also enable eache s o build a bank o new, web-based ma e ials o sha e and adap . The
esea ch would in es iga e how well he echnology would suppo hese needs.
2.3 Teache - echnologis pa ne ship
The su ey had e ealed ha his g oup o eache s and s uden s we e no highly con iden compu e use s. I
was he e o e conside ed essen ial o design a wo king en i onmen ha was easy o lea n and use, as well as
ha ing he equi ed unc ionali y. Since his was o be a sys em o suppo collabo a i e wo k, he chosen
esea ch me hods o igina ed in he Compu e Suppo ed Collabo a i e Wo k (CSCW) domain (G udin, 1991,
1994a). The impo ance o conside ing human ac o s led o he adop ion o use -cen ed me hods om he
Pa icipa o y Design mo emen - Ca mel e al (1993) gi e an indica ion o he ange o such me hods. This
mean ha , ins ead o de eloping a sys em and es ing i la e wi h end use s, he use s we e pa ne s in he
de elopmen om he beginning. Héma d and Cushion (2001) and Hinos oza and Mella (2001) ha e shown
ha such an app oach can be use ul in de eloping lea ning ma e ials and sys ems. The eache s and lea ning
echnologis s collabo a ed on bo h language lea ning ma e ials and on design o he wo king en i onmen .
• 2.4 The p o o ype i ual depa men
The needs analysis had es ablished ha he i ual depa men would ha e o p o ide s a oom in e ac ion o
he eache s, and a space in which hey could c ea e, es and exchange lea ning ma e ials. S uden s needed o
communica e wi h one ano he and wi h eache s, and hey needed language lea ning asks ha would enhance
hei class oom wo k.
A p o o yping app oach was used in o de o e ine equi emen s and o imp o e usabili y, bo h es ablished uses
o he me hod (Dix e al., 1993). A p o o ype can also be a use ul communica ion ool: i can help esol e
3P
P This goes somewha coun e o a adi ional di icul y in compu e -aided language lea ning
(CALL): mo i a ing eache s o p oduce hei own lea ning ma e ials (Héma d and Cushion, 2001).
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misunde s andings be ween use s and de elope s (Go don & Bieman, 1995)F4F and is "a alid means o
ans e ing knowledge be ween de elope s and use s" (Baume e al., 1996). This was he second eason o
choosing he me hod.
Because a VLE ool was used o c ea e he p o o ype, i was possible o c ea e he i s e sion o he i ual
depa men e y ea ly in he p ojec and he e o e o in ol e eache s in i s design and de elopmen om he
s a . The e we e h ee main cycles o de elopmen and e alua ion o e he wo yea s o he p ojec .
• U3. Using WebCT o implemen he i ual depa men
As al eady s a ed, he i ual depa men o Danish was based on he amewo k p o ided by a web-based
lea ning en i onmen , Web Cou se Tools (WebCT). This was a ailable a UCL and is widely used in highe
educa ion, impo an because ins i u ional suppo would be needed i he i ual depa men we e o be
sus ainable in he longe e m. WebCT p o ided a eady-made s uc u e and ools o cou se deli e y which
could po en ially be adap ed o c ea e a i ual depa men . I includes:
• sel -con ained ‘cou se’ s uc u e made a ailable ia he web, accessible by use ’s name and passwo d
• o ganised spaces o pos ma e ials and esou ces
• communica ion ools: discussion, e-mail and cha acili ies
• s uden homepages: a eas o s uden s o w i e hei own web pages, iewable by o he s uden s egis e ed o
he cou se
• s uden managemen ools: o assign s uden s o g oups o pa icula asks o assignmen s
• use acking ools: eache s can iew s uden ac i i y in e ms o asks accessed and leng h o ime spen in
he cou se en i onmen
• assessmen ools: acili ies o design quizzes which can be sco ed and assessed au oma ically.
WebCT is designed o c ea e cou ses and is he e o e p ima ily an en i onmen o s uden s. I is possible o
delimi access o ce ain a eas, so ha eache s o cou se designe s can discuss issues o es esou ces wi hou
making hem a ailable o s uden s. Howe e , in his case i was decided o ea he eache s’ and s uden s’
wo king a eas as en i ely sepa a e ‘cou ses’. This enabled eache s o ha e he ull ange o acili ies (including
communcia ion ools) ha we e a ailable o s uden s aking a cou se.
The eache s’ a ea o he i ual depa men was es ablished i s , wi h he s uden a ea being se up once
eache s had de eloped esou ces and gained some expe ience o he acili ies a ailable in WebCT. The e we e
se e al easons o his decision. Fi s , he p o o ype cou se p o ided a ‘ es a ea’. As he eache s had li le
p e ious expe ience o designing o publishing webpages o o he ma e ials o deli e y o e he web, he ini ial
4P
P The use ulness o p o o yping does depend on he condi ions unde which he p o o ype is
e alua ed; i is essen ial ha " e alua ion condi ions a e simila o hose an icipa ed o he ac ual ope a ion."
Dix e al (1993). In his case, he p o o ype was e alua ed in i s eal con ex .
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s ages o he p ojec in ol ed hei lea ning o p oduce hei own pages, and o make hem ‘li e’. The es a ea
p o ided a sa e space, wi hou any s uden s egis e ed o ha cou se, in which hey could publish, edi and dele e
pilo pages. In using his a ea wi hou he p essu e o p oducing ‘polished’ esou ces, he eache s could assess
how bes he en i onmen could be used o hei cou sewo k. Second, he es space allowed he eam o ial
WebCT’s communica ion ools: a discussion boa d was es ablished, and eache s we e encou aged o pos o his
as hey encoun e ed pa icula p oblems in hei wo k. Sepa a e discussion ‘ h eads’ we e ini ia ed, some o
echnical conce ns, o he s o pedagogical ones, wi h he in en ion ha solu ions o ad ice could be sha ed by all
membe s o he eam. In using his communica ion acili y, he eache s could begin o de elop an awa eness o
online collabo a ion and how i migh wo k wi h hei g oups o s uden s.
In ea ly 2001, he i ual depa men was in oduced o s uden s. This, as s a ed, was a second WebCT ‘cou se’,
unc ioning solely o he deli e y o comple ed ma e ials and asks o he s uden s. The homepage is shown a
Figu e 1. I was belie ed ha online collabo a ion be ween lea ne s would be mo e e ec i e whe e hey had me
ace- o- ace in he i s ins ance. This, coupled wi h he idea ha he i ual depa men should encou age social
in e ac ion amongs eache s and s uden s, led o an impo an decision. S uden s and u o s would be b ough
oge he in London o one day, in o de o lea n o use he i ual depa men and o mee each o he and ge o
know he people o whom hey would be alking online. A e his ‘S uden Day’ he egula use o he i ual
depa men by s uden s began.
Figu e 1: he Vi ual Depa men (S uden s)
To summa ise, hen, he amewo k o he depa men is based on ha p o ided by WebCT, bu was ini ially
based on wo sepa a e spaces o WebCT cou ses:
• a es and discussion a ea o use by he eache s in hei ini ial explo a o y wo k on de eloping esou ces
o he web and o WebCT
• a second ‘li e’ a ea, accessible o s uden s and con aining comple ed sel -con ained asks, including
collabo a i e asks.
The nex sec ion will discuss he de elopmen o he con en o he i ual depa men , and he a ie y o ools
used by he eache s in c ea ing asks in acco dance wi h hei pedagogical aims.
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• U4. C ea ing con en o he i ual depa men
• 4.1 Sha ed pedagogical goals
Wi h a amewo k in place ha linked hei depa men s and hei s uden s, he eache s also had a sha ed a ea in
which o build a bank o ma e ials and esou ces. They wo ked a di e en ins i u ions and had di e en
backg ounds and hence he i s issue o be add essed was no echnological. In o de o p oduce esou ces ha
hey could sha e, hey el i was impo an i s ly o sha e hei app oaches in e ms o p e e ed language
lea ning me hodologies, and o ag ee pedagogical c i e ia o he new esou ces. They e e ed o cons uc i is
heo y, which iden i ies social con ex , collabo a ion and p oblem-sol ing as impo an ac o s in enhancing
s uden s’ lea ning (Tam, 2000). Cons uc i is p inciples can be suppo ed e y well by he kinds o ools
a ailable in online lea ning en i onmen s such as WebCT. This p ocess o nego ia ion was as impo an as
lea ning o use he echnology. The e lec ion on me hodologies esul ed in he ollowing c i e ia o he
ma e ials being ag eed (Roed e al, 2001). They should be:
• ask-based: he ma e ials would be o ganised in e ms o ca e ully s uc u ed asks based on he kinds o
asks s uden s migh ha e o comple e in e e yday li e, and d awing on in e ne esou ces ha na i e
speake s in Denma k migh use
• lea ne -cen ed: he asks would equi e judgemen and e lec ion on he pa o he lea ne , a he han a
‘Yes/No’ answe
• communica i e: audio and ideo esou ces would be p oduced, which could be accessed ou side class ime
and he e o e suppo de elopmen o spoken language ou side class, while encou aging discussion o he
ma e ials in class
• au hen ic: he ma e ials would exploi he ange o au hen ic ma e ial a ailable o eache s on he web as a
whole, encou aging g ea e awa eness o Danish cul u e and exposu e o a g ea e a ie y o language.
These c i e ia also ook accoun o ideas o communica i e and in eg a i e CALL suppo ed by he In e ne
(Wa schaue , 1996; Li lemo e, 2001).
The i ual depa men p o ided he eache s wi h a cen al poin in which o s o e he asks hey designed, and
his quickly g ew o accommoda e he ange o ma e ial hey began o p oduce. The ocus o his pape is on how
well he echnology suppo ed wha he eache s we e ying o do. I is he e o e impo an o s a e he e wha
hei aims we e. Examples o asks c ea ed by he eache s a e a h p://www.ucl.ac.uk/epd/he du/ dml/. Fo a
mo e de ailed discussion o pedagogical aspec s han is possible he e, see Roed (2003) o K is ensen & Rybne
(2002).
• 4.2 Tools o au ho ing web-based ac i i ies
Choice o au ho ing ool was in luenced by he need o c ea e a las ing change in wo king p ac ices, in small
depa men s ha we e no gene ously unded and we e unlikely o ha e hei own echnical suppo s a . The
eam he e o e sough o use ools ha we e al eady a ailable and suppo ed in he h ee ins i u ions and/o we e
eely a ailable. They mus also be ela i ely easy o lea n and use. E en so, o eache s wi h no p e ious
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expe ience o web au ho ing and limi ed expe ience o o he compu e applica ions, lea ning o use his se o
ools, oge he wi h WebCT, was a signi ican unde aking.
An impo an i s s ep was he p oduc ion o basic webpages in HTML. Fo his, a ange o ools was used:
Ne scape Compose was used o w i e web pages which could be p oduced qui e quickly and equi ed li le
knowledge o HTML on he pa o he eache s. La e , he ins i u ions in oduced D eamwea e and his was
adop ed by he eache s. Basic g aphics we e p oduced and edi ed using Pain in Windows, and ee g aphics
con e sion packages downloaded and sha ed ia WebCT. Exis ing audio esou ces he eache s had made ( o
ins ance, when on holiday in Denma k) we e digi ised using RealP oduce ( om RealMedia,
h p://www. eal.com/) which could be downloaded eely.
One package which encou aged p oli ic gene a ion o con en o he si e ea ly in he de elopmen p ocess was
Ho Po a oes ( om Hal Baked So wa e, h p://www.hal bakedso wa e.com/). This is a se o ools enabling he
au ho o p oduce mul iple-choice quizzes (Figu e 2), c osswo ds, cloze es s, ma ching exe cises and sen ence
o de ing exe cisesF5F. This has se e al ad an ages which a e wo h highligh ing he e. Fi s , he package was
designed om a language eaching pe spec i e, and i he e o e includes ools whose use ulness was ob ious o
he eache s in ha hey mi o ed he kinds o asks hey had p oduced on pape in he pas . The packages use
Ja asc ip in andem wi h HTML coding, bu he abili y o w i e his code is no equi ed in o de o he eache
o p oduce a web page wi h he ask embedded in i . A suppo ing ex wi h links o o he esou ces can also be
included alongside he exe cise. The asks p oduced by Ho Po a oes can be sco ed and imed i equi ed: his
allowed he eache s o c ea e in e ac i e elemen s which o he wise would ha e been di icul o hem o encode
in hei webpages. Al hough he eache s we e in oduced o he quiz ools p o ided in WebCT, hey used Ho
Po a oes in p e e ence, p obably due o issues o usabili y as well as he ac ha WebCT was no designed
speci ically o suppo language eaching and lea ning.
Figu e 2: Example Ho Po a oes mul iple-choice exe cise
5P
P The package is a ailable o download wi hou cha ge o he use , on condi ion ha he ma e ials
c ea ed a e made eely a ailable o o he s ia he In e ne .
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• 4.3 Issues a ising om ask c ea ion
An in e es ing ou come o he de elopmen o con en by he eache s ea ly in he p ojec was hei inc eased
awa eness o he po en ial o he web o suppo a ange o di e en exe cises and asks. Once hey had passed
he ini ial s ages o publishing web pages and designing basic asks , hey began o plan esou ces ha we e
echnically qui e complex and would call on a ange o mul imedia. This is wo hy o discussion since i is
unclea whe he hei g owing in e es was a consequence o he ange o In e ne -based Danish ma e ial ha had
become a ailable o hem o inclusion in asks, o hei inc eased awa eness o he powe o he online ools o
p oduce new kinds o asks o hei s uden s. This is a ecu ing issue in CALL, whe e web-based esou ces and
ools ha e gi en ise o deba e abou whe he he medium should be explo ed o i s po en ial, o should be used
solely o esol e a pa icula p oblem (Vogel, 2001). In his case, i seems o ha e been impo an o allow he
eache s o explo e he possibili ies o he echnology, since he single o e -a ching p oblem in hei wo k was
he sho age o eaching ma e ials a ailable o hem.
As eache s’ awa eness o he po en ial o he web g ew, i also became impo an o he echnical membe s o
he eam o add ess how eache s could bes be suppo ed in p oducing hei asks. Mo e complex asks migh
call on sophis ica ed so wa e which would no be a ailable eely o hem. Such asks migh also p o e di icul
o deli e o e he web because o he mul imedia used. One example o his p ocess o nego ia ion and suppo
a ose wi h a ask planned by wo o he eache s which was o suppo s uden s in lea ning phone ics and
p ac ising spoken Danish. The eache s planned a se o webpages, one each o pai s o owel sounds in Danish.
The pages would be di ided in o wo sec ions, each con aining a window o play a ideo clip o someone saying
each sound, and a sample o wo ds ha included he sound. This would be suppo ed by audio clips u he down
in he page o he indi idual wo ds, and he phone ic cha ac e s o each would also be displayed. (A page om
he exe cise is included a Figu e 3.)
This was an ambi ious ask: i equi ed he p oduc ion and edi ing o he audio and ideo clips, and hei
digi isa ion in o o ma s ha would be small enough o be deli e ed o e he web as componen pa s o one
page, bu e aining su icien audio/ ideo quali y o mee he objec i es o he exe cise. Filming he ideo clips
was in i sel a challenge since i equi ed one o he eache s o ac as he ace on sc een, ye all we e
geog aphically dis an om one ano he . This was e en ually done by inco po a ing he ilming in o a p ojec
mee ing when all he eache s we e p esen – a digi al camco de was a ailable o he eam and one eache used
his o ilm ano he eading he sc ip . This ilm ac ed as a basic ‘pilo ’ e sion o he clips o help wi h
de elopmen o he pages, wi h a highe quali y e sion being eco ded p o essionally la e on. Edi ing his ilm
equi ed specialis help and so wa e which was p o ided by media p oduc ion s a a UCL, and he e o e his
p ocess o lea ning how o digi ise and comp ess he ideo iles could no be sha ed wi h he eache s designing
he exe cise.
Embedding he clips added a u he complica ion, pa ly because o he mul imedia ‘plug-ins’ equi ed o
s uden s o play hem, and because di e en uni e si y ne wo ks used di e en plug-ins o s eaming media.
The mo e s aigh o wa d ex -based sec ions o he ask b ough ano he hu dle: he co ec display o phone ic
9
• 5.2.3 Resol ing hese issues: i ual s a oom and i ual desk op?
The WebCT-based eache s’ a ea had enabled he eam o e ine he equi emen s and had highligh ed p oblems.
The de elopmen o he al e na i e wo king a ea o eache s was a key ocus o he emainde o his p ojec : a
new p o o ype a ea was p oduced wi h he aim o p o iding hem wi h bo h a ‘ i ual desk op’, by which we
mean sea chable se s o esou ces p esen ed in a ecognisable way, mi o ing he design o ile managemen in
Windows ope a ing sys ems; and a ‘ i ual s a oom’ – a mo e e ec i e h eaded discussion boa d which
p o ided a iable al e na i e o he e-mail lis . The in en ion was ha hey would make g ea e use o his i hey
we e making g ea e use o he sha ed esou ce a ea. In his way, he somewha dispa a e s ands o he o iginal
Vi ual Depa men – e-mail, WebCT es a ea and WebCT ‘li e’ s uden a ea – could be b ough oge he .
Howe e , his exe cise e ealed how di icul i can be o make a echnological solu ion accep able o he use s
and how o he ac o s, besides he unc ionali y o he echnology, a e s ongly in luen ial. The eache s epo ed
ha he new wo king a ea o e ed wha hey equi ed. They did no , howe e , use i egula ly. Despi e hei
p oblems wi h WebCT, hey con inued o use his ool. I is sugges ed ha his is pa ly because he adop ion o
D eamwea e by he ins i u ions mean hey now had a powe ul web au ho ing ool ha could be linked wi h
WebCT. I is likely ha hey had also become accus omed o WebCT a e a yea o use, and had ound hei
own ways o wo king ound he aspec s hey ound mos p oblema ic. As s a ed ea lie , howe e , in doing his,
hey los he po en ial o keep eco ds o hei hough s and discussions as well as he ou comes.
• U6. Conclusions: Sha ing Sys ems and Sha ing Language
The need o collabo a ion ha ing been iden i ied, he h ee Danish depa men s we e linked success ully in he
web-based i ual depa men . This has been o immedia e bene i o s a , who say hey ‘now ha e colleagues’.
F om he s uden s’ poin o iew, hey now ha e ellow lea ne s and sou ces o suppo o he han hei eache s.
These bene i s a e likely o con inue ; he use o a VLE which was al eady suppo ed in one o he ins i u ions
means ha suppo se ices will con inue o be a ailable o he eache s and s uden s.
The deli e y o ma e ial o s uden s h ough he i ual lea ning en i onmen has enabled hem o communica e
and collabo a e on wo k, as well as de eloping o consolida ing hei language lea ning h ough asks including
mul imedia and in e ac i e ea u es. Howe e , he bene i s o s uden s do depend on hei eache s being able o
p o ide enough lea ning ma e ials; his esea ch has shown ha his was a signi ican e o o he eache s and
a po en ial p oblem a ea. Ha ing said his, he eache s in ol ed in he esea ch s a ed ha being able o sha e
esou ces, and use ma e ials c ea ed by hei colleagues, compensa ed o he inc eased ini ial wo kload.
The use o he i ual lea ning en i onmen , as a es a ea o new esou ces by he eache s, has shown ha hese
sys ems can be used by eache s as well as s uden s. Teache s and s uden s wo king in a i ual en i onmen
need a simila se o ools and hese echnologies ha e c ea ed amewo ks o he sha ing o pedagogical
discussion. The e we e ese a ions abou he design o his pa icula ool bu he de elopmen o he second
‘sha ed a ea’ inco po a ing discussion boa d and sea chable esou ce banks, showed how he use and e-use o
eaching ma e ials migh be encou aged, wi h po en ial bene i s in e ms o bo h he sha ing o wo k load and he
exchange o good p ac ice be ween eache s.
16

• U7. Discussion:
These indings po en ially p o ide us wi h a model which could be ans e ed o o he mino i y o less widely
augh and used languages. This is no only in e ms o he ypes o echnology which migh be used o make
o he i ual depa men s, bu also in e ms o he conside a ion o pedagogical and cul u al issues which ha e
a isen. Teache s o o he languages migh be encou aged by he p ac ical bene i s o collabo a ion: he Danish
eache s in ol ed in his p ojec ound ha hei in es men o ime in de eloping new esou ces was ecouped
by he abili y o sha e and e-use hei colleagues’ esou ces. The p ojec may p o ide a model o CALL mo e
gene ally, including as i does he app oaches ou lined by Héma d and Cushion (2001): in ol ing lea ne s and
eache s in he design p ocess, ob aining quali a i e and quan i a i e da a on he sys em in use, and encou aging
s a o p oduce hei own au hen ic ma e ials.
The indings may also lead o e lec ion on he in oduc ion o echnology-based changes o he way ha
language eache s wo k. Al hough i is clea ha ease o use and p o ision o essen ial unc ions and acili ies
will a ec he use and accep abili y o a new so wa e ool, eache s will wo k h ough di icul ies, as hese did,
and may be in luenced by ac o s such as he links wi h o he ools as, in his case, D eamwea e in luenced he
way ha WebCT was used.
I is impo an o us o con inue o e lec on he na u e o he ools p o ided by he i ual depa men , and how
hese a ec he choices eache s make in p o iding hei au hen ic esou ces in Danish. A conside a ion o hese
p ocesses migh examine how he cul u e o he i ual depa men di e s om ha o a ‘ eal’ depa men , and
in so doing enable us o lea n mo e abou ou exis ing p ac ices in ou disciplines. Wha makes he depa men
wha i is, and do he ools p o ided by new echnologies lead o new wo king p ac ices? The h ee depa men s
conce ned in his esea ch a e keen o con inue wo king in he i ual Danish depa men . This will p o ide
oppo uni ies o explo e hese p ocesses and p ac ices u he and o gain u he insigh s in o he ways in which
a new language may be sha ed wi h lea ne s.
17
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