Transcript MICaLL Moderating Intercultural Collaboration & Language

EU-Project: MICaLL
Moderating Intercultural Collaboration &
Language Learning
The MICaLL Project
• Socrates Project / Comenius 2.1
• October 2004 - October 2007
• Goal: Innovation of the Initial Training and
Professional Development of Language Teachers
• Current partnership: 6 Countries, 15 Organisations
Development of Teacher
Competences in:
• Promoting intercultural communicative
competence
• Design and management of international
collaborative curriculum projects
Results & Deliverables
• Course Project Modules : Pre- & In-service
• A web based portal site: tools for collaborative
language learning
• An organisational structure for sustainable
cooperation (school e-twinning)
Why MICaLL? Inspiration & Contexts
Why MICaLL?
• EU-policies & Instruments:
- Education and Training 2010
- Action Plan for languages
- CEFR, ELP
• Teacher Training
- professional competences development
- experiential, workplace-based learning
- collaboration with schools: theory/practice
Why MICaLL? Call & Pedagogy
- Technology: 2nd generation web tools:
easy access / more interaction
- Constructivism, Task & content based
approaches
Pedagogical Approach to Teacher Training
(Source: Efa)
Wiki
LanguageQuest
Why MICaLL? Call & Pedagogy
• ICC & classroom constraints:
’… The problem of teaching intercultural communication in the
classroom is that it almost impossible to model experiential
learning in role-plays.
Internet projects where they have to co-operate, to work on a
common goal with learners from other cultures could eventually
replace role-plays and give the students the chance to
experience authentic co-operation.’
Vogel (2001)
Why MICaLL? Call & Pedagogy
• Motivation & classroom constraints
‘ Only through international activities for which the foreign
language needs to be used on a daily basis in natural
conversational (including virtual / internet based) settings can
the students be intrinsically motivated to keep using the
language in the school setting.’
Kees de Bot quoted in (Marsh, 2002, p.31)
Why MICaLL? Language Teacher Education
• Current generation of student teachers has not witnessed
relevant model teacher behaviour
• EU-Conference 2004: ‘Improving Language Education’
Theme: Teacher Professionalism:
– Closer cooperation between TT and schools
– adoption of innovative teaching methods (e.g. use of media,
international exchanges)
– more cooperation and networking between teacher training
organisations
– promotion of life long learning and participation in in-service
training (e.g. by using e-learning)
Teacher Ed. Curriculum Module
• collaborative e-projects: task-based CALL
• formats planned so far:
- LanguageQuest
- Weblog
- Computer Mediated Dialogue (Chat,IM, MOO)
- Tandem approach
Organisation of Project Activities
The MICaLL Portal Site
Content Management System
• Based on Plone
• Open Source / Open Standards
Features of The Portal Site
• Member / Community based
• Role-related differentiation in rights and
available functionality
MICaLL BlogPages
The Portal Site (2)
• Features of Workspaces for (student) teachers
& trainers:
• - editors for task formats: LanguageQuest
• - communication & publication tools:
Weblog, Forum, Chat, Doc etc.
• - virtual class- & project rooms:
MICaLL Workspace
Planning
• 2004 -2005:
- Professional development of team & schoolbased
mentors
- Portal website. Version 1.0
• 2005 – 2006
- Module Content development
- Pilots / School try-outs
• 2006 – 2007
- Production of Handbook & In-service course
- Projects in Teacher Ed. and Schools
- Portal website. Version 2.0
EU-Project: MICaLL
Towards a Pedagogy for
Network-based
Language Learning
You are cordially invited to
participate in our pilots and
projects!