Spring is just around the corner and our project progresses! This month we have been working hard on our IO2 (E-Learning Course) Units, checking them, proofreading, and developing questions. We are also preparing for our training event that will take place in beautiful Foligno in Italy, this May! Soon we will also start working on Intellectual Output 5 (Massive Open Online Course), in which the first step will be the conduction of Focus Groups in our countries. The interviews will include the educators’ views on digital language education, the expectations on the structure, design and content of the MOOC course, as well as best practice examples known to them in their country or internationally.
For this month’s newsletter, we are presenting an interesting language school in Athens, Greece: Foreign Language Teaching Centre (Διδασκαλείο Ξένων Γλωσσών -Didaskaleio Xenon Glosson). The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, within its instructive and broader educational scope, offers its students the possibility of acquiring, during their studies, the knowledge of one or more foreign languages. This important task of foreign language learning is conducted at the ‘Didaskaleio’, which is an independent and autonomous academic unit.
At present, high-standard foreign language instruction is offered in 25 foreign languages on all levels of competence. They are as follows: English, Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Ethiopian, French, Finnish, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. In addition, special programs are offered to those wishing to receive more specialized foreign language skills: language laboratories, translation, law and medical terminology and more[1].
During COVID-19, although the face-to-face classes had to get cancelled, the learning did not stop. The professors switched to an online teaching environment, using web meeting platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet and Skype. One of the project managers on the Fit4DigiLine team has been learning Japanese at the Didaskaleio for the last 5 years. She commented that even though switching to an online classroom environment was challenging at first, everyone got the hand of it quite quickly. The nature of the homework assignments had to be adapted: instead of sending classic exercises, her professor focused on more interactive exercises, like the creation of fun short videos/vlogs in Japanese. Moreover, the flipped classroom approach was used, with students preparing for the class in advance, for example by watching a video or reading a story in the target language. Lastly, the assessment process also had to be adapted: the professor focused more on speaking exercises, while the written assignments were often presented in a Power Point or video, so to add a fun element.
Did you have a similar experience with teaching or learning online? Did you encounter any difficulties? We would like to hear your experience as well. And do not forget: by using our materials, you can improve your online teaching skills.
[1] Official website of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, available at https://en.uoa.gr/about_us/services_units/foreign_language_teaching_center/
