Learners’ perceptions of online elements in a beginners’ language blended course – implications for CALL design

Much research has been done on blended learning and the design of tasks most appropriate for online environments and computer-mediated communication. Increasingly, language teachers and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) practitioners recognise the different nature of communications in online settings and in face-to-face settings; teachers do not simply attempt to replicate face-to-face interactions in online synchronous tutorials, but combine their pedagogical expertise with the affordances of the computer-mediated system they use to produce the conditions for effective language learning. However, there is less evidence that the role and importance of the interplay between pedagogy and technology in online language teaching has been taken into consideration in the learning design of blended courses, where the emphasis is increasingly on the online elements. There is also scant evidence on students’ perceptions of the online components in blended language courses. This paper reflects upon the experience of the delivery of a beginners’ language course using blended learning in an open and distance learning context

Teachers’ Use and Acceptance of Gamification and Social Networking Features of an Open Repository

Abstract The affordance of social interaction has been a part of open online repositories of teaching and learning resources for nearly two decades. Repositories are built not only to collect and disseminate materials, but enable users to collaborate and review, comment on and rate the content they access. However, research indicates that (a) most users do not participate in this type of generative use, and (b) the possibility of social interaction does not necessarily signal active participation in social interaction. In recent years the positive effects of gamification and social networking elements on user engagement have come to the fore in educational settings. From this stance, a quantitative study was conducted to assess users’ acceptance of the existing game mechanics of a large national repository of educational resources, their attitudes towards the inclusion of extra features, and teachers’ motivation to share openly. Our results indicate that teachers do not see open repositories as social networks, but as libraries of resources, and are likely to share if rewarded by intrinsic rather than extrinsic factors. Abstract in Spanish La posibilidad de interacción social viene formando parte de los repositorios abiertos de recursos para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje durante casi dos décadas. Los repositorios existen no sólo para recoger y diseminar materiales educativos, sino que también permiten a los usuarios colaborar, comentar y evaluar el contenido al que acceden. Sin embargo, estudios de investigación señalan que (a) la mayoría de usuarios no participan en este tipo de comportamiento generativo, y (b) la oportunidad de interacción social no conlleva necesariamente la activa participación en la interacción social. En los últimos años el impacto positivo de la ludificación y otros elementos característicos de las redes sociales sobre el compromiso del usuario han pasado a un primer plano en contextos educativos. Es por eso que se realiza este estudio cuantitativo para determinar cómo los usuarios de un repositorio nacional de recursos didácticos valoran las estrategias de juego del sistema, su actitud ante la inclusión de nuevas estrategias, y qué les motiva a compartir abiertamente. Los resultados indican que los profesores no consideran los repositorios abiertos como redes sociales sino como bibliotecas de recursos, y es más probable que compartan si se les premia con factores intrínsecos y no extrínsecos. Abstract in Dutch Sociale interactie heeft de voorbije twee decennia opportuniteiten geboden binnen open online repositories voor leermiddelen voor het onderwijs. Repositories zijn niet alleen gebouwd om materialen te verzamelen en te verspreiden, maar ook om gebruikers in staat te stellen om samen te werken aan inhouden en deze te becommentariëren en te beoordelen. Echter, uit onderzoek blijkt dat (a) de meeste gebruikers dergelijk generatief gedrag niet stellen, en (b) de mogelijkheid tot sociale interactie niet noodzakelijk leidt tot deelname aan sociale interactie. In de afgelopen jaren kwamen de positieve effecten van gamification en social networking elementen op betrokkenheid van gebruikers naar voren in educatieve contexten. Vanuit dit standpunt, werd een kwantitatief onderzoek uitgevoerd om aanvaarding te evalueren van bestaande ‘game mechanics’ bij gebruikers van een grote repository van educatieve leermiddelen, hun houding ten opzichte van het opnemen van extra mogelijkheden, en leraren hun motivatie om te delen. Onze resultaten geven aan dat leraren open repositories niet als sociale netwerken zien, maar als bibliotheken van middelen, en ze meer geneigd zijn te delen door intrinsieke in plaats dan extrinsieke factoren. Abstract in French L’accessibilité à l’interaction sociale est une composante clé des archives ouvertes en ligne de ressources d’enseignement et d’apprentissage depuis près de deux décennies. Ces archives sont conçues non seulement pour rassembler et diffuser du matériel, mais aussi afin de permettre aux utilisateurs de collaborer, réviser, commenter et évaluer le contenu auquel ils ont accès. Cependant, la recherche indique que (a) la plupart des utilisateurs ne participent pas à ce type de génération de contenu, et (b) la possibilité d’une interaction sociale ne signifie pas forcément une participation active à cette interaction sociale. Au cours des dernières années, les effets positifs de la ludification et du réseautage social sur la participation des utilisateurs ont été mis en évidence dans les milieux éducatifs. Par conséquent, une étude quantitative a été menée afin d’évaluer l’acceptation par les utilisateurs de la mécanique de jeu en évidence dans une archive nationale conséquente de ressources pédagogiques, leurs attitudes à l’égard de l’inclusion de fonctionnalités supplémentaires, et la motivation des enseignants à partager ouvertement. Nos résultats indiquent que les enseignants ne considèrent pas les archives ouvertes en tant que réseaux sociaux, mais comme des bibliothèques de ressources, et sont susceptibles de partager si la récompense est plutôt de nature intrinsèque qu’extrinsèque

The Go-GN Open Research Handbook

This Handbook draws together work done between 2020 and 2023 by members of the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). GO-GN is a network of PhD candidates around the world whose research projects include a focus on open education. GO-GN is currently funded through the OER programme of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and administered by the Open Education Research Hub from the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University, UK. In our current phase of activity, we began these collaborative writing efforts with a Research Methods Handbook which was created during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic. Working together at distance provided an important way to strengthen community links when meeting in person was not possible. The Research Methods Handbook was well received by a much larger audience than we anticipated, and went on to win an Open Research Award. We followed this up with a sister publication, our Conceptual Frameworks Guide. This explores a less well traversed (but nonetheless important) area of scholarly focus. Together, these two explore open approaches to the theory and practice of research in open education. One distinctive feature of our presentation is to foreground the authentic experiences of doctoral researchers who have used specific approaches in researching open education. While it is not possible to cover all approaches in this detail, we hope that important insights are presented in this form of open practice. Throughout 2020-2022 we also regularly engaged our membership through collective reviews of recently published papers and articles. The Research Reviews serve as an overview of recent research but also as a snapshot of the critical responses recorded by doctoral and post-doctoral researchers working in relevant areas. No one volume can claim to comprehensively contain the diversity and variety of open approaches, and this is no exception. But one virtue of openness is that we can draw on the openly licensed works of others to increase our coverage of relevant areas. The Additional Resources at the end of this volume bring together a range of openly licensed texts on open education research and suggests places for further reading and research. Consequently, the information contained here represents a wide range of contributors and collaborators. The original and intended audience for this volume is the doctoral student working on an open education research project - in short, the typical student member of GO-GN and the profile the network exists to support. However, we’ve learned through feedback and analytics that the potential audience for works like this is much larger. Many people who wouldn’t describe themselves as researchers still do research and evaluation. Presenting accessible insights into research foundations and practices helps with this and can be understood as a form of open practice

Teacher's Practices through Adaptation of Open Educational Resources for Online Language Teaching

One significant development that has recently come to disrupt teaching practices is the emergence of Open Educational Resources (OER). In the last 15-20 years, researchers have mainly focused on the creation, reuse and sharing of OER. However, little attention has been paid to what users do with the resources in their classroom and to date, there is scant evidence of OER reuse impacting on teaching practices. This study examines the process that a group of online synchronous language teachers undergo while adapting and repurposing digital resources. The research participants are part-time language teachers, with a range of experiences and cultural backgrounds, who teach online across a range of languages and levels at the Open University, a distance learning Higher Education institution in the UK. Data were collected and analysed within a constructivist grounded theory methodology. The experience of teachers’ reuse of OER was explored via seventeen semi-structured interviews. Consistent with a grounded theory approach, conceptual categories for the analysis of data were allowed to emerge, rather than initially driven by a theoretical framework. The findings can be summarised as follows: 1) As previously found in OER reuse studies in language teaching, teachers select resources they can adapt to suit their teaching styles and students’ needs; at the same time, teachers are reluctant to share their adapted resources publicly; 2) OER reuse promotes self-reflection and can play a significant role in teachers’ development as online educators; however, findings also challenge the assumption that teachers develop open educational practices as a result of working with OER; and, 3) OER reuse supports teachers’ development of technical online skills, but without necessarily resulting in changes in online teaching methodologies or beliefs. These findings therefore provide insights into the connection between OER reuse and reflections on practices, while raising questions with regard to the apparent normalisation of OER reuse and its promise to improve the quality of teaching

Entretien avec Catherine Cronin (National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Ireland)

Dr. Catherine Cronin is Strategic Education Developer at Ireland’s National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education where her collaborative work across the sector supports digital and open education including development of digital capabilities, use of open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP), and development of enabling policies for digital and open teaching and learning. Catherine’s 2018 PhD explored the benefits, risks and tension..

Openness re-examined: teachers' practices with open educational resources in online language teaching

Open educational practices (OEP) as a research field is relatively new. One aspect that has received limited attention is the impact of using open educational resources (OER) on the development of OEP. This article, based on a doctoral study (Pulker, 2019), considers teachers’ activities when reusing and adapting OER, with a view to providing evidence of reuse and understanding whether these activities influence teaching practices. A qualitative study following a constructivist grounded theory methodology was undertaken with 17 part-time online language teachers via semi-structured interviews. The article presents the five-step model of reuse that emerged from the data analysis. We suggest that OER reuse has a positive impact, even though teachers’ practices might not be open as defined up until now. A graphic representation depicts the process that teachers engage with when using and adapting OER. The research brings new understanding of teachers’ experiences of reuse, showing that the principal motivation is enhancing students’ learning

The response to current challenges from an institution of open and distance learning, the Open University, UK

Les chercheurs qui analysent l’enseignement ouvert et à distance de (EOD/FAOD) dans l'enseignement supérieur estiment que l'avenir des institutions d'enseignement à distance serait menacée par l'effacement progressif des frontières entre les établissements d'enseignement présentiels et ceux à distance traditionnels, d’autant les premiers semblent perdre progressivement leur originalité. Toutefois, au Royaume-Uni, les changements dans la politique du gouvernement, dont l'introduction de frais de scolarité, ont profondément influencé la diminution des effectifs de ces institutions ainsi que leur viabilité (pérennité ?) économique. Suite à la perte du financement gouvernemental pour les « qualifications équivalentes ou inférieures » (ELQ) en 2008, l'Open University a dû opérer des changements drastiques pour assurer son financement et attirer de nouveaux étudiants. Cet article donne un aperçu des défis auxquels fait face l'Open University et relate quelques uns des derniers développements que l'institution se propose de mettre en œuvre pour retrouver et consolider sa position privilégiée ainsi que sa spécificité dans le domaine.Researchers in ODL (Open and Distance Learning) in higher education have argued that the future of distance learning institutions would be threatened by the increasing blurring of the boundaries between traditional residential and distance education institutions, noting that ODL institutions are less unique than they use to be However, in the UK, it is the changes in government policy including the introduction of student fees that has been the most impactful factor on student numbers and viability of organisations. Following the loss of government funding for Equivalent or Lower Qualifications (ELQ) in 2008, the Open University has had to operate drastic changes to secure funding and attract new students. This paper gives an overview of the challenges faced by the Open University and reports on a few of the latest developments the institution is proposing to revitalise its uniqueness and its relevance

Impact of reappropriation of open educational resources on distance and online language teaching

Le rôle des ressources éducatives libres (REL) dans l’avenir de la formation en ligne et à distance est un sujet de recherche depuis déjà quelque temps. Dans les 15-20 dernières années, la recherche scientifique a porté son attention sur la conception, la réutilisation et le partage des REL sans se préoccuper pour autant des pratiques liées aux REL. A ce jour, il est difficile d’avancer précisément si l’utilisation des REL a un effet quelconque sur les pratiques d’enseignement, notamment dans le contexte de la formation à distance. Cet article présente les résultats d’une étude doctorale qui visait à examiner les activités poursuivies par des enseignants de langues étrangères en ligne et à distance lors de l’adaptation de REL spécifiquement conçues pour l’enseignement des langues étrangères en ligne. Les données ont été récoltées et analysées suivant la méthode constructiviste de la théorie ancrée par le biais de 17 entretiens en ligne. Selon cette méthode, les cinq catégories conceptuelles qui ont émergé de l’analyse ne reposent sur aucun cadre théorique préalable. L’article présente le processus de réutilisation en cinq temps qui est ressorti de l’analyse des données, avec une attention particulière à la deuxième et à la quatrième étape du processus, à savoir la réappropriation et l’auto-apprentissage. Cet article met l’accent sur l’importance de la réutilisation des REL dans le contexte de l’apprentissage des langues étrangères en ligne et à distance et soulève la question de savoir si la réappropriation peut mener à des changements dans les pratiques d’enseignement en ligne.Open Education Resources (OER) as the future of online and distance teaching and learning has been a topic of discussion by scholars for some time. In the last 15-20 years, researchers have mainly focused on the creation, reuse and sharing of OER, and little attention has been given to teachers’ practices with OER. To date, there is scant evidence of OER reuse impacting on teaching practices, particularly in the context of distance education. This paper presents the findings of a doctoral study which aimed to examine the activities that online and distance language teachers engage with while adapting OER. Data were collected and analysed within a constructivist grounded theory methodology via seventeen semi-structured online interviews. Conceptual categories for the analysis of data were allowed to emerge, rather than initially driven by a theoretical framework. The paper presents the five-step reuse process that emerged from the data analysis with particular emphasis on the reappropriation and learning and developing steps. The paper stresses the significance reuse of OER has for language teaching practices in the context of distance education and raises the question whether OER reuse can lead to significant changes in teaching practices

Learning Analytics to improve retention

Introduction Recent technological developments have allowed Learning Analytics (LA) researchers to capture the digital traces of the learning activities of students in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). This rich and fine-grained data about actual learner behaviours are claimed to offer educators potentially valuable insights into how students react to different learning designs and how ‘at-risk’ students could be supported to complete their studies. Learning Analytics was defined back in ..

The response to current challenges from an institution of open and distance learning, the Open University, UK

Les chercheurs qui analysent l’enseignement ouvert et à distance de (EOD/FAOD) dans l'enseignement supérieur estiment que l'avenir des institutions d'enseignement à distance serait menacée par l'effacement progressif des frontières entre les établissements d'enseignement présentiels et ceux à distance traditionnels, d’autant les premiers semblent perdre progressivement leur originalité. Toutefois, au Royaume-Uni, les changements dans la politique du gouvernement, dont l'introduction de frais de scolarité, ont profondément influencé la diminution des effectifs de ces institutions ainsi que leur viabilité (pérennité ?) économique. Suite à la perte du financement gouvernemental pour les « qualifications équivalentes ou inférieures » (ELQ) en 2008, l'Open University a dû opérer des changements drastiques pour assurer son financement et attirer de nouveaux étudiants. Cet article donne un aperçu des défis auxquels fait face l'Open University et relate quelques uns des derniers développements que l'institution se propose de mettre en œuvre pour retrouver et consolider sa position privilégiée ainsi que sa spécificité dans le domaine.Researchers in ODL (Open and Distance Learning) in higher education have argued that the future of distance learning institutions would be threatened by the increasing blurring of the boundaries between traditional residential and distance education institutions, noting that ODL institutions are less unique than they use to be However, in the UK, it is the changes in government policy including the introduction of student fees that has been the most impactful factor on student numbers and viability of organisations. Following the loss of government funding for Equivalent or Lower Qualifications (ELQ) in 2008, the Open University has had to operate drastic changes to secure funding and attract new students. This paper gives an overview of the challenges faced by the Open University and reports on a few of the latest developments the institution is proposing to revitalise its uniqueness and its relevance