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July 09, 2005
LANCELOT - LANguage learning by CErtified Live Online Teachers
On June 15, 2005 the European Commission granted approval for the development project LANCELOT in the framework of LEONARDO DA VINCI, Language Competence II. A total of 23 partners in 8 European countries participate in a 2-year development project from September 2005. In a series of articles, I will explore the main points out of the main application written in German, which I helped to create.
What is LANCELOT all about and who are part of the Consortium? The following is a reprint of the summary of the official proposal.
1) Introduction
The EU as an organization operates in 20 official languages. The 2004 enlargement of the EU, which nearly doubled the number of official languages from 12 to 20, focused attention on the role of languages in the EU as never before. The Union actively encourages its citizens to learn other European languages, both for reasons of professional and personal mobility within its single market, and as a force for cross-cultural contacts and mutual understanding.
LANCELOT aims to promote online language learning through the professional development of live online language teaching. Live online language teaching is language tuition held in virtual classrooms via Internet, face-to-face with a teacher. This teaching approach offers European citizens, who are learning languages for private or professional reasons, the opportunity to learn from the comfort of their homes or offices without the loss of time incurred in cost-intensive travelling to a traditional classroom. Access to language tuition is facilitated and language learning by qualified online native speakers is enhanced through learner orientated, communicative, live lessons.
The vocational training of the live online language teacher does not exist. A certification to document qualification as a live online language teacher does not exist either. The LANCELOT project will establish this on a national and European level by doing the following:
- identify and determine specifications for the live online language teacher
- develop guides and online courses for the training of live online language teachers
- develop and create a certificate for live online language teaching
This qualification will give the language teachers a competitive advantage in the market increasing both their employment opportunities and their mobility within the Union.
Furthermore, language learners will acquire skills using modern communication technology improving not only communication skills in speaking EU languages but media competence alike. This will improve the foundation of economic collaboration in Europe.
2) Project overview
Worldwide, the demand for language learning by qualified language teachers is great and is met largely by native speakers. In the case of traditional language training, many teachers have to leave their home country and move abroad in order to reach their target group. Due to the nature of language learning (typically a few hours a week over longer periods of time), travel expenses increase the very cost of language lessons. Many motivated learners in remote areas may not be able to enjoy live language classes and/ or might never have a chance to learn with native speakers. If such lessons were conducted from home in virtual classrooms by means of the Internet, travel expenditure would be reduced and access to lessons with native speakers would be easier.
Whilst virtual classroom technology offers great opportunities in our mobile and networked business world, it is seldom used in reality in language learning. Pedagogical and technological skills as well as experience in the appropriate use of the medium are lacking. LANCELOT aims to fill this gap by developing professional standards and by providing training material in pedagogical and technological areas. The professional development of live online language teaching is an important area, and the new professional group of live online language teachers will be established and recognized through LANCELOT.
3) Project Outcomes
In LANCELOT, the specifications for the praxis of live online language teaching will be explored, determined and developed within the project. These specifications will be implemented in form of guides/manuals in a hard copy and in CD form as well as a training concept for the training of live online language teachers. This will be made available under the Creative-Comment-License agreement. Project outcomes are as follows:
- a manual for the live online language teacher, detailing practical guidelines
- a guide for the trainer of live online language teachers, detailing a train-the-trainer programme, providing guidelines on how to acquire skills necessary to teach languages in virtual classrooms (pedagogy/ methodology/ technology)
- a certificate, documenting the qualification acquired through the train-the-trainer programme
4) Specific Project goals
LANCELOT aims to explore the following:
Basis for live online language teaching
- investigate traditional classroom pedagogy of language learning in virtual classroom environment
- outline particularities of learning processes in live online language teaching
- outline advantages and disadvantages of live online language teaching
- describe technological skills specifically required for live online language teaching
- define need for qualification of the live online language teacher
Teaching methods: Manual
- define specific methods for conducting live online language tuition
- describe scenarios for the use of virtual classrooms in live online tuition
- overview of available tools in live online language teaching
- Train-the-trainer programme: Guide
- design curriculum
- explore interactive and collaborative training methods in order to develop the LANCELOT training method
- define supervision process for the training of live online language teachers
- define criteria for quality assessment of live online tools
Certificate
- create a certificate documenting the qualification of the live online language teacher
5) Target group
LANCELOT directly targets live online language teachers and their trainers. LANCELOT provides professional development for language teachers who wish to teach languages online in a virtual classroom.
LANCELOT will also benefit language learners all over Europe, who wish to participate in effective and high quality language tuition independent of their or the teachers location. The benefits include: lessons with native speakers, lessons in minor languages, meeting students from all over Europe and acquiring media competence with modern communication technology.
6) Project Consortium
Project holder is the University of Vienna, Institute of Educational Science and Media, Prof. Dr. Ch. Swertz
Active Project Partners:
Cooperation Partners:
Promoting Partners:
What a privilege to be part of such a great project!
There will be continuous coverage with a series of articles, so stay tuned. I will also be exploring content of the main proposal, which spans a staggering 90 pages, which is ever so interesting as it holds many thought provoking ideas.
At this point though, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Ilona Hündgen, who spent 4 months of her life side by side laboring to complete this application. She approached Prof Swertz of the University of Vienna, who offered to take over project holdership and most of the silent partners. She wrote the vast majority of the material. Without Ilo, LANCELOT would not have come to life. My sincerest thanks to her dedication and her hard work, which she did completely voluntary.
Posted on July 09, 2005 at 07:58 PM
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