Team Teaching with Digital TechnologyA Business English Wiki in Practice

Professional Development Day for Business English Teachers

DHBW Villingen-Schwenningen – 21 May 2011

Regina C. Brautlacht Sandy Wagner Jeannette Bergmann

Agenda

Background on the course Why we use wikis What wikis we use The advantages vs. the drawbacks Time to discuss and exchange ideas

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Business English Course

210

5212732

studentswikisclassesteachersdepartmentscampuses

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What are Wikisand why do we use them?

A collaborative website

Easy to access, easy to learn, easy to update, easy to edit, easy to link

Supports collaborative team work, supports autonomous and student-centred learning, supports teacher‘s course management

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What Wikis We Use

Three different wikis for the course:

1. Business English Wiki – printed material is available online; teachers use it as a communication platform

2. Teachers’ Wiki – exchange and coordination workspace (messages, lesson plans, collaborative exam grading)

3. Company Simulation Wikis – communication tool and collaborative platform for students’ group work 5

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Business English Wiki

A platform where students and teachers have access to:

Course schedule Course material Links to websites Links to audio/video material Teacher’s weekly announcements

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Business English Wiki

Platform providing course material, videos, links etc.

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Teachers' Wiki

A platform where teachers of parallel classes can:

Develop course material Share ideas and teaching material Collaborate on grading exams Communicate with the teaching team Coordinate meetings and course events

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Collaborative work on lesson plans and exams

Teachers‘ Wiki

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Company Simulation Wikis

A platform where students in one group can:

Work collaboratively on their group projects Communicate with each other without

sending emails Work from anywhere and at anytime

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Collaborative group work of 4-5 students

Company Simulation Wikis

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Advantages

For all: Access from

everywhere Asynchronous work Collaborative work Outsourced

classroom tasks (audio and video material)

Authentic and up-to-date material, relevant links

Flexible course structure

Web 2.0 skills Reduced need for

f2f meetings Peer support Consistency for

parallel groups (Quality Management) 1

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Advantages

For students: Increased use of

English Opportunity to

practise drafting and writing in English

Peer correction Easy to coordinate

assignments Group work easy to

access

For teachers: Easy to share

materials Easy to correct

exams Easy to manage

courses Easy to track

students’ progress

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Drawbacks

For all: Lack of computer

skills Slow or non-existing

Internet connection Technophobes

Unequal workload Increased workload Time-consuming

work

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Let‘s Talk about Wikis!

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