Blended learning in German Studies during the semester of remote learning: Prof. Dr. Alexander Lasch (#AL1)
Format
This semester marked a switch to online lectures and seminars for teaching staff and students. In the context of remote learning, it is crucial to ‘encourage students to engage in computer-assisted interactive learning activities’ (2020 National Report on Education). As such, the basic principles for this course were to make all content available online and open to all as OER, to prioritize asynchronous formats over live formats, to use messenger groups (MATRIX) as the communication tool – with video conference solutions used as a secondary option – and to reduce thematic input in favor of collaborative work phases. These principles applied in particular to the seminars and only partially to the lectures.
An evening office hour (Thursdays, 10:00 pm–11:00 pm) facilitated direct contact for students with a part-time job, children or dependents who they care for.
The greatest challenge we faced during the remote learning semester was converting all teaching to blended learning formats in one fell swoop.
Keywords
#BlendedLearning, #Collaboration, #Digital, #Linguistics
© Alexander Lasch
© Alexander Lasch
© Alexander Lasch
Description
Thematic lectures
I used a combination of synchronous and asynchronous methods, recording a video in advance, which we then watched together as a ‘YouTube premiere’ on a fixed date and discussed together in a MATRIX group. After the asynchronous input (approx. 40 minutes), we discussed current topics in the context of the lecture. All resources are available as OER at gls-dresden.de. Since the 2018 summer semester, I have recorded all lectures and uploaded them so they are available to all (http://youtube.com/AlexanderLasch). They are also available as podcasts on Spotify (http://bit.ly/GLS_Vorlesungen_Spotify), CastBox (http://bit.ly/GLS_Vorlesungen_CastBox), iTunes (http://bit.ly/GLS_Vorlesungen_iTunes) and PocketCasts (https://pca.st/66u1). I am always grateful to receive anonymous feedback for the lectures (https://bit.ly/Feedback_ALasch), which viewers can also give at any time over the messenger group.
The course concluded with an open-book exam. Students wrote an essay on the topic of their choice and could use any media they had at hand to help.
Seminars
Seminars followed a new structure in response to the current situation. 1) Input phase: Asynchronous thematic input videos conveyed knowledge (http://youtube.com/AlexanderLasch); concrete tasks and guidelines prompted students to respond in their respective MATRIX groups for the seminar. Additionally, we identified technical needs and problems, and worked towards a solution. 2) Elaboration phase: The students elaborated their topics in small groups. In parallel, students who were interested received training in audio and video production, hosting audio and video formats and legal issues regarding the presentation of media content. Students thus defined their own learning objectives, which included gaining proficiency in technology and ways to deliver their own presentations as OER. 3) Evaluation phase: Students were encouraged to publish their presentations on various media channels oriented toward students and to discuss these in the seminar. Pending approval, the results were published as student contributions in the blog ‘Linguistische Werkstattberichte’ (Linguistic Workshop Reports), lingdrafts. This not only encouraged students to take pride in their work, it also offered an introduction to an online academic culture centered around the principles of generosity, interconnectedness, transparency, and shared goals and values. The course has produced collaborative presentation videos, presentations with commentary, podcasts, brochures, revised children’s books, etc. All content is available as OER under the CC BY 4.0 International license.
Contact
Voting ID
#AL1