My course

 

 We are asked to create a course on Google classroom (https://classroom.google.com/c/NjQxNjI4NTM5ODE4). I wanted to create a course that helps learners get a CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/cefr/ ) certificate which is accepted as a benchmarking language ability not only within Europe but all over the world and enhance their language levels from intermediate to advanced level.  It means that language learners who want to get a CEFR certificate or to improve their levels to advanced no matter how old they are accepted to this course. However, their language level should be intermediate to be accepted to the course.

But most of the students are 19 to 25-year-old who are from different regions of Uzbekistan and they study at Uzbekistan World Languages University in Tashkent in the faculty of English philology. The course includes 5 boys and 17 girls and most of them are visual and auditory learners. They are from different backgrounds and all of them have their interests like reading books in English, watching movies, playing sports, etc.

The CEFR-aligned online course is designed to help learners, who are intermediate-level learners, progress through these proficiency levels by providing targeted activities, assessments, and content that correspond to each level's learning outcomes.  This is a 6-hour course that includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing exercises to develop overall language skills. To make online learning more comprehensive and productive I applied Bloom’s Taxonomy, connectivism, SAMR and motivation theories.

Boom’s Taxonomy (Learning Outcomes)

  While creating course outcomes I referred to Boom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956) since it is a base for a very useful structure in the development of well-crafted objectives and they precisely represent different stages of learning. Furthermore, starting from theoretical knowledge to complex forms of practical learning Bloom’s taxonomy provides a learning process that follows a specific order. Adams (2015) describes taxonomy as follows: “These categories start with fundamental skills that require minimal cognitive effort and progress to more advanced skills that involve deeper learning and greater cognitive engagement” (p. 152).

This course is designed for intermediate-level students who want to improve their language skills to advanced (C1).

LOs of the course are as follows:

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1.     Understand with ease virtually everything heard or read.

2.     Summarize information from different spoken and written sources.

3.     Express oneself spontaneously, fluently, and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.

4.     Compose a well-structured letter and essay.

5.     Solve advanced reading and listening tests

According to taxonomy, there are three cognitive processes that students go through while learning. They include knowledge (remembering the information they learned before), comprehension (able to understand (can utilize the learned material) and application (applying new vocabulary, terms, and idioms in the context) (Gul et al, 2020). During the course, learners undergo all stages. For instance, they learn new vocabulary, firstly, they remember it and they understand the meaning and usage. After these stages, they should apply new vocabulary in their speech and they analyze vocabulary by doing tests. In the last stage they should write a piece of writing with new words. For example, in teaching week 3 (https://classroom.google.com/c/NjQxNjI4NTM5ODE4/a/NjQ1MzQwMjUwNDk4/details) the topic is improving receptive skills, the topic is travel and tourism. They learn tips to improve their reading and listening. Furthermore, they learn new vocabulary and idioms based on sub-topics. In order to apply the vocabulary in their speech they should make a video using new words that they learnt in the vocabulary section and they analyze vocabulary by matching words with their definition on studystack.com (https://www.studystack.com/picmatch-4033872?authuser=0 ). To use vocabulary in their written speech they should write their opinion on the topic “Is tourism good or bad” on kiala-edu.com (https://www.kialo-edu.com/p/6c942c6a-390f-4430-8590-87171caa47c8/123667?authuser=0) and discuss this topic, leave comments on each other's opinion. In this way they not only learn vocabulary, but also discussion enhances their critical thinking and discussion is one of the forms of social engagement.

Constructive Alignment

It is apparent that the objectives, themes, tasks and assessment should be constructively aligned to reach the objectives and the outcomes of the course, module etc.  According to Gallagher: “Constructive Alignment is an approach to curriculum design and delivery that integrates learning objectives, teaching and learning activities and evaluation to foster high-level learning” (2017, p1). While creating the course I take into consideration to make all of them aligned. For instance, every week students are provided with materials and all of the materials are about the same sub-topic. Every material that they are learning including idioms, information and vocabulary is about one topic. For example, students are going to learn about letter writing in teaching week 4 and subtopic of this week is "Sports". All of the materials, including reading, listening materials, new vocabulary, speaking questions and letter topics refer to sports. Furthermore, the assignment for this week is also about sports. In this way, learning new vocabulary and applying new knowledge to their written and oral speech become easy and this is helpful for the learners to reach desired outcomes.

·       1^st week-   Introduction to the course (topic: science and technology)

·       2^nd week – How to improve speaking? (topic: education)

·       3^rd week – How to improve receptive skills? (topic: travelling and tourism)

·       4^TH week- How to improve writing? (topic: sports)

·       5^th week- Task 1: Letter writing (topic: environment)

·       6^th week – Task 2: Essay writing (topic: books)

 

Theory of Connectivism

The rapidly developing technological era has impacted IT (Information Technology) in educational spheres, too and this has led to the emergence of new theories, such as connectivism that affect on teamwork skills and the autonomy of the learners. The theory of connectivism (Siemens, 2004) is newer than other learning theories such as behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism. It is important to connect people who distribute knowledge in the social environment in the education sector. According to Kamenetz: “In the era of almost total connectivity, of an acquisitive social media, universities must find ways of learning more permeable and fluid paths toward open source content and student-centred learning experiences” (2010, p. 130). In other words, connectivism is being relevant to digital society. Connectivism “is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, into its nodes, and therefore, learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those nodes connected into networks” (Downes, 2012, p. 9).

The course that I created is based on the theory of connectivism. I uploaded various speaking interviews from all over the world and all of my students get knowledge from various students who have different cultures. Furthermore, all of the articles that are aimed at improving speaking and reading are about global problems all around the world. While reading articles, students will have an overview of what is going on on other edge of the world.

SAMR model

To create tasks to revise learned vocabulary and tips I utilized different online tools and the SAMR (Puentedura, 2013) model helped me a lot to organize them thoroughly. It refers to substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition. Tunjera (2020) explains four aspects of SAMR. They are as follows:

1.     Substitution is the usage of technology for the type of task that can be done traditionally, for instance, using interactive worksheets with the help of online tools. I have used studystack.com, wordwall.net, liveworksheets.com etc. to create worksheets and they helped me so much. Before using them, I thought that creating worksheets or games was difficult and could be a burden for me, as a teacher. However, I find it a very helpful and productive way of teaching since I do not have to check students’ work one by one. Instead I spent my time creating more interesting and useful activities.

2.     Augmentation is using technology as a tool to increase learning effectiveness significantly. I gave online feedback on my student's writing with the help of online grading tools. As an example, I used liveworksheet.com to check how students learned topic vocabulary.

3.     Modification is described as utilizing technology to recreate assigned activity. For example, I assigned discussion topics on padlet.com and kialo-edu.com where students can send voice, video and written messages and discuss the assigned topic. Furthermore, they can leave a comment on other students answers.

4.     Redefinition is used to create new types of tasks and learning process that cannot be possible without using it. It should provide students with new experiences which enhances the process of reaching outcomes of the lesson and engagement.

I tried to create something interesting like that and tie it with my class, but I couldn't manage.

 

Universal Design for Learning

UDL (Universal Design for Learning) first applied by Rose and Mayer (2008) in education to provide a curriculum availability to the students through various forms of learning and engagement (Lancaster, 2011). Applying the principles of UDL increases positive learning outcomes, including individual student development theories, such as students with disabilities and it provides equal access to learning not only for information. Furthermore, UDL is not for only students who have disabilities but also enhances practices for students who are not disabled (King-Sears, 2009). For instance, setting challenging learning outcomes for students by enabling simultaneous instructions to eliminate challenges. In my course, I created the LOs taking the students' levels into account and they are intermediate-level students who are going to improve their level to advanced. So that uploaded advanced vocabulary to learn, advanced listening and tasks to do.

 In addition to this, effective UDL includes continuous evaluation of students' learning process by assessing each outcome and this plays an important role in indicating whether students are meeting the LOs of the course. To do so, I created different tasks for each outcome of each lesson. For example, in teaching week five there are 4 LOs of the lesson. (https://classroom.google.com/c/NjQxNjI4NTM5ODE4/m/NjQ1MzU4NTY0OTA0/details )

1.     Recognize the most useful ways to improve writing skills.

2.     Apply learned skills in the context.

3.     Apply topic related vocabulary in their oral and written speech.

4.     Compose a well-structured complaint letter.

The lesson materials include passive reading, listening materials; video lessons about the structure of letter writing; video lessons about how to write complaint letters; vocabulary for sub-topic environments.

In the assignment section of this lesson, students have 4 tasks to meet the LOs of the lesson (https://classroom.google.com/c/NjQxNjI4NTM5ODE4/a/NjQ1Mzg1NjE4MTI5/details).

1.     They should compose a complaint letter.

2.     They should fill in the blanks with learned vocabulary on studystack.com.

3.     They should watch an interactive video on edpuzzle.com about environmental problems and answer the questions while watching the video.

4.     We discuss how to write letters and environmental problems on zoom.

Furthermore, I used a color blindness stimulator for teaching vocabulary materials.  (https://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-color-blindness-simulator/) 

Motivation Theory

   Motivation is described as the ‘engine’ of learning by Paris and Turner (1994) and influences how we learn, and what we learn when we learn (Schunk, 2012) it urges us to take challenges to engage actively on the task. Seven learner instructor interactions influence students' motivation in online education (Thach, 1995).

1.     LOs 

2.     On-time feedback

3.     Information presentation

4.     Monitoring learner progress

5.     Learning activities

6.     Discussions

7.     Determining learner needs

 To keep learner-instructor interactions make students motivated I established LOs of each lesson, provided on-time feedback on their work, and facilitated learning activities according to their needs and preferences. Furthermore, online discussions are indispensable parts of my course that had been facilitated padlet.com, kiala-edu.com and on Zoom platform since they interact with their peers that help to build a social presence (Lin,2008). Rovai and Lucking (2003, p. 6) assert that “interaction is the primary mechanism through which community is built and sustained”. Maintaining an online community is also the most important part of successful online learning as it motivates learners.

 

                                  

References

 

1.       Adams, N.E. (2015). Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives. Journal of Medical Library Association103(3),152-3. [online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.103.3.010 [Accessed 20 November 2023]

2.       Bloom, B. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives – The classification of educational goals – Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. London: Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd. [online] Available at:https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/educationallearningtheories3rd/chapter/chapter-10-blooms-taxonomy-2/  [Accessed 21 November 2023]

3.       Downes, S. (2012). Connectivism and connective knowledge. Essays on meaning and learning networks. My eBooks. [online] Available at: http://www.downes.ca/me/mybooks.htm [Accessed 13 November 2023]

4.       Gallagher, G. (2017) Aligning for Learning: Including Feedback in the Constructive Alignment Model [online]  Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319211051 [Accessed 21 November 2023]

5.       Gul, R. et.al. (2020). Preferences of the Teachers in Employing Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy in Their Instructions. Education and Social Research (SJSR), 3(2), 258-266. [online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.36902/sjesr-vol3-iss2-2020 [Accessed 21 November 2023]

6.       Kamenetz, A. (2010). DIY U: Edupunks, edupreneurs, and the coming transformation of higher education, White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing [online] Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1002/abc.21129?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.  [Accessed 21 November 2023]

7.       King-Sears, M. (2009). Universal design for learning: Technology and pedagogy. Learning Disability Quarterly 35(2), 8-17. [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292924009_Universal_Design_for_Learning_Technology_and_Pedagogy  [Accessed 30 November 2023]

8.       Lancaster, Paula (2008). Universal learning design. Colleagues 3(1). [online] Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/colleagues/vol3/iss1/5 [Accessed 30 November 2023]

9.       Paris, S. G., and Turner, J. C. (1994). Situated motivation. In P. R. Pintrich, D. R. Brown & C. E. Weinstein (Eds.), Student motivation, cognition, and learning: Essays in honour of Wilbert J. McKeachie (pp. 213-237). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. [online] Available at: https://www.scirp.org/%28S%28351jmbntvnsjt1aadkozje%29%29/reference/referencespapers.aspx?referenceid=3157525 [Accessed 10 November 2023]

10.   Puentedura, R. R. (2013, May 31). SAMR: Getting to transformation. Hippasus.  [online] Available at: http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2013/04/16/SAMRGettingToTransformation.pdf [Accessed 30 November 2023]

11.   Rose, D. and Meyer, A. (2008). A practical reader in universal design for learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press [online] Available at: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED515447 [Accessed 30 November 2023]

12.   Schunk, D. H., & Usher, E. L. (2012). Social cognitive theory and motivation. In R. M. Ryan (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of human motivation (pp. 13-27). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. [online] Available at: https://www.scirp.org/(S(lz5mqp453ed%20snp55rrgjct55))/reference/referencespapers.aspx?referenceid=2960021  [Accessed 30 November 2023]

13.   Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning [online] Available at: http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm [Accessed 10 November 2023]

14.   Tunjera, N., and Chigona, A. (2020). Teacher educators’ appropriation of TPACK-SAMR models for 21st century pre-service teacher preparation. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 16(3), 126-140. [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342602414_Teacher_Educators'_Appropriation_of_TPACK-SAMR_Models_for_21st_Century_Pre-Service_Teacher_Preparation [Accessed 30 November 2023]