ERIC Number: ED571337
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Apr
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
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Making Virtual Exchange/Telecollaboration Mainstream--Large Scale Exchanges
Hagley, Eric
Research-publishing.net, Paper presented at the Conference on Telecollaboration in Higher Education (2nd, Dublin, Ireland, Apr 21-23, 2016)
Language educators' goals include promoting cultural understanding and improving the language skills of their students. Virtual Exchange (VE) is a powerful means to do this. Students in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms often have few opportunities to communicate with other users of English. VE gives them virtual mobility, enabling them to participate in a global community, use English in real world communicative events and become more culturally acclimatized. Though there are many benefits to VE, it is often not easily accessible to teachers. This paper introduces a large scale VE that includes over 1,500 students and 53 teachers from 21 institutions in six countries. The paper outlines benefits and drawbacks of this VE, some initial findings on student engagement and participation in the VE, in addition to information on how the project is planned to expand, making it accessible to a larger number of teachers and their students around the world. [For the complete volume, see ED571330.]
Descriptors: International Educational Exchange, English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction, Telecommunications, Intercultural Communication, Learner Engagement, Student Participation, Educational Benefits, Technology Uses in Education, Asynchronous Communication, College Students, College Second Language Programs, Course Content
Research-publishing.net. La Grange des Noyes, 25110 Voillans, France. e-mail: info@research-publishing.net; Web site: http://research-publishing.net
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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