What is it all about?
What is it all about? Danish: German: Lithuanian: Norwegian: Portuguese: Swedish: Hvad handler det om? Worum handelt es sich? Apie ką visa tai? Hva handler det om? O que é? Vad handlar det om? Home page: http://www.statvoks.no/ecole/ Project supported by Socrates Grundtvig1: No. 90587-cp-2001-DK-Grundtvig –G1 1 Copyright 2003 Editor: Aase Steinmetz Book cover design: Boo Hever Layout: Håkan Svensson and Boo Hever Printed in Göteborg, Sweden 2 Content Innovative Aspects – from idea to project 5 Objectives and Outcome of the Project 5 Why Collaborative Learning? 6 Intercultural Awareness/Competence – How do we define: Intercultural Awareness/Competence? 7 The TELSI Platform chosen for the eCOLE project 8 The Models: ACROSS 9 The WebSiteStory (WSS) 9 ACROSS definition in – Danish – German – Lithuanian – Swedish – Norwegian – Portuguese 11 12 13 14 15 16 ACROSS2 18 The mini-dictionary 21 Comments from the students 22 Statistics 22 WSS definition in – Danish – German – Lithuanian – Norwegian – Portuguese – Swedish 24 25 26 27 28 29 Examples of introductions to WSS-stories and their endings 30 WSS 2 31 The full version of the Autobiography 32 Comments from the students and teachers 37 Statistics 39 The role of the coordinator and the teachers 39 The eCOLE network 40 3 Pedagogical approaches 41 Suggestions for work with Across and WSS 42 Evaluation 43 Concluding remarks 44 4 It is about – e-learning internet-based collaborative language learning Danish: German: Lithuanian: Norwegian: Portuguese: Swedish: Samarbejdsbaseret fremmedsprogindlæring på internet Kooperatives internet-basiertes Fremdsprachenlernen in der Erwachsenenbildung Mokymasis bendradarbiaujant per internetą suaugusiųjų švietime Samarbeidsbasert fremmedspråklæring på Internett Aprendizagem colaborativa de linguagem com base na internet Samarbetsbaserad språkinlärning på internet Innovative aspects – from idea to project Collaborative learning and the use of ICT are factors that are still new in many sectors of adult education. The use of web-based platforms for cross-cultural international collaborative projects is at its very beginning in European adult education institutions. In adult education it is very important to find motivating aspects that will encourage adult students to move into internationalisation and into the use of ICT. Of the two models that have been tested in this projects, ACROSS has already been tested in the Scandinavian Region where we found that students were highly motivated when working across countries at solving thematic problems and discussing similarities and differences in various subjects. The WSS has never been tested before. Objectives and Outcome of the Project as set up in the application: Objectives The project’s objectives are to investigate the potential of Internet-based Collaborative Learning and to evaluate different scripts. We believe that the two models are tools than can • enable a holistic approach to Adult Education throughout Europe, by involving several subjects and disciplines in short duration activities at European level (the ACROSS concept) • motivate adults for creative writing, in their mother tongue and in other European languages (the WebSiteStory concept) Outcome • A sustainable network of adult education institutions • Examples of best practice scripts combining cross-cultural issues and cross-national curricula. • An evaluation of the pedagogical activities • A homepage: • informing about our collaborative learning projects 5 • inviting other educational institutions for discussions on internet-based collaborative learning • a booklet in six European languages referring to the eCOLE Web-page· Grundtvig-3 courses Why Collaborative Learning? The rapid development in user-friendly virtual educational environments we have witnessed in the last ten years has made it possible to use ICT in an entirely new way. One of the most rewarding effects of this development is the possibility to create collaborative activities that can involve groups of students across boundaries of geography, culture, language and learning frames and styles. The eCOLE Project has created, validated and documented two independent models for this type of Internet-based Collaborative Learning. Cooperative or collaborative learning is a team process where members support and rely on each other to achieve an agreed-upon goal. Web-based collaborative activities also make it possible to design processes for interdisciplinary learning - integrating for example ICT, mathematics, science, art, language, and geography to achieve one cohesive goal. Such projects can also help build important skills in writing, research, data collection and analysis, creative problem solving and group work. Because of the international dimension of the eCOLE partnership, the two sets of activities that have been validated in the project have also contributed to an enhancement of adult learning in line with the concepts presented by the European Commission’s “Memorandum of Lifelong Learning”, in which the New Basic Skills necessary for survival in our modern society are listed as “ICT-skills, technological skills, communicative and social skills, foreign languages and entrepeneurship”. By combining the use of an Internet-based platform with collaborative activities implemented by groups of students in a foreign language, eCOLE has created two didactic models, which are ideal for the development of these skills in adult education throughout Europe. Cooperative learning (CL) is instruction that involves students working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that include the following elements (Johnson, Johnson, and Smith, 1991): 1. Positive interdependence. Team members are obliged to rely on one another to achieve the goal. If any team members fail to do their part, everyone suffers consequences. 2. Individual accountability. All students in a group are held accountable for doing their share of the work and for mastery of all of the material to be learned. 3. Face-to-face promotive interaction. Although some of the group work may be parcelled out and done individually, some must be done interactively, with 6 group members providing one another with feedback, challenging one another’s conclusions and reasoning, and perhaps most importantly, teaching and encouraging one another. 4. Appropriate use of collaborative skills. Students are encouraged and helped to develop and practice trust-building, leadership, decision-making, communication, and conflict management skills. 5. Group processing. Team members set group goals, periodically assess what they are doing well as a team, and identify changes they will make to function more effectively in the future. Johnson, D.W., R.T. Johnson and K.A. Smith, Cooperative Learning: Increasing College Faculty Instructional Productivity, ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 4, George Washington University, 1991.. As part of our project application we described that we wanted to work with intercultural awareness. Intercultural Awareness/Competence How do we define: Intercultural Awareness/Competences? It is the ability to transfer intracultural competencies to international encounters. Intracultural competencies are: • • • • • • • • • • • open for flexibility possessing foreign language skills willingness to see intercultural situations as learning options knowledge of culture openness awareness of synergies tolerance ability to accommodate (communication and interaction rules) ability to express or show empathy ability to communicate …….. –„We understand intercultural competence as the ability to act in foreign cultural areas. An interculturally competent person should be able to comprehend and suitably react to foreign interlocutors’ perceptions, motivations and problems. He could at best anticipate them“. (translated from Kiesler & Ulsamer, 2000) 7 The TELSI Platform chosen for the eCOLE project We investigated the potential of various internet platforms for eCOLE and decided to use the TELSI software, which was developed and designed by the University of Oulu, Finland. The TELSI software has proved to be exceptionally useful in previous EUprojects dealing with simulations in language learning, such as Simulab. Please refer to: http://oyt.oulu.fi/tsimulab/ The software consists of a flexible system of authoring tools, which allows any teacher to create a pedagogic platform for the learners. The TELSI software includes systems that • give access to internal e-mail systems within a group • enable commmunication with others outside the environment • include ”chat” fora in real-time • allow creation and editing of documents on-line • allow linking to chosen internet sites • allow inclusion of graphics and sound and video files 8 This is what a mail conference can look like: The possibility of designing different profiles makes it easy to adapt the TELSI environment to the needs of each specific situation. Information as to the TELSI platform can be obtained at bhr@netg.se The models that we have tried out are: ACROSS – a model for cross-curricular problem solving activities. and The WebSiteStory (WSS) - a model for creative writing in foreign language learning. The ”stories” focus on intercultural issues, each country adding its chapter to the ”story”. ACROSS is a model for cross-curricula problem solving activities. As mentioned above a preliminary test had previously been run at Nordic level (Sweden + Norway + Denmark). The fact that the activity can involve several subjects (Mathematics, Biology, History, Art, etc.) is a strength and a challenge. The project consortium has tested two scripts for this type of activity, with a special emphasis on evaluating the pedagogical effects of the underlying structure (time frame, group structure, organization of the Internet platform, etc.). 9 Scripts for Spring 2002 Energy Students from each of the listed countries participated in writing a report, concentrating on their share of the title. The following topics were distributed: Portugal Lithuania Sweden Norway Denmark Solar energy Nuclear energy Hydro energy Gas Wind energy Each country will gather information about energy in Europe and each country will write a report covering the situation for their particular chapter. E.g. Lithuania is to make a report on nuclear energy in European countries - not only in Lithuania. Therefore, Portugal will have to report on nuclear energy in Portugal to contribute to 10 the report from Lithuania. The reports will deal with various aspects of the situation of energy: Technology, national discussions including resistance and political decisions, etc.The project period is five weeks. We plan to gather information and complete the reports in four weeks. The fifth week will be dedicated to evaluation. The evaluation will involve both teachers and students.We’ll all work in a web-based environment called TELSI and you’ll get usernames and passwords from your teacher. Apart from being creative in writing the reports, this is also a very good chance to become familiar with working in a web-based environment. You’ll learn a lot of English both spoken and written. You’ll get to know students from other countries. ACROSS (Danish) er en model for tværfaglige problemløsende aktiviteter. På nordisk plan i et samarbejde mellem Danmark, Norge og Sverige er der allerede afprøvet sådanne forløb. Den kendsgerning, at aktiviteten kan involvere flere fag (matematik, biologi, historie, fremmedsprog osv.) er både en styrke og en udfordring. Projektet har til mål at afprøve forskellige instruktive manuskripter med særligt henblik på at evaluere de pædagogiske effekter af den underliggende struktur (tidsramme, gruppesammensætning, organisation af internet platform osv.) Forår 2002 Kursister fra de nedenfor nævnte vil deltage i at skrive en rapport, hvor de specielt skal koncentrere sig om deres andel af titlen. Følgende overskrifter er distribueret: Portugal Littauen Sverige Norge Danmark Solarenergi Atomkraft Vandkraft Energi fra gas Vindenergi Hvert land får ansvar for at indsamle oplysning om energi i Europa og hvert land skal skrive en rapport, der er er dækkende for deres overskrift. Fx Litauen skriver en rapport om atomkraft i europæiske lande – ikke kun i Litauen. Derfor skal Portugal rapportere om atomkraft i Portugal og således bidrage til rapporten fra Litauen. Rapporten skal handle om forskellige synspunkter om energisituationen i Europa: Teknologi, nationale diskussioner (for/imod) og politiske beslutninger osv. Projektperioden er fem uger. Vi planlægger at samle information og færdiggøre rapporterne i løbet af fire uger. Den femte uge vil vi bruge på evaluering. Evalueringen vil involvere både lærere og kursister. Vi skal alle arbejde på en web-baseret platform – TELSI – og jeres lærer vil uddele brugernavn og adgangskode. Ud over at I skal være kreative, når I skriver rapporterne, er dette en god mulighed for at blive fortrolig med at arbejde i et web-baseret undervisningsmiljø. I vil også lære en masse engelsk både skriftligt og mundtligt. Som et ekstra plus vil I lære mange kursister fra andre lande at kende. 11 ACROSS (German) bietet den Rahmen zur Bearbeitung fachübergreifender und problemorientierter Themen. Ein Testdurchlauf wurde bereits in den skandinavischen Ländern Schweden, Norwegen und Dänemark durchgeführt. Die Stärke, aber auch die Herausforderung des Moduls liegt in der Möglichkeit, mit Themen aus ganz unterschiedlichen Fächern wie beispielsweise Mathematik, Biologie, Geschichte oder Kunst arbeiten zu können. Das Entwicklungsteam konzentriert sich auf die Erprobung verschiedener Rahmenvorgaben für die Projektarbeit und auf die Evaluation von Arbeitsstrukturen. Frühjahr 2002 Die Teilnehmer aus den verschiedenen Ländern schreiben zusammen einen Bericht, bei dem sie einen Teil der Gesamtthematik „Energie“ übernehmen. Die Themen wurden so verteilt: Portugal Litauen Schweden Norwegen Dänemark Solarenergie Atomenergie Wasserkraft Erdgas Windenergie Jedes Land soll dazu Informationen über die Energiesituation in Europa zusammentragen und daraus einen Bericht schreiben, der die jeweilige Themenvorgabe abdeckt. So soll beispielsweise Litauen seinen Bericht über die Atomenergie auf die europäischen Staaten ausdehnen und sich nicht allein auf Litauen beschränken. Es bekommt dazu Hilfe aus den teilnehmenden Ländern, z. B. Portugal, das an Litauen einen Beitrag zur portugiesischen Atomkraft liefern wird. Die Berichte sollen zahlreiche Aspekte der Energiethematik einschließen: Technologie, Diskussionen über politische Entscheidungen und gesellschaftliche Widerstände, etc. Der Zeitrahmen für die Projektarbeit beträgt fünf Wochen. Wir planen, die ersten vier Wochen für das Zusammentragen der Informationen sowie das Abfassen des Berichts zu verwenden. Die fünfte Woche wird dann der Evaluation gewidmet sein, die sich an Lehrer wie Schüler richtet. Alle Teilnehmer arbeiten auf der Benutzeroberfläche von TELSI, für die sie Benutzernamen und Passwort erhalten. Neben der kreativen thematischen Arbeit ergibt sich daraus die Chance, sich mit der Arbeit auf einer internet-basierten Benutzeroberfläche vertraut zu machen. Außerdem können die Teilnehmer ihre Englischkenntnisse im Schriftlichen und Mündlichen erweitern und Teilnehmer aus anderen Ländern kennenlernen. 12 ACROSS (Lithuanian) ACROSS yra tarpdalykinių klausimų sprendimo modelis. Pirmasis modelio variantas jau išbandytas Šiaurės šalių lygyje ( Švedija+Norvegija+Danija). Faktas, kad ši veiklos rūšis gali apimti keletą dalykų ( matematiką, biologiją, istoriją, menus, ir t.t ) yra ir stiprioji pusė, ir rimtas išbandymas. Projekto konsorciumas siekia išbandyti skirtingus scenarijus šio tipo veiklai, ypatingai akcentuojant su tuo susijusios struktūros (atlikimo laikas, grupės sudėtis, interneto platformos organizavimas ir pan. ) pedagoginio efekto vertinimą. 2002m. pavasaris Studentai iš kiekvienos išvardintos šalies dalyvauja rašant reportažą, sutelkdami dėmesį į nurodytą temą. Jos paskirstytos taip: Portugalijai Lietuvai Švedijai Norvegijai Danijai Saulės energija Branduolinė energija Hidro energija Dujų energija Vėjo energija Kiekviena šalis renka informaciją apie atitinkamą energijos rūšį Europoje ir rašo reportažą ta tema. Pvz., lietuviai turi parašyti apie branduolinę energiją kitose Europos šalyse, ne tik Lietuvoje. Todėl kitų šalių studentai surenka ir pateikia informaciją apie branduolinę energiją savo šalyse, taip prisidėdami prie Lietuvos reportažo. Pateiktuose reportažuose bus kalbama apie įvairius energijos panaudojimo aspektus toje šalyje: technologijas, nacionalines bei politines diskusijas, opoziciją atitinkamu klausimu ir pan. Užduočių atlikimo trukmė yra penkios savaitės. Surinkti informaciją ir parašyti reportažus planuojama per keturias savaites. Penktoji skirta vertinimui. Į jį įsijungia ir dėstytojai, ir studentai. Dirbama TELSI platformos aplinkoje, darbui joje suteikiami vartotojo vardai ir slaptažodžiai. Be galimybės kūrybiškai pasireikšti rengiant reportažus, atsiranda puiki proga padirbėti internetinėje aplinkoje, įgyti daug šnekamosios ir rašytinės anglų kalbos vartojimo praktikos, susipažinti su studentais iš kitų šalių. 13 ACROSS (Swedish) är en modell för ämnesöverskridande och problembaserade aktiviteter. Ett pilotprojekt har redan genomförts på nordisk nivå (Sverige, Norge och Danmark). Det faktum att aktiviteten kan omfatta flera ämnen (matematik, biologi, historia, konst etc.) är både en styrka och en utmaning. Konsortiet för projektet ämnar testa olika innehållsalternativ för denna aktivitet. Tonvikten kommer härvidlag att ligga på utvärdering av de pedagogiska effekterna på den underliggande strukturen (tidsram, gruppstruktur, organisering av Internetplattformen, etc.). Våren 2002 Elever från nedan nämnda länder deltog i rapporteringen av sin del av projektet. Länderna gavs följande ansvarsområden: Portugal Litauen Sverige Norge Danmark Solenergi Kärnkraft Vattenenergi Gas Vindenergi Varje land samlade in information om energi i Europa och varje land skrev en rapport under en egen rubrik. Litauen t.ex. skrev en rapport om kärnkraft i europeiska länder – inte bara i Litauen. Portugal bidrog således till Litauens rapport genom att sända information om Portugals förhållning till kärnkraft. Rapporten behandlade flera aspekter av respektive energikälla: teknik, nationella diskussioner om eventuella motståndsgrupper, politiska beslut, etc. Projektperioden var fem veckor. Insamlandet av information och rapportering gjordes på fyra veckor. Femte veckan ägnades åt utvärderingen. Denna omfattade både lärare och elever. Information som gavs till eleverna: Du kommer att kunna följa ”din” berättelse för att se hur den utvecklas. Alla arbetar i en Internet-baserad miljö som kallas TELSI och erhåller användarnamn och lösenord av sina lärare. Vid sidan av det kreativa skrivandet innebär denna aktivitet en god möjlighet att lära känna en Internetmiljö för samarbetsbaserat lärande. Du lär dig både tal- och skriftspråk samtidigt som du lär känna elever från andra europeiska länder. 14 ACROSS (Norwegian) er en modell for tverrfaglige og problembaserte aktiviteter. Et pilotprosjekt er allerede blitt gjennomført på nordisk nivå (Sverige + Norge + Danmark). Det faktum at denne aktiviteten kan involvere flere fag (matematikk, biologi, historie, kunst, etc.), er en styrke så vel som en utfordring. Prosjektgruppa har prøvd ut to varianter av denne aktiviteten, med spesiell vekt på å evaluere de pedagogiske virkningene av de underliggende strukturene (tidsrammen, gruppenes struktur og organiseringen av internettplattformen etc.). Våren 2002 Studenter fra hvert land vil samarbeide om å skrive en rapport om sitt emne. De enkelte land har fått ansvaret for hvert sitt emne innenfor energi: Portugal Litauen Sverige Norge Danmark Solenergi Kjernekraft Vannkraft Gass Vindenergi Hvert land skal samle inn informasjon om energi i Europa. Deretter skal hvert land skrive en rapport om situasjonen på det området det har fått ansvaret for. Litauen skal for eksempel skrive en rapport om kjernekraft i de europeiske landene, ikke bare i Litauen. Portugal, på sin side, må bidra til den litauiske rapporten ved å finne informasjon om kjernekraft i Portugal. Rapportene kan ta for seg ulike sider ved energisituasjonen: Teknologi, nasjonale diskusjoner med eventuell motstand, politiske beslutninger etc. Prosjektperioden er fem uker. Fire uker vil bli brukt til å samle inn informasjon og å skrive ferdig rapportene. Den femte uka er satt av til evaluering. Evalueringen vil omfatte både lærerne og studentene. Alle kommer til å arbeide i et Internett-miljø kalt TELSI og du vil få passord og brukernavn av læreren din. Ved siden av å kunne bruke kreativiteten din når du skriver rapporten, vil du også lære å arbeide i et internettmiljø. Du vil også bli kjent med studenter fra andre land. 15 ACROSS (Portuguese) é um modelo de resolução de problemas através de currículos cruzados. Foi efectuado um teste nos países nórdicos (Suécia, Noruega e Dinamarca). O projecto foi considerado bastante positivo e apelativo pelo facto das actividades poderem envolver diversas disciplinas, nomeadamente Matemática, Biologia, História, Arte.O Consórcio do Projecto tem como objectivo testar diferentes tipos de instruções dando um especial ênfase à avaliação de efeitos pedagógicos na estrutura de grupo, tempo para a execução do trabalho e organização do trabalho na plataforma da Internet). Primavera de 2002 Os alunos de todos os países envolvidos irão participar na redacção de um relatório segundo vários temas propostos nomeadamente: Portugal Lithuania Sweden Norway Dinamarca Energia Solar Energia Nuclear Energia Hidráulica Gás Natural Energia Eólica Cada país irá recolher informação sobre um tipo de energia na Europa e escreverá o relatório cobrindo a situação da energia designada. Exemplo: a Lituânia terá como tema a Energia Nuclear nos países europeus – não apenas na Lituânia. Portanto Portugal terá de facultar informação sobre a situação da Energia Nuclear no seu país no sentido de contribuir para a execução do relatório da Lituânia.Os relatórios deverão tratar de vários aspectos relacionados com a Energia nomeadamente tecnologia, discussões nacionais e decisões políticas. O projecto terá a duração de cinco semanas. Durante as primeiras quatro é suposto recolher informação e redigir os relatórios. A quinta semana será dedicada à avaliação do projecto. Os alunos e os professores estarão envolvidos no processo de avaliação. Os alunos irão trabalhar num ambiente informático denominado TELSI onde cada país terá um username e uma password para ter acesso ao ambiente de trabalho. Para além do objectivo ser o desenvolvimento da criatividade do processo de escrita é também uma excelente oportunidade para os alunos aprenderem a trabalhar num ambiente informático.Pretende-se igualmente com este projecto que os discentes aprendam Inglês falado bem como escrito tendo uma óptima oportunidade de conhecer e comunicar com estudantes de outras nacionalidades através da Internet. 16 Comments from the students At the end of ACROSS the students were asked a number of questions. What did you like most in the project? • teamwork within groups • teamwork outside formalized groups. Working with computers, especially • to communicate with the students from other countries, • to search for information on the Internet • to write the report and present it nicely What didn’t you like in the project? The students report that there was too much time pressure – too little time to do the job. Lack of communication – difficult to get answers from the other students Did you notice a development in your own work? The students report that they have enhanced their command of the English language in that • they have increased their vocabulary • their writing skills • their knowledge of grammar Comments of a more general nature: The students wrote that they • have acquired a general knowledge about energies • got to know about energy resources in the participating countries • had to write a good report because we were representing our country • learned different aspects about how to improve technology in order to preserve our planet To conclude we can say that the results of the evaluation confirm the expectations of the project team that real life-learning situations support learners’ motivation in language learning and that it is motivating, too, to work responsibly for aims their group decided on. When the project team looked at what our students didn’t like, we realized that we had asked a lot from the students and that we had to change the set-up so that the job couldn’t be finalized without help from all other participants. 17 ACROSS 2 We named the theme for the script for ACROSS 2 ”Mobility in Europe” and the set-up was as follows: ”Each country will gather information about the profession they have been made responsible for, cost of living, and social security (please refer to the four tables provided for this purpose). Portugal: Lithuania: Sweden: Norway: Denmark: Policeman/woman University student Check-out cashier Politician at Parliamentary Level Nurse The work will go on for 5 weeks. All tables have to be completed by the end of the 4th week. The 5th week will be used for evaluation of the whole of the process. After each of the tables concerning professions there is a space where students are expected to comment on points that they have found surprising or worth noticing. They should also comment on advantages/disadvantages of being a nurse, a politician etc. in the different countries. What is in your view the best country for being nurses, politicians etc. There might be other than financial considerations.” Below are some of our students’ findings: (the language has not been corrected) 18 Comparing information from DK We have compared different countries: The supermarket trolley and the difference in prices, and we found out that Lithuania was the cheapest one and Norway the most expensive one. We would prefer, however, the supermarket trolley from Portugal because of the hopefully good quality. We found out that Denmark and Norway have the best social security. As far as maternity leave goes, Norway comes in as a clear No. 1. Norway appears to be the best country to live in if you want to bring up children. But mind you don’t drink or smoke in Norway, it is too expensive. The best choice In a recent paper we were told that Denmark is the worst country to live in, because we don’t eat very well, too few vegetables, smoke too much and drink too much. But anyway we still love to live in Denmark. 19 Comparing information from Norway (Norway was responsible for the job as a politician) Wages in Norway are higher than many other countries and that is one of the reasons why the costs of living are very high. And we have very high taxes on alcohols, tobacos and cars. It doesn’t pay to till the land in Norway because of the climatic conditions so all kinds of vegetabels and fruit will be very expensive. Meat is also very expensive, much more expensive than in Sweden and in Denmark. That is one of the reasons why so many Norwegians go to the other Scandinavian countries in order to buy food to save some money. We think that it is not OK that the Norwegien state supports the farmers as they do now..We would like to become members of the European market.. then we would have the same prices that they have in the other European countries... But about half the population is against this, so we suppose it will take some time before we become members of the EU! We think that the Norwegian politicians have the best living conditions in the world!! They are spoilt!! They have most of their living costs paid by the state. Free telephone and free car expenses etc..Most politicians have their families in other parts of Norway and they get free travels back home every weekend.. Still they complain!! We wrote in the table that the politicians in parliament (the Storting in Norwegian) have 16 weeks of holidays each year. Maybe we should clarify a bit.. The parliament, or the representatives of the parliament, are not gathered between the end of June and the beginning of October – this means about 16 weeks when they are not working together. But they are not supposed to go on holiday for 16 weeks.. They are also supposed to work for their constituencies during this period or do other things that may be relevant for their work as representatives in the parliament. We have seen that the Portuguese students have written in a comment that Norwegian politicians on parliamentary level have to have completed a university education. This is not so, and we have not given this information. In Norway there are no demands for education to become a politician. Most politicians in parliament are civil servants, there also used to be a lot of teacher. There are very few from business, we suppose this is because they would loose a lot of money if they were elected, working as a politician would be bad for business – who would run the business while they worked in the parliament? When comparing the information about politicians in the different countries, we see that if you are a woman and are living in Portugal or in Lithuania, it is not very likely that you will have a career as a politician on this level. A political career for women seem to be more likely in one of the Scandinavian countries. This could be a very interesting discussion – why are there so few female representatives in parliament in Portugal and in Lithuania? 20 We also see that Norwegian politicians are better paid than in other countries, but their salaries are also linked to the cost of living which is very high in Norway. But we think we would prefer to be politicians in Norway! The Mini-dictionary In order to motivate students to get to know the language of the countries participating in the project the project team introduced a mini-dictionary. During the first week the students were asked to produce this dictionary, and the students were encourated to try to include a few words of the target language when contacting the other students. To some extend it was a success, whenever the teacher reminded the students. Below are some examples: Kunne du fortælle os how can she ”getting all wet” with an umbrella?!!! Labas*, The work was sent by the way: Vad heter du? Hur gammal är du? Hur många är ni i er grupp? This is fun! Detta är roligt! Below is a cutting from the dictionary. 21 Comments from the students As part of the evaluation the students were asked about what they liked and didn’t like about working in the ACROSS. Below are some of the statements: • • • • • • • • • • I liked reseaching in the internet I liked the contact with the other countries To obtain information about other countries and to compare with Lithuania Teamworking To write and express myself in English I didn’t like waiting for the information, because it delayed my work. I didn’t like all the mails, there was not much serious in that! Some participating countries were not very friendly in exchanging letters I liked every single thing Etc. Statistics When we look at the statistics for ACROSS and ACROSS 2 the figures reveal that the new set up proved that the students have needed much more contact in order to get the information, which was necessary to solve the problems. We can conclude that teachers have to be very conscientious when preparing the script for an ACROSS session, only when lots of interaction is necessary the goals can be fulfilled. Especially the rise in the number of messages exchanged is impressive. ACROSS 1 Number of users 15 Number of folders 27 Number of documents 136 Number of messages 101 Sent messages 155 Read messages 3079 22 ACROSS 2 Number of users Number of folders Number of documents Number of messages Sent messages Read messages 15 43 171 404 486 5155 The Web Site Story W Site StoryWSS is a model for creative writing and can be used both in the stuWeb dents’ mother tongue and in foreign language learning. The concept will make use of a feature in the TELSI platform, which allows the project coordinator to give editing rights to a particular on-line document to different users at different times. Inter-cultural competence has become an important issue in foreign language learning and in order to stress that it is no longer enough to know what to say, but also to know how to put your utterances into a culturally appropriate context the ”stories” will focus on intercultural issues. One group (in Country A) is presented with the initial sentence of a ”story” and is asked to complete the first chapter. After a certain deadline, Country A is denied access to the document and a new group (in Country B) is asked to continue the ”story”. Different ”stories” can be under preparation in the same Internet environment at the same time, each group writing a chapter of each of the ”stories” as the process evolves. The WebSiteStory model will be tested both in English and in multilingual activities involving the use of languages all participants can understand to a greater or lesser degree. Spring 2002 Five classes from five different countries are going to create five different stories together. The participating countries are: Denmark, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. Chapter one by 1 A Love Story LT 2 An autobiography DK 3 A Detective Story NO 4 A Soap Opera SE 5 A Travel Book PT A picture or introductory lines will help you start the story. You will be able to follow ”your” story on its way to see what has happened to it. We’ll all work in a web-based environment called TELSI and you’ll get usernames and passwords from your teacher. Apart from being creative in writing the stories, this is also a very good chance to become familiar with working in a web-based environment. You’ll learn a lot of English both spoken and written. You’ll get to know students from other countries. 23 Web Site Story (Danish) WSS er en model til kreativ skrivning, som kan anvendes både i modersmål- og fremmedsprogsundervisning. Konceptet udnytter netop den mulighed, som TELSI platformen giver projektkoordinatoren med hensyn til redigeringsrettigheder til forskellige brugere på forskellige tidspunkter til et on-line dokument. Inter-kulturel kompetence er nu et vigtigt element i fremmedsprogslæring og for at understrege, at det ikke længere er tilstrækkeligt at vide, hvad man skal sige, men også at vide hvordan det, man ønsker at udtrykke, sættes ind i en kulturel passende sammenhæng, vil ”historierne” fokusere på interkulturelle spørgsmål. En gruppe i land A præsenteres for den første sætning i en ”historie” og får til opgave at skrive det første kapitel. Efter en aftalt periode har gruppe A ikke længere adgang til dokumentet, og en ny gruppe i land B skal nu fortsætte ”historien”. En række forskellige ”historier” kan være i gang samtidigt i det samme internet miljø, hvor hver gruppe skriver et nyt kapitel til hver af ”historierne”. WebSiteStory-modellen afprøves både i engelsk- og multisproglige aktiviteter, hvor der inddrages sprog, som alle deltagere kan forstå i større eller mindre grad. Forår 2002 Fem klasser fra fem forskellige lande skal i samarbejde skrive fem forskellige historier. Deltagerlandene er: Danmark, Norge, Litauen, Portugal og Sverige. Norge vil begynde i uge 6 (4.-9. februar) og de andre fire lande i uge 8 (18.-23. februar).Alle skal skrive det første kapitel til en af historierne. Når kapitlet er klar sendes det videre til det næste land. Så vil I modtage en ny historie og skal skrive kapitel to osv.Kapitel 1 skrives af følgende lande: Kapitel 1 af 1 A Love Story LT 2 An autobiography DK 3 A Detective Story NO 4 A Soap Opera SE 5 A Travel Book PT Flere detaljer om rækkefølgen kan I finde i kalenderen.Et billede eller en sætning vil hjælpe jer i gang med historien.I kan hele tiden følge ”jeres” historie på dens vej og se, hvordan den udvikler sig. Vi skal alle arbejde på en web-baseret platform – TELSI – og jeres lærer vil uddele brugernavn og adgangskode. Ud over at I skal være kreative, når I skriver historierne, er dette en god mulighed for at blive fortrolig med at arbejde i et web-baseret undervisningsmiljø. I vil også lære en masse engelsk både skriftligt og mundtligt. Som et ekstra plus vil I lære mange kursister fra andre lande at kende. 24 Web Site Story (German) WSS bietet einen Rahmen, der kreatives Schreiben fördert und sowohl in der Muttersprache der Teilnehmer als auch zum Fremdsprachenerwerb verwendet werden kann. Das Konzept nutzt die Eigenschaften der TELSI-Plattform, die dem Projekt-Koordinator unter anderem erlauben, die Zugriffsrechte für ein bestimmtes Online-Dokument verschiedenen Nutzern zu unterschiedlichen Zeiten zu übertragen. Interkulturelle Kompetenz ist ein wichtiger Aspekt im Fremdsprachenerwerb geworden. Danach kommt es nicht mehr allein auf den sprachlichen Ausdruck einer Äußerung an, sondern auf ihre Einbettung in den passenden kulturellen Zusammenhang. WSS legt deshalb in den Stories besonderen Wert auf interkulturelles Bewusstsein. Die Gruppe eines Landes A erhält eine Eingangsszene zu einer der Stories und wird gebeten, ein erstes Kapitel daraus zu entwickeln. Zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt wird dem Land A dann der Zugriff auf dieses Dokument entzogen, und die Gruppe des Landes B schreibt die Geschichte fort. Während des weiteren Verlaufs schreibt jede Gruppe ein Kapitel zu jeder Story. Alle diese Geschichten werden dabei zur gleichen Zeit auf derselben internet-basierten Oberfläche bearbeitet. Die Struktur der WSS wird sowohl für Englisch erprobt als auch für einen multilingualen Zugang, bei dem alle Sprachen Verwendung finden können, die die Teilnehmer ausreichend verstehen. Frühjahr 2002 Fünf Gruppen aus fünf verschiedenen Ländern haben die Aufgabe, gemeinsam fünf verschiedene Stories zu entwickeln und zu schreiben.Die teilnehmenden Länder sind: Dänemark, Litauen, Norwegen, Portugal und Schweden. 1 2 3 4 5 Liebesgeschichte Autobiographie Detektivgeschichte Seifenoper Reisebericht das erste Kapitel übernimmt LT DK NO SE PT Als Starthilfe für jede Story dienen ein Bild oder eine kurze Einführung.Die Teilnehmer können den Verlauf „ihrer“ Geschichte weiterverfolgen und sehen, was aus ihr wird. Alle Teilnehmer arbeiten auf der Benutzeroberfläche von TELSI, für die sie Benutzernamen und Passwort erhalten. Neben der kreativen thematischen Arbeit ergibt sich daraus die Chance, sich mit der Arbeit auf einer internet-basierten Benutzeroberfläche vertraut zu machen. Außerdem können die Teilnehmer ihre Englischkenntnisse im Schriftlichen und Mündlichen erweitern und Teilnehmer aus anderen Ländern kennenlernen. 25 Web Site Story (Lithuanian) WSS yra kūrybinio rašymo modelis, kurį galima panaudoti mokantis tiek gimtosios, tiek ir svetimos kalbos. Šiame modelyje bus panaudota viena iš TELSI platformos savybių, kuri leidžia projekto koordinatoriui suteikti tam tikro virtualaus dokumento redagavimo teises įvairiems vartotojams skirtingu laiku. Tarpkultūrinė kompetencija tapo svarbiu diskusijų objektu svetimų kalbų mokymesi, kur akcentuojama, kad jau nepakanka žinoti, ką pasakyti, bet taip pat reikia žinoti, kaip tinkamai reikšti savo mintis atitinkamame kultūriniame kontekste. Rašant apsakymus, ypatingas dėmesys kreipiamas į tarpkultūrinius klausimus. Vienai studentų grupei (A šalyje) pateikiamas pradinis apsakymo sakinys, ir ji turi parašyti pirmąjį skyrių. Internete patalpintas dokumentas po nustatytos datos A šaliai neprieinamas, o tęsinį rašo kita grupė. Vienu metu toje pačioje interneto aplinkoje gali būti rašomi skirtingi apsakymai, kiekvienai grupei sukuriant savo skyrių. WebSiteStory modelis bus įvertintas anglų ir kitų kalbų, kurias dalyviai daugiau ar mažiau supranta, praktikoje. 2002m. pavasaris Dalyvauja: Danija, Lietuva, Norvegija, Portugalija ir Švedija. Penkios grupės besimokančiųjų iš penkių šalių kartu kuria penkis skirtingus apsakymus. Rašymo pradžiai pateikiamas paveikslėlis arba įvadinis sakinys. Kiekvienam apsakymui pirmasis skyrius kuriamas pagal numatytą tvarkaraštį: 1 2 3 4 5 Meilės istorija Autobiografija Detektyvinė istorija Muilo opera Kelionių knyga LT DK NO SE PT Pabaigus pirmąjį skyrių, tęsinį rašo kiti dalyviai. Dirbama TELSI platformos aplinkoje, suteikiami vartotojo vardai ir slaptažodžiai. Be galimybės kūrybiškai pasireikšti rašant apsakymus, atsiranda puiki proga padirbėti internetinėje aplinkoje, įgyti daug šnekamosios ir rašytinės anglų kalbos vartojimo praktikos, susipažinti su 26 besimokančiaisiais iš kitų šalių. Web Site Story (Norwegian) WSS er en modell for kreativ skriving som både kan brukes på studentenes morsmål og i fremmedspråkundervisning. Konseptet bruker en funksjon i TELSI-plattformen som tillater prosjektkoordinatoren å gi redigeringsrettigheter til et bestemt ”on-line” dokument til forskjellige brukere på forskjellige tidspunkt. Interkulturell kompetanse er blitt et viktig element i fremmedspråkundervisningen. For å understreke at det ikke lenger er nok å vite hva en skal si, men at en også må kunne tilpasse det en sier til den kulturelle konteksten, vil fortellingene fokusere på interkulturelle emner. En gruppe (i land A) presenteres for den innledende setningen i en fortelling og blir bedt om å skrive ferdig det første kapitlet. Etter en bestemt frist blir land A nektet adgang til dokumentet og en ny gruppe (i land B) blir bedt om å skrive det neste kapitlet i fortellingen. Forskjellige fortellinger kan forberedes samtidig i det samme internettmiljøet slik at hver gruppe skriver et kapittel hver i fortellingene etter hvert som de utvikler seg. WebSiteStory-modellen vil bli prøvd ut både på engelsk og i flerspråklige aktiviteter som involverer bruk av språk som alle deltakerne behersker i større eller mindre grad. Våren 2002 Fem klasser fra fem forskjellige land skal lage fem forskjellige fortellinger sammen. Deltakerlandene er: Danmark, Litauen, Norge, Portugal og Sverige. 1 2 3 4 5 En kjærlighetsfortelling En selvbiografi En detektivfortelling En såpeopera En reisebok Kapittel 1 av LT DK NO SE PT Se kalenderen for mer informasjon om organiseringen.Et bilde eller noen introduserende setninger vil hjelpe deg i gang med fortellingen. Du vil kunne følge ”din” fortelling videre for å se hvordan handlingen utvikler seg. Alle kommer til å arbeide i et internettmiljø som kalles TELSI og du vil få brukernavn og passord av læreren din. Du vil lære mye engelsk, både skriftlig og muntlig. Du vil også bli kjent 27 med studenter fra andre land. Web Site Story (Portuguese) Wss é um modelo de escrita criativa podendo ser utilizado por alunos na sua Língua Materna bem como para a aprendizagem de uma Língua Estrangeira. No sentido da aprendizagem acontecer irá utilizar-se a Plataforma TELSI, que permitirá ao coordenador do projecto, dar direitos de edição, a alguns documentos on-line, a diferentes usuários em tempos distintos. A competência inter-cultural tornou-se um tema muito importante na aprendizagem de uma Língua Estrangeira, pois verifica-se relevante não só o saber dizer como também o como dizê-lo tendo em conta os aspectos culturais apropriados ao contexto em que se está inserido. Desta forma, as histórias irão focar aspectos inter-culturais. Será apresentado a um grupo de estudantes do país A uma frase inicial sobre uma história, sendo-lhes pedido que escrevam o primeiro capítulo. Depois de um certo tempo estipulado, o país A terá acesso negado ao documento e a um novo grupo( país B ) é solicitado que continue a história. Assim sendo, diferentes histórias podem estar a ser preparadas ao mesmo tempo no mesmo ambiente informático, onde cada grupo estará a escrever um capítulo duma determinada história. O modelo WSS será testado em Inglês bem como através de actividades multilinguais envolvendo o uso de variadas linguagens de forma a que todos os participantes possam entender. Primavera 2002 Cinco turmas de cinco países distintos irão criar conjuntamente cinco histórias diferentes.Os países participantes são a Dinamarca, a Noruega, a Lituânia, Portugal e a Suécia. O objectivo de cada país é iniciar o primeiro capítulo de uma das histórias. Quando o país A terminar de escrever o primeiro capítulo da história A, terá de passá-la via internet para o próximo país (país B) que irá escrever o segundo capítulo da história A.Os primeiros capítulos de cada história serão iniciados pelos seguintes países: 1 2 3 4 5 História de Amor Autobiografia História Policial Telenovela História de Viagens Capítulo primeiro, por LT DK NO SE PT Uma imagem ou umas linhas introdutórias serão facultadas para ajudar os alunos a iniciar cada história.Poder-se-à consultar as histórias e observar as continuações que cada país confere às mesmas, uma vez que se estará a trabalhar num ambiente informático denominado TELSI onde cada país terá um username e uma password para ter acesso ao ambiente. Para além do objectivo ser o desenvolvimento da criatividade do processo de escrita, 28 é também uma excelente oportunidade para os alunos aprenderem a trabalhar num ambiente informático.Pretende-se igualmente que os discentes aprendam Inglês falado bem como escrito sendo esta uma óptima oportunidade de conhecer e comunicar com estudantes de outras nacionalidades através da Internet. Web Site Story (Swedish) WSS är en modell för kreativt skrivande som kan användas både på elevens modersmål och på främmande språk. Konceptet använder en funktion i TELSI-plattformen som låter projektkoordinatorn tilldela olika användare redigeringsrättigheter till ett speciellt ”on-line” dokument vid olika tidpunkter. Interkulturell kompetens har blivit ett viktigt inslag i språkundervisningen. För att betona att det inte längre är tillräckligt att veta vad man skall säga utan också hur man skall uttrycka yttrandet i lämplig kontext kommer berättelserna att fokusera på interkulturella frågor. En grupp (i land A) erhåller en eller ett par inledande meningar i en ”berättelse” och ombeds skriva färdigt det första kapitlet i denna berättelse. Efter en viss tidpunkt får denna grupp ej längre tillgång till sitt kapitel utan en ny grupp (i land B) blir ombedda att fortsätta ”berättelsen” i kapitel två. Olika berättelser kan förberedas samtidigt inom samma Internetmiljö så att varje land skriver sitt kapitel i de olika berättelserna allteftersom processen fortskrider. WebSiteStory-modellen kommer att testas både på engelska och på flerspråkiga aktiviteter på språk som eleverna behärskar i större eller mindre utsträckning. Våren 2002 Fem klasser från fem olika länder skrev fem olika berättelser tillsammans.De deltagande länderna var: Danmark, Litauen, Norge, Portugal, och Sverige. 1 2 3 4 5 En kärlekshistoria En självbiografi En detektivhistoria En såpa En reseskildring Kapitel 1 av LT DK NO SE PT Information som gavs till eleverna: En bild eller ett par inledande meningar hjälper dig att komma igång med berättelsen. Du kommer att kunna följa ”din” berättelse för att se hur den utvecklas. Alla arbetar i en Internetbaserad miljö som kallas TELSI och erhåller användarnamn och lösenord av sina lärare. Vid sidan av det kreativa skrivandet utgör denna aktivitet en god möjlighet att lära känna en Internetmiljö för samarbetsbaserat lärande. Du lär dig både tal- och skriftspråk samtidigt som du lär känna elever från 29 Painting by: P. S. Krøyer (1851-1909) andra europeiska länder. Examples of introductions to WSS-stories Autobiography Look at the painting and the close-up of the little girl. She is now an 80-year-old lady, and she has decided to write her autobiography. Her story begins at the scene on the beach. The little girl is called Lise. She was born in 1905. Her life became very dramatic due to the rapid development in Europe during the 20th century. Introduction – Love story Miguel meets Tina in Setúbal. She is on vacation. Afterwards they exchange e-mails and he is invited to come to Denmark .... 30 Introduction – Detective story ”As she sat in her office on April Fool’s Day, Sarah was thinking that somebody was pulling a cruel joke on her. A close friend of her family, Detective Frank Taylor, had just told her she was being accused of murder.” Whose murder was Sarah being accused of? Was she guilty? What had happened? This is how it ends: ….. Sarah was speechless she only agreed that all was true. She had lied to everyone. Meanwhile, in London, Taylor found Leonardo alive in an old cottage near the river. Taylor took him to the Hospital. The old man asked where Sarah and the accountant were, the detective urged him not to worry because they were in prison paying for what they had done... WSS 2 In the second round of WSS we changed two of the scripts The Soap didn’t live up to expectations and was replaced by: “Future Life”. The Travel Book proved to be too much of a travel account, which didn’t make it easy to continue the story. It was replaced by: “Shipwrecked”. The project group thinks, however, The Travel Book could be made into a very good script for ACROSS. After having ended the WSS1 which was actually like a relay race, in which the students didn’t feel any responsibility at all as to what happened to the story after they had done their bit, the consortium realized that we needed much more communication between the countries, and in order to enhance this we decided to change the set-up so 31 that each country was made the “owner” of a story. When the first chapter of the story was written the “owner” had to give hints, as to how they wanted the story to develop and had to be consulted in case of major alterations or deviations. This is the full version of The Autobiography as it appeared in WSS 2. The students from Sweden are the owners of the story and they have put their hints at the end of their chapter. The full version of all the stories can be read at the homepage: www.statvoks.no/ecole The full version of the Autobiography (the language has not been corrected) Chapter 1 (Sweden) “My name is Lise, and I was born in Denmark in 1905. My life story began on the famous Skagen beach. I remember that I was standing there watching the other children play in the water. They seemed to have a lot of fun. I would have done anything to be part of this, but I knew that I couldn’t . . . I was thinking about my father who had lost his life on the sea. He was a captain, and his boat shipwrecked somewhere on the Atlantic a stormy night. It was a terrible loss for the family consisting of my mother, my little brother and myself. I was only 6 years old, when he died, but I remembered him as a very loving father, who used to play with my brother and me on the beach. After his death I was not able to play on the beach anymore. It was too painful. After six months my mother married a rich but not very nice man. I never really liked him, and apparently he did not like us children either. But my mother did not seem to care about that. That day on the beach, I really wanted to play with the other children, but I was still too sad to join them. I remember how I stood there in my beautiful dress watching them. It took another year, before I became the happy little girl that I once was again. My rescue was a nanny, who came to stay at our house. She really cared about me and my brother, and she became my best friend. Hints The nanny´s arrival. The outbreak of World War 1 and the influence on the family. 32 Chapter 2 (Norway) Dramatic events.. I remember the day she arrived like it was yesterday. This Spanish woman had the mildest smile and the softest voice. We got along from the very begining. We found out that we both had lost someone we really cared about. The nanny’s husbond was a captain like my father, and his boat also shipwreked in 1911. The nanny had a lot of stories to tell, it was much more fun being with her than being with the kids on my own age. Not to mention all the good food she cooked. Even if there were hardly any groseries to get hold of. She was like a magician in the kitchen. Due to the food sanctions that was effecting the whole continent during the war, nobody could really get hold of good food. One day we got the most wonderful news we ever could imagine; my stephfather was called for the war, because he was a German officer, and since Germany had lost their Italian alied, they needed all the men they could get. It was extremly hard for my mother to accept that he was leaving us, because she was still so in love with him, and she didn’t want to loose another husbond. For my brother and me it was a gift sent from heaven, now we could finally relax and be our selves. After a couple of months we got a message that our stephfather had been killed in the trenches. It came like a shock to my mother and became insane. We had to put her in a mental hospital, wich was really hard for us children. Our nanny got the costedy for us, because our mom was not able to take care of us. Months went by and my mom’s condition got worse. So our nanny got access to the trustfund. She told us about her children that she had left behind in Spain, because she was to poor to raise them. Now she got an opportunity to bring them to Denmark. Finally the day was there when the children were going to arrive. Suddenly the door opend and there I saw this girl that looked exactly like me... Chapter 3 (Denmark) It was like looking into a mirror, except that her skin was a little darker than mine. I was a bit frightened at first, but also curious. Was this only a coincidence or was there a relationship between us? It was 2 years since World War One began and I was now eleven years old. In Denmark the war didn’t influence our everyday life. One day we received a letter from the hospital that our mother’s condition was still getting worse and they told us she never could leave the hospital, but had to stay there the rest of her life. It was a very bad message for my brother and me, and we thanked God for having our lovely nanny with us. Now she became our mother. 33 As our nanny had brought her children to Denmark we were a big family now who had to live together. I was very happy to get a sister and two elder brothers, but it was not easy. We didn’t speak the same language, it was especially hard for these three Spanish children to learn Danish. We all went to school two times a week and as we all spoke Danish they very quickly learnt a few words. The Danish weather was also a big change, they weren’t used to cold weather and snow. As we were a big family there was a lot to do and we all had duties in the house. And one day our nanny’s daughter found a photo of our father while she was tidying up a cupboard in the living room. She got very surprised because the man in the picture looked exactly like her own father. It was the same man. Now that we had found out that our father was the same man it brought the this family that we were even closer connected. In happy family there was time for fun and play. Nanny took us on excursions, sometimes we had picnic on the beach. We played on the beach all day long, and went for a swim in the sea too. When it was winter with low temperatures and snow we had a really good time playing outside in the snow, played on the toboggan, skating on the ice at the village pond. In 1925 I graduated as a student and I had to decide for my future. During my studies I had a great wish to help poor people. I decided to become a doctor, which was unusual for women at that time. When I had finished my training I saw a note in the newspaper. It was an article about humanitarian work in India where they asked for nurses and doctors. I applied for a job and very soon I found myself in India at a big hospital. I loved my job at the hospital, helping poor people and receiving their thankfulness. After a couple of years at the hospital I met Mother Theresa. She was a missionary and was born in Albania in 1910, in 1927 she became a nun and was sent first to Ireland and then to Calcutta, where she taught in a girls’ school for nearly twenty years. After a short medical training, she and two other nuns took to the streets, caring for the sick and dying. She worked with the people living in the slums of Calcutta. In Europe World War two had started, and I stayed in India to the end of the war in 1945. After many horrifying years the war in Europe finally stopped. But there was now civil war in Korea. In 1950 the Danish passenger liner Jutlandia was converted into a hospital ship and sent to the East Asia and brought into actions in the Korean War. I had heard about the ship and its mission in East Asia, I was 45 years old and thought it was time for me to leave India. Few months later I entered the Danish hospital ship. A new phase of my life started, what I didn’t know was that my decision would turn my life upside down. 34 On Jutlandia I met Danish nurses and doctors, after all these years in foreign countries I had nearly forgotten my Danish language therefore it was a great pleasure for me to work with them. We worked close together in small groups and it was here I met John, a Danish doctor. He had lost his wife when the Germans occupied Denmark. They were both members of the Danish resistance movement and one night when they were doing sabotage on a factory she was killed by German soldiers. After the war John decided to try something different and volunteered as a doctor at Jutlandia. Link to information about Jutlandia Our friendship grew to more than a friendship, and when Jutlandia in 1953 left Korea John asked me to marry him. On our way home I received a telegram which told me that my mother had died. In her will she left me a lot of money….. Chapter 4 (Portugal) The trip took too much time but finally we arrived to Denmark. When I got out of the ship I felt sadness and strange in my country too many years had gone by! Everything seemed different. I was looking for my brother and nanny but I only noticed a man with a tie; he was near a car and was making some signs. I ignored him and called a taxi. When I got near the taxi with John; the man approached and told me that his name was Eric and that he was there to pick me up. My brother had sent him. He couldn’t go for he was working said Eric. I got in the car with John. Eric told me that he was sorry for my mother’s death because he had lost his mum too. I thanked him and asked for nanny. He hesitated before answering my question nevertheless he told me the truth. He uttered that two weeks ago, she had an argument with my brother and got out of the house and hadn’t come back since then. I was shocked with this terrible news and shook John’s hand strongly. Eric told me that nanny was very upset with the argument and returned to Spain. I started crying and asked about her children and especially for John, Nanny’s older son; Eric smiled and said that he was a doctor like me. I remembered him because my boyfriend had some physical similarities with John, the Nanny’s son. I told him that it was a pity because I would like them to go to my marriage as I am going to marry in a couple of weeks. Finally we arrived home and after two long hours waiting, my brother came in. We kissed and embraced each other for several minutes. We also cried immensely for our mother’s death. Then the time came to talk about our lives for many 35 hours. He told me that he was a lawyer and that he had a girlfriend that already had a son from her previous marriage. He told me that he was very happy with the relationship. Lastly, I asked him about nanny and he explained what had happened. He said that nanny was very upset because our mother didn’t leave her anything in her will. So that was the main reason for her departure. I was surprised !!!!!! My brother added that our mother had left us a great amount of money and I decided to do a donation for a children institution in India besides buying a house for John and I live after our marriage. One week passed…… The doorbell rang. I asked who it was. Suddenly the answer was nanny. We hugged and cried together. Nanny got in and I called John. When she saw John, she was surprised and said: - John… my son…!!! I was confused; my future husband was my brother!!!!!!!!!!!??? I didn’t believe in this tragic moment! I ran out of the house and went crying in the garden……. Chapter 5 (Lithuania) Everything around was so confusing and causing so much pain. It seemed that the world was upside down. All the things I believed in and dreamed of fell into ruins. I couldn’t believe life could play such a dirty trick on me. I wished I could run away from everything, hide from everyone, but I couldn’t, there was something stopping me, so I just sat down on a bench under an old cherry-tree, where I used to spend my time when I was a little child and wanted to be alone. This tree was like a person to me to whom I could tell everything and who wouldn’t hurt me... Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was nanny. She was hushing me and asking to calm down. I didn’t know if it was for her soft and pleasant voice or the warmth of her hands that stopped me from crying, but somehow I felt better. The nanny said that she knew what was going on in my head and asked to listen to what she had to say. The woman explained that she had been married to another man called Samuel, before she met my father. And John was their only son. However, one day this husband left her alone and took the kid with him. She could still see her son secretly, but Samuel would never let John live with his mom. Now I understood everything. John wasn’t my brother. A smile returned back to my face. It was probably the happiest moment in my life - all the problems were washed away. Then nanny hugged me. I was crying again, but these tears were different, the tears of happiness and joy… I was sitting in my room. It was evening. Then came John. We were talking. I said I was madly scared when I had thought that John was my brother. And now 36 when all misunderstandings ended I was so happy that this handsome and dear man would become my husband. We decided to get married in two weeks’ time… The wedding was amazing. I was in a dazzling white dress and John wore a dark stylish suit. Couples were spinning around, singing, Eric was tacking around every guest with a tray full of drinks, my brother was totally drunk and his girlfriend, who hadn’t left him for the whole evening, was very much unpleased with such of behaviour of his. The good old nanny was on her feet during the whole party. She was commanding musicians, waiters and, of course, kitchen. After one dance John and I went to the garden for a little walk. I was so happy, I gave all my life and everything to others, and finally I deserved happiness for myself. All the people whom I loved were around me, and my greatest love was walking beside me… We were talking our heads off, we were planning our honeymoon. On the honeymoon we went to the famous Skagen beach. And there we spent two unforgettable weeks. When we came back we decided to build a private medical clinic in India and help the poor. My account was rich with money inherited after my mother’s death, and it would be enough for everything in my life……….. John wanted to have three children: two boys and a girl, and I completely agreed with him. We were very happy. It was a great pleasure to plan our mutual future. All our plans came true: we have a nice house near the Skagen beach, John is still working as a doctor and I am the president of the charity fund which helps Indian children. This diary is dedicated to my children: Theresa, John and Anthony. Comments from the students and teachers This ownership to the story resulted in a couple of culture clashes, which can be read from students’ comments. ”Our story had taken the wrong way” “I do not know exactly what the Norwegian group meant by ”try to find better replacement words”.., but they may have been thinking of the former members of the resistance movements. I suppose they tried to be funny, not very succesful, though...” “WE gave you links to a tour in Copenhagen it’s not only going to a bar, didn’t your class take a trip on the Internet. We know that it’s a bit too late to correct it but our hints haven’t been used.” “After we have read the 2 last chapters, we think the story has taken a wrong turn. 37 We insist on Sweden bringing back the story on the right track, so that Tina & Miguel again are the main characters. We think chapter 3 includes details that might embarrass some people, you must remember we are a very mixed group, and we come from different countries with different codes of moral.” Student statements taken from the evaluation sheets: • I liked the teamwork • I liked the story writing • I liked to read what the other countries had written • I liked the joy of making something together • I didn’t like all the work with the computer • I didn’t like the misunderstandings • Etc. Teacher statements taken from the evaluation sheets: The teachers were asked which aspects of the WSS work they liked best. • • • • Creative writing To see that they could do well with their language knowledge so far Collaborative work, handling computer, inter/external communication I found the story writing, the intercultural communication and the story reading very positive as the students encountered this work appealing and different. The teachers were also asked for comments as to what it was like to work with WSS. • I would gladly do this again. After all my students did benefit such a lot by all the work they did. • On the whole my students were very eager and worked seriously. • Writing is a creative process and is difficult to mange. • I must confess that the experience is rewarding. The majority of students are involved in the writing process and curious about how the stories will continue. 38 Statistics When looking at the statistics for WSS and WSS2 the changes that we made are reflected in the number of messages exchanged. WSS1 Number of users Number of folders Number of documents Number of messages Sent messages Read messages Number of sessions 16 27 118 57 132 1062 1052 WSS2 Number of users Number of folders Number of documents Number of messages Sent messages Read messages Number of sessions 15 36 137 317 524 5730 1166 The roles of the coordinator and the teachers The coordinator will be the main person in charge of the activity as it proceeds. He/she should access the environment frequently, control that the instructions are being followed, answer questions from the participants, and encourage groups who are not active enough. The role of the coordinator is extremely important. Although initially all participating teachers may be highly motivated for the activity, experience shows that there is a risk that somewhere along the line something goes wrong, unless there is a person who takes responsibility for seeing that everything is completed as it was planned. It is important that the coordinator continuously make his/her voice “heard” in the activity, praising the work that has been made, reminding the participants of coming deadlines, correcting mistakes, suggesting ways of solving problems that may arise, etc. The role of the other teachers participating in the activity with their students is equally important. It is crucial that teachers have a very clear idea, long before the activity starts, of the task they are undertaking: • • • • • what is the purpose of the activity how long the different phases will take what are the tasks in each phase when and where the different documents are to be placed what kind of communication is expected during the actitivy. If possible, the teachers should try to meet face-to-face and discuss the activity before it begins. In the eCOLE project we have had meetings prior to the launching of each activity. These meetings have proved to be invaluable. In cases where this is impossible, teachers should allow time for extensive on-line discussions among themselves before the students start their activities, to make sure that they all agree in what they are engaging in, and the responsibility they have towards each other. This they can do within the 39 TELSI environment itself, by setting up a mailing list to which only the participating teachers have reading and writing rights. During this period, they can study the script and make sure that it is adapted to the needs of their students. Teachers should see themselves as moderators of the interaction that takes place among the students in their own group. Although it is essentially a student-based activity, the importance of the teacher as moderator and constant motivator should not be underestimated. The enthusiasm or lack of performance of the teacher will have an immediate effect on the students. ACROSS and WSS are collaborative processes, and the success of the activity depends totally on the commitment of all the groups involved. It is important that all participating teachers know that when they engage in such an activity, they commit themselves to fulfilling the tasks and complying with the agreed deadlines, and that failure to do so will spoil the activity for the other participants. They should take into consideration the amount of time needed and all other prior obligations, before they engage in the activity. The eCOLE network The need for the network The most interesting aspect of eCOLE is that the chance of communicating with groups of students in other countries can also be a major problem. Many language teachers in Europe lack the contacts that can make it possible to establish an international network for cooperation in language learning. They need a platform where they can announce their interest in participating in a simulation, a WebSiteStory or an ACROSS activity with their students, in a particular language, at a particular level, and during a particular period of time. The network needs also to fulfil a function as a pedagogical forum, where non-experienced teachers can consult with colleagues from other countries and cultures about the problems they meet when setting up or running a simulation. In several countries of Europe (Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, Lithuania, Finland, Portugal …) there are now groups of teachers who have run several simulations and who have gathered a considerable amount of experience about “the dos and don’ts” of a simulation activity. It is important to share this experience and disseminate it among European language teachers. eCOLE contributes to the creation of international networks of language students, who will collaborate to attain the goals set by the script. The structure and contents of the scripts can be adapted to cover different languages, themes, levels or specific learning goals, and the model can be used as soon as the students master the most basic communication strategies in the target language. 40 The TELSI software, developed by the SIMULAB-project under the Telematics in Education and Learning Programme, combines technology and pedagogy in a user-friendly authoring tool, which enables students to publish and edit their own documents and makes it possible for the teacher to direct and structure the simulation activity. The SIMULAB and eCOLE concepts provide an integrated frame in which it is possible to combine active oral use of the target language in the classroom (because oral discussions take up approximately 80% of the time given to the activity) with internationalisation and Internet-based search for information. The model motivates teachers and students to become better users of ICT, as well as encouraging the students to study the history, art, society and geography pertaining to the target language. It leads to increased interactivity between students, and between each student and the communication tool. The model is based on pedagogical principles such as student autonomy and collaborative learning. Individual creativity is just as important as the capacity to communicate both within the local group and with representatives of other cultures. Pedagogical approaches The project is based on student-based collaborative learning as a pedagogical appraoch. • • • • This concept involves learning through group interaction, learning from discussion with your peers, student autonomy, collaborative and communicative skills. Although this approach is now beginning to be used at all levels of education, it seems to be specially indicated in adult education because of the central place that the students’ own experience occupies in the adult individual’s learning process. According to the Commission paper on adult education the European public needs to be educated in the new basic skills which involve familiarity with technology, use of Internet, foreign languages and soft skills (team-working, communication, collaboration, etc.) and the two pedagogical models that have been tested in this project are ideal to encourage adult students to increase their competence in these areas. Fantasy, humour and creative abilities can also be said to be part of these soft skills that need to be promoted in adult students. These aspects form the core of the WSS activity. The project group has worked out some guidelines that may be useful when working collaboratively in e-learning. 41 Suggestions for work with WSS and ACROSS Here are some pieces of good advice gained from previous experiences that are intended to make life easier for both teachers and students in this project. • Plan how to organize group work in your class. Some students might be computer or Internet experts. Others might be afraid of using the computers and working on the platform. Try to have “expert” users in all sub-groups. In this particular project it might be useful to divide your students into groups, where one group is responsible for collecting specific information, e.g. for filling out one table only. • Please give all students printouts of the opening pages. • It is a good idea to exchange lesson plans before launching of a pro- ject. A plan of all the lessons in the participating countries will then be made available in the project’s internal pages and a table can then be printed and hung up in the classrooms. • Make sure that you have access to a number of computers whenever needed. • Get familiar with the TELSI environment or any other platform - applies to both teachers and students. Best done before the project starts. • Encourage and motivate the students to use ICT. (In some of our countries the use of ICT is part of the curriculum, and the students cannot say that they don’t want to do it). • Try to find good addresses on the Internet where the information relevant to the project can be found - just in case your students get stuck. • Introduce your students to “how to work on the Internet” - if needed - and tell them to be critical. • Our experience is that classes participating in this project should not • 42 have less then 10 students starting the course in case some students leave the class or are temporarily absent. To keep up-to-date of what is happening in the project, we suggest that you read your mails before you go to your class and maybe print them. Handing printed mails and documents to your students can save a great deal of project time. • It can be useful to keep continuous contact with the other teachers in the other participating countries, especially if your students don’t get the information they have asked for. • Encourage your students to seek contact with the other students at an informal level using the café conference and keeping this contact up throughout the project. • Don’t take anything for granted. Students don’t always do what you expect them to do. They might have misunderstood what you wanted them to do. Check frequently. Evaluation More and more European projects regard an internal evaluation as an essential part of the working process. This shows the importance of a continuous communication between project team, teachers and learners which leads to a constant feedback between the three partners. In this way, the evaluation process consists of a continuous flow of information, which can lead to substantial changes in the setup of the project. As we could only conduct a limited number of in-depth interviews with learners and teachers, we concentrated the evaluation on questionnaires, which all participants received. The comments of the participants in this booklet are all taken from these questionnaires. An intercultural project like ECOLE tries to integrate different attitudes to language learning and different value systems into an overall project setup. This multicultural aspect sometimes does not make it easy to develop a learning environment, which respects these differences, yet at the same time develops a common approach, which guarantees common quality standards. A learner-centered approach needs to be close to the interests of the individual students and their social background in order to stimulate and keep their motivation. On the other hand, an overall structure has to be developed and maintained within the project framework, which assures common standards. Teachers and students filled in a pre-project and a final questionnaire. The pre-project questionnaire gave teachers the chance to establish a profile of their learning group and to estimate their attitude towards new forms of working in their own group and with international partners. The student questionnaire served as a sounding board for the diverse expectations, wishes, sometimes fear of the learners. The final evaluation was measured against this background of expectations and showed how groups and individuals can develop in the creative environment of an international project. Our ”can do” form of evaluation ensures that the learners learnt to recognize their own strengths, see their own progress and get a chance to become proud of their achieve- 43 ments. It is this focus on success, which makes evaluation an agent of change, flexibility and self-esteem. It works against complacency and futile introspection by enabling the learners to monitor their own learning process and progress. This growing insight into their own strengths can perhaps be best documented by the student comments you find all over the booklet. As students wrote: ”I liked the whole project; doing something special” ”The joy of making something together” Concluding remarks When we look at the objectives and outcome of the project we can conclude that we have fulfilled our aims. More than 200 students from five different countries have participated in the project. Their production is more than impressive, and they state that this way of learning a foreign language has worked out extremely well. They have contributed to the project enthusiastically, and we are all grateful for the way in which they met the challenge. Without the positive attitude of the students this project would not have been such a success. During the working period we have encountered intercultural problems, but we have overcome the difficulties. The platform – TELSI – has proved to be reliable and has more than covered our needs and requirements, so that the use of ICT has become a natural part of the teaching and learning and has thus completely coped with any insecurity that teachers and students might have had in dealing with a web-based platform. The institutions in eCOLE feel confident about the project and would readily give assistance to future users of ACROSS and WSS. We wish to express our thanks for the EU grant, the support that we have had from the National Agencies, the institutions where we work, and all the students and teachers that participated in this project. 44 45
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