Robert Goodwin-Jones opens his discussion with the thought "If you want to attract attention to a new online course, the foolproof strategy today is to label it a MOOC, a massive open online course." The hype surrounding MOOCs has resulted in substantial interest--from the general public to university presidents--in online learning, as…

Five years ago in the February, 2007, issue of LLT, I wrote about developments in digital video of potential interest to language teachers. Since then, there have been major changes in options for video capture, editing, and delivery. One of the most significant has been the rise in popularity of video-based storytelling, enabled largely by…

In Western countries today, instructed language learning in higher education normally includes use of the Web: as a resource in face-to-face classes, as an equal partner in instructional delivery in hybrid courses, or as the primary teaching and learning environment in distance learning. Most often today this is enabled through use of a learning…

Due to the rapid advancements in mobile communication and wireless technologies, many researchers and educators have started to believe that these emerging technologies can be leveraged to support formal and informal learning opportunities. Mobile language learning can be effectively implemented by delivering learning content through mobile…

Discussion boards provide an interactive venue where new and future language teachers can reflect, evaluate, solve problems or simply exchange ideas (e.g., Bonk, Hansen, Grabner-Hagen, Lazar, & Mirabelli, 1996; DeWert, Babinski, & Jones, 2003; Kumari, 2001; Pawan, Paulus, Yalcin, & Chang, 2003). In addition, encouraging future teachers to learn…

Reviews recent research on intercultural learning and reports on a yearlong e-mail exchange between Spanish and English second year university students. Identifies key characteristics of e-mail exchanges that helped to develop learners' intercultural communicative competence. Outlines elements of e-mail messages that may enable students to develop…

Analyzes negotiation of meaning and code switching in discourse between 29 language students from classes at a German and a North American university, who teamed up with their peers to collaborate on projects whose results hey had to present to the other groups in the MOO during the final weeks of the project. (VWL)

Following a preliminary experience in a low-tech environment for distance language learning and teaching, two challenges were identified in the design of university language courses: the necessity to build sufficient flexibility into materials to cater to learners' styles, interests, and skill levels, and a need to design materials that would…

Draws on the experience of a cohort of 22 multinational and multilingual students enrolled in a Master's in Education distance learning program administered by a British university. The purpose was to locate aims and philosophies of distance learning within the experiences of actual distance learners to see if learners needs were being met by the…

Analyzed the patterns and types of collaborative interactions taking place in three online teacher education classes and used the findings as a guide in the design of instructional interventions. (Author/VWL)

Explores socio-institutional dimensions of German-American telecollaboration and ways they may shape foreign language learning and use. Intertwines socially and institutionally contingent features of language valuation, computer know-how, Internet access, and learning accreditation, and the micro features of situated classroom interaction.…

Examined negotiation of meaning that took place between students and native speakers of Japanese over a series of computer-based chat conversations and attempted to categorize the difficulties encountered. Data showed that the difficulties in understanding each other triggered negotiation meaning between students even when no specific…

Investigated the effects on vocabulary acquisition of student participation in authoring a multimedia institutional module. Sixty-two subjects were randomly assigned to two groups, and each group was randomly assigned to one of two treatments. Showed evidence that students learn vocabulary significantly better when they participate in the creation…

Presents a situated study--based on a prominent pedagogical framework--of the implementation of threaded discussions, a widely used instructional technology, to meet constructivist curricular goals in university English-as-a-Second-Language classes. (Author/VWL)

Examines the nature of peer exchanges in two partial network-based classes and the conflicts learners face in this situation where all information is text-based and archived. Provides a picture of how learners used the available technology to interact with peers and their comments on how this mode of delivery extended their traditional notions of…