ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES Ladies and gentleman, distinguished guests, GOOD MORNING/AFTERNOON! My name is Cristina Bordianu, I am the Online Language Program Coordinator for the Romanian Ministry of National Defence. I am honoured and priviledged to attend the 2018 BILC Conference for the first time. I am here today to share to you the story of a project. And how else to start a story if not with the help of the most beloved story teller and humorist, Mark Twain. (click) THE STORY OF A PROJECT

He said that “The secret of getting ahead is getting started He said that “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” It sounds straight and simple, doesn’t it? But .. how did it all get started? (click)

THE BEGINNING - APRIL 2011 3 TYPES OF ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES Well, it happened 8 years ago, when the idea of using technology (click) to design, organize and develop language learning programs fueled our imagination for new possibilities of learning. That idea became a component of the MOD policies approved by the Minister of National Defence (click)…and, several months later, the Human Resources Management Directorate and the National Defence University approved a plan to design and implement online training. Since that April of 2011 (click) the story of a project has begun. And its first page definitely holds the online language courses (click), three useful, enhancing language resources. (click)

ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES Remember that Mark Twain helped me at the beginning? Well, his remark has got a very helpful continuation! (click) “The story of getting started…is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. (Thank you, Mark Twain! ) (click) Well, it was complicated and it was overwhelming but we did the breaking! Our first manageable task was to create an online language course meant to maintain the English knowledge got during the face-to-face English courses. From this need, (click) our first type of online English courses was born. THE FIRST TYPE OF ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES

FIRST ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES -LANGUAGE TRAINING PROGRAMS 5 levels online groups maintain previous knowledge SCORM and home-grown mini content specific deadlines for assignments You can see some details of it on this slide. This type of courses was developed between 2012 and 2015, on five levels, by working groups composed of teachers of English working in the armed forces. (click) The courses took place in asyncronous online groups that were led by teachers of English and had a maximum of 20 students. The aim was to maintain the knowledge got during face-to-face English courses. To do that, the students accessed the SCORM modules (use of English, reading, listening, writing) and the home-grown mini content (developed by teachers). There were specific deadlines set for assignments, tests or exercises. These courses, sequenced with the face-to-face courses, formed THE LANGUAGE TRAINING PROGRAMS. They covered the need for training acknowledged in that period and offered an enhanced learning resource for a number of about 1200 military and civilian personnel yearly. Our first manageable task was thus accomplished. BUT THE STORY GOES ON AND…soon we came across a need for improvement. Our courses barely covered the productive skills of writing and speaking (click)

SECOND - PRODUCTIVE-SKILLS ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES didactic scenarios leading to production (writing and speaking – monologue) The teacher corrects the assignments and creates personalized tasks if necessary Therefore, we concluded that “continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection”, made a step forward, and designed (click) the productive-skill online courses. Compared with the previous courses, these ones have didactic scenarios leading to a productive exercise at the end of each lesson. (click on didactic scenarios) The role of the teacher is special, I think. They correct the writing and speaking assignments and design personalized activities if it is necessary, starting from the flaws identified during the grading. (click on the teacher) Besides that, the students enjoy the increased flexibility of the course, as the assignments stay open until the end of the course, as you can see on the main page of the group. (click on assignments) assignments stay open

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I have briefly spoken about two resources that enhance the language learning opportunities for the military and civilian personnel who are part of the language training programs. Their positions have language requirements. In this situation, the attendance at the language courses is a must. At this point of our story, a question has been posed: “How about the military and civilians who cannot be part of the language training programs and need language training? What can we do for them?” These questions and the large number of join requests for all levels of our online language courses made us conclude that : (click)

THIRD - SELF – STUDY ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES 3 levels based on the 4 skills automated, personalized feedback That … necessity is the mother of taking chances. We took the chances, and created the self-study course, (click) the third type of our online language courses. (click) Organized on three levels, this course does involve teachers, its content approaches the 4 skills, it has the grammar and vocabulary specific for each level, and provides necessary explanations and automated personalized feedback to the students, depending on the answer provided.

SELF-STUDY ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSE Here you can see the main pages of the course components and an example of personalized feedback. The course is self-paced and accessible on our e-learining platform (ILIAS) anytime to anybody working in the Romanian Armed Forces and willing to study English. (click)

SELF-STUDY ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES Of this self-study language course, Level 1 is ready and accessed by more than 500 participants and level 2 is under construction. These two levels have been designed by a working group composed of Romanian teachers of English working in our foreign language centers . Now, you may wonder, HOW ABOUT LEVEL 3? Well, for Level 3, I please allow me to launch an invitation addressed to all those interested in building, growing (click) and providing a resource of this type for language training: Dear colleagues, JOIN THE STORY OF A PROJECT!! BE PART OF IT! LET’S DEVELOP TOGETHER LEVEL 3 OF THIS COURSE!! WE WILL WORK ONLINE, SO YOUR LOCATION IS NOT AN IMPEDIMENT. YOU MAY CONTRIBUTE WITH MATERIALS FOR THE 4 SKILLS OF THE COURSE, GET THE TECHNICAL SKILLS REQUIRED IF INTERESTED, AND FINALLY PROVIDE A FREE-ACCESS, SELF-PACED AND ENHANCING STUDY RESOURCE TO YOUR STUDENTS. (CLICK)

SELF-STUDY ENGLISH COURSE LEVEL 3 For Cristina BORDIANU Email: international_dmru@mapn.ro SELF-STUDY ENGLISH COURSE LEVEL 3 For Cristina BORDIANU At the end of my presentation, I’m bringing another important helper by my side. Only that this time it’s the legendary Henry Ford who said that (click) “Coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success”. We are looking forward for you to join THE STORY OF A PROJECT. For details about the project and your potential participation, please email me at (click): international_dmru@mapn.ro Thank you very much for your attention!