Team Teaching with Digital Technology A Business English Wiki in Practice Professional Development Day for Business English Teachers DHBW Villingen-Schwenningen – 21 May 2011 Regina C. Brautlacht Sandy Wagner Jeannette Bergmann
Agenda Background on the course Why we use wikis What wikis we use The advantages vs. the drawbacks Time to discuss and exchange ideas 2 / 15
Business English Course students wikis classes teachers departments campuses 3 / 15
What are Wikis and why do we use them? A collaborative website Easy to access, easy to learn, easy to update, easy to edit, easy to link Supports collaborative team work, supports autonomous and student-centred learning, supports teachers course management 4 / 15
What Wikis We Use Three different wikis for the course: 1. Business English Wiki 1. Business English Wiki – printed material is available online; teachers use it as a communication platform 2. Teachers Wiki 2. Teachers Wiki – exchange and coordination workspace (messages, lesson plans, collaborative exam grading) 3. Company Simulation Wikis 3. Company Simulation Wikis – communication tool and collaborative platform for students group work 5 / 15
Business English Wiki A platform where students and teachers have access to: Course schedule Course material Links to websites Links to audio/video material Teachers weekly announcements 6 / 15
Business English Wiki Platform providing course material, videos, links etc. 7 / 15
Teachers' Wiki A platform where teachers of parallel classes can: Develop course material Share ideas and teaching material Collaborate on grading exams Communicate with the teaching team Coordinate meetings and course events 8 / 15
Collaborative work on lesson plans and exams Teachers Wiki 9 / 15
Company Simulation Wikis A platform where students in one group can: Work collaboratively on their group projects Communicate with each other without sending s Work from anywhere and at anytime 10 / 15
Collaborative group work of 4-5 students Company Simulation Wikis 11 / 15
Advantages For all: Access from everywhere Asynchronous work Collaborative work Outsourced classroom tasks (audio and video material) Authentic and up-to- date material, relevant links Flexible course structure Web 2.0 skills Reduced need for f2f meetings Peer support Consistency for parallel groups (Quality Management) 12 / 15
Advantages For students: Increased use of English Opportunity to practise drafting and writing in English Peer correction Easy to coordinate assignments Group work easy to access For teachers: Easy to share materials Easy to correct exams Easy to manage courses Easy to track students progress 13 / 15
Drawbacks For all: Lack of computer skills Slow or non-existing Internet connection Technophobes Unequal workload Increased workload Time-consuming work 14 / 15
Lets Talk about Wikis! 15 / 15