Telecollaboration

Telecollaboration is a form of network-based language teaching which emerged in language teaching in the 1990s. It refers to the pedagogic practice of bringing together classes of foreign language learners through computer-mediated communication for the purpose of improving their language skills, intercultural communicative competence and digital literacies. Telecollaboration, also increasingly referred to as online intercultural exchange (OIE), is recognized as a field of computer-assisted language learning as it relates to the use of technology in language learning. Outside the field of language education this type of pedagogic practice is increasingly being used to internationalize the curriculum and offer students the possibility to engage with peers in other parts of the world in collaborative online projects. Different terms are used to refer to this practice, for example virtual exchange, collaborative online international learning (COIL), and globally networked learning.. Telecollaboration is a form of network-based language teaching which emerged in language teaching in the 1990s. It refers to the pedagogic practice of bringing together classes of foreign language learners through computer-mediated communication for the purpose of improving their language skills, intercultural communicative competence and digital literacies. Telecollaboration, also increasingly referred to as online intercultural exchange (OIE), is recognized as a field of computer-assisted language learning as it relates to the use of technology in language learning. Outside the field of language education this type of pedagogic practice is increasingly being used to internationalize the curriculum and offer students the possibility to engage with peers in other parts of the world in collaborative online projects. Different terms are used to refer to this practice, for example virtual exchange, collaborative online international learning (COIL), and globally networked learning. Telecollaboration is based on sociocultural views of learning inspired by Vygotskian theories of learning as a social activity. Guth and Helm (2010) built on the pedagogy of telecollaboration by expanding on its traditional practices via incorporating Web 2.0 tools in online collaborative projects. This enriched practice widely became known as telecollaboration 2.0. Telecollaboration 2.0, being a completely new phase, serves to achieve nearly the same goals of telecollaboration. A distinctive feature of Telecollaboration 2.0, however, lies in prioritizing promoting the development and mastery of new online literacies. Although telecollaboration and telecollaboration 2.0 are used interchangeably, the latter slightly differs in affording 'a complex context for language education as it involves the simultaneous use and development' of intercultural competencies, internationalize classrooms and promotes authentic intercultural communication among partnering schools/students. There are several different 'models' of telecollaboration which have been extensively described in the literature. The first models to be developed were based on the partnering of foreign language students with 'native speakers' of the target language, usually by organizing exchanges between two classes of foreign language students studying one another's languages. The most well established models are the eTandem and the Cultura, and eTwinning models. eTandem, which developed from the face to face Tandem Learning approach, has been widely adopted by individual learners who seek partners on the many available educational websites which offer to help find partners and suggest activities for tandem partners to engage in. However, the eTandem model has also been used for class-to-class telecollaboration projects where teachers establish specific objectives, tasks, and/or topics for discussion.The Teletandem model is based on eTandem and was developed in Brazil, but focuses on oral communication through VOIP tools such as Skype and Google Hangouts. Until recent years, however, telecollaboration has generally used asynchronous communication tools. The Cultura project was developed by teachers of French as a foreign language at MIT in the late 1990s with the aim of making culture the focus of their foreign language class. This model takes its inspiration from the words of the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin: 'It is only in the eyes of another culture that foreign culture reveals itself fully and profoundly ... A meaning only reveals its depths once it has encountered and come into contact with another foreign meaning' (as cited in Furstenberg, Levet, English, & Maillet, 2001, p. 58). Cultura is based on the notion and process of cultural comparison and entails students analysing cultural products in class with their teachers and interacting with students of the target languages and cultures through which they develop a deeper understanding of each other's culture, attitudes, representations, values, and frames of reference. The eTwinning project, which essentially is a network of schools and educators within the European Union and part of Eramus+, contrasts with its earlier counterparts in not setting specific guidelines apropos of language use, themes or structure. This model serves as a broad platform for schools within the EU to exchange information and share materials online, and provides a virtual space for countless pedagogical opportunities where teachers and students collectively learn, communicate and collaborate using a foreign language.Quintessentially, eTwinning has the following four objectives: 1. setting up a collaborative network among European schools by connecting them via Web 2.0 tools; 2. encouraging educators and students to collaborate with their counterparts in other European countries; 3. fostering a learning environment in which European identity is integrated with multilingualism and multiculturalism; 4. continuously developing educators' professional skills 'in the pedagogical and collaborative use of ICT'. eTwinning has thus proven to be a strong model for telecollaboration in recent years, since it enables the authentic use of foreign language among virtual partners, i.e. teachers and students. Not surprisingly, eTwinning projects have become increasingly recognized at various educational institutions across the continent.Each of the telecollaborative models discussed above has its strengths and weaknesses: The complexities of the objectives of telecollaboration ('telecollaborative tasks can and should integrate the development of language, intercultural competence, and online literacies') can generate a series of challenges for educators and learners. O’Dowd and Ritter categorized potential reasons for failed communication in telecollaborative projects, sub-dividing them into four levels which, as the researchers indicate, can also overlap and interrelate: