One area we believe to be an example of CLiL and iCT best practice is snippeting. A term from programming that consists of re-using small chunks of information (in this case, source code available on the website W3 Schools Online Web Tutorials ) to avoid repeating typing and/or to be incorporated as a unit into larger Learning Objects (or programming modules) but with a very important appreciation in the area of training and education: never fall into the error of routine edit operations and try to adjust these LO into your CLiL teaching needs. Please, remember that when our members use the letter i in CLiL and iCT, it stands for information, instructional, integration and internet.
As managing information using Web 1.0 is tedious, we have included a new extension to the Textual LO by using a Web 2.0 application: a multiuser blogging system powered by WordPress. In this case, we use this online database to include our critical ideas about the processes, methods and resources we are using and, as a result, we prepare our CLiL LO for a new dimension: social networking.
Among the many resources within the Multi-Media subject (from old radios to online video annotations applications), we have ultimately selected a very useful and powerful utility for collaborating through digital technologies: Digital Storytelling (DS). In this case, our members were divided in small groups and they competed in equal terms for increasing their group cohesion, for improving their audiovisual texts and for engaging with the public after sharing their stories in the streaming server at the UV.
Gamification, as it name suggests, means to apply game-design thinking to non-game environments to make our initial LO more fun and engaging. It consists of running information in a Learning Management System (LMS) such as Moodle, or similar application, to generate a "complex" educational path. In this case, we can upload our word or pdf files or we can use hyperlinks to connect our webpages from these Web 2.0 applications.
Modularity is the second extension of the Textual LO by reworking this document into a web-based (Web 1.0) LO. In this case we just add basic html tags (e.g. H1 for Heading 1, p for paragraph, a for anchor, etc.), functional code snippets (e.g. menus, frames, etc.) basic and/or complex interaction with forms and hyperlinks to connect different informative nodes on the World Wide Web. To determine the level of each LO in this tab, we have followed these EU recommendations: Self-assessment Grid for Digital Competences and DigCom Framework.
This is the first extension of the Textual LO by converting this MS Word document into a Portable Document File (PDF) using the "Save as" option from Microsoft Word. To create interaction for CLiL students within this new multi-platform document, we need to create first a questionnaire (e.g. multiple choice) using the open source desktop publishing software Scribus (or similar). After that, we split and/or merge these documents using online applications such as PDFMerge. or PDF Split and Merge to rearrange different chunks of information according to our teaching needs. Or we may even use a flip book maker software for creating basic interactive books for retroconverting deprecated information.
Textual Learning Objects (LO), as its name implies, are didactic contents based on a plain written text to introduce CLiL students to both basic vocabulary and curriculum discourse of the subject. This document (MS Word template) includes: a Table of Contents (ToC - hierarchical content map using descriptive headlines), and abstract (brief summary for helping the reader to determine the main educational purpose(s)), a glossary (alphabetical list (A - Z) of terms from a particular domain of knowledge to aid interpretation of the subject), and an index (a list of words (headwords) and numbers (pointers) to provide easy access to the information in a given document)). Some tools to support the initial development and implementation of these textual LO, may be a concordance software TextSTAT (Textual Analysis for large volumes of information) or the Glossary Maker option available on the Wordsyth website. We have also used our own unit and lesson templates (based on Local Government's recommendations) for developing each LO.
ePortfolios is a collection of Digital Best Practices created by our team members to show the different contents, methods, resources and templates they have used to perform CLiL Learning Objects in this website. Each tab in this toggable menu represents a step in the path we followed from oral and print traditions to web-based environments and online platforms. Within each tab, we find instructional ePortfolios that show the skills and competences of each member for gathering, processing, storing and representing information and communicative interaction both in the classroom and/or in the World Wide Web. By extension, it can be read as an exercise in self-expression or as a reflection on their own learning and teaching competences.
Dr. Jose Saiz
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