Literature Review for Digital Pedagogy

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Published: March, 2022
DOI: 10.21125/inted.2022.0396
Written by : Ioana Mudure-Iacob, Babes-Bolyai University (ROMANIA) and Carmen-Narcisa Albert, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca (ROMANIA)

Enhancing the development of speaking skills in remote learning formats has become an essential feature of designing interactive learning both synchronously and asynchronously. With a plethora of digital apps and tools at hand, ESP teachers need to customise specific language skills acquisition in such a way as to engage students in paving autonomous learning paths, while also facilitating collaborative contexts of practice. The aim of this study is to analyze how the development of ESP speaking skills can be enhanced using Flipgrid as both asynchronous and collaborative digital tool, as well as how using multimodality and netiquette in Flipgrid-based learning can support the development of career-oriented skills. By embedding Flipgrid as a gamified sequence in ESP classes, as well as encouraging self- and peer-assessment using Flipgrid (spark a discussion, mixtape features), there are various affordances to consider in the design and practice of ESP speaking tasks. The current study also investigates how learners and teachers perceive the use of Flipgrid as speaking skills enhancement, from language learning empowerment, to generating ipsative assessment and collaborative portfolio design.

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Published: 12-2/2019, Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education – JoLIE, 12(2), 65-78
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2019.12.2.5
Written by : Ana Maria Hopârtean, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract : The paper analyses the extent to which self-evaluation as a metacognitive strategy can help students lower their anxiety in English-speaking examinations and achieve better performance.
After giving some theoretical guidelines regarding cognitive and metacognitive strategies, the paper takes a more practical approach. The study involves testing B1- and B2-level students to establish whether self-evaluation has an impact on speaking exam performance. Students were given a questionnaire to establish whether they feel anxious before exams; those who have a tendency toward examination anxiety were included in the study. The experimental group was consistently taught how to use self-evaluation after speaking tasks during one semester, while the control group was not.

 Keywords: Self-evaluation; Metacognition; Anxiety; Speaking examinations.

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Published: ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS APULENSIS. SERIES PHILOLOGICA, no. 21, issue 2 / 2020
Written by : Alexandra COTOC Universitatea „Babeş-Bolyai” din Cluj-Napoca

Abstract : Collaborative editing of google drive files constitutes a new and useful method of organising, structuring and acquiring academic content in a dynamic and interactive way. This ensures an up-to-date way of note taking, allowing students to become active participants in the teaching-learning process by providing them with the digital medium in which they can collaborate with their colleagues and teacher. It also allows them to critically evaluate the content of the course under focus. Students can signal to the instructor not only the most relevant aspects to them, but also the problematic and challenging ones. Moreover, the final result is a collaborative notebook which is an efficient tool for learning and formative assessment for a lesson, unit or entire course/seminar. Students are motivated by hands-on, attractive and challenging activities. Students are more motivated when they can choose the material that they have to study and when they are involved in tasks which are relevant to them and to their future profession. As such, this study focuses on the collaborative notebook edited by the first-year students majoring in English at the Faculty of Letters. The notebook was edited in ten days at the beginning of the second semester of the academic year 2020. Given the academic context caused by Covid-19, the collaborative notebook was a trigger for the online activity performed the entire semester. The students received the active role of selecting relevant content related to the second unit of the seminar in English Morphology: The Noun. Students were asked to edit together a google drive file and they performed this activity for ten days under the guidance of the language instructor who provided constant feedback and addressed the issues selected by the students. Besides being a powerful tool which allows students to collaborate with their peers, the notebook also performed the function of a needs analysis at the micro-level of a seminar’s unit, identifying the weak points and the strong points, but also highlighting the students’ interest. Moreover, the collaborative work resulted in obtaining a notebook containing the essential aspects related to the topic the Noun: a useful learning tool, but also exam material. In this study, we are going to analyse important aspects of this collaborative notebook and its utility value for the teaching-learning process in general and the English Morphology seminar in particular. Finally, we are also going to present the students’ perception and attitude in relation to this activity.

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Published: Proceedings of the 16th International Scientific Conference "eLearning and Software for Education" Bucharest, April 23-24, 2020, volum 3, Carol I National Defence University Publishing House, pp. 445-450
DOI: 10.12753/2066-026X-20-229
Written by : Alexandra COTOC Universitatea „Babeş-Bolyai” din Cluj-Napoca

Abstract : Today's warp-speed world and new technologies have shaped our students and their learning behaviour. As such, they are motivated by relevant, up-to-date, interactive classes that contain collaboration and digital devices. In this context, the use of the communicative approach and the blend of offline and online activities are fundamental in creating and maintaining efficient teaching strategies and methods. Our study focuses on the integration of these two elements in an English Vocabulary and Grammar practical course given to first year students majoring in English at the Faculty of Letters. The first part of the study will focus on the presentation of the specificity of the course: targeted group, duration, content and requirements, the students' personal and professional profile and the teacher's role. The second part of the article will introduce some useful digital tools and offline and online practices that we used with our students, providing some concrete examples and samples produced by the students during classroom activities. The last part of the article will give an insight into our students' perception, feedback and input at the end of the course. Our study analyses the design of a practical course and the students' perspective on it with the aim of tailoring and adjusting the educational context to suit our students' needs and expectations and also to improve our students' language skills and academic performance. Moreover, we also aim at producing autonomous learners and develop transferable skills that our students can use not only in other courses and seminars, but also in their future profession as language and communication specialists.

 Keywords: communicative approach, new technologies, English vocabulary, grammar

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Published: Learning in Language Teaching // Technology and Innovation in Learning, Teaching and Education : Second International Conference, TECH-EDU 2020, Vila Real, Portugal, December 2-4, 2020, Proceedings / Editors Arsénio Reis et al. Cham : Springer, 2021.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-73988-1_31.
Written by : Giedrė Valūnaitė-Oleškevičienė, Liudmila Mockienė & Viktorija Mažeikienė 

Abstract : Teaching English at the university level often focuses on the professional areas, i.e. English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The focal point of ESP is the language that is specific to a particular domain and is full of context-bound lexical units used in the classroom environment to operate certain curricular concepts. Nevertheless, based on numerous evidence scholars have come to a conclusion that receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (writing and speaking) are mastered unevenly in ESP courses. Occasionally students cannot be provided with enough opportunities to start a conversation in the classroom environment. Collaborative learning supported by technology may seem like a solution that improves communication and interaction among students. Classroom interaction has impact on the social, academic and cognitive development of students. Engagement in group activities allows students to practice content-specific language in a meaningful context. Through deliberations and discussions, students have the opportunity to express the key concepts in different words that they all understand thus making their study process easier. Learners also link the newly received linguistic knowledge with the knowledge they have already acquired. Group work that involves discussions improve cognitive processes through challenging and thought-provoking exchange of thoughts and ideas. Learners need to respond immediately, formulate their thoughts and ideas. Moreover, group discussions contribute to greater motivation due to similarity to real life situations in which opinions are formed and shared. In terms of group dynamics, learners concentrate on interaction with their peers, develop social skills (such as expressing opinions, active listening, encouraging, etc.) that also has positive effect on their interaction with the teacher. In summary, teachers can greatly enhance learners’ competencies in the ESP classroom by applying Technology-Supported Collaborative Learning (TSCL).

Keywords

• Languages for specific purposes (LSP)
• Technology-supported collaborative learning (TSCL)
• Social skills
• Group dynamics
• Language skills

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Published: Lingua. Language and Culture 1:76-90.
Written by : Ioana Mudure-Iacob, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract : Business English teaching and learning requires customised assessment mechanisms, perhaps even more so in the current digital format, as digitally native learners call for a complex array of expectations in terms of language usability. Gamified learning experiences can serve as multifunctional instruments of blending formative assessment and entertainment along learning sequences, engaging learners in an enriching challenge that both motivates them in the pursuit of language skills and grants them autonomy in collaborative tasks. Learners’ use of idioms and collocations in the Business English framework can be tailored through digital breakout room tasks, which allow for a mechanism of formative assessment and interactive learning in a creative instructional format. The gamified filter serves the purpose of enabling students to self-test their Business English skills in problemsolving digital scenarios, while at the same time, extending the teachers’ assessment role towards a more entertaining format. The opportunities and challenges of having to break out of digital escape rooms, particularly using idioms and specific phrases in vocabulary and speaking-based tasks, can pave the way to more engaging learning methods.

Keywords : Gamified assessment; digital escape rooms; Business idioms; collaborative learning; autonomy.

Autonomous Digital Language Learning in Higher Education. The DIAL4U Erasmus+Project
Vol. 17 / 2022 – International Conference on Virtual Learning

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Published: January 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58503/icvl-v17y202211
Written by : Ioana MUDURE-IACOB, Alexandra COTOC, Ana Maria HOPARTEAN, Veronica-Diana MICLE, Daniel ANDRONACHE

Abstract: This paper aims at documenting some important aspects related to the process of teaching foreign languages in an online/hybrid university environment in Romania. The focus is on describing the online reality of foreign language instruction in Romania, sharing information on a series of observed challenges that language instructors and learners have had/need to focus on, and comparing and contrasting analysis of a selection of answers provided by teachers in Higher Education (HE) on various aspects connected to digital language instruction. The paper draws on theoretical research in the field of online/hybrid education, using the DIAL4U (Digital pedagogy to develop Autonomy, mediate and certify Lifewide and Lifelong Language Learning for (European) Universities) project to collect and analyse relevant data regarding the language instructors’ perception on the use of digital apps and tools in the teaching process. Emphasis is also placed on how teachers acknowledge and use metacognitive and face management strategies as instruments of digital pedagogy. The research was based on a questionnaire which provided valuable qualitative and quantitative data. The results focus on the development of digital skills pre- and post-pandemic and preferences for certain resources, tools and apps, while also correlating these tendencies with metacognitive and pragmatic politeness strategies. The potential outcomes would be to identify creative solutions and design open educational resources to effectively teach online/hybrid language classes.

Keywords: online/hybrid learning, learning foreign languages, Higher Education (HE), Open Educational Resources

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Visual Literacy and Digital Communication. The Role of Media in New Educational Practices, Granada: Editorial Comares, 2022, pp. 117-139.

Published: 09-09, 2022
ISBN: 978-84-1369-424-5 (CAPITOL/STUDIU)
Written by : Alexandra Cotoc, Raluca Pop

This paper investigates students’ attitudes towards using several digital apps in teaching online a Norwegian didactics course to third-year students and an English theoretical grammar course to first-year students. Both courses were taught online during the Covid-19 pandemic. The current research took place over a time span ranging from the 28th of September 2020 to the 17th of January 2021. The same questionnaire was applied in January 2021 to all participants. In total, 172 respondents provided valid answers on the following areas: students’ perception of their digital skills and the language instructor’s digital skills, students’ likes, dislikes and motivation to use digital tools, the problematic aspects and limitations of online teaching, the learning apps and resources used in the courses under focus and the transversal skills developed. The findings were favourable regarding the extent to which the learning apps facilitated content understanding presented during the courses.

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Published: 2020-09-30
DOI: 10.24193/subbphilo.2020.3.19
Written by : Alexandra COTOC, Dorin CHIRA.

Abstract : Analysis of First Year Students’ Evaluation Data Regarding the Shift to eLearning. A Case in Point: The English Morphology Seminars. In the remote learning setting of the second semester of the academic year 2019-2020, students suddenly had access to the academic context only in a digital format. As such, content, academic instruction, peers and instructors were all part of an impromptu teaching-learning process. This study explores the relation between students and technology before/during and after the second semester. We also look at the students’ perception of a particular form of academic instruction, namely a seminar, and a particular topic, English Morphology. In order to obtain a valid analysis, we also present our students’ academic profile, their perception and attitude towards their fields of study (Philology) and towards the ideal (online) language instructor.

Keywords: Higher Education, English Grammar, eLearning, students' perception

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Published: January 2016
DOI:10.22190/JTESAP1603631S
Written by : Eglė Selevičienė - Mykolas Romeris University

Abstract: Research to date acknowledges the efficiency of concept maps as a pedagogy to facilitate meaningful learning, yet in this digital era, there has been a growing interest in computer-supported concept map building and its educational benefits. IHMC CmapTools is a software tool that empowers users to build their knowledge using concept maps, to share and to publish them. The aim of this investigation is to report on the results of the analysis of the use of CmapTools as a potential pedagogical approach for teaching and learning in different educational contexts, including the studies of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) at the university. The relevant literature used for this investigation was identified by searching several multidisciplinary and subject-related online databases. To this end, 23 selected publications have been analysed. The present investigation discusses the concept, the features and theoretical underpinnings of CmapTools, as well as reports on the research regarding its educational value and use in different educational contexts, including ESP studies at the university.

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Published: Astra Salvensis, IX (2021), no. 17, 209- 217.
Written by : Ioana MUDURE-IACOB Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract: The assessment of language skills in the current online learning format entangles a complex process of also evaluating multiple competences and abilities (digital, literacy, visual, technological). If the digitalization of learning processes has become a stringent need nowadays, educators must also focus on adapting the mechanism of evaluation so as to be more inclusive, engaging and flexible. Gamification appears to be one potentially suitable instrument of delivering both teaching and assessment methods to learners who are coping more and more with disengagement and the lack of interaction. Digital escape rooms, as a complex version of gamified activities in ESP classes, provide a valid alternative to facilitating learning and assessment, while also granting learners the stimuli to make practical use of the acquired language (and soft) skills in customized and interactive problemsolving contexts. More than boosting motivation among students and extending autonomy through selfassessment and collaborative work, digital escape rooms can still be considered trailblazers in the field of higher education ES(A)P teaching and learning. Exploring the conundrums of these digital instruments, with both opportunities and challenges that might occur, can serve the purpose of understanding how gamification can support the pursuit of language skill acquisition, while for teachers, it can pave the way for organizing instructional and assessment content in a user-friendly format.

Keywords: gamification, digital escape rooms, engagement, formative assessment, learner autonomy.

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Le rôle du jeu numérique (gaming) pour l'apprentissage des langues maternelles et étrangères – Objectifs, disciplines, méthodes et technologies.
Games and Gaming for Native and Foreign Language Learning: Aims, Disciplines, Methods and Technologies 

Published: Alsic Apprentissage des Langues et Systèmes d’Information et de Communication Vol. 25, n° 1 | 2022
DOI: 10.4000/alsic.6212 
Written by : Kay Berkling, Roger Gilabert Guerrero et Eva Schaeffer-Lacroix

Editorial :
Kay Berkling, Roger Gilabert Guerrero et Eva Schaeffer-Lacroix
An Overview to Games and Gaming for Native and Foreign Language Learning
https://journals.openedition.org/alsic/6160

Research :
Mireille Rodi, Nathalie Dherbey Chapuis, Thierry Geoffre et Lionel Alvarez
Faciliter l'accès à l'apprentissage du français pour tous au sein de parcours adaptables de jeux éducatifs numériques
https://journals.openedition.org/alsic/6065

Nadine Pflaumer
Effekte der App Phontasia auf die Lese- und Rechtschreibleistungen von Zweitklässlern
https://journals.openedition.org/alsic/5913

Hannah Kermes and Kay Berkling
An Attempt at Describing Learning Curves for a Complex Sub-Task in Reading Acquisition
https://journals.openedition.org/alsic/6097

Laurence Schmoll, Joséphine Rémon, Pascale Manoïlov, Anissa Hamza et Élodie Oursel
À la croisée du développement de la compétence numérique et de la compétence en langue étrangère : étude préliminaire pour le développement d'un outil ludopédagogique pour les 4-7 ans
https://journals.openedition.org/alsic/5995

Stelene Narainen
L'harmonie entre l'authenticité et la fiction dans un jeu sérieux
https://journals.openedition.org/alsic/6084

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Médiations & Médiatisations No 11, October 2022

Published: 2022-10-21
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52358/mm.vi11

Editorial : 
Have places dedicated to learning and teaching become educational hubs? - Thierry Gobert

Research articles : 

Private sphere, school sphere and porosities of digital uses as revealers of social and educational hubs? - Jean-François Céci

Social and educational hub: Training and transformation of subjects - Appropriation and construction of competences - Latifa Rebah 

CurriQvideo : A tool for thinking about the educational hub in pre-service teacher training – The example of enhancement of natural and cultural heritage in Moral and Civic Education - Laurent Heiser, Audrey Bonjour, Christine Faller, Didier Mouren

Social hub construction and students' training in pedagogical engineering - Olivier Perlot, Bertrand Mocquet 

The challenges of gamified digital teaching platforms - Platform Pix : A survey of use - Michel Lavigne 

Personal Learning Environments for the creation of social hubs - Urith Ramírez-Mera, Victoria I. Marin 

Practitioners' articles :

For an integrated educational hub in the university : Organizational and communicative issues - Rachid El Ganbour 

Discussions and debates :

Educational hubs and social educational hubs: Emerging solutions - Thierry Gobert 

Personal accounts and interviews :

The International Photojournalism Center: A cultural social hub for media education – Interview with Jean-Luc Soret - Thierry Gobert