Presentation at Aarhus University Denmark in February 2013

1. EXPLORING THE COMPETENCES OF THE TELECOLLABORATIVE
TEACHER
Robert O’Dowd
University of León, Spain
robert.odowd@unileon.es
www.uni-collaboration.eu
Twitter: Robodowd Skype: robodowd
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2. Plan for this morning
• Outline what me mean by ‘telecollaboration’ or ‘online intercultural
exchange’
• Explore an example telecollaborative exchange at university level
• Identify some of the critical incidents which emerged for the teachers
running the exchange
• Present a model of telecollaborative competence for teachers
• Outline how the INTENT project group is helping to train teachers in
telecollaborative competencies…
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3. Student mobility in Europe
In 2020, at least 20% of those graduating in the European Higher Education
Area should have had a study or training period abroad.
(Communiqué of the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for
Higher Education, Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009)
But what happens to the remaining 80%?
http://ec.europa.eu/education/doc/2008/mobilityreport_en.pdf

4. Telecollaboration: Online International Learning from
the Classroom
• In Language Learning & Technology (2003) Belz defines the
main characteristics of FL telecollaboration:
• ‘institutionalized, electronically mediated, intercultural
communication under the guidance of a languacultural
expert (i.e., teacher) for the purposes of foreign language
learning and the development of intercultural competence’
(2003: 2).
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5. How does Telecollaboration contribute to Foreign Language
Education?
Research studies show its value for development of:
• Learner autonomy (O’Rourke, 2007)
• Linguistic competence (Belz and Kinginger, 2003; Ware and O’Dowd, 2008)
• Intercultural competence (Mueller-Hartmann, 2000; O’Dowd, 2003; Ware,
2005)
• Online literacy skills (Guth and Helm, 2010; Hauck, 2007)
• Independent and informal learning - online fan communities (Thorne et al.,
2009), SpeakApps tools (http://www.speakapps.org/)
Success at primary and secondary levels through networks such as etwinning and
ePals.

6. A Practical Example: Connecting classes in Spain,
UK, Germany and Israel
Coven
try
Kobl
enz
Leó
n
Tel
Avi
v

7. A Practical Example: Connecting classes in Spain, UK, Germany
and Israel
Number of students participating:
Spain: 90-100
Germany: 160
Israel: 60
UK: 100
Timeline: Late October – Mid-December 2012
Tools used:
Moodle platform
Blogger
Tasks:…

8. Task 1: Create a blog to present aspects of your local
culture and provide feedback

9. Task 2: Carrying out group interviews based on cross-cultural
themes of interest

10. Task 3: Use online content to create academic essays and
presentations

11. Your thoughts….
• What are the particular skills and attitudes which a teacher will
need to take part in such an exchange?
• In other words, what makes a telecollaborative teacher different
to other CALL teachers?
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12. The Challenges of Telecollaboration for Teachers-
Critical Incident 1
• E-mail from a coordinating teacher when the tasks/timetable
/platform had been agreed weeks before:
– “How would you feel if I asked all your students to give
feedback to my students on a grammar project they are
creating in Mahara in October?”
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13. The Challenges of Telecollaboration for Teachers-
Critical Incident 2
• E-mail from a coordinating teacher during the blog task…
– Hi Everyone
Task one is going well with my students who are really
getting into it. However just to let you know, for the second
week running we have experienced problems with the
Moodle site which just crashes at the beginning of our
session (at about 12.00 German time). This is a real problem
as we can't continue and the students get frustrated....
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14. The Challenges of Telecollaboration for Teachers-
Critical Incident 3
• E-mail from the Israeli teacher when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out…
– Interestingly, yesterday I had to deal with a few upset students in a blog
group who were responding to a comment [from Germany] regarding the
war situation, which they felt was insensitive. .
• The German comment:
– …. I can understand that the rockets are very scary and i'm very glad that we in
Germany don´t have war like you. And i think Israel isn't alone in charge for this
conflict. But can you understand the people in Gaza? Is it ok to keep these
people there like in prison ? And why it isn't possible or why it´s so complicated
to find a solution for all the people in your region? And why the people
especially the young don't do something for the international understanding
between these cultures?
So it´s time so sit together, talk and finish this war. And both parties must grant
facilities. Greetings from Koblenz…
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15. The Challenges of Telecollaboration for Teachers-
Critical Incident 4 (intercultural faux pas)
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16. The Challenges of Telecollaboration for Teachers-
Critical Incident 4 (intercultural faux pas)
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17. The Challenges of Telecollaboration for Teachers-
Critical Incident 5
• E-mail from a coordinating teacher explaining lack of
participation from her students:
– I wanted to write to you to explain why we are currently the
'black sheep' in the project.
...some of my colleagues have not been very supportive of
this initiative and I needed them on board because they
were seeing students in smaller groups and providing
tutorial advice to them. I was speaking to XXXX about this
earlier today and she told me it had happened to her as well
on some telecollaboration projects.
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18. What differentiates Telecollaborative
Competence from ‘Traditional’ Online
Competence for FL Teachers?
Telecollaboration is inherently ‘intercultural’ – both in practice and in its
underlying pedagogical principles
The telecollaborative teacher is not alone – usually two or more teachers
working together from different cultural and institutional contexts - requires of the
teacher keenly refined intercultural skills and attitudes of intercultural competence
Telecollaboration tends to be a long-term, complex activity which permeates the
whole FL course – themes, tasks, classroom interaction etc.
In telecollaborative set-ups, teachers need to be able to react quickly to emerging
problems, issues and new learning opportunities.

19. The Telecollaborative Teacher…
Can negotiate effectively with the partner-
teacher the structure and organisational
technicalities of the exchange which take
into account both institutional contexts Has a willingness to look for compromise
(calendars etc.) as well as the needs and with the partner-teacher in relation to task
interests of both sets of participants design, exchange structure and other
issues
Can integrate seamlessly and effectively the content
and themes of the telecollaborative exchange into
his/her contact classes before, during and after the
exchange itself.
has knowledge of the common causes of organisational
and intercultural problems in online exchanges and can
apply a series of techniques and strategies to deal with
these problems

20. Organisational
Model of
Electronic Telecollaborative
Pedagogical
Literacies Competence for
Teachers
Intercultural
/Socio-affective
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21. Developing TC Competence among University Practitioners
INTENT (Integrating Telecollaborative Networks Into Foreign
Language Higher Education )
Financed By The European Commission - Lifelong Learning
Programme
 Objectives:
 Carry out a survey of
telecollaboration in European
universities
 Develop a platform and set of
tools to overcome barriers
and facilitate
telecollaboration in
universities
 Hold a series of workshops
around Europe and an
international conference on
telecollaboration
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22. INTENT Activities
 Report on Telecollaborative activities in European universities
 University Language Classes Collaborating Online
A Report on the Integration of Telecollaborative Networks in European Universities
http://intent-project.eu/sites/default/files/Telecollaboration_report_Final_Oct2012.pdf
 Training Workshops
 The Italian workshop will be held in collaboration with the Centro Linguistico di Ateneo at the
University of Padova, Italy on 21-22 March 2013.
 The French workshop will be held at the University of Grenoble III, France on 5 April 2013.
 The Polish workshop will take place as a joint event with the PL-CALL Conference, in Warsaw on 9-10
May, 2013.
 The UK workshop organised by the Open University will take place in London, UK on 18 October 2013.
 http://intent-project.eu/?q=node/35
 A platform for finding partners, resources and tools
 www.uni-collaboration.eu
 An international conference on Telecollaboration at university level:
 12-14 February 2014 at the University of León, Spain

23. www.uni-collaboration.eu
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24. If you choose ‘classes’ then you’ll be able to search or browse a list of
classes which are interested in taking part in online exchange
projects...

25. In the ‘Tasks’ tab in the top menu bar, you’ll find collections of tasks
and task sequences (i.e. collections of interconnected tasks) to use in
your online exchange projects…

26. Click on the ‘Training’ tab in the top menu bar- Here you’ll find
accounts of different exchanges (‘Sample Projects’) and information on
how to set up and run an exchange (‘Training modules’)

27. When you choose a ‘sample project’, click on the different tabs to read
about the project, the tasks it used and how educators and students
evaluated the project…

28. Tak!
• Contact and suggestions
welcome:
– robert.odowd@unileon.es
• Read the INTENT Report on
Telecollaboration in Europe:
– http://www.scoop.it/t/intent-
project-news
– Join our platform for
university collaboration and
networking:
– www.uni-collaboration.eu
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