EUProject: MICaLL

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EU-Project MICaLL
Moderating Intercultural Collaboration Language
Learning
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The MICaLL Project

• Socrates Project / Comenius 2.1
• October 2004 - October 2007
• Goal Innovation of the Initial Training and
  Professional Development of Language Teachers
• Current partnership 6 Countries, 15
  Organisations

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Development of Teacher Competences in

• Promoting intercultural communicative competence
• Design and management of international
  collaborative curriculum projects

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Results Deliverables

• Course Project Modules Pre- In-service
• A web based portal site tools for collaborative
  language learning
• An organisational structure for sustainable
  cooperation (school e-twinning)

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Why MICaLL? Inspiration Contexts
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Why MICaLL?

• EU-policies Instruments- Education and
  Training 2010- Action Plan for languages -
  CEFR, ELP
• Teacher Training- professional competences
  development- experiential, workplace-based
  learning- collaboration with schools
  theory/practice

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Why MICaLL? Call Pedagogy

• - Technology 2nd generation web tools easy
  access / more interaction
• - Constructivism, Task content based
  approaches

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Pedagogical Approach to Teacher Training
(Source Efa)
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Wiki
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LanguageQuest
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Why MICaLL? Call Pedagogy

• ICC classroom constraints The problem of
  teaching intercultural communication in the
  classroom is that it almost impossible to model
  experiential learning in role-plays. Internet
  projects where they have to co-operate, to work
  on a common goal with learners from other
  cultures could eventually replace role-plays and
  give the students the chance to experience
  authentic co-operation. Vogel (2001)

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Why MICaLL? Call Pedagogy

• Motivation classroom constraints Only
  through international activities for which the
  foreign language needs to be used on a daily
  basis in natural conversational (including
  virtual / internet based) settings can the
  students be intrinsically motivated to keep using
  the language in the school setting. Kees de
  Bot quoted in (Marsh, 2002, p.31)

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Why MICaLL? Language Teacher Education

• Current generation of student teachers has not
  witnessed relevant model teacher behaviour
• EU-Conference 2004 Improving Language
  Education Theme Teacher Professionalism
• Closer cooperation between TT and schools
• adoption of innovative teaching methods (e.g. use
  of media, international exchanges)
• more cooperation and networking between teacher
  training organisations
• promotion of life long learning and participation
  in in-service training (e.g. by using e-learning)

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Teacher Ed. Curriculum Module

• collaborative e-projects task-based CALL
• formats planned so far- LanguageQuest-
  Weblog- Computer Mediated Dialogue (Chat,IM,
  MOO)- Tandem approach

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Organisation of Project Activities
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The MICaLL Portal Site

• Content Management System
• Based on Plone
• Open Source / Open Standards

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Features of The Portal Site

• Member / Community based
• Role-related differentiation in rights and
  available functionality

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MICaLL BlogPages
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The Portal Site (2)

• Features of Workspaces for (student) teachers
  trainers
• - editors for task formats LanguageQuest
• - communication publication tools Weblog,
  Forum, Chat, Doc etc.
• - virtual class- project rooms

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MICaLL Workspace
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Planning

• 2004 -2005- Professional development of team
  schoolbased mentors - Portal website. Version
  1.0
• 2005 2006- Module Content development- Pilots
  / School try-outs
• 2006 2007- Production of Handbook In-service
  course - Projects in Teacher Ed. and Schools-
  Portal website. Version 2.0

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EU-Project MICaLL
Towards a Pedagogy for Network-based Language
Learning
You are cordially invited to participate in our
pilots and projects!