Language Collaboratory 2021-2022 series

The Language Collaboratory – Past Events

The pandemic offered us opportunities to deepen our existing collaborations through virtual connections across distance and institutions. In the Fall of 2020, we launched a robust professional development series focusing on three challenges – accessibility, inclusivity, and learner autonomy and agency. Representatives from all five institutions informally addressed one of these challenges from their perspective as a practitioner or researcher and engaged with what we hope has been a stimulating dialog with both their local conversant and the session attendees.

 

Academic Year 2021-2022

Fostering Student Engagement in Online, Face-to-Face, and Hybrid Language Learning Environments: Research and Praxis

Building on a strong foundation from the 2020-2021 academic year, the Language Collaboratory continues in 2021-22 to offer a series of online sessions that provide space for a stimulating dialogue between a discussant from one of the participating institutions and session attendees. This academic year, we focus our discussions on the theme of student engagement. New in this series, three invited discussants who are leading work in the area of student engagement share their expertise with our audience.  

In the series, we hope to provide insights on student engagement from two lenses/perspectives: 1) research-based, and 2) pedagogical and practical. Furthermore, the sessions examines the implications and manifestations of student engagement praxis in and out of the classroom.

Sessions are guided by the following questions:

  • What is engagement and what role does it play in language learning and teaching? 
  • How do language teaching professionals promote and support meaningful engagement of their students? How do these interactions vary based on the course delivery mode and/or format?
  • What are some of the challenges that practitioners encounter when promoting and supporting meaningful engagement of their language students?

Individual sessions address how student engagement relates to and intersects with topics such as corrective feedback, task design, learning achievement, group dynamics, classroom environment, students’ willingness or reticence to speak, and others. Each session is scheduled for 30 minutes, with optional 15-minute additional discussion time.

Fall 2021 Discussion Themes

  • Student Engagement

The Language Collaboratory’s fall sessions foregrounded challenges and opportunities for engaging language learners at multiple levels: with content, with the instructor, with peers, and with the community. Discussants shared a wide range of instructional strategies that have been effective in engaging students. We learned about engagement at the curriculum level, in the classroom, and in digital environments.  We discovered the specific ways in which these strategies impact teaching and learning, and foster greater, more meaningful engagement. 

The wrap-up session of the series provides an opportunity for collaborative learning by foregrounding questions that remain and sharing ideas on how the challenges we continue to face with student engagement may promote innovation going forward. Participants will be invited to share takeaways from the sessions, difficulties and successes with student engagement, and crowdsource innovative solutions.

Schedule

  • Monday, October 11
    • Social Annotation While Socially Distanced: Using Hypothes.is in the (Virtual) Language Classroom
    • Daniel Haataja and Stephanie Anderson, University of Minnesota; Session Recording

Spring 2022 Discussion Themes

  • Student Engagement

In the Spring 2022, we will expand on our fall discussions on the theme of student engagement. In addition, the Spring series will offer opportunities for peer-to-peer learning with the inclusion of two new session formats: un-webinars and swapshops.

We hope to provide insights on student engagement from two lenses/perspectives: 1) research-based, and 2) pedagogical and practical. Furthermore, the sessions will examine the implications and manifestations of student engagement praxis in and out of the classroom.

Individual sessions will address how student engagement relates to and intersects with topics such as corrective feedback, task design, learning achievement, group dynamics, classroom environment, students’ willingness or reticence to speak, and others.

Schedule

  • Thursday, February 17
    • Understanding the Impact of Course Flexibility: Too Much or Too Little?
    • Adolfo Carrillo Cabello, University of Minnesota, Caitlin Cornell, Michigan State University, and Jana Martin, University of Wisconsin-Madison