Join us in our summer series of professional learning webinars for language educators!
Digital Multimodal Composition in Language Education
The call to broaden our understanding of literacy is not new. Over the past 20 years, scholars have been calling for the need to extend the range of literacy practices by bringing new forms of representation and communication, especially those of the digital age, into the L2 classroom. This call reflects a view of communicative competence which today is understood as multimodal communicative competence. The multimodal turn in language education is an outcome of the dramatic change in the communicative landscape of our digital age in which language is co-deployed with other semiotic resources and meaning is made multimodally. This means that in order to meet the current needs of L2 learners, the curriculum cannot remain just language-focused and the teaching and learning of a language must go beyond print to include both print and screen in order to prepare learners to view multimodal texts critically and communicate effectively through multimodal representations.
The webinars are free to attend, but participants must register in advance. Participants who attend these events live can request a certificate of attendance for 1.5 hours of continuing education for each webinar they attend. In addition, live attendees will be contacted after each webinar with information about how to apply for a digital badge.
Register for any combination of these webinars!
Infographics: An Emerging DMC Genre in Language Classrooms
Webinar presented by Mimi Li (Texas A&M University, Commerce)
Friday, May 31, 2024, 10-11:30 AM Arizona (UTC-7)
To see when it begins where you are, visit: https://tinyurl.com/4k33hdu4.
Abstract:
The infographic, as an emerging DMC genre, has been increasingly utilized in various domains, such as education, media, and healthcare. In this webinar, Dr. Li draws upon her own research and personal experiences to explore the multifaceted role of infographics within language classrooms. The webinar begins with the introduction to infographics, including a definition, various types, as well as the rationale behind their integration into language education. The speaker then illustrates diverse applications and purposes of infographics within language learning environments and details two specific tasks she conducted in different contexts: 1) EFL medical students’ creation of infographics addressing health topics using Visme (Li & Pham, 2023); 2) TESOL graduate students’ production of infographics based on class readings using Canva (Li & Zhang, 2024). In particular, the speaker introduces the concept of visual metadiscourse and elucidates how composers utilize various visual devices to enhance the comprehensibility and engagement of the infographic posters in her study. Afterwards, Dr. Li discusses how to implement and assess infographic tasks in language classrooms, followed by Q&A. This webinar serves as a valuable opportunity for attendees to expand their understanding of infographics and gain insights into effective pedagogical practices for implementing infographics in their instructional contexts.
➣Click here for further details and to view the recording.
Reassessing Feedback on HL/L2 Digital Writing
Webinar presented by Idoia Elola (Texas Tech University) and Ana Oskoz (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), co-authors of L2 Digital Writing Literacies: Directions for Classroom Practice (Equinox Press).
Thursday, June 20, 2024, 10-11:30 AM Arizona (UTC-7)
To see when it begins where you are, visit: https://tinyurl.com/4yjyme87.
Abstract:
Emerging digital tools have been associated with multimodal digital genres (e.g., digital storytelling, Wikipedia entries, blog entries) and have expanded our understanding of heritage and second language (HL/L2) writing. The written mode is no longer viewed in isolation; rather, it is now often seen as a complement to or as complemented by other semiotic resources (e.g., images, sound) that help HL/L2 learners communicate meaning. Despite the increasing presence of multimodal learning tasks in the HL/L2 classroom, instructors often have not modified how they provide feedback, continuing to focus on language development —replicating the feedback behaviors modeled by non-digital writing assignments—rather than on all the components of multimodal texts. When providing digital feedback, however, it is essential to consider all the semiotic resources included in the HL/L2 text. Determining how to provide feedback, therefore, involves recognizing the complexity of factors that affect feedback choice and use (e.g., what linguistic aspect to focus on, especially when students write in multilingual or translingual manners); the extent to which multimodal resources are integrated successfully; the purpose of the HL/L2 writing task; the type of digital genre; and the (local and/or global) audiences.
In this talk, Drs. Elola and Oskoz present theoretical approaches (e.g., social-semiotic theory and activity theory) that relate to digital feedback. The presentation will focus on providing a rationale for expanding the use of feedback to cover the linguistic and nonlinguistic components encountered in a multimodal text. Aware of the importance of the affordances of various digital tools, they will also address the potential for novel and sometimes complementary modes of feedback using different tools (e.g., oral and written feedback using Screencast-O-Matic). They will also present and discuss an example of a rubric that can guide the type of feedback that we, as instructors, can offer in digital multimodal texts. Providing (digital) feedback that considers the digital multimodal genres and tools that we have at our disposal allows us to address multiliterate and multilingual writers’ needs and to guide them to explore their voices in a dynamic digital world.
➣Click here for further details and the link to register.
Real-world Tasks to Develop Digital Citizenship and Literacy in Language Learning
Webinar presented by Marie-Josée Hamel (University of Ottawa)
Friday, September 6, 2024,10-11:30 AM Arizona (UTC-7)
To see when it begins where you are, visit: https://tinyurl.com/mt4bdyew.
Abstract:
Engagement in real-world tasks provides language learners with opportunities to immerse themselves in authentic online communication, exercise active citizenship, and apply their digital literacy skills practically. This approach facilitates the development of the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes for effective digital citizenship and appropriate language usage within genuine contexts.
In this webinar, Dr. Hamel will introduce a pedagogical framework (Ollivier et al., 2021) that promotes active, participatory, transformative, and reflective learning through tasks conducted on open digital platforms. Recognizing the significance of social and interpersonal dynamics in the learning process, it emphasizes the critical role of interpersonal interactions in facilitating meaningful learning experiences. This framework originates from an ECML project called eLANG Citizen project (www.ecml.at/elangcitizen). In a view to develop sustainable competencies as well as promote a safe, ethical and interactive engagement on Web 2.0 sites, the eLANG Citizen project has been working on developing theoretical and practical resources that language instructors can use to focus on digital literacies and digital citizenship in the language classroom. The main objective of the project is to “help learners become digital citizens and develop the capacity to use digital media critically, creatively and autonomously in several languages”.
A major part of the webinar will be dedicated to defining the concept of real-world tasks (RWT) and to the demonstration of various RWT from the online resources developed by the eLANG Citizen team. Participants will be invited to try them out and then imagine how they could integrate some of these RWT into their own context of teaching.
Finally, this webinar will give an opportunity to participants to think creatively and critically about the concept of digital citizenship in the context of language education and specifically how it can be operationalized through RWT putting at the forefront authentic social interactions.
➣Click here for further details and the link to register.
Access our YouTube playlist for recordings from previous professional learning webinars, or visit individual event pages to see recordings and other resources shared by the presenters at those events.