Collective and self-directed learning: an experimental multimedia training project for future language teachers
François Mangenot & Katerina Zourou
Université Stendhal-Grenoble 3, France
Summary in English
Many authors consider the ability to work collectively as an important factor in
autonomous learning. Another related factor is the management of the learning
situation by learners themselves (i.e. self-direction). These two dimensions of
autonomy will be looked at through the presentation of an experimental
French-Australian project “Le français en (première) ligne”, which consisted in
having French students in a M.A. program in French as a foreign language design
multimedia activities for Australian students, beginners in French. The French
student teachers carried out their collective work in several ways: students
worked in pairs to create web-based resources, with an extensive tutorial
feedback on ICT, and the entire class communicated about the created resources.
The theoretical framework and the experimental context are presented in section
1 of this article. The chosen methodology is case study, based on a number of
ecological data (mainly students' multimedia production, ethnographic
observation, interviews, and questionnaires). Data analysis was conducted
concentrating on the two issues of self-directed learning and collaboration, and
their potential for teacher training in multimedia. In section 2, the authors
then consider some of the effects of self-directed learning within the course.
The results show that this learning mode augments motivation, but only if enough
tutoring is provided. Subsequently, in section 3, the paper attempts to examine
which collective dynamics have benefited individual learning processes (or not).
An analysis of several modes of collective work was conducted, showing that half
of the student pairs really collaborated while the others only cooperated,
sometimes in a well-balanced mode (observed among two pairs), sometimes in an
unbalanced mode (observed among two other pairs). There was no collaboration
among the whole class but a positive competition was observed. Having Australian
students as a target-group helps to make the multimedia production meaningful,
especially in its cultural dimensions. Finally, in section 4, the authors
propose a global assessment of the course, showing that the French students,
although they had low computer literacy initially, feel capable, at the end of
the course, of integrating ICT into a curriculum for French as a foreign
language.