Schedule: 2009-09-10 (15:45 - 16:30)
Parallel Session 5 (Room A-5)

Title: ESP for busy college students: is the blend of mobile and online learning the answer.
Authors: Aga Palalas
Abstract: Imagine you are an immigrant, studying at a college, taking care of the family, working part-time and struggling with language barriers which distance you from the first real job in your new home. How can you optimize your learning outcomes in the college program and secure a job commensurate with your qualifications? What type of language supports would meet your needs and lifestyle? Are mobile and online technologies appropriate in this particular context?

What combination of instructional design and delivery media will best produce the desired learning outcome for the specific group of learners? Research conducted at a community college in Toronto indentified a significant gap between students’ language proficiency, the requirements of the program from which students were about to graduate, and the language requirements of the related workplace. Specific language skills and socio-cultural competencies had to be packaged into a language support solution in a delivery format matching students’ needs and their demanding schedules. Enhanced occupation-specific language, speaking and listening skills, as well as the understanding of the workplace culture became the focal learning objective of this learner-centred solution. A strong need for flexible access, interactivity and individualized support were recognized. Based on these findings, an adjunct language support course was designed following proven CALL and MALL (mobile-assisted language learning) pedagogy.

A hybrid ESP course was developed comprising three components: in-class, online, and mobile. Traditional ESL resources were combined with in-house produced audio-video podcasts and open source content. All students participated in the teacher-moderated online part of the course. Their online activity and progress were monitored. Fourteen of the students attended weekly f2f classes and were offered additional practice via iPod Touches. By comparing experiences of students enrolled in the full course with those participating only in the online part, the pilot sought to establish what kind of learning resources, supports and delivery format would suit student lifestyle and study preferences best. Our approach was one of iterative refinement of the course design based on student and faculty feedback.
In addition, we investigated the effectiveness of mobile devices in language learning. Various Web 2.0 tools were tested along with some pre-determined ESL content. Both student preferences and their performance were measured in order to explore challenges and opportunities of mobile learning. The study examined the effectiveness of iPod Touches using Bate’s ACTIONS model (Access and flexibility, Costs, Teaching and learning, Interactivity and user-friendliness, Organizational issues, Novelty, Speed) as a framework for evaluation.
Presentation outline:

• Outline the background issues and preliminary research findings that led to the development of the hybrid course and the inclusion of mobile devices.
• Provide a brief overview of selected ESL m-learning projects and their key findings.
• Outline the hybrid ESP course design.
• Describe the mobile component (iPod Touches: challenges and opportunities).
• Present pilot findings and resulting recommendations.
• Comment on the wider applicability of the approach.
Keywords: mobile, iPod, audio/video, occupation-specific, research, blended

Main topic: Mobile Learning

Biodata: Aga Palalas is a doctoral student at Athabasca University (Distance Education). She has taught for 20 years in university and community-based ESL, ESP and EFL programs. She has a comprehensive background in curriculum development, instructional design and language benchmarking. Aga has also led several occupation-specific language research projects.
Type of presentation Paper presentation

Paper category Research & Development

Target educational sector Vocational education

Language of delivery English

EU-funded project No

Schedule:	2009-09-10 (15:45 - 16:30) Parallel Session 5 (Room A-5)
Title:	ESP for busy college students: is the blend of mobile and online learning the answer.
Authors:	Aga Palalas
Abstract:	Imagine you are an immigrant, studying at a college, taking care of the family, working part-time and struggling with language barriers which distance you from the first real job in your new home. How can you optimize your learning outcomes in the college program and secure a job commensurate with your qualifications? What type of language supports would meet your needs and lifestyle? Are mobile and online technologies appropriate in this particular context? What combination of instructional design and delivery media will best produce the desired learning outcome for the specific group of learners? Research conducted at a community college in Toronto indentified a significant gap between students’ language proficiency, the requirements of the program from which students were about to graduate, and the language requirements of the related workplace. Specific language skills and socio-cultural competencies had to be packaged into a language support solution in a delivery format matching students’ needs and their demanding schedules. Enhanced occupation-specific language, speaking and listening skills, as well as the understanding of the workplace culture became the focal learning objective of this learner-centred solution. A strong need for flexible access, interactivity and individualized support were recognized. Based on these findings, an adjunct language support course was designed following proven CALL and MALL (mobile-assisted language learning) pedagogy. A hybrid ESP course was developed comprising three components: in-class, online, and mobile. Traditional ESL resources were combined with in-house produced audio-video podcasts and open source content. All students participated in the teacher-moderated online part of the course. Their online activity and progress were monitored. Fourteen of the students attended weekly f2f classes and were offered additional practice via iPod Touches. By comparing experiences of students enrolled in the full course with those participating only in the online part, the pilot sought to establish what kind of learning resources, supports and delivery format would suit student lifestyle and study preferences best. Our approach was one of iterative refinement of the course design based on student and faculty feedback. In addition, we investigated the effectiveness of mobile devices in language learning. Various Web 2.0 tools were tested along with some pre-determined ESL content. Both student preferences and their performance were measured in order to explore challenges and opportunities of mobile learning. The study examined the effectiveness of iPod Touches using Bate’s ACTIONS model (Access and flexibility, Costs, Teaching and learning, Interactivity and user-friendliness, Organizational issues, Novelty, Speed) as a framework for evaluation. Presentation outline: • Outline the background issues and preliminary research findings that led to the development of the hybrid course and the inclusion of mobile devices. • Provide a brief overview of selected ESL m-learning projects and their key findings. • Outline the hybrid ESP course design. • Describe the mobile component (iPod Touches: challenges and opportunities). • Present pilot findings and resulting recommendations. • Comment on the wider applicability of the approach.
Keywords:	mobile, iPod, audio/video, occupation-specific, research, blended
Main topic:	Mobile Learning
Biodata:	Aga Palalas is a doctoral student at Athabasca University (Distance Education). She has taught for 20 years in university and community-based ESL, ESP and EFL programs. She has a comprehensive background in curriculum development, instructional design and language benchmarking. Aga has also led several occupation-specific language research projects.
Type of presentation	Paper presentation
Paper category	Research & Development
Target educational sector	Vocational education
Language of delivery	English
EU-funded project	No