MCILROY, Tara

Learner-centered activities

[Abstract] The move to online teaching in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of technology-enhanced learning in education contexts. Adapting existing courses to be taught online while keeping the interactive elements in a face-to-face course creates challenges for curriculum designers as they attempt to provide peer-to-peer interaction and reflective learning opportunities. Students from different educational disciplines at Chiba University participated in an online course taught in two parts using synchronous lessons via Zoom in a graduate-level English presentation course. The class consisted of three students with different fields of study and different levels of English proficiency. The report combines student responses to online tools for technology-enhanced language learning and teacher reflections on the process of adapting courses. Results tentatively suggest positive effects of integrating principles from learner-centered approaches. Student feedback and teachers’ observations suggest that online classes can successfully provide interactive learning experiences. Additionally, the paper includes further development of activities for interactive learning in online presentation classes that may be applied to future courses. Since the tools used in this study enable learner-centered approaches, we believe that they can be applied to many classes regardless of whether they are face-to-face or online.