This document describes the design and implementation of an online postgraduate course on telecollaboration for language teachers. The course was designed using an educational design research model. It aimed to introduce teachers to theories and practices of telecollaboration through a critical lens, build skills in organizing telecollaborative activities, and engage students in research. The syllabus covered introduction to telecollaboration, practical issues, and additional topics. Students completed three assignments and provided feedback, which showed increased engagement and that the course opened new perspectives on telecollaboration. Reflection on the process helped the designer question assumptions and beliefs about effective online course design.

1. Developing an online course on
telecollaboration for teachers:
A reflection on the design and
implementation
Angelos Konstantinidis
University of Nottingham, UK
Open University of Catalonia, Spain
email: Angelos.Konstantinidis@nottingham.ac.uk
Twitter: @angelntini

2. Training courses on telecollaboration
The majority of the training
courses on telecollaboration are
offered at undergraduate level
and adopt an “experiential
modeling approach” by involving
student-teachers in a
telecollaborative project as
students
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Few professional development
courses on telecollaboration for
in-service teachers

3. Aim and structure of the study
To provide a resource that
focuses on the design of a
postgraduate course on
telecollaboration
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1. Study context
2. Research model – course design
process
3. Teaching aims and learning
outcomes
4. Syllabus
5. Assessment process
6. Course evaluation
7. Reflection

4. Study context
Programme: Online Master of Arts in Digital Technologies
for Language Teaching, University of Nottingham
Course: Telecollaboration in Language Learning (12 weeks)
Students in the course are experienced language teachers
who work around the globe
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5. Research model:
Conducting Educational Design Research
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Model for designing research in education (McKenney & Reeves, 2012)

6. Course design process:
Analysis/Exploration
The context and the potential students were considered to
specify the teaching aims and learning outcomes.
A research-based approach was adopted.
Open-ended exploration to gather material that would be
part of the curriculum.
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7. Course design process:
Design/Construction
A list was created with
the potential topics
that would comprise
the syllabus.
The design of the
activities was based
on the principles of
the COMP-PLETE
model (Goria &
Konstantinidis, 2018)
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Community Tasks should support the development of an online Community
of Inquiry
Openness Tasks should cultivate openness in teaching and learning
Multimodality Tasks should allow and encourage the use of multiple modes in
students’ works
Participation Tasks should encourage student participation in the assessment
Personalisation Task design should cater to students’ needs and preferences by
allowing them to select from a variety of tasks
Learning Assessment should be aligned with the teaching aims and
learning outcomes of the course and should serve a triple duty:
formative, summative, and metacognitive
Experience Assessment should encourage students to bring their experience
into the course
Technological-
Enhancement
Tasks should support students in both engaging with digital
technologies and adopting a critical understanding of their role
in learning

8. Course design process:
Evaluation/Reflection
Four different sources of data are employed for the
evaluation of the course:
◦students’ engagement with the course activities
◦students’ final artifacts
◦students’ formal evaluation of the module
◦students’ answers to open questions
Reflection is based on the outcomes of the evaluation
(reflection-on-action) and creates new theoretical
understanding about the design of the course.
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9. Teaching aims and learning outcomes
a) Introduce students to the theories and practices of
telecollaboration through a critical and multicultural lens
b) build up students’ skills in organising telecollaborative
activities
c) engage students in research
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10. Syllabus
The course syllabus is divided into three sections:
i. Introduction to telecollaboration
ii. Practical issues in the organization of telecollaborative
projects
iii. Additional topics in telecollaboration
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11. Assessment
There are three assignments distributed evenly throughout the course:
a) Collaborative analysis of an empirical study on telecollaboration and
presentation of the results to their peers
b) Collaborative writing of a text for the Wikipedia article on
telecollaboration and of a reflective text on the peer collaboration
process
c) Three options: Design a telecollaborative project; Conduct a
telecollaborative project; Propose a topic
The design of the assignments is grounded on the principles of the
COMP-PLETE model (Goria & Konstantinidis, 2018)
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12. Course evaluation (1/2)
Increased engagement with the assignments as demonstrated by an
increased number of posts and questions about the assignments on the
course forums
Nearly half of the final students’ products have been evaluated as first
class, one-third as second class, and one-fifth as third class
• Content enrichment of related Wikipedia articles (nearly 5000 words in
total have been added to the respective Wikipedia articles by the
students)
• Creation of an Open Educational Resource with students’ digital
artifacts (http://telecollaboration20.pbworks.com/)
The course has been evaluated very positively by the students as
regards the teaching and assessment methods
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13. Course evaluation (2/2)
“I began the module deeply skeptical about the utility of telecollaboration and
consequently not particularly interested”
“In all the years I have been teaching, I had not heard of telecollaboration so for me
this course opened up a whole new world”
“I have already transferred new ideas to the classroom and even course design”
“the richness and variety of the assignments… I was given a chance to try alternative
approaches to the classic essay assignment”
“Our ability to figure out how to approach this kind of activity on our own has been
over-estimated”
“I am not so sure I have come away seeing the value of what exactly we were
assessed on”
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14. Reflection
 The endeavor has been challenging from the beginning
 Through reflection I acquired a holistic understanding of the
situation
 I adhered to the principles and processes of educational design
research for the design of the course
Throughout the whole procedure my practice has been reflective.
 I have been critically questioning the outcomes as well as my beliefs as
regards what knowledge I deemed fundamental and how this
knowledge could be acquired by others
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15. References
Bolton, G. (2018). Reflective practice: Writing and professional development (5th edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications.
Goria, C., & Konstantinidis, A. (2018, July). COMP-PLETE Assessment: Engaging Students in an Online Master’s Degree
Programme. Presented at the Finding the Student Voice in Assessment, University of Nottingham, UK.
Luo, H., & Yang, C. (2018). Twenty years of telecollaborative practice: Implications for teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 31(5–6), 546–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2017.1420083
McKenney, S. E., & Reeves, T. C. (2012). Conducting educational design research. New York: Routledge.
Munthe, E., & Rogne, M. (2015). Research based teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 46, 17–24.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.10.006
O’Dowd, R. (2015). The competences of the telecollaborative teacher. The Language Learning Journal, 43(2), 194–207.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.853374
O’Dowd, R. (2018). From telecollaboration to virtual exchange: State-of-the-art and the role of UNICollaboration in moving
forward. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 1, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2018.jve.1
Sadler, R., & Dooly, M. (2016). Twelve years of telecollaboration: What we have learnt. ELT Journal, 70(4), 401–413.
https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccw041
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