Delivering Training and Coaching to Enable Teachers to Successfully Engage in Virtual Exchange

Abstract

The E-LIVE project (Engaging Languages in Intercultural Virtual Exchange - https://eliveproject.eu/">https://eliveproject.eu/) is a three-year project (2022-2024) funded by Erasmus plus cooperation partnerships in school education (K1222-SCH). The project aims to enhance inclusive intercultural communicative competence development and digital literacies through the integration of virtual exchange projects in language-teacher education institutions and schools. In this presentation, we will share our experiences and outcomes from the first year of the project. To begin with, we will discuss the needs analysis conducted among our partner schools and educational institutions to identify training requirements and gain insight into their specific needs regarding intercultural virtual exchange (Clavel Arroitia et al., 2023). We will then present the pedagogical materials developed to address these needs, covering technological literacy skills, intercultural competences, citizenship, and finally, motivation and engagement –the twin driving forces behind virtual exchange. Furthermore, we will outline the coaching process provided by the E-LIVE team to primary and secondary school teachers during intercultural virtual exchanges (O’Dowd et al., 2019). We will provide details on the participation of teachers (n=16) and students ( n=414) from March to June 2023, highlighting the use of both asynchronous and synchronous activities. Synchronous activities included task-based videoconferencing and virtual world activities using customized E-LIVE task templates. During the presentation, we will specifically focus on teacher preferences for different activity types and, using questionnaire and focus group data, explore the reflections of participants who engaged in exchanges using tandems or the lingua franca exchange format (Kohn & Hoffstaedter, 2017, O’Dowd, 2018). We will discuss the outcomes of these interactions involving international peers in terms of intercultural learning and language development. The presentation contributes to the conference theme of promoting innovative practices in language education, particularly within the context of intercultural virtual exchanges in primary and secondary education. The insights and lessons learned from the E-LIVE project have significant implications for language-teacher education institutions and schools seeking to enhance digital pedagogical innovation and foster inclusive intercultural competence development.