This paper reports on how a FutureLearn Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) was blended into English Language Teaching (ELT) university programmes in conjunction with telecollaboration/Virtual Exchange (COIL). It discusses how the addition of a MOOC blend can enhance a telecollaborative exchange .
This paper reports on how the FutureLearn Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Understanding Language: Learning and Teaching was blended into English Language Teaching (ELT) university programmes in conjunction with telecollaboration (Virtual-Exchange/COIL). It discusses how the addition of a MOOC blend can enhance a telecollaborative exchange by adding to it increased opportunities for social collaborative interaction on a global scale. Blending MOOCs into English Teacher Education with Telecollaboration (BMELTET) fosters the students' reflection on online and blended learning and teaching to support their future teaching practice. The paper illustrates how participating students – undergraduate and postgraduate ELT students from Spain, postgraduate ELT students from China and postgraduate ELT students studying in the UK – participated in both synchronous and asynchronous exchanges on the MOOC content. The discussion will focus on how a holistic approach to the integration of technology into language teacher education programmes with a blend of formal and informal platforms can support students in reflecting on their beliefs and enhance their intercultual communicative competence for the 21st century.
