This presentation explores how the full integration of Telecollaboration/Virtual Exchange into teacher education programmes can have a significant impact on the development of the competences needed for the Web 4.0. In this talk, the evolution of Virtual Exchange (VE) in language education is briefly outlined, followed by a list of some of the central competences that are widely considered to be essential for teachers and learners for the immediate and long term future. The presentation offers suggestions regarding how these competences can be delivered through VE pedagogy. Future areas of inquiry are proposed.
21st century competences such as 'techno-collaborative' skills, 'techno-social' skills, 'techno-ethic' awareness and 'techno-creativity' (Dooly & Thorne, 2018) are some of the key skills required for an increasingly interconnected world. Virtual Exchange (VE) -understood here as a pedagogical approach to language teaching - can play a central role in promoting these skills in language learners. This underscores the need for fuller integration of innovative practices such as VE (also known as telecollaboration) into language teacher education. This symposium will focus on examples of technology-enhanced research and practice into language teacher education programmes. This talk aims to open discussion on how VE can adapt to the relationship between humans and machines (Web 4.0) while supporting the development of teachers' (and their students') autonomous approach to learning and teaching languages. Against the backdrop of a recent EU framework (Redecker, 2017) for teacher (and indirectly, student) digital competences, the role of VE is examined as regards its suitability for fostering these skills. To conclude, arguments for systematically integrating VE into teacher education programmes are proposed and with the lens of Web 4.0, emerging areas of research and practice for VE are suggested.
Dooly, M. & Thorne, S.L (2018). Knowledge for network-based education, cognition & teaching: Competences for the 21st century. KONECT white paper. Barcelona: KONECT.
Redecker, C. (2017). European framework for the digital competence of educators: DigCompEdu. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
