The LearnWeb project for multiliteracies practices in higher education
Foreign Language Learning in the Digital Age: Theory and Pedagogy for Developing Literacies, chapter 14, Routledge, (1st ed.) edition, (2022)DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003032083
Abstract
This chapter focuses on a multidisciplinary collaboration aimed at promoting multiliteracies practices and reflection in university courses and illustrates two sets of educational multiliteracy projects for pre-service and in-service teacher education (YELL/TELL: Young English Language Learners/Teen English Language Learners) and for language studies in Modern Language degrees (LabInt). These projects involve using the multimodal and multimedia affordances offered by LearnWeb, a learning environment developed by the L3S Research Center (Hannover) to support and enhance multiliteracy pedagogies. LearnWeb developers decided from the start to involve communities and groups of users in the codesign of the platform. Thus, learners and teachers have become active participants in the learning process of transforming available resources and affordances (Available Designs) into innovative and creative meanings (the Redesigned). In recent years, iterative, evaluation-driven, and design-based research analyses have been carried out involving users of the YELL/TELL community and of the LabInt course to investigate the following research questions: (1) How was the multiliteracies approach integrated into the LearnWeb project? (2) How can the LearnWeb collaborative environment be implemented to meet the needs of various learning scenarios? (3) How do participants use online affordances in their teaching profession and their learning?
The ultimate goal of our work is to enhance the multiliteracy experience in a lifelong learning perspective by optimising a flexible digital environment on the basis of actual user requirements and feedback.