Since the pandemic, students, colleges, and universities have been looking at online courses to increase access. Unfortunately, there are still quite a few world language (WL) faculty and departments who do not believe WL courses should be taught online. So, before we can even address how to create online WL courses, we must address the questions of whether we can teach WL courses online and whether we should teach them online. Note that, unless otherwise indicated, references to online courses in this post refer to asynchronous.
The resistance that I have experienced from WL faculty about online courses has caused me to look into why this happens and what can be done about it. Many of the concerns about teaching WL in an online format are in regards to developing proficiency and to cheating or using AI. These are valid concerns, but both issues can be addressed by strong course design. If a class is designed with intention and a focus on the audience and purpose, then students are just as likely to develop a proficiency level equal to their peers in traditional courses. There are also ways to lessen cheating and the use of AI that work for any type of WL course. More specifics on these will be presented later.
The next question is: Should we teach WL courses in an online format? This question needs to be answered by each individual institution and department based on their goals and on the audience they want to reach. At the community college in rural Tennessee where I am a faculty member and department lead, we have students who cannot attend classes on campus regularly. These students benefit from both synchronous and asynchronous courses that they can attend from anywhere. The added flexibility of an asynchronous course—one that allows them to complete work at any time within the module restrictions—is also a bonus, plus it allows faculty to have more flexibility in their own schedules. Once again, the course design must be intentional. Another benefit of online courses is that they can be shared with other faculty and adjuncts in the department.
Instructional design
According to Reiser and Dempsey (2012), the basic tenets of instructional design state that it should:
- Be student centered
- Be goal oriented
- Focus on meaningful performance
- Assume outcomes can be measured in a reliable and valid way
- Be empirical, iterative, and self-correcting
- Be a team effort
While not all institutions have the opportunity to collaborate as a team on course design, it is a good idea to have a colleague or mentor from either your own institution or a different one to answer questions and look over the course or course plans and give feedback.
There are several design principles that can be used when creating an online course, but I have found that Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction (2020) have worked best for me in designing my online Spanish courses. Merrill focuses on a task- or problem-centered approach— project-based learning (PBL) is one option here—activation of prior knowledge (a very important part of spiraling in course design), demonstration, activation, and integration. I have found that it is important to tie activities and assessments to real-life situations as much as possible with PBL to help students see the relevance of the course material and how it can apply directly to their lives. Spiraling is an integral part of designing any WL courses, as the students need to be reminded of certain grammar and vocabulary topics throughout a course. This is when we remind them of a concept learned previously and tie it to a new concept. One example from Spanish would be the gender and number of nouns, which is taught early, but needs to be restated later when teaching the concept of adjective agreement.
Because these principles of instruction do not directly address the special needs of WL courses, we must also be sure to consider ACTFL’s World Readiness Standards, or the 5 Cs: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. These help us focus on the important aspects of WL and while it may seem difficult to incorporate some of these elements into an online course, it is possible.
Where do we begin?
It is important to start with the end goal by using backwards design (Piña, 2017). When designing any course, it is important to keep in mind what the ultimate learning goal is for the course. In my courses, this is usually a communicative goal that incorporates grammar, vocabulary, and culture. For example, I want my students to be able to describe themselves and their family/friends in Spanish and to include a comparison with the family structure of the Spanish-speaking world.
In addition to the end goal, it is also important to know the purpose of the course, along with any assumptions about what the students should already know coming into the course. If this is an elementary 1 class, then there should be no assumptions of students’ prior knowledge. If it is elementary 2, then I would expect students to know the elements from elementary 1 and I would build from there. This may seem basic—and it is—but it is quite important to remember.
Building the course
Now that we have our end goal, purpose, and assumptions of prior knowledge in place, it is time to build the course. First, determine the structure. If you are building the course in your institution’s LMS, make sure you are familiar with how it works. I use weekly modules to create my course. During the regular semesters, my modules open every Monday morning at 1:00 a.m and all work is due by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. I keep a consistent format for my modules. According to Dirksen (2015), it is important to keep course design consistent and not to make major changes in the middle of a course. This helps the students know what to expect.
I structure most of my classes based on the textbook we are using, but this is optional, as long as you are consistent. My learning modules start with the module learning outcomes (MLOs) and a description of what the students will be learning. This is followed by what they need to do for the course: read pages in the textbook, watch a teaching video, complete homework, complete a discussion board, complete an audio assignment to submit to the online file storage location, and take a quiz or quizzes. My assessment modules include the MLOs, a test review, a test, and a longer oral assessment than the regular weekly ones. So, every week, students are submitting an audio recording—which means that on many weeks, my online students are getting more speaking practice than my traditional classes.
As you are creating your course, be sure to keep in mind not only your end goal, but also the types of interactions that are included in your assessments. The easiest interaction is student with material, but it is also important to include student with student and student with instructor. Just recently, the US government decided that regular and substantive interaction (RSI) with the instructor is required in distance education courses. I have yet to find definitions to help understand this new requirement that begins July 1, 2027, but it will have an impact on how online courses are developed and should be watched.
It is also important to include spiraling and scaffolding in your online course. WL courses build on previous knowledge, so it is important to remind the students of previous information that connects with the new information. Many textbooks do not do this, so including a brief video or message to students with the information helps them connect it with prior knowledge. Scaffolding is important for major assessments. Most cheating happens when students feel they are not prepared for a major assessment. To mitigate this, break up larger assessments like a final oral project into smaller assignments that build to the larger one. This helps support the students and build their confidence in their abilities to complete the final product.
Once you have designed your course, step away for a few days, then come back and review it again to be sure that the activities are leading toward the end goal. It is also good to have someone else look over the course to make sure that nothing has been missed and to give feedback.
Finally, when you are finally teaching your online course, be sure to be present in the course. Even if you include teaching videos, which give you presence in the course, be sure to respond to emails and discussions, grade assessments in a timely manner, and post interesting items or reminders on the course’s news page. It is important that the students do not feel like they are teaching themselves and that they are connected with you and with their classmates, all of which promotes a strong learning environment.
Sources:
The National Standards Collaborative Board. (2015). World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. ACTFL. https://www.actfl.org/uploads/files/general/World-ReadinessStandardsforLearningLanguages.pdf
Dirksen, J. (2015). Design for How People Learn (2nd edition). New Riders.
Merrill, D. (2020). M. David Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction.
Piña, A. A. (Ed.). (2017). Instructional Design Standards for Distance Learning. AECT.
About the author
Dr. Erika Stevens is a Professor of Spanish and Lead Faculty of World Languages at Walters State Community College in East Tennessee. She holds a doctorate in Curricular and Instructional Leadership/Instructional Design and Technology with a focus on creating communicative online world language classes. She has developed many web classes at her current institution and offers training and mentorship in how to design these courses to others throughout the nation. She has been teaching Spanish since 1991 and has taught K-16 in public, private, and homeschool institutions. She has received numerous awards for her work and leadership.
