Course Design in the Digital Age: Learning through Interaction with News Based Materials

Tim Marchand, Benedict Rowlett*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Abstract

The use of digital media as a mode of delivering course materials has become increasingly common in the field of language education. The aim of language educators has therefore been to discover suitable ways of using digital media to enable learners to engage with materials effectively and enhance their learning experience. This paper describes a collaborative syllabus between teachers at two Japanese universities which shares the same mode of delivery: a website of news-based materials. Students are asked to read an authentic and current news story each week and, after a classroom session, write their reactions to the story by adding their comments on the website. By using an online mode of delivery, students are motivated to build their confidence in expressing themselves in English away from the classroom and begin to engage fully with the course materials as their opinions become topics in the developing online discussions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)183-198
Number of pages16
JournalLanguage Education in Asia
Volume4
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2014

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