Creating Communities of Practice: The Harvard Language Center's Role in Supporting Language Instruction during the Pandemic

Autor/inn/en	Ross, Andrew F.; Axelrod, Sarah Luehrman
Titel	Creating Communities of Practice: The Harvard Language Center's Role in Supporting Language Instruction during the Pandemic
Quelle	(2021), (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Ross, Andrew F.) ORCID (Axelrod, Sarah Luehrman)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	School Closing; Online Courses; Distance Education; Educational Technology; Technology Uses in Education; COVID-19; Pandemics; Blended Learning; Faculty Development; Second Language Instruction; College Faculty; Workshops; Teacher Competencies; Massachusetts + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? School closings; Schule; Schließung; Schließung (von Schulen); Online course; Online-Kurs; Distance study; Distance learning; Fernunterricht; Unterrichtsmedien; Technology enhanced learning; Technology aided learning; Technologieunterstütztes Lernen; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Fakultät; Lernwerkstatt; Schulung; Lehrkunst; Master-Studiengang
Abstract	When Harvard University moved all instruction into an online modality in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Language Center positioned itself as a critical source of guidance on best practices in this new environment. For Harvard, an institution that has always prioritized face-to-face instruction above all other formats, 2020 has been a watershed moment that has forced faculty to reconsider nearly everything about the way they organize and deliver their courses. Owing to the pandemic crisis, we find ourselves in a moment in which the efficacy of these modalities in language learning is, despite initial concerns, being proven day after day. In the context of this crisis, The Language Center has developed training and support mechanisms for this transition, focusing on desired learning outcomes, centering instructor and student experience, and positioning the language faculty to be able to successfully employ hybrid and online approaches to instruction that will continue to serve them well after the crisis abates. This contribution describes the strategies and actions that The Language Center took to ensure the success of the remote teaching and learning of languages at Harvard University in the first term of the 2020-2021 academic year, after the emergency evacuation of campus in March of 2020, and offers a model for other centers engaged in academic support. While extensive insights on the success of these efforts are still pending, given the timing of this crisis and the interventions undertaken, early feedback suggests that faculty have found provided resources to be useful, and their intention is to adopt aspects of technologically-mediated instruction in their face-to-face teaching going forward. [For the complete volume, "The World Universities' Response to COVID-19: Remote Online Language Teaching," see ED614006.] (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01