5. Designing Tasks
Types of online and on site learning tasks (Doscher, 2023, p. 268):
- research/group projects (students synchronously share and discuss findings they gathered on site as a part of fieldwork in their locality) [see examples below]
- readings and discussions (mostly asynchronous, e.g. written posts, e-forums)
- lecture (mostly synchronous, but can be recorded and shared asynchronously)
- creating a presentation as an end-product in teams and peer-assessment (synchronous) [see examples below]
What should a good task do?
- be multimodal: combines synchronous and asynchronous activities with project-based activities on site, that is outside the online environment
- fit the theme of the course or draws on subject related to the discipline
- push students out of their comfort zone and expose them to diverse perspectives and experiences
- encourage students in autonomous learning > empower students to explore various topics in their own way and thus increase their sense of agency
- engage students in experiences and will lead to the development of the 21st century skills
- encourage students “to notice things, describe things, describe the possible meanings, compare things and evaluate things” (Corbett et al, 2024, p. 57) for example, students observe verbal and non-verbal communication in local scenes, informal conversations about identity-related issues (Jakson, 2019, p. 27)
- use students’ everyday life and local experiences as an input: students use their ‘noticing skills’ to observe aspects of their daily routines and describe them to others (Corbett et al, 2024, p. 59)
- interconnect students’ local experiences with the global impact [see example below]
- use active language to activate students to collaborate: e.g., compile a collection of…, collect data, analyze it, represent it visually, rank or justify various approaches
- should enable students to reflect on the learning experience.
Title: "Virtual Sustainability Scavenger Hunt: Connecting Local Actions to Global Impact"
Objective:
The objective of this task is to deepen students' understanding of sustainability issues by exploring their local environment and connecting their actions to global sustainability challenges, while also fostering intercultural online collaboration and teamwork.
Instructions for Students:
Research:
Begin by researching key sustainability issues in your local community and how they contribute to global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, or resource depletion. This could include topics such as water conservation, waste management, energy consumption, transportation, or sustainable food practices.
Identify Local Actions:
Using online resources and local community websites, identify specific actions or initiatives within your community that address sustainability issues. These could be initiatives by local businesses, government organizations, non-profit groups, or community members. Examples may include community gardens, recycling programs, renewable energy projects, or sustainable transportation options.
Virtual Scavenger Hunt:
- Join a WhatsApp group with teammates from your class to participate in a virtual scavenger hunt. Explore different aspects of sustainability in your local environment. For example:
- Share photos or videos of a local farmers' market and identify three vendors selling locally sourced or organic produce.
- Share information about public transportation options available in your community.
- Share the location and details of a recycling center or drop-off point in your community.
Synchronous online collaboration (stage 1):
After completing the scavenger hunt, schedule with your teammates a virtual meeting (using platforms like Zoom [see Zoom tutorial in ch 7] or MS Teams [see MS Teams tutorial in ch 7]) to discuss your findings and observations. Share the photos, videos, or other visuals to illustrate your points and compare experiences with your teammates. Prepare a visual presentation and share it in the Padlet with the team at the partner institution abroad.
Synchronous online collaboration (stage 2):
Schedule a virtual session of your teammates with the team abroad. Share your findings and identify similarities and differences across cultures and localities.
Make sure you reserve enough time in the meeting for 1) sharing presentations, 2) discussion, and 3) note taking as a basis for your presentation.
Presentation preparation:
In collaboration with the team abroad, prepare an international group presentation based on your collective findings and reflections. Assign roles within your group to divide tasks such as creating slides, researching additional information, and preparing talking points.
Virtual Presentation:
based on the schedule defined by the instructor, a virtual presentation session will be held where each international group presents their findings to both classes using video conferencing tools like Zoom. Each group should discuss the connections between local actions and global sustainability challenges with the focus on similarities and differences across the two countries and engage in a Q&A session with classmates.
Online Discussion (alternative): Engage in an online discussion in the e-forum or chat platform to further explore the findings of the scavenger hunt and share ideas for promoting sustainability in your community and beyond.
Things to be aware of when designing tasks:
The pitfall of comparative tasks and cultural comparison:
Tasks which require students to compare and contrast different cultural perspectives may lead to students’ recognition of only superficial cultural differences, for example, food, traditions, etc. Students may resort to generalizations and perhaps an accentuation of difference and ignore the cultural variety and complex and multiple identities of the participants at the partner institution (O’Dowd, R., 2021, n.p.).
Tasks need to bring to surface other cultural categories as well, e.g. cultures based on age, gender, profession, socioeconomic background, hobbies, etc. (Corbett et al, 2024, p. 56).
For students to develop intercultural competence, tasks need to create opportunities for students’ reflective learning while engaging with different experiences and perspectives of other students.
Tasks need to be collaborative and inclusive:
- make each student’s role important by encouraging them to share something only they can offer (e.g., their own experience, knowledge or practice familiar in their locality but unfamiliar to students from other localities)
- make sure all students do equally difficult work: students learn from an equally unfamiliar context, for example, they are asked to search information on a culture/country none of the students are familiar with/come from
Examples of poster presentations
The following are selected end-products of Czech and Danish students’ collaboration in COIL with the focus on gender equality and sustainability coordinated by Masaryk University and UCL University College in the autumn 2023. Each poster is analyzed based on the achieved learning outcomes.
Example 1
The poster illustrates the students’ ability to recognize gender stereotyping and reflect on cultural assumptions related to gender discrimination. However, the poster is primarily knowledge-based, offering definitions and a detailed summary of the history of gender perception. While the poster effectively presents a global perspective on gender stereotyping, it does not include the students’ personal perspectives or evidence of engagement with one another’s viewpoints.
Example 2
The poster focuses exclusively on the Danish and “Scandinavian” perspective, with no apparent contribution from the Czech students. The absence of diverse perspectives on the issue suggests possible collaboration and communication problems within the team. Consequently, the poster does not meet the criteria of COIL, particularly in terms of sharing intercultural perspectives.
Example 3
In contrast to the poster above, this the poster showcases the students’ ability to gather data and statistics on the gender pay gap in their respective countries. However, these rich statistics are not supplemented by the students’ perspectives and experiences. Moreover, the students’ comparisons of the two countries lack critical reflection, fail to identify different approaches used in each country, and do not propose cross-cultural solutions. The students may have fallen into the pitfall of comparative tasks. As a result, this poster does not demonstrate the students’ engagement with other perspectives.
Example 4
The poster compares data and statistics between Denmark and the Czech Republic, supported by reliable sources from statistical offices and ministries in both countries. Unlike the previous poster, this one adds value by identifying cultural differences in the employment of males in traditionally female-dominated type of work. Specifically, the students explore differences in gender-specific job titles used in the Czech Republic versus Denmark and discuss the ethics of male conduct in kindergartens in Denmark, which are absent in the Czech Republic. This focus on nuanced differences, rather than superficial ones, demonstrates intercultural awareness and an ability to understand the complexity of the topic. However, as with the previous poster, the students did not include their personal perspectives on the issue.
Note: the following task was created with the help of AI.