Groups of students in two different institutions collaborate together to produce a short story which continues from an opening line given to them by the tutor. Using google docs, the students contribute to a story in their own language as well as one in the target language. They can all edit and add comments, correcting language and changing the direction of the storyline.
Institution reporting the task:
University of Warwick home page
Language of task instructions:
None
Target Group:
Foreign languages
Level:
Any
References and acknowledgements:
None
Type:
Collaborative tasks
Estimated Duration:
4 sessions
Topic:
story telling
Tags:
Acknowledgements:
None
Language Configurations:
Bilingual
Language(s) that the task can be used in:
Any
Dominant language production:
Writing/reading asynchronous
Target Competences:
| Language competence |
|---|
| Intercultural skills |
| Online communication skills |
| Teaching skills |
| Media literacy |
Specific pedagogical objectives:
Development of students analytical skills
Suggested Communication Tools:
| Collaborative tools |
|---|
| Moodle-like |
| Social Networks |
Suggested Resources:
All students can see each others stories but should only edit their own.
Here is an example of one Chain story google doc.
Instructions:
This task was part of the 2013-14 Clavier project. A set of google documents were set up containing the instructions and starter phrase for a story in English and a story on french on each document. The names of the groups responsible for progressing the stories (from both universities) were listed at the top of each document. The link to each Chain story was then included in the shared moodle course EWC. The documents were created so that anyone who had access to the link could edit.
The activity was introduced in class time but was expected to be completed independently out of class time. A time limit was established at the end of which prizes are to be awarded for the groups creating the best stories.
There were 20 mchain story docs in total. Here is an example of the heading for each document (there were several variations on the story opening sentence)
Our objective is:
to work together to create 2 stories -one in English, the other in French. We have provided the opening sentence, over to you…
The English story.
It all started on Thursday 17th of October…..
Criteria for Completion:
This task was examined and evaluated for presentation at the Léon conference in February 2014. The full paper is expected to form part of a publication by Rob O’ Dowd. I am attaching here examples of how the students interacted through this co-creation task. The task itself is not assessed but students reflect on participation as part of their assessed e-portfolio.
Document supporting evaluation
Comments and suggestions:
None
Author/copyright:
Teresa MacKinnon Warwick CC BY