Málfríður - 15.03.2007, Blaðsíða 23

MÁLFRÍÐUR 
1. Introduction
The Covcell Project is a European project, supported
by the Minerva Action of the European Union.
It is concerned with the problem of teaching and
learning languages in an online environment and
seeks to add new software tools in support of col­
laborative learning activities to an online learning
environment. The project runs from October 2005
to September 2007 and the partnership comprises:
the University of Iceland (with the Department
of English and Icelandic Online as lead contribu­
tors), Humboldt University in Berlin, Ca´ Foscari
University in Venice, Open Development Group Ltd
(an Icelandic software company) and the University
of the Basque Country. More detailed and up­to­
date information can be found at http://covcell.
org.
The online learning environment which has been
chosen as a basis for development is the Moodle
Learning Management System. The pedagogical
philosophy guiding the Covcell Project and the
developers of the Moodle system is social const­
ructivism; the philosophy guiding the selection of
Moodle and the development of new tools for it is
the open source approach. In Section 2 I will give an
overview of the Project´s guiding philosophies as
well as its reasons for adopting Moodle; in Section 3
I will give an example of Moodle in use and explain
how the tools being developed by Covcell relate to
those already present in the system.
2. Guiding Philosophies
2.1 Social Constructivism and Cohort-Orientation
The project aims are shaped by the social constructi­
vist philosophy of learning in general (cf. Maddux,
1997; Steffe, 1995; Vygotsky, 1978) and by the notion
of cohort­supported learning in particular (e.g.
Chapelle, 2003). In its original application to the
Minerva fund (1st March 2005) the general aims of
the Covcell Project were stated thus (Section 2.2):
„The overall objective of this project is to address
the need, established in current work on on­line
language learning, for a virtual environment in
which language learners can meet and interact in
the process of language study – a ´virtual campus´
for language … This project will develop technical
solutions for the core cohort­oriented aspects of this
virtual campus.“
The adoption of a constructivist philosophy is
made explicit in Section 2.5:
„The overarching goal of this project is to create
a virtual campus that allows students, on­site and
on­line, to interact and collaborate with each other
and with their teachers. Constructivist approaches
to learning emphasise collaboration and selfstudy
in the building of knowledge. In language learning,
interaction with others is especially important as it
facilitates negotiation of meaning, an essential com­
ponent of language development.“
Interaction and collaboration are especially impor­
tant in the area of language learning, as emphasised
in Section 2.4:
„The overall conception of the project is driven
by the notion of ´cohort­learning´ – that learning
is most effective and sustained where there is a
community of learners who interact, collaborate
on projects and share the learning experience. This
emphasis is the result of direct teaching experi­
ence and is supported by pedagogical studies (e.g.
Chapelle, 2003). This aspect of active collaboration
is lacking in a pedagogically adequate form from
current systems. The ultimate goal is a true “virtual
campus”… and this project may be seen as the first
step in developing such a system, where priority is
given to the main cohort­oriented elements enabling
collaboration and interaction online.“
Matthew Whelpton is
Associate Professor of
English Linguistics,
University of Iceland
and a co­ordinator of
the Covcell Project.
Matthew Whelpton
Matthew Whelpton
Language Learning Online –
A Report on the Covcell Project and the Use of Moodle