A Spanish - Finnish telecollaboration

In my last project, which lasted for six weeks, the thirty-three participants (sixteen Spaniards and seventeen Finns) were expected to perform their tasks via the video conferencing Internet tool, Adobe Connect. The  tasks  assigned comprised introducing themselves, talking about their university education, hobbies, traditions, gastronomy and discussing local newspaper issues affecting them as well as a film from their respective countries.  The  aim was to   examine how students could communicate their views in groups of three, through real-time discussions about various issues related to their culture. Both the Spanish and Finnish participants shared the same levels of English (C1 and C2 on the Common European Framework of Reference).  Facebook (a closed group), which was the selected additional platform, provided the students not only with opportunities for further interactions but also for their peers to watch the videos  showing their task completion so that views could be exchanged on each other’s debate.

This new application seemed to be well appreciated by all the participants mainly because communication took  place in real-time due to its synchronous nature, which encouraged them to have a deeper insight into the issues debated online since peer feedback was instantaneous.

The task about selecting a newspaper article on a local issue was meaningful because the students had to negotiate towards an outcome . This led to the development of collaborative skills, as they attempted to reach an agreement. Last but not least, the interactions via videoconferencing  not only assisted students in practising their speaking skills, but also increased their knowledge of each other’s culture by exchanging personal views, asking each other questions to encourage feedback,  and understanding one another’s needs in order to establish a relationship.  Additionally,  it was much easier for them to clarify any ambiguity or misunderstanding straightaway since they were participating in real-time conversations and could respond spontaneously to their peers. All in all,  it was a rewarding experience for all the participants as they reported in their interview on completion of the project.