Supporting active learning in CLIL through collaborative search

Abstract

In CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) the context is to explicitly teach a subject through a foreign or second language but also implicitly to teach a language through a subject; adding the activity of social networking is part of making the context, and hence language learning, real. In this paper we describe the learning design and infrastructure of a CLIL seminar for trainee teachers. Active learning is supported by our LearnWeb2.0 infrastructure which helps students in collaborative searching and organization of resources to design CLIL materials for their future pupils. In LearnWeb2.0 searching is focused on a specific subject providing materials from appropriate Web2.0 platforms, ratings and comments are directly linked to the resources and easily shared within the learning group. We also present our evaluation design, as well as the first promising evaluation results. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.