Fostering Pre-Service Teachers’ Information and Critical Digital Literacy Skills Through a COIL Project

Abstract

Critical digital literacy (CDL) skills, and the ability to convey them to foreign language (FL) students have become increasingly relevant competencies of language teachers. Hence, concepts in teacher education need to be developed and explored in order to foster these skills. In our exploratory research, we examined a COIL project including pre-service FL teachers. Students worked in small international teams to discuss the distinction between credible and non-credible online sources in the discourse of the Covid-19 pandemic. The results indicate the development of awareness about the complexity, functions and mechanisms of online media as well as the strategies on how to judge the credibility of online sources. Additionally, participants reflected on the importance of fostering information and CDL of their (future) students. The data suggests that the development of these professional, digital competencies was due to the current, socially relevant topic (Covid-19) and the communicative exchange in small international groups.