Information and communications technology (ICT) has opened an entire world of opportunities for both teachers and students. When all upper secondary schools and universities in Sweden had to switch to online teaching within a few days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it became evident how useful and valuable ICT-tools are for teaching. Online teaching is common at Dalarna University, and 64% of our students study net-based distance courses. The aim of this presentation is to give examples of successful integration of ICT-tools in addition to discussing the challenges and drawbacks of relying heavily on technological solutions. Furthermore, the development of a new online course for teacher students will be discussed with a focus on how different ICT-tools are used to further collaboration and communication between students. The course is called “English Language Learning and Teaching III” and is aimed at future English teachers in upper secondary school. In the course, students are expected to both develop their knowledge about teaching methods as well as improve their language proficiency skills.
The main difference between teaching online and teaching on campus is that we must find new ways for students to communicate and collaborate. The students gain access to course materials through our learning management system Blackboard Learn. They also meet for online teacher-led seminars every week in the online meeting tool Zoom. Through these synchronous meetings we ensure the quality of our online teaching and the seminar discussion becomes an important part of the course. In the seminars, students frequently use shared documents to collaborate in real time. By doing so, we encourage cooperation between students and at the same time teach them how they can use these online tools with their own future pupils. Between seminars, students are also expected to use digital tools for assignments, which makes it possible for the university teachers to see more of the students’ work process than what was previously possible.