THE EIT E-LEARNING MODULE

Philippos Pouyioutas

Intercollege, 46 Makedonitissas Avenue Nicosia 1700, Cyprus

Vilte Gridasova

Vilnius Business College, Kalvariju Street 125, Vilnius, Lithuania

Christian Petter

Institute for Future Studies, Martinsbühel 6, A-6170 Zirl

Maria Poveda

University of Cyprus, 75 Kallipoleos Street, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus

Emilios Solomou, Victoria Kalogerou, Anthos Shekeris

Intercollege, 46 Makedonitissas Avenue Nicosia 1700, Cyprus

Keywords: E-Learning, English for Specific Purposes, Information Technology.

Abstract: This paper presents the initial stages of a Leonardo Da Vinci project. The project aims at developing the EIT

(English Language for Information Technology Specialists) E-Learning module, which will include relevant

and innovative e-learning material for English learning/teaching in the field of IT. This material will be

designed for IT professionals, students and English language tutors in order to bridge the current gap in the

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) IT-related materials and to facilitate the work of tutors, enhance self-

study and encourage life-long learning. The paper presents also the analysis of the results of a survey aiming

at identifying the requirements, special needs and innovation drivers of the potential users of the proposed

module. The survey was conducted through a questionnaire given to IT students and interviews with IT

professionals. Based on the analysis of the results we proceed herein with suggestions for the design of the

module.

1 INTRODUCTION

The work presented in this paper builds on our

applied research work in the area of e-learning in

general (Pouyioutas et al. 2004, 2005, 2006) and

specifically in e-learning with focus on the English

Language. More specifically it focuses on e-learning

and English for Information Technology (IT) people.

Our research, which was carried out into ESP

(English for Specific Purposes) in the field of IT,

targeting several sectors at once (universities and

colleges, websites of the main publishing houses and

their outlets, IT specialists) showed that choice of

materials in this particular area was limited. Several

printed materials have been found available and they

either are outdated or target learners with

intermediate and higher language level. More

specifically, the following books have been found in

the market: Oxford English for Computing

(intermediate level) (Boeckner and Brown 1993),

Oxford English for Information Technology

(intermediate to upper-intermediate level)

(Glendinning and McEwan 2002), Dave Sperling's

Internet Guide (intermediate level) (Sperling 1998),

Infotech English for Computer Users (intermediate

level; the only one with weblink activities) (Esteras

353

Pouyioutas P., Gridasova V., Petter C., Poveda M., Solomou E., Kalogerou V. and Shekeris A. (2007).

THE EIT E-LEARNING MODULE.

In Proceedings of the Second International Conference on e-Business, pages 353-356

DOI: 10.5220/0002108003530356

 SciTePress

2007) and Chambers Guide to English for IT and the

Internet (Gourlay 2000). The only on-line resource

found is English 4 IT (English 4 IT 2007).

We had long before carrying out the survey

realized the paradox of the current state; although

English is considered to be the language of IT, the

majority of IT specialists in European countries are

trained in their national languages, therefore do not

have the appropriate level of proficiency in English

and in IT terminology in English. This problem is

becoming bigger due to the nature of the IT subject

area. IT is a constantly developing field with new

developments happening every day. New hardware,

new software, new concepts are introduced at a

speed that is too fast to cope with. Clearly this speed

makes it impossible to allow hard-copy published

translation material to be available. The only

solution available is the offering of English for IT

supported by on-line material that can be updated on

a daily-basis as new terminology is created.

There is therefore an obvious need for online

ELT/ESP materials in the field of IT designed for

elementary and post-elementary learners aiming at

developing elementary/post-elementary level

learners’ learning skills, general command of

English, improving their IT vocabulary and

promoting self-study. At this point it is worth

mentioning another research we carried into to the

sector of computer-related activities (Gridasova

2006a). IT specialists reported the need for a self-

study tool that would comprise relevant information,

interactive learning materials with elements of fun

and allow them to evaluate their progress. As a

consequence, the idea has been developed for a

product to bridge the current gap in ESP materials

for vocational, in-company training and individual

learning and promote the idea of independent and

lifelong learning. We envisaged such an e-learning

tool to be interactive, attractive for self-study and to

provide feedback (answer key, pop-up hints, useful

links). This led to the development of a Leonardo Da

Vinci proposal, entitled “The E-Learning Module -

English Language for IT Specialists” (Gridasova

2006b), which has been selected for funding by the

European Union and started in October 2006.

The expected project product, namely the EIT

(English Language for Information Technology) E-

Learning module will be an ESP teaching/learning

module. It will be designed as a 1-year learning,

calendar-like programme (an Internet portal),

comprising English lessons at the post-elementary

level with a strong emphasis on learner training and

autonomy, featuring: (a) 365 daily mini-lessons with

2-4 skills development and use of language

activities, links to related websites and study tips,

divided into 3 major sections: Essential English for

IT Professionals, Communication Skills and

Learning Skills (b) 52 weekly progress checks, 12

end-of-month tests, an entry diagnostic test, and an

exit test (c) online glossary of common words used

in website materials translated into partners’

languages (d) online glossary of common IT

terminology including all partners’ languages (e) a

language reference section (f) a user guide (g) a

message board (online forum) for online exchange

of ideas (both learners and teachers) (h) printable

materials for teachers.

The EIT material can be integrated into the

language training programmes within the curricula

and courses as a means for both formal and informal

learning. Colleges, universities, training centers can

use it either as integrated part of a larger language

course or as a self-standing course. Furthermore,

since the course will be designed in a diary-like way,

teachers will be able to design a course themselves –

employing the materials and themes they need,

choosing its duration, selecting the course

companions – printable handouts, tests - related to

the chosen materials, etc. The course is perfectly

applicable when working with part-time and distant

students, setting the online materials for self-study

and employing printable handouts for contact hours.

Also, EIT can be easily employed in so-called

language intensive courses, with duration of 1- 2

weeks – the tutor is exposed to a variety of ready-

made and ready-to-print materials; they only have to

select the relevant themes and duration.

2 SURVEY ANALYSIS

This section presents the first stage of the

development of the EIT module, namely Needs

Analysis. A questionnaire was distributed to IT

students and interviews were conducted with IT

professionals in all partner countries. Herein we

present the results of the Needs Analysis in Cyprus.

The student questionnaire was designed to help

identify the students’: (a) perception regarding their

English Language skills (b) perception regarding

their need to improve their English Language skills

(d) their preferred learning surroundings and

learning methods (e) experience in using e-learning

(f) perception regarding the usefulness of e-learning

in general and in learning the English language

specifically (g) perception regarding their need to

improve their English Language skills using e-

ICE-B 2007 - International Conference on e-Business

354

learning (h) perception regarding limitations of e-

learning materials and suggestions for improvement

(i) interests in obtaining a certificate for an English

self-study course offered on-line.

64 (42 male, 22 female) IT students of an

average age 25 answered the questionnaire. They

reported that they consider their English Language

skills and abilities (speaking, understanding, reading

and writing) as quite good. Indeed, their skills, as

cross-checked with the level of the English

Language courses they are currently register, are

good. They also reported that they use English quite

often (Figure 1) in many situations (e-mails,

telephone, exams, presentations, seminars, reading

manuals, writing, socializing). Only 4 out of 59

students (7%) reported extensive experience in using

e-learning, 33 students (56%) reported some

experience, 11 (19%) reported little experience and

10 (18%) reported no experience at all. In all cases

the most common e-learning platform/forum used

was reported to be the Internet and CD-ROMs. So,

in general, the majority of the students had some but

not extensive experience. The vast majority of the

students (51 out of 58, 88%) regard e-learning

material as a useful tool for learning and would use

e-learning to learn English (45 out of 58, 78%).

Figure 2 presents, in terms of importance, the skills

and abilities that these students would like to

improve and the skills and abilities that these

students would like to improve using e-learning

material. On average, the students consider that it is

rather important that all the listed skills are

improved. We can also see from Figure 2, that the

corresponding averages for every skill are very

similar. This shows that the students would use e-

learning material to improve their English.

3.60

2.46

3.11

2.71

2.87

3.10

2.69

2.60

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

E-mail Telephone Exam Presentations Seminars Manuals Writing Socializing

(1 – never, 2 – rarely, 3 – quite often, 4 – very often)

Figure 1: Situations where Students Expect to Use

English.

Students also reported that they approve learning

either within a group or on their own, in both cases

either at home or at the University or at work.

Although the students seem to stronger approve

face-to-face learning (3.2 in the scale of 1-4), they

also approve e-learning (2.7 in the scale of 1-4) and

blended learning (2.98 in the scale 1-4). This

preference is consistent with the little experience in

e-learning reported by the students. The lack of

extensive experience makes them a bit more

skeptical in using such new learning methods.

Furthermore, the students consider rather important

all the suggestions for improving e-learning material

(Figure 3). Finally, the majority of them (41 out of

59, 70%) expressed interest in obtaining a certificate

for an English self-study course offered on-line.

2.87

2.89

2.43

2.73

2.42

2.75

3.05

2.96

2.94

3.07

2.79

3.00

2.93

2.87

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

Speaking Listening Reading Writing Vocabulary Grammar Learning How

to Learn a

Langauge

English Language Skills to Improve English Language Skills to Improve Using e-Learning

(1 - not important, 2 – less important, 3 - rather important, 4 - very

important)

Figure 2: English Language Skills to Improve.

Audio

Content

3.21

Video

Content

3.18

Colaborative

Learning

3.05

Feedback

3.00

Tutor

Support

3.23

Links to

Websites

3.11

Hints and

Warnings

3.02

Animation

2.88

Customizable

Environment

2.91

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

(1 - not important, 2 – less important, 3 - rather important, 4 - very

important)

Figure 3: Suggestions for Improving E-Learning Material.

IT professionals (5 males and 3 females of an

average age of 34) were interviewed based on some

THE EIT E-LEARNING MODULE

355

given guidelines, which were designed to extract

similar information as the one extracted from the

questionnaire. All respondents reported that they use

the English language at work for all job related

aspects. They also reported that they have good

English Language skills, however, they have some

problems with IT specialized words and jargon.

They would like to improve their vocabulary,

speaking and grammar and they could spend an

average of one hour a day for that. They all learn at

the workplace and home, both on their own or as a

member of a group, and 6 of them (out of 8) have

used on-line learning material. They were very

familiar with the concepts of e-learning. The type of

e-learning material they have used was available on

training CDs and videos as well as through on-line

material available on platforms such as Moodle and

Blackboard. However, nobody has used e-learning

material to learn a language. They all believe in e-

learning and they consider it as a flexible,

autonomous, innovative, time-saving and very useful

(when it provides feedback) tool for learning. They,

therefore, would consider using e-learning for

learning a language, although they expressed a

concern regarding the reading and pronunciation

aspects that need to be very well developed within

such e-learning material. They would expect such a

tool to be available through multimedia CDs or web-

sites and collaborative software and support text-

chat computer-aided assessment, educational

animation and simulations learning environments.

They expect it also to be efficient, effective and

user-friendly and allow the support of a tutor. From

their experience in using e-learning material, bad

design and lack of technical support are factors that

affect very negatively the acceptance of such

material. Finally some of them would be interested

in obtaining a certificate for an English course

offered on-line.

Although the open-ended questions did not

suggest particular answer options (as compared to

the questionnaire), very similar recommendations

were made by the IT professionals. This shows that

our expected user requirements and functionality

and features of the proposed tool, as these were

indirectly expressed through the multiple-choice

answers in the questionnaire, were confirmed by the

non-directed answers of the IT professionals.

3 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the previous section, we herein propose the

expected functionality and features of the EIT

module. The module should support the teaching

and learning of the following English Language

skills and abilities: (a) Understanding, (b) Speaking,

Grammar use. Furthermore, the expected module

should: (a) support both individual and group

learning (b) be able to be used as a stand-alone

module or integrated in other modules in a distance-

learning mode or in a blended learning mode (c)

support multimedia features, including animation,

video and audio (d) provide feedback and a

customizable learning environment (e) provide

computer-aided assessment (f) allow facilitator/tutor

support (g) support a simulation learning

environment (h) have a well designed user-friendly

interface (i) be efficient and effective (j) have

technical support (k) lead to a certification.

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