Learning German on the world wide web

An open learning environment

Sitting in his Munich office, Roche shows a trace of nostalgia as he talks about those early days in Vancouver. But they are a far cry from today’s high-tech, high-paced blended-learning reality, a method that merges e-tools with human teaching elements.

Fast forward to the here and now and we are sitting with Roche at the Multimedia Research and Development Lab in Munich, a university department that he now heads. The “Werkstatt” (shop), as it’s also known, is one of Germany’s leading institutions for blended learning. 

Roche, who’s also a Professor of German as a Foreign Language, works with a team of 70 writers and programmers who have created and advanced a high-tech learning environment currently used by 2,500 students around the world. 

This means that at any given time there’s a good chance that students from Reykjavik, Istanbul and Shanghai will be online at the same time, joining together in a virtual learning environment. 

One key target group for the courses are ERASMUS students wanting to prepare for their stay in Germany. But the online platform, known as Deutsch Uni Online (DUO), also caters to other types and levels of German learners (and actually those learning other foreign languages as well). Prior to starting a course, students take tests, assessing their skill level and identifying the best learning solution for them.

The real deal

Anda Godlinski of Latvia certainly found the right course for her. Living in Germany since 1997, she decided earlier this year that she wanted to hone her skills in order to attend university here. Godlinski successfully completed a DUO course and was quite pleased with the results. 

“I took a test at the end, and it showed that my German improved within three months thanks to DUO. I benefited most from the tutor and the feedback she gave,” said Godlinski, whose course also included a three-month, in-depth grammar section. 

Godlinski makes for a great case study: With something in store for all types of students, DUO’s offering is highly personalized, providing customized online learning modules and drawing from many different multimedia tools including forums, chats, email, or animations. 

In the bigger picture, the greatest advantage may be that it’s an open learning environment, says Roche. “Students are in a virtual classroom, but we also give them the opportunity to move the concept of learning to their homes.”

The professor describes blended learning as an advancement of traditional learning, saying it should not be seen as competition or a replacement. “When online-based learning components are done well, they greatly enrich the world of learning,” said Roche.

Whatever the module or whatever the student’s skill level, DUO’s exercises always try to emphasize the real-life relevance and foster the different skills required for learning a language – reading, hearing and speaking. 

For example, in one exercise, the students have to master the entire process of finding an apartment in a German city. They start by reading a classified ad and calling a phone number. After listening to a voicemail, they have to leave a message to arrange a visit. 

Such learning methods have not silenced all critics, but numerous studies have validated the effectiveness and sustainability of the blended approach. Teaming up with a Saarbrücken-based institute, the lab team in Munich studies these key aspects permanently and also examines how different student groups acquire language via blended learning. 

If you ask Roche and many of the DUO students, blended learning is the best way to learn a foreign language - apart from acquiring one in everyday life, of course. 

And Roche adds that blended learning is going to be around for the long haul and will continue to evolve. “This is no phase or fad. There is a good didactical reason for learning this way.”