My CyberDeutsch Blog

I'm taking part in a pilot scheme with the Open University, called 'CyberDeutsch'. The course itself is, as might be inferred from the title, an intensive German course delivered online. We are using some new e-Learning tools, including FlashMeeting, which enables video conferencing for up to 25 people in the same group. These meetings are recorded in their entirety, including text chat, URLs and other documents, so it's a great resource to come back to and check up on how you really sound. Once I plucked up the courage to do this, I discovered that I sounded better than expected, which was quite a boost.

The FlashMeetings are a key point of contact with the tutor and other students, but we are also using a number of other tools, including blogs, hence the title of this post, wikis (think of Wikipedia and you have it in a nutshell) and a forum where the tutor and students can post questions, information and general course-related chatter. You can see my new blog by clicking here. We are not studying the sorts of themes usual in other German courses with the Open University, Goethe Insitut and so forth, but are focussing instead on simply communicating.

Personally, I'm finding it very useful, but given that it is a pilot scheme, it's a shame that the majority of other students involved have not yet made their presence felt. I am lucky to be in the group where three of us have been enjoying getting to grips with the new tools and communicating. Of course, if the other students have been eaten by monsters over the weekend, or something, I will feel slightly bad.