July 4, 2023
e-Language
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July 4, 2023
e-Language
I work in language learning, and have been striving to make Captivate (along with other Adobe products) a viable tool for language educators to create their own interactive language learning tools. The bulk of "e-learning" made with authoring tools such as Captivate seems to be training.  This is typically approached in a purely didactic manner: the learner is supposed to "learn" some piece of information. Language acquisition, on the other hand, is something different. It is not about learning facts, but rather acquiring functional skills. And this happens by way of interaction, rather than memorizing data points. In other words, the interaction itself is how humans acquire language ability. Normally this is a social process, which happens among people in "live" contexts. I want to see how well Captivate serves as an authoring tools for supporting such learning online. 
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I work in language learning, and have been striving to make Captivate (along with other Adobe products) a viable tool for language educators to create their own interactive language learning tools. The bulk of “e-learning” made with authoring tools such as Captivate seems to be training.  This is typically approached in a purely didactic manner: the learner is supposed to “learn” some piece of information. Language acquisition, on the other hand, is something different. It is not about learning facts, but rather acquiring functional skills. And this happens by way of interaction, rather than memorizing data points. In other words, the interaction itself is how humans acquire language ability. Normally this is a social process, which happens among people in “live” contexts. I want to see how well Captivate serves as an authoring tools for supporting such learning online.

I don’t have much experience with Captivate.  I’m not an “ID” in the sense that it usually (and erroneously) is used, referring ONLY to online learner. I am, however, an instructional designer of many years in the sense that it SHOULD be used, meaning a person who designs instruction of any type, include “traditional” classroom instruction. EVERY teacher is an “ID,” by definition. There is no reasons to confine the term “instructional design” to online learning.

As a language instructor who teaches both in person and online, I see it as my calling to take the interaction of the live classroom and replicate it as much as possible in online contexts—and that leads me to authoring interactive materials, using Captivate.  As far as I’m concerned, the dichotomy between the “ID” and “SME” is false. To do my work, I am both—one in the same.

Sometimes it seems that I’m the only person who sees it this way—the only language instructor I know who is collapsing this false dichotomy. So, I’ve started this blog to see: Are there other language instructors who are taking authoring into their own hands? I intend to use the blog to describe this experience and find out—who else is doing this?

1 Comment
2023-07-10 06:36:44
2023-07-10 06:36:44

Hi, I’m a business consultant that realised I needed other ways to impart knowledge and grow competency with my clients, so I agree, I’m ID and SME as well! I think that Captivate (and other elearning tools) would be great for language learning too, though it could be tedious to create!

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