Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation
Show Summary Details
More options …

 

Language Learning in Higher Education

Journal of the European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education (CercleS)

Editor-in-Chief: Szczuka-Dorna, Liliana / O’Rourke, Breffni

Online
ISSN
2191-6128
See all formats and pricing
Online
Institutional Subscription
€ [D] 233.00 / US$ 350.00 / GBP 191.00*
Individual Subscription
€ [D] 49.00 / US$ 74.00 / GBP 40.00*
Print
Institutional Subscription
€ [D] 233.00 / US$ 350.00 / GBP 191.00*
Individual Subscription
€ [D] 233.00 / US$ 350.00 / GBP 191.00*
Print + Online
Institutional Subscription
€ [D] 277.00 / US$ 420.00 / GBP 227.00*
Individual Subscription
€ [D] 277.00 / US$ 420.00 / GBP 227.00*
*Prices in US$ apply to orders placed in the Americas only. Prices in GBP apply to orders placed in Great Britain only. Prices in € represent the retail prices valid in Germany (unless otherwise indicated). Prices are subject to change without notice. Prices do not include postage and handling if applicable. RRP: Recommended Retail Price.
More options …

iPads in medical language courses at the University of Helsinki

Kirsi Wallinheimo / Kari K. Pitkänen
Published Online: 2016-05-03 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2016-0004

30,00 € / $42.00 / £23.00

Get Access to Full Text

Abstract

In recent years, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki has systematically developed and synchronized its teaching technology, and new iPad-based tools have been an important part of this development. The aim has been to provide the students and teachers in the faculty with synchronized tools that can be used as a basis of a shared platform, with all the materials, tools and applications functioning in exactly the same way on all the equipment used in interaction among the teacher and the students and for teaching medicine and dentistry. As language teachers at the University of Helsinki Language Centre, we have already used Moodle-based platforms and a flipped classroom strategy together with task (TBL) and problem-based learning (PBL) approaches in language teaching. The iPads provided by this faculty have been in active use during the sessions of our courses for medical and dental students. However, we have so far been unaware of how the students use their iPads outside the classroom. This survey-based study aimed at addressing this gap in knowledge by investigating how 75 medical students actually use their iPads especially in learning academic and professional English and Swedish. The results, combined with teacher expertise, will be used to further develop the language courses taught by the Language Centre.

Keywords: iPads; flipped classroom; student survey; English; Swedish

References

  • Brumfit, Christopher. 1984. Communicative methodology in language teaching: The roles of fluency and accuracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

  • Chen, Xiao-Bin. 2013. Tablets for informal language learning: Student usage and attitudes. Language Learning & Technology 17(1). 20–36. http://llt.msu.edu/issues/february2013/chenxb.pdf (accessed 28 August 2015).Google Scholar

  • Godwin-Jones, Robert. 2011. Emerging technologies: Mobile apps for language learning. Language Learning & Technology 15(2). 2–11. http://www.llt.msu.edu/issues/june2011/emerging.pdf (accessed 28 August 2015).Google Scholar

  • Goldsworthy, Richard. 1999. Lenses of learning and technology: Roles and opportunities for design and development. Educational Technology 39(4). 59–62.Google Scholar

  • Hung, Woei, David H. Jonassen & Rude Liu. 2008. Problem-based learning. In J. Michael Spector, Jeroen G. van Mërrienboer, M. David Merrill & Marcy P. Driscoll (eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology, 3rd edn, 485–506. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar

  • Lehtonen, Tuula, Kari Pitkänen & Johanna Vaattovaara. 2015. Encouraging teacher research through in-house activities: The approach of a Finnish university language centre. In Simon Borg & Hugo Santiago Sanchez (eds.), International perspectives on teacher research, 170–184. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar

  • Masalin, Teemu. 2014. iPad ja opiskelijakokemukset. Paper presented at Verkot veteen workshop. http://blogs.helsinki.fi/medi-peda/files/2012/07/IT-Medi-esitys2013.pdf (accessed 28 August 2015).

  • Masalin, Teemu & Sanna Vahtivuori-Hänninen. 2013. iPad lääketieteen opettajien työvälineenä. Paper presented at Kasvatustieteen päivät, Jyväskylä, 21 November.

  • Motteram, Gary & Pete Sharma. 2009. Blending learning in a Web 2.0 world. International Journal of Emerging Technologies & Society 7(2). 83–96.Google Scholar

  • Pitkänen, Kari, Roy Siddall, Tuula Lehtonen & Anu Virkkunen-Fullenwider. 2009. Analogical models in student writing: Problems of mismatch in the acquisition of writing skills. In Jean-Marc Defays, Annick Englebert, Marie-Christine Pollet, Laurence Rosier & Francine Thyrion (eds.). Acteurs et contextes des discours universitaires (Actes du Colloque international “Les discours universitaires: formes, pratiques, mutations”, Bruxelles, 24–26 avril 2008), 75–87. Paris: L’Harmattan.Google Scholar

  • Richards, Jack C. & Theodore S. Rodgers. 2001. Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

  • Siddall, Roy & Kari K. Pitkänen. 2011. English by alternative means in the Faculty of Medicine. In Pitkänen, Kari K., Jaana Jokinen, Sinikka Karjalainen, Leena Karlsson, Tuula Lehtonen, Mirjami Matilainen, Christian Niedling and Roy Siddall (eds.), Out-of-classroom language learning, 23–38. Helsinki: University of Helsinki Language Centre Publications 2. https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/25854 (accessed 28 August 2015).Google Scholar

  • Säljö, Roger. 2000. Lärande i praktiken: Ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Stockholm: Nordsteds akademiska.Google Scholar

  • Toto, Roxanne & Hien Nguyen. 2009. Flipping the work design in an industrial engineering course. Paper given at the 39th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, T4F2, October 18–21, 2009, San Antonio.

  • Vahtivuori, Sanna & Teemu Masalin. 2000. Designing communal Web-based learning environments: Case Globe project. In Seppo Tella (ed.), Media, mediation, time and communication: Emphasis in network-based media education (Media Education Publication 9), 59–82. Helsinki: Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki.Google Scholar

  • Vahtivuori-Hänninen, Sanna. 2005. Pedagogical models in network-based education. In Paul Nicholson, J. Barrie Thompson, Mikko Ruohonen & Jari Multisilta (eds.), E-training practices for professional organisations, 29–36. London: Kluwer.Google Scholar

  • Vavoula, Giasemi N. & Mike Sharples. 2008. Challenges in evaluating mobile learning. Proceedings in Mlearning2008. https://www2.le.ac.uk/Members/gv18/downloads/publicationpreprints/conference-proceedings/VavoulaSharples-mlearn2008.pdf (accessed 28 October 2015).

  • Vygotsky, Lev S. 1978. Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar

About the article

Kirsi Wallinheimo

Kirsi Wallinheimo (MA in Nordic Languages) University Lecturer in Swedish at the University of Helsinki Language Centre since 2003. Her pedagogical and research interests include the implementation of web-based learning environments in language teaching and learning, blended learning and subject teacher education. Currently, she also teaches Swedish academic and professional language skills, especially to the students of medicine and natural sciences. She is also an author of several textbooks in Swedish for Specific Purposes.

Kari K. Pitkänen

Kari Pitkänen (PhD in General Linguistics), University Lecturer in English at the University of Helsinki Language Centre. His main areas of expertise include linguistics, academic writing and teaching English academic and professional language skills as a foreign language to students of biosciences, medicine, dentistry, agriculture and forestry. His doctoral dissertation (2003) focused on spatio-temporal settings in written narrative fiction.

Published Online: 2016-05-03

Published in Print: 2016-05-01

Citation Information: Language Learning in Higher Education, Volume 6, Issue 1, Pages 77–94, ISSN (Online) 2191-6128, ISSN (Print) 2191-611X, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2016-0004.

Export Citation

©2016 by De Gruyter Mouton.Get Permission

Comments (0)

Please log in or register to comment.
Log in