Facilitating Learners’ Digital Competences – E-Learning Platform for Language Teachers

There is little doubt that the digital revolution has led to a profound impact on all areas of education. Learners in the current moment - and into the future - will need digital skills in order to effectively navigate the learning process - not only in relation to their connection with their teachers, but also for working and learning with their peers, engaging with the wider world, and navigating the process of online independent learning. These issues are at the heart of Area 6.

Please consider where you stand in view of the following long-term goals.

1. I teach learners how to assess the reliability and appropriateness of information for (foreign) language learning purposes and how to identify misinformation and bias sources.

	This is not possible in my language teaching practice or daily professional activities with learners.
	I occasionally remind learners that not all online information and language learning resources are reliable and to maintain a critical attitude towards it.
	I teach learners how to distinguish between reliable and unreliable digital language learning resources.
	I discuss with learners how to use and interpret media, verify the accuracy of information (e.g. the origin, and authorship) and give suggestions on how to assess its usefulness for language learning.
	We comprehensively discuss how information is generated and can be distorted.

2. I set up assignments in language teaching practice which require learners to use digital means to communicate and collaborate with each other or with an outside audience.

	This is not possible in my language teaching practice or work environment.
	Only on rare occasions are my learners required to communicate or collaborate online for language learning purposes.
	My learners use digital devices for communication and cooperation mainly among each other.
	My learners exploit and use different digital environments to communicate and to cooperate with each other and with an external audience for language learning purposes.
	I systematically set language learning assignments that allow learners to slowly expand their skills and engage responsibly in online conversations and collaboration.

3. I set up assignments in language teaching classes, both: online and face-to face which require learners to create digital content.

	This is not possible in my language teaching practice or work environment.
	This is difficult to implement in my language teaching practice with my learners.
	I occasionally initiate and guide my learners to produce digital content for diversion and for fostering motivation in the process of (foreign) language acquisition.
	My learners create digital content as an integral part of foreign language acquisition.
	This is an integral part of the language learning and I systematically increase the level of difficulty to further develop their language and digital skills.

4. I teach (foreign) language learners how to behave safely and responsibly in online spaces.

	This is not possible in my language teaching practice or work environment.
	I inform them that they have to be careful with relaying personal information online, e.g. posting pictures, comments.
	I explain the basic rules for safely and responsibly acting in online environments and protect oneself and others.
	We discuss and agree on rules of conduct in language learning communities and other online spaces.
	I systematically develop learners’ use of social rules in the different digital environments we use for (foreign) language teaching purposes.

5. In my work as a language teacher I encourage learners to use digital technologies creatively to solve concrete problems encountered in the language learning process.

	This is not possible with my learners, in my work as a language teacher.
	I rarely have the opportunity to foster learners' digital problem solving in my language classes.
	I occasionally address it, whenever an opportunity arises.
	We often experiment with technological solutions to problems.
	I systematically integrate opportunities in my work as a language teacher for creative digital problem solving.

Your Score:

Your answer: This is not possible in my language teaching practice or daily professional activities with learners.

Independent of the language courses and level you teach, your learners will and should search for information and learning materials online.

	Technologies offer a variety of tools to address and practice reading, writing, listening and speaking a new language at an individual pace. It is therefore important for learners to be able to judge good from bad, and accurate from flawed, online information.
	To foster information literacy, you can, for example, embed it in a revision activity. This may involve presenting learners with a translation website (e.g. Google free translation service) and using the plurilingual repertoire (language understood by many learners in multilingual groups) to insert the new vocabulary on a topic they have just studied in the target language in a context / sentence in the second language. Ask learners to identify ambiguousness, inaccuracies in meaning, grammar, syntax, missing information or bias. A single word, expression or phrasal verbs can have several meanings, thus emphasizing the “limitations“ of free translation services. Another strategy for this may be to show a photograph of a man or woman and hand out different sheets of profiles with little information. Learners can guess which one matches the photo. Discuss how easily we can encounter bias on the internet when there is little background information.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Free translation resources such as Google Translate for providing less-than-accurate translations. Free image resource websites such as Pixabay, Unsplash for finding images, creative commons.
	Use a flawed information source or website in a revision activity to encourage evaluation of information.

Your answer: I occasionally remind learners that not all online information and language learning resources are reliable and to maintain a critical attitude towards it.

Reminding your language learners to remain sceptical towards the wealth of information available to them online is highly important.

	This will help learners to be less passive and make them more sceptical in their consumption of digital content.
	To make this issue more understandable, you could include a reflection element on the reliability of information retrieved online in an assignment task - for example in a revision activity around online communication. Present your learners with a reading activity involving a text contribution to a collaborative website ( e.g. a blog, a forum, a shared online document etc.) on a topic learners have just studied and ask learners to identify facts vs. opinions, compare and evaluate different perspectives, identify intended audience of the text (on the basis of language register, style, slang, etc.) and mediate the message of the text. Refer to grammatical inaccuracies, missing information or bias. Also consider collaborating with language teaching colleagues on this issue, as discernment is built through repeated education.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: News in Levels for English learners. Platforms and resources which provide online spaces for cooperative projects such as Miro, Flinga or Google Docs.
	Use a flawed information source in a revision activity. Tell learners to report the experiences they may have encountered with flawed online information before.

Your answer: I teach learners how to distinguish between reliable and unreliable digital language learning resources.

While teaching critical thinking about digital media and content, the next step for you may be to consider how you can enable your language learners to judge the quality of information found online, independent of its source.

	This should help learners to get the best use out of digital technologies while learning.
	You could, for example, present your learners, as part of a revision activity to expand one’s vocabulary and learn slang and idiomatic expressions (or metaphors and other figurative language) with a website or audio-visual content - for example with a song taken from the internet on a topic they have just studied. Ask them to identify grammatical errors, regional features of the language ( i.e. accents or dialects, intercultural norms, syntax and style of the target language, etc.), missing information or bias. Thus, step by step you can increase their ability to assess information’s reliability, to make informed choices and to value evidence and sound arguments. Also consider collaborating with language teaching colleagues on this issue, as discernment is built through repeated education.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Entertaining language learning resources, such as Flax, Lyrics Training, YouTube. News in Levels for English learners. Social networks: Facebook or Instagram.
	Implement activities requiring learners to compare the accuracy of language in different sources. You can try out to adjust a video on YouTube to your teaching objectives.

Your answer: I discuss with learners how to use and interpret media, verify the accuracy of information (e.g. the origin, and authorship) and give suggestions on how to assess its usefulness for language learning.

Development of evaluation skills about digital content often involves discussion in language classes about how information is generated and how it can be distorted.

	This process can help to promote a broad understanding of the historical, political, economic and cultural contexts of text production in learners.
	To improve in this area, focus on teaching your learners how to critically evaluate the information source, reflect on its objectivity, draw valid conclusions and how to use information effectively in arguments and debates carried out in the target language. You can do this, for example, by creating a cartoon or animation on a specific issue and use this to stage a debate where learner groups represent opposing schools of thought or simply contrasting opinions, whilst considering the common debating phrases. Or you can present learners with flawed arguments, asking them to find the mistake.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Digital tools which allow learners to develop their own animations Make Beliefs Comix, Powtoon on specific topics. An additional approach to this could include tools for developing their own podcasts, like Vocaroo (basic) and/or Audacity (advanced).
	Implement reading activities fostering learners' logical reasoning skills. Critical reading supports reading comprehension of the target language.

Your answer: We comprehensively discuss how information is generated and can be distorted.

Developing an understanding in your learners on how information is generated and distorted will greatly help them in their language learning, as well as in their wider online activity.

	Learners who recognise valid and reliable resources in language classes tend to apply/transfer these competences outside the classroom.
	The next step for you and your learners would be to discuss how to draw valid conclusions and how to use information effectively in arguments and debates. You can do this, for example, by staging a debate where learner groups represent opposing schools of thought or simply contrasting opinions. Or you could present learners with flawed arguments extracted from different social media spaces, asking them to find mistakes.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Social networks such as Instagram, Facebook or YouTube for finding flawed arguments or to use as spaces for debate. Entertaining language learning resources, such asFlax, Lyrics Training.
	Implement activities fostering learners' logical reasoning skills and helping them to understand how media impacts and constructs reality.

Your answer: This is not possible in my language teaching practice or work environment.

While it can be difficult to set up digital collaboration assignments in language classes, you should be aware that the new CEFR includes descriptors for online interaction. It is the responsibility of all language teachers to develop this skill in learners at all language proficiency levels.

	Digital communication is an important basic skill. It is crucial that learners know how to use digital means to help them gain an understanding of its application in everyday life.
	Encourage learners to communicate among each other and practice the target language spoken and written. This can help to create a community or group in an online collaborative environment and help you set learners a concrete collaborative task to solve. Encouraging learners to communicate with an outside audience via a forum, an interview activity, etc. can serve as a starting point. Whatever the concrete task at hand, encourage learners to discover and engage in social communication online and contribute with comprehensible messages and accurate comments, considering the language register and discourse structure. Motivate learners to document their rules and to reinforce them among themselves. Challenge your learners by integrating tasks or variations that require different collaboration strategies or norms for communication, e.g. sign up for an online language lesson and fill in a form with personal details.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Social networking spaces such as Facebook, Instagram. Online forums for language learners (e.g. Microsoft Teams). Virtual chat rooms: WhatsApp groups.
	Set incentives for communication and collaboration and create authentic learning environments like a chatroom set up exclusively for the language class.

Your answer: Only on rare occasions are my learners required to communicate or collaborate online for language learning purposes.

The new CEFR includes new descriptors for online interaction. Therefore, language teaching staff are expected to encourage learners more often to communicate and collaborate online and to design language tasks to support this.

	The greater the variety of language assignments available to learners, the better learners will perform in writing and speaking the target language.
	A good starting point is to use collaborative writing activities (e.g. factual summary of the latest news) and assign such tasks to a community or group. This way learners will get accustomed to the main principles of online collaboration in a closed social setting which they are accustomed to. This promotes knowledge exchange among peers, as within collaborative online environments, language learners have the possibility to read and analyse each other’s work. Whatever the concrete task at hand, encourage learners to discover and collaboratively develop effective rules for communication and collaboration in the target language. Motivate them to document their rules and to reinforce these rules amongst themselves. Challenge their rules by integrating tasks or variations that require different collaboration strategies or adaptation of language register, styles of communication, etc.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Collaborative development software such as Google Docs or Padlet, Flinga for offering learners a space to collaboratively develop documents or boards. VLE software such as Moodle or Microsoft Teams to support online interaction, analysis and feedback.
	Explore the area of online communication and collaboration.

Your answer: My learners use digital devices for communication and cooperation mainly among each other.

Your learners are confident and competent in communicating with their peers, both in their native language and in the target language, in an effective and responsible way. Now you can start slowly expanding their world.

	By engaging in this process, you can raise awareness about discourse structure, grammatical categories and idiomatic expressions of the target language in online communication.
	Encourage learners to expand their communication skills (written and spoken) beyond the circle of contacts they are comfortable with. You can ask your learners to design an online-survey on a specific topic with a free online survey maker and prepare a short report. Or to participate in an online debate or a webinar or join an online language learning community or blog. They could also contact a research centre or national authority with a question that emerged in your language course.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Online questionnaires such as Google Forms, SurveyMonkey or Typeform which learners can use to develop an online survey. Online spaces such as Second Life, or many language blogs, as spaces to engage with other online language learners.
	Encourage learners to communicate with an external audience.

Your answer: My learners exploit and use different digital environments to communicate and to cooperate with each other and with an external audience for language learning purposes.

Your learners seem to use their language learning in productive ways (written and spoken) with different target groups.

	This is very beneficial as learners are empowered to use the target language in authentic, real-world situations.
	What is important for you is to systematically set assignments in language teaching using either synchronous or asynchronous tools that allow learners to slowly expand their language skills and reflect more on the sociolinguistic appropriateness of the target language. Empower your learners to communicate in a professional manner and to argue their point while being polite and respectful towards others and their opinions. Your learners themselves should realise, through their involvement in increasingly complex communication contexts, that oral and written communication follow different rules and grammatical categories.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: VOIP tools such as Zoom, BigBlueButton, ClickMeeting or Google Meet for setting synchronous assignments. Discussion forums or blog tools such as WordPress, Second Life, Google Docs for setting asynchronous assignments. Collaboration tools such as Flinga, Miro, Padlet.
	Engage learners in online authentic tasks and discover rules for communication and discourse structure.

Your answer: I systematically set language learning assignments that allow learners to slowly expand their skills and engage responsibly in online conversations and collaboration.

Your learners are able to use their language learning to engage in many online conversations and collaboration situations and contexts.

	Practicing the target language meaningfully in online environments with authentic audiences creates positive experience and facilitates comprehension.
	What is important for you is to empower your learners to autonomously apply and develop their communication skills (written and spoken equally). They must be able to state their point clearly, have an opinion and argue for it. However, they must also be able to communicate in a professional manner, be polite and respectful towards others and their opinions, etc. Your learners themselves should realise, through practice, that oral and written communication follow different rules, even if these rule-sets tend to converge in the era of chatting. Encourage learners to come up with their own plans to address the mistakes they initially make.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Discussion forums or blog tools such as WordPress, Second Life, Typeform or GoSoapBox. Collaboration tools such as Flinga, Miro, Padlet. All offer a space for learners for discussion and debate and peer assessment, and feedback with a view to specific contexts of use.
	Make sure to empower learners to discover rules for communication and cooperation in the target language and build communities.

Your answer: This is not possible in my language teaching practice or work environment.

While it can be challenging to embed digital activities in language classes for various reasons, there are a lot of benefits to starting to do so.

	In this way you can increase learners’ active involvement in the learning process, provide them with the options of personalisation and allow them to develop their own personal digital resources.
	You should find a study unit in which learners could themselves create content, e.g. write messages to a colleague in the target language, conduct an interview and record it with their smartphone, take photos or write a text and post it online, design a digital artefact with a software they know, etc..
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include easy-to-use resources such as Storyjumper or Make Beliefs Comix to allow learners to create image resources.
	Consider integrating simple digital activities in your language teaching.

Your answer: This is difficult to implement in my language teaching practice with my learners.

Your learners lack the necessary digital equipment or digital skill to engage in typical digital assignments. This means that you have to be innovative and start with simple assignments.

	In this way, you can bring some creative new lesson ideas on one hand and on the other you also foster learners’ skills in creating digital content.
	Taking photos using a smartphone is an activity which all learners are capable of and which can be linked to any subject. Just try it out. Ask your learners to bring personalised pictures related to a topic, e.g. “my favourite place in the city” and ask them to justify their choice, either in a written or spoken language activity. Or you can ask learners to record themselves with the smartphone reading a text, or create a podcast in the target language and practice pronunciation, correct intonation, speech melody, etc. Ask learners about the problems they faced and help them to overcome these with additional assignments. This will boost your learners' interest in your subject - and in many cases, their understanding of it.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Simple audio development tools such as Vocaroo which learners can use to edit audio. For more advanced users, tools such as Lightworks, Screencast-O-Matic may be useful as a way of recording and combining audio, video and screen-based content.
	Integrate simple digital activities and openly discuss the technical problems they have faced.

Your answer: I occasionally initiate and guide my learners to produce digital content for diversion and for fostering motivation in the process of (foreign) language acquisition.

What are the contextual barriers that have so far hindered you from integrating these motivating activities more firmly into your language teaching? Is it because you don't feel you have the time to do this more often? Is it because you find it difficult to link it to the development of language skills your learners need to develop? Is it because this is not usually done?.

	Reflect about benefits your learners obtain when they create digital content in language learning activities and what they could have learned with respect to the development of writing, speaking, reading and listening skills. These thoughts will help you understand what the specific strengths of learners' content creation are in your subject teaching and which contextual barriers you are faced with. They will also help you identify many more opportunities for engaging learners in creating digital content that is relevant for their learning and contribute to them attaining the desired learning objectives.
	Collaborative online platforms or tools can be used to jointly work and practice written skills in language acquisition. This allows learners to insert ideas anonymously or with their name and collaborate with other language learners. For speaking and listening skills, or for more digitally advanced learners, you could ask your learners to speak to each other live online by, for example, giving a presentation in the target language they are passionate or knowledgeable about.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Collaborative development tools such as Padlet or Google Docs, Make Beliefs Comix, Wordsearch, Puzzle-Maker that can be used by many learners to develop a shared resource or add to a shared space. VOIP tools such as BigBlueButton, ClickMeeting for speaking and listening live online. Cram, LearningApps, CoboCards – for creating memory games.
	Integrate digital content creation activities into core language learning and teaching.

Your answer: My learners create digital content as an integral part of foreign language acquisition.

Creating digital content in the target language brings the learners to a critical reflection and evaluation of both the use of language in the online environment and the communication strategies required.

	In this way, learners can develop their understanding of how to use digital content platforms and develop confidence in their digital competences and communicative skills in the target language.
	The next step may be to consider different activities and available formats for digital content creation by your learners. The aim should be to enable learners to use many different digital means - visual, audio, video, text-based ... - and combine them effectively to comprehensively demonstrate their understanding.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Screencasting software such as Screencast-O-Matic, or video editing software such as the OpenShot video editor which can be used to combine audio, video and text-based content. Storyjumper, Make Beliefs Comix, Pixton can be used to create digital books. Boords can be used to create storyboarding and animatics.
	Increase the variety of tools used by learners to create digital content.

Your answer: This is an integral part of the language learning and I systematically increase the level of difficulty to further develop their language and digital skills.

Consistent integration of digital content creation in language classes and encouragement of learners to select and combine different digital formats to effectively present their communicative skills and understanding can be very beneficial.

	This enables learners to use the target language in a social and action-oriented context.
	Encourage your learners to try out new methods and digital formats; to introduce effects that surprise their audience or make them laugh; to use different opinions as an incentive for study e.g. mediation strategies in the target language. Encourage them to look at their digital product from an artistic point of view, reflecting on how interesting, coherent, accurate and complete it is. This will not only enhance their digital competence, but also their competence to communicate their subject knowledge, to connect their findings or weigh arguments, and to comprehensively demonstrate their understanding.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Highly immersive tools to create engaging presentations and reports online, such as Piktochart, Emaze, Genially. Boords can be used to create storyboarding and animatics. CoboCards, Cram can be used to create memory games.
	Professionalize learners’ media production together with the learners in language classes.

Your answer: This is not possible in my language teaching practice or work environment.

Even if you do not foresee specific language learning activities that involve the use of web materials, your learners might sometimes use online information and communication strategies to complement their language learning skills. In order to ensure safe online language learning and to make this approach attractive, learners need to understand their digital footprint, how to protect their digital identity and how to avoid disclosing too much personal information in writing and speaking online.

	Raising awareness of possible tracking and misuse of digital content is very important to avoid future disappointment or disparagement. Additionally, learners will use digital resources more confidently if they know how to protect themselves from the very start.
	Summarize relevant rules in the form of a course guide, using easy language and/ or with pictures and symbols which could be done in-class or as homework. To raise awareness for the topic, it could be first introduced in an everyday context, collecting ideas about how much learners would like others to know about themselves in the “real world”, and then assigning the findings to the digital world. Address the fact that politeness and respect is also an important issue to be considered as much in the digital world as in everyday life. Make sure learners understand the possibility of being hacked and disparaged with digital means (like ill-considered exposition of photos on social media platforms etc.). Show websites with privacy policy settings and explain what they mean. As this is a very important point, ask one or more advanced learners to serve as mediators and to translate the content into the language understood by their peers.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Word processing tools for developing course guides such as Word or online versions of this such as Google Docs. Social Networks such as Facebook or Twitter typically have privacy policy settings which can be used to demonstrate to learners.
	Discuss online communication rules with learners. Compare (general and digital) etiquette that is common or different in their home countries.

Your answer: I inform them that they have to be careful with relaying personal information online, e.g. posting pictures, comments.

It is important that learners are aware of the pitfalls associated with online services, such as spamming, phishing, stalking, and know how to manage their digital footprint and protect their digital data. However, you should also consider the social and cultural norms for spoken and written communication.

	Learners feel more comfortable using digital resources when they know how to identify data security settings and identify possible pitfalls to avoid unpleasant surprises.
	Discuss with learners the practical application of general rules in whatever messenger services or social media they use, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, etc., and any further online activities they engage in. Consider concrete communication situations with them and how the rules agreed on need to be refined or modified to fit their communication. Discuss which personal data they make available through language learning programs and apps they already use, and to whom. You could also collect experiences of bad behaviour in communicative situations and also of experiences concerning too much openness on the internet, such as unwanted advertisement mails and calls etc., and discuss how these things can be avoided.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include video production tools such as Screencast-O-Matic or OpenShot video editor which learners could use to produce and show their own videos that create good or bad emotions.
	Set a digital activity suitable for discussing rules for online behaviour like producing and sharing a video of an unpleasant situation because of rude behaviour via messenger service (e.g. a WhatsApp group etc.).

Your answer: I explain the basic rules for safely and responsibly acting in online environments and protect oneself and others.

Discuss with learners what personal data they make available through the language learning programmes and apps they use, and with whom.

	Being able to manage one’s own security strategies offers more confidence in the way one uses digital resources.
	Let learners explore how to manage their online identity in a way that they feel comfortable with. Encourage them to think about how they present themselves to the world and identify personal details they can safely share online and which ones they should keep private. Discuss personal experiences of learners concerning the topic.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include video sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo can be used to show tutorials on general behavioural rules on the internet.
	Set a digital activity suitable for discussing rules of conduct. For example, watch a film or listen to a podcast and talk about the behaviour of the characters in an everyday situation. Ask learners to transfer it to the digital world. Are etiquette rules the same in all cultures? Discuss.

Your answer: We discuss and agree on rules of conduct in language learning communities and other online spaces.

You are aware of the importance of learners' ownership of the etiquette which they employ in their online communication, with each other and with the outside world.

	Understanding the pitfalls of online communication and how to avoid them determines how much personal information someone is willing to expose in public. This can provide learners with a feeling of self-determination, as opposed to finding themselves in unforeseeable problems with insecure data.
	Encourage learners to enter their names in different search engines and discuss their findings. Is this really the picture they want to show publicly about themselves? Discover together with the learners what personal data they make available through the programmes and apps they use, and with whom. Let them explore how to manage their online identity so that they feel comfortable with the way they present themselves to the world and with the information they share online. Collect examples of social media services (e.g. Facebook) and examine the data security settings. Point out which security standards are the most appropriate. It might be a good idea to identify more ‘digitally advanced’ learners in groups who can act as mediators and explain basic data protection settings they know and have adjusted personally, and what exactly should be considered when using the internet. To make language learners aware of certain etiquette rules, let them see how they themselves act in difficult settings.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: The use of Social Networks such as Facebook or Twitter for presenting or creating concrete communication situations to identify to learners how rules agreed upon may need to be refined or modified to fit their communication in the target language. Password management websites and services, or password management settings in browsers, to demonstrate the necessity of creating safe passwords and changing them regularly. You could collect a variety of possible passwords and let learners discuss which ones they would use and which ones not and why they are deemed to be appropriate or not.
	Foster learners' autonomy by asking them to oversee security settings in apps and programs they use and adjust them accordingly. You could hand out communication tasks that involve some kind of insult or embarrassment and take a video of the situation. Let them consider if the reaction was appropriate or not and what could be improved. Then transfer the situation to the digital world. Discuss with learners the practical application of these rules with peers or when they need to address public actors by means of digital devices like smartphones, tablets or computers.

Your answer: I systematically develop learners’ use of social rules in the different digital environments we use for (foreign) language teaching purposes.

What you need to do now is to enhance learners' ownership of the rules they obey - and their right to adapt and modify these as they see fit.

	Being aware of the pitfalls of online communication and being able to manage one’s own personal settings to avoid these enables a more fearless and frequent use of digital means in the language learning process.
	Discuss concrete communication situations and how the rules agreed on need to be refined or modified to fit their effectiveness in the country where learners live and in the target language. Discover together with learners which information they make available through the programmes and apps they use, and with whom, and show how to adjust personal settings on documents they exchange during digital partner or group work as well as in other digital activities. Make sure that your learners are aware of existing data protection rules and know how to apply these to their own learning environments.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Email campaign software such as Mailchimp and SurveyMonkey can be used to explain the differences between copies and blind copies and to explain the legal regulations for data protection when emailing or using the internet in general. Websites such as creativecommons.org to help explain and manage basic rules like copyright on texts and ownership of pictures they could possibly use for digital exchange of exercises and homework.
	Foster learners' autonomy by asking them to oversee all security settings in the apps and programs they use and adjust them accordingly.

Your answer: This is not possible with my learners, in my work as a language teacher.

It is important to empower learners to identify their problems and barriers in their language learning process in terms of communicating their own learning needs, understanding course content and encouraging them to find ways of overcoming them. For you as a language teacher this means that you must be open to the different ways in which learners overcome learning obstacles, even if they seem sometimes inefficient, arbitrary or dubious. You can, and should, encourage learners to work on the flaws in their learning strategies, while also appreciating that they took the first step to overcome an important obstacle to their learning.

	In this way, learners can identify problems in their learning approaches, making use of examples of online sources for self-assessment, even if there is no teacher at hand.
	You can and should slowly and gently introduce your language learners into the basic use of digital tools. Fundamental knowledge of digital tools and their application is important for learners, even those in low-level language classes, to participate in online activities without hindrances. Furthermore, to overcome the difficulties of learning a target language using digital technologies, the teacher must create an environment that enhances the learners’ familiarity with these technologies and actively engage learners in reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities. Therefore, it is important to note the importance of staying tuned-in with the language, not only in class but also as often as possible in online environments at home, in case these are available. Ask learners whether they already know of tools to improve their learning outside the language class (apps, online learning environments etc.) and encourage them to share their ideas with others.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Snapchat, etc. can be used to allow learners to communicate easy messages with peers as often as possible (“How are you?”, “What time is it?). Online digital whiteboards such as Padlet, Miro, Flinga can be used to present learners with easy online tasks (such as low-level grammar exercises with pull-down lists) on an online digital whiteboard and can be used to let learners complete the exercises either individually or collaboratively to give them an idea of how this works. These platforms can also give the learners the opportunity to discover potential learning shortcomings by assessing their progress by means of low-level exercises and tests online, with an option to check the correctness instantaneously.
	Encourage learners to creatively use digital resources, like messenger services, to meet communication challenges effectively. Consider also introducing platforms with easy classroom games to foster vocabulary and grammar and encourage learners to use them individually at home.

Your answer: I rarely have the opportunity to foster learners' digital problem solving in my language classes.

Problem-solving is a universally required 21st century skill. Learning a new language can be very challenging, especially if the way it is implemented differs heavily from learning strategies in the learners’ home countries. Challenges such as these occur all the time. As a language teacher, it is important to anticipate these and to provide the necessary resources for learners to be able to discover their individual shortcomings and to creatively design solutions. Digital technologies can, in many cases, help learners design a solution that they can experience as innovative.

	Lack of self-confidence in using a target language is a very frequent challenge in language learning that learners often need to overcome. Guiding and encouraging learners to find innovative strategies on their own is a good way to increase their self-esteem.
	The next step for you would be to better anticipate challenges in a language learning situation and to even actively trigger such challenges. Situations where learners identify that there is something impossible to be known or asserted, or something too difficult to understand as it goes beyond their capacities or possibilities, can be converted into a challenge to be overcome - collectively by all learners, or by a small group of learners, or by individual learners.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include search engines such as Google or Bing can be useful to help explain and let learners explore which search words are significant to find a special topic. Ask them to address peers by e-mail or messenger if they need help or more detailed explanation. As a starting point, this can be done completely or partly in the mother language with one or more learners as mediators.
	Trigger challenges by stating a new issue in language learning without explaining the details and ask learners to identify and discuss which digital means they would use to find suitable explanations to meet the challenge.

Your answer: I occasionally address it, whenever an opportunity arises.

You know how important it is to encourage learners to overcome challenges in their language learning approaches and you also know that digital technologies can, in many cases, help them find innovative solutions.

	In this way you can ensure that all learners are offered opportunities for developing their digital problem-solving skills in your language courses and increase their basic knowledge.
	Consider creating easy-to-use activities to help learners meet these challenges effectively. You can create for example a blog where learners can share texts and ideas or find a website that can be filled with videos, audios, texts, vocabulary lists and grammar topics etc. and make sure that everyone can access it. You could also help them to communicate online via web conference programs. You can actively trigger challenging situations, for example by asking learners to find sightseeing spots in distinct places they have never been before. In groups, you could let them solve a task by means of correctly using a search engine of their choice.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Video production tools such as Screencast-O-Matic or OpenShot video editor could be used to allow learners to make videos where they discuss problems and possible solutions and show these to the rest of the class. Collaboration tools such as MindMeister, Word Scramble, Powtoon, Yo Pad could be used to help learners to collaborate online.
	Trigger challenges for learners by introducing a new issue in language learning without explaining the details and ask learners to identify innovative ways to meet the challenge and discuss the results. Watch out for situations where learners find something impossible to be known or asserted, or which goes beyond their capacities or abilities - for instance, a newly implemented grammar issue which. Convert this into a challenge to be overcome - collectively by all learners, or by a small group of learners, or by individual learners, and tell them to suggest digital means to find solutions.

Your answer: We often experiment with technological solutions to problems.

The next step for you would be to understand how you can systematically integrate opportunities for digital support into your language teaching, so as to make it an integral and natural part of your teaching and to ensure that all learners benefit.

	Regular digital communication among peers leads to more self-confidence in using the target language in different situations and increases motivation to learn in a digital environment.
	Make digital environments a steady part of your language classes. Create regular small assignments that permit learners to work together digitally. For each unit or module of study, identify aspects where you expect learners to experience something as impossible to be known or asserted, or too difficult to achieve (e.g. a newly implemented grammar issue). Convert this into a challenge to be overcome - either collectively by all learners, or by a small group of learners, or by individual learners. Ask them to identify how this new knowledge could be obtained and collect the learners’ ideas on how they would suggest they approach this goal and how technology can assist with this. You will see that there are many opportunities for integrating digital approaches into your teaching. In some cases, the challenges encountered will be different for different ability groups and newly acquired skills must be acknowledged by the teacher anyway. These may require further training, either individually, with a partner, or in groups.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include blogging platforms such as Jimdo, IONOS or WordPress or collaboration tools such as Miro, Yo Pad, Padlet, Canva can be used by learners to share texts and ideas by providing videos, audios, texts, vocabulary lists and grammar topics, etc. while also ensuring that everyone can access it.
	Systematically integrate digital problem-solving opportunities by offering ways to meet the challenges presented by digital means. To guarantee internal differentiation, you will need to implement various tasks in parallel, allowing each learner or group of learners to work according to their capability to meet the challenge. This way you can ensure that all learners are offered opportunities for developing their language skills by using digital means.

Your answer: I systematically integrate opportunities in my work as a language teacher for creative digital problem solving.

You know how important it is to encourage learners to overcome challenges in learning a new language, and you also know that digital technologies can, in many cases, help learners design a solution to meet these challenges in an innovative and creative way.

	Being able to create innovative methods to support language learning with digital means and gaining security in their application enhances the learners’ ability for self-determined learning and enables steady interchange and mediation among peers.
	The next step for you would be to ensure that your learners benefit from this process. Think about the kinds of digital activities that you usually implement and consider how you can adapt or re-focus these to account for different abilities. Think about the help and guidance you can offer to learners without jeopardizing their ownership of the design of a solution. This can be a difficult part of the whole process - empowering all your learners to experience themselves as being capable of achieving the unthinkable.
	Some tools which may be useful for supporting this process include: Blogging platforms such as Jimdo, IONOS or WordPress can be used to create a class blog or website where learners can share texts and ideas. Once the website or blog is online it should become a fixed component of the language lessons. Make it a steady pool of information and tasks for learners to fall back on. Discover adoptions or improvements of the website while using it and have it properly maintained by your learners. You could also encourage learners to collaborate more frequently online via Padlet, Miro, Powtoon.
	Systematically integrate digital problem-solving opportunities and trigger self-determined language learning by asking learners to create further innovative ways to meet the challenge. Ensure that all learners benefit. To guarantee internal differentiation, you will need to implement various tasks in parallel, allowing each learner or group of learners to work according to their capability to meet the challenge. Planning can be done on a sheet of paper. The implication of the task could be executed by a group of more advanced users. This way you can ensure that all learners are offered opportunities to share their ideas and develop their language skills on different levels.