THE ITALIAN AIR FORCE

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL S.L.E.

• THE ITALIAN AIR FORCE
• E-LEARNING PROGRAM
• Copenhagen Presentation
• 4 - 8 October 2009

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL

• OVERVIEW
• 1. ITAF E-learning Language Acquisition Pathway.
• 2. Targeted Language Levels.
• 3. Course Information Objectives.
• 4. E-Learning and JFLT Objectives.
• 5. E-Learning and JFLT Results.
• 6. The ITAF LMS, Architecture Student
  Orientation.
• 7. The Virtual Classroom (Live Meeting Demo).
• 8. E- Learning - Our Experience.
• 9. Future Implementations. (Blended Learning)
• 10. QA.

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL

• E-learning English
• Language Acquistition Pathway

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL

• E-LEARNING
• TARGETED LANGUAGE LEVELS
• Starters / Beginners.
• Elementary.
• Pre-Intermediate.

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL

• Course Information Objectives
• Students are required to complete a total of
  160 hours during the course which includes
  off-line studies also. All students are given a
  DVD of course materials to study at home.
  Didactic materials include multimedia Military
  English courses and grammar exercises.
• The course is synchronized with virtual
  classroom teaching. Each course has a course and
  support teacher assigned to it - (a teaching
  team) to maximise teaching coverage. All course
  teachers are native English speakers and
  qualified to teach.
• Course numbers do not exceed 20. Students are
  divided into four groups of 5 allowing for small
  class sizes.
• A mid course examination is done online that
  evaluates student progress.
• Students must pass the final course
  examination at the the military school to
  qualify for a JFLT assessment.

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL
JFLT Objectives (E-learning)
Taking into consideration the e-learning formula
that we use, conservative targets have been
set. That said, we do have a small percentage of
students achieving a threshold SLP at level 2 .

SLP Listening Speaking Reading Writing
Starters /Beginners 1 0 1 0
Elementary 1 1 1 1
Pre-Intermediate 1 1 1 1
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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL
Consolidated JFLT Results Intensive in school
E-learning Courses
Data available to date
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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL
Results Data Table
Proficiency Testing JFLT 2007 2008 2009 (available data)
Level 0 / N.Q. 5.48 (17) 7.88 (32) 3,33 (11)
Level 1 17.74 (55) 17,24 (70) 21,21 (70)
Level 2 62.90 (195) 61,82 (251) 61,81 (285)
Number Tested 267 353
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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL

• Data Summary

• We have noted a significant drop in non
  qualified personnel.
• We have noted a net increase in JFLT Level 1
  qualifications.
• We have noted a constant result for JFLT Level 2
  qualifications.
• Conclusion
• The introduction of e-learning as a means of
  language acquistion was a relatively smooth one
  for us and did not impact negatively on JFLT
  results as a whole. In fact, we have seen a 45
  increase of air force personnel qualified with
  an SLP rating at level 1 (the majority) and in
  some cases at level 2.
• E-learning in the ITAF has opened the door for
  Italian military personnel who do not get
  accepted into the school for an intensive English
  language course. They can now follow a structured
  e- learning pathway that concludes with an SLP
  rating.

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL
The SLEAM E-Learning Platform MOODLE ver 1.9.5
(Open Source)
Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning
Environment
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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL
SLEAM SITE MAP
LINK
Course Simulation Student Orientation (public)
Teacher Training Microsoft Live Meeting

SLEAM E-learning Platform
English Courses (Enrolment)
Teachers Zone
( Teacher Training resources)
Virtual Classroom Microsoft Live Meeting
Coordinators Zone (Course monitoring)
French Pilot program
Learning Resources language skills
maitenance (public)
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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL
Platform Summary

• Student Orientation is currently done in
  house for a period of three days allowing
  students to familiarise themselves with the
  course interface and platform. Orientation is
  done using a course simulation. This concludes
  with knowledge based assessment quizzes.
• The Moodle platform enables us to track student
  progress using its quizzes, scorm based learning
  activities and course gradebook.
• Platform activities are mainly focused on
  listening, reading and writing skills.
• Speaking is done in the virtual classroom and
  can be set as an mp3 exercise on the platform.
• The platform provides a high degree of
  flexibilty allowing students to review and
  practice 24 / 7.

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL
The Virtual Classroom
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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL

• The Virtual Classroom (link)

• Microsoft Live Meeting - Video Conferencing
• Voip Audio Quality ? ? ? ?
• Uploads a large range of multimedia format
  types.

Features Functions

• An electronic whiteboard.
• Standard and interactive PDF Forms. (Print to
  PDF function)
• Recording Lessons
• Loading Flash objects and playback functions.
• Audio Video formats.
• Linking to web pages
• Desk top sharing / uploading downloading
  of VC lesson materials.

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL

• E-learning Our Experience

• Our experience after nearly two years of
  e-learning
• Platformed Based Issues
• The course user interface needs to be user
  friendly, intuitive, easy to navigate and
  standardized for multiple courses.
• User browser types plug - ins and settings
  need to be compatible for the correct delivery
  of platform media.
• Use of automated platform feedback for
  students needs to be maximised.
• Providing public domains that allow students
  to access the platform for extra curricula
  studies and platform familiarisation.

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL
E-learning Our Experience

• Virtual Classroom Issues
• Audio quality and consistency is a key factor
  when conducting productive virtual classroom
  lessons. Choice of conferencing software is
  paramount to a successful synchronous (virtual
  classroom) e-learning program.
• Technical aspects like internet connection
  speed, proxy servers, browser and firewall
  settings need to be overcome for correct use of
  MS Live Meeting. Cross browser compatibility must
  also be resolved.
• Our Solutions
• Creating designated E-learning terminals for
  personnel with unfiltered ports in all Italian
  air bases.
• To counter protected networks we suggest
  internet USB pen drives on WiFi connections..

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ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL
Future Implementations Goals

• Plans are being made to do student orientation
  entirely on the platform. This will be done using
  video and visual screenshots. Student oral
  assessments will be done in the virtual
  classroom.
• A solution is currently being proposed to create
  a blended elearning course which would require
  students to come to the school for scheduled
  periods of in class teaching and completion of
  their examinations.
• Integration scorm compliant language courses on
  the platform for comprehensive grade tracking
  and analysis on student progress.
• To extend the number of virtual classroom session
  with teachers.
• In classroom connections to the platform giving
  intensive course students access to e-learning
  activites in the learning resources domain.
• ISO 9001 accreditation.

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QASession
ITAF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SCHOOL

• Now is your opportunity to ask me questions
  about our e-learning project.