Study buddy activities for online language learning
Description
Study Buddy activities are a form of cooperative learning, or peer-to-peer learning, where learners are paired up with another learner in order to complete a specific task. An assigned learning partner for several weeks can serve as an impetus for building relationships and trust in the online space. In addition to any learning goals that are achieved by the activity, learners with less online learning experience may gain useful insights into what it takes to meet and get to know someone in an online setting.
Study Buddy activities may also be a useful time management strategy for course designers and instructors. Unlike instructor-to-student interaction, student-to-student learning is scalable. Instructors can only provide a limited amount of one-to-one interaction with learners, whereas learners can experience more frequent interaction in target language when paired with each other. As long as tasks are supported with specific goals, learners will be able to take social relationships beyond mere socializing and use them for effective learning.
Study Buddy activities in an online language learning context can be a powerful type of interaction to include in the design of your course or activity. Language is a socially negotiated product, and having a buddy to practice language with in pursuit of specific goals is a natural fit for language learning. The required presence of another person can also help to alleviate the potential feeling that learners are by themselves in the online space. Study Buddy activities can be particularly effective towards the start of an activity or course, while learners are new to the online space and are still exploring how to build their own presence.
This resource is a collection of study buddy activities that you can use to provide interaction and socialization for your learners. It includes descriptions and instructions for each activity.