A ready-to-use instructional design model for the deployment of an LMS for second language teaching

Abstract

This paper aims at providing an overview of key issues concerning the planning and implementation of an LMS for second language teaching at a higher education institution, given that administrators and educators considering the possibility of delivering learning digitally need some criteria in order to assess the educational and economic implications of moving to an online environment. We have taken the classical ADDIE instructional design model as a starting point for our own planning, but we have chosen to provide it with more flexibility in the search for a model open to constant revision and designed to focus on content. Since this kind of proposal might be at risk of being regarded as another tired approach to instructional design, we have tackled this issue from both a theoretical point of view and a more practical and down-to-earth approach that accounts for the necessary steps in order to create an e learning platform in the specific context of the Spanish language courses delivered at a Spanish university. In particular, we have laid out the initial stages of that process: carrying out a needs analysis, fostering the culture of innovation and creating an action plan. Este trabajo pretende describir un modelo de diseño instruccional que facilite la toma de decisiones estratégicas por parte de un centro de enseñanza de lenguas que pretenda utilizar una plataforma educativa para virtualizar sus cursos. Nuestra propuesta se basa en el modelo ADDIE (Analizar, Diseñar, Desarrollar, Implementar y Evaluar), aunque lo hemos sometido a algunas modificaciones que nos han permitido dotarlo de una mayor flexibilidad. En concreto, proponemos adaptar el modelo ADDIE para que –en consonancia con el modelo de investigación-acción de Lewin– suponga un bucle recursivo de análisis y revisión. De todas las fases de las que constaría el proceso de creación de una plataforma de aprendizaje virtual nos hemos centrado en describir la planificación inicial y en proporcionar un modelo de diseño instruccional que pueda servir para analizar el contexto educativo y los recursos disponibles, evaluar los costes y tomar decisiones estratégicas.