The Future of Education

Integration of new media into the case method in language teaching at universities of applied sciences

Case studies continue to enjoy high levels of popularity in teaching, especially at universities of applied sciences, because they generate immediate interest, are generally of direct relevance to a particular subject area, and give students a fair amount of scope in tackling problems independently or in groups. This holds also in the context of language teaching, where they are effective for teaching not only problem-solving and interpersonal skills, but also when it comes to helping students develop their grammar, vocabulary, comprehension and speaking ability. The methods used for teaching cases, however, have not kept abreast with the possibilities that new media offer. The modern classroom offers instant access to the full range of information sources, and students working on a case can be encouraged to widen the scope of their analysis by considering targeted aspects of, say, the environmental or social dimension of a particular topic that go beyond the content of a given case.

The pervasive presence of new media makes it imperative that instructors and curriculum designers rethink the use of the case method, which has become somewhat outdated and is prone to routine methodologies.

This article will examine fresh approaches to using the case method in the digitally-linked classroom, whereby students will become active contributors in devising problem-solving methods, researching and generating new ideas and presenting their findings.