Innovation in Language Learning

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) methodology is expanding more and more all over Europe as the recent Eurydice Reports show (Keydata on Teaching Languages at School in Europe, Eurydice Brief, 2017). It was also mentioned in the latest Recommendation on language learning issued by the European Commission in May 2018, as an effective approach allowing to improve students’ language, disciplinary and trans-disciplinary learning outcomes.
In Italy CLIL has been mandatory since 2010: the state of the art of CLIL in Italy has been highlighted by the European Commission as a case-study, providing CLIL opportunities for all.
Moving from this background, the presentation will describe an online teacher training initiative planned and promoted by the authors through an Italian online university, IUL.
The training pathway takes advantage of the tools of Web 2.0 and is aimed at getting the participants familiar with the use of technologies for CLIL. The theoretical framework and the main e-tivities of the course will be detailed, mentioning examples of the participants’ products and outputs.
Among the different tasks, the CLIL webquest will be highlighted, referring to some of the participants’ digital products, comparing the state of the art of CLIL in different European countries or in other parts of the world. 
Another task of the course which will be described during the presentation is the video-annotation, allowing the participants to self-assess their own lesson or to act as a critical friend on another colleague’s lesson. Teachers’ self-reflection and meta-cognition are fostered through this technique, according to Do Coyle’s LOCIT (Lesson Observation Critical Incident Technique) model, which represents the framework of this task.
The transversal and final task of the course is the individual Action-Research plan, which each participant has designed and implemented across the length of the course, according to his/her own research question and in consideration of his/her own specific target and teaching context. Some examples of Action-Research projects will be described.
The participants’ reactions and feedback will be also mentioned: comments show how powerful a similar online teacher training pathway may be for a teacher’s professional and personal growth.

Keywords: CLIL, teacher training, Digital media;