Telecollaborations
* On June 14, 2021 at 4.15 p.m. in Japan and 9.15 a.m. in Poland, the Zoom platform hosted the final presentation summarizing the second part of the telecollaboration project titled “Poland - Japan, “Innovations 2” carried out in the summer semester of 2020/2021, in cooperation with the Otaru University of Commerce in Japan.
The project, as part of the English language course, was attended by Polish students of the 6th semester in the field of Mechanics and Machine Design at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and Japanese students of Commerce. The project coordinators were Prof. Daniela Caluianu and Iwona Seta-Dąbrowska, MA.
The first part of this year's cooperation with the University of Japan (see below) met with such an enthusiastic response that the Japanese side offered us to continue the project related to the subject of innovation.
Despite the organizational difficulties related to the different organization of the academic year, which in Japan begins in April, some of the classes were conducted together remotely, which undoubtedly influenced the quality of the projects to be implemented.
The city of Otaru is famous for its music boxes, so this time five international teams had the task of preparing music box designs that would combine elements of both cultures.
The teams presented a number of interesting proposals in terms of music, design and cultural inspiration, which were appreciated by the special guest invited to the presentation – Mr. Hiroshi Sato, an owner of a local souvenir shop in Otaru.
Students' designs are also to be presented to local Japanese manufacturers in the future, depending on the pandemic situation.
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* On April 23, 2021 at 11.15 a.m. in Poland and 3.15 p.m. in Kyrgyzstan an online presentation was held. It was titled “Poland - Kyrgyzstan, An International Telecollaboration Project (A Study in Contrast and Similarities)” and crowned an almost two-month project organized, as part of the English language course at the Foreign Languages Centre, in cooperation between fourth-semester students of Automatic Control and Robotics at the Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science of the Silesian University of Technology and students of Literature from Ala-Too International University in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The project coordinators were Shurubu Karimova, MA, and Janusz Sroka, MA.
Despite a significant time difference between Poland and Kyrgyzstan, the students worked synchronously during weekly meetings on the ZOOM platform in six international teams. Each group was tasked with developing a different topic related to the broadly understood differences and similarities between the two countries in the field of:
- national cuisine
- culture, traditions and customs
- national sport
- music
- national musical instruments
- language and literature
During the classes, students also exchanged information on geography, history, religion, national minorities, our universities, student life and the organization of studies. They also learned basic polite expressions in the other language and prepared internet quizzes (Kahoot).
The culmination of the joint work was an extremely colourful and very educational final presentation, during which the project participants presented a number of interesting facts about the other country and demonstrated video materials on which they performed fragments of national songs and dances from the country of their new friends.
It should be emphasized that this project required a lot of work from the students - especially on the Polish side, who had to go beyond their comfort zone and look at issues quite distant from their usual subject of technical studies. This 'humanizing' aspect of the project is in line with contemporary educational trends and constitutes its added value.
The project was highly appreciated both by its participants and the invited guests – the authorities from both universities.
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* On January 18, 2021 at 8 a.m. in Poland and 4 p.m. in Japan, a summary of an international telecollaborative project took place on the Zoom platform. The project was implemented in the winter semester 2020/21 in cooperation between the Foreign Languages Centre at the Silesian University of Technology and the Otaru University of Commerce in Japan.
The project, as part of the English language course, was attended by Polish fifth-semester students in the field of Mechanics and Machine Design at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and Japanese students of Commerce from Otaru University. The Polish students worked under the supervision of Iwona Seta-Dąbrowska, MA, while the Japanese students were supervised by Prof. Daniela Caluianu.
The project was related to the subject of innovation. The students participating in it worked in five international teams. Their task was to improve or adapt the existing Japanese solutions, used in various spheres of everyday life, to the needs of the Polish market or more universal applications, as well as the promotion and marketing of the new products.
The Polish students developed the technical side of the project, while the Japanese dealt with the business side of the project.
The international cooperation has resulted in very interesting solutions – designs for an ecological public toilet system, an innovative phone holder, a fragrant insect trap, a modification of a popular robot to make it more useful in the times of the pandemic, and an unusual use of a portable heater.
The project was appreciated by the authorities of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and other guests who participated in the presentation.
It was the third project carried out within the framework of telecollaboration between the Foreign Languages Centre at the Silesian University of Technology and the Otaru University of Commerce in Japan. The success of our projects so far allows us to hope for further fruitful cooperation between the two universities.
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* "Distant learning – problem or challenge?" – an international project carried out by lecturers from the Foreign Languages Centre of the Silesian University of Technology in Katowice: Jolanta Fusiarz, MA, Beata Kozłowska, and Katarzyna Gródek, MA.
On December 15, 2020 a remote conference was held which was the culmination of the project "Distant learning - problem or challenge?" It was attended by students and representatives of the authorities of four universities: the Silesian University of Technology, the University of State Rail Transport in Kharkov, Ukraine, the International Ala-Too University in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and the University in Bihaciu, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On the part of the authorities, our university was represented by the Vice-Dean for Cooperation and Development of the Faculty of Materials Engineering, Bożena Gajdzik, PhD (habilitated) Eng, Professor at SUT, and second-year students of the Faculty of Materials Engineering and the Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering: Julia Wojtasik, Paulina Nowak, Natalia Lemańska, Kaja Orzechowska, Błażej Orpel, Daniel Olejnik, Filip Wróbel, Jan Czarnecki, Michał Kupczyk, Kamil Kucięba, Mateusz Charkot, Dawid Matura and Konrad Kuś.
The aim of the project was to answer the question of whether remote learning is a problem for students, or is it a challenge they are coping with. In order to find an answer to the above question, the participants of the project, under the supervision of lecturers of English at the Foreign Language centre in Katowice: Jolanta Fusiarz, MA, Beata Kozłowska, and Katarzyna Gródek, MA, prepared a survey, which they later conducted among students of the Silesian University of Technology.
The project group met remotely via the ZOOM messenger. The purpose of the meetings was to develop questions for the survey, prepare the survey using Google Docs, and then analyse the answers provided by students of the Silesian University of Technology and draw conclusions.
In the next stage, the project participants were divided into four subgroups, whose task was to prepare four parts of the presentation in English for the conference ending the project. The parts of the presentation were:
- The Silesian University of Technology - background information
- The Silesian University of Technology in Covid-19 pandemic
- The brief description of research question, methods, tools and areas of interest used
- The analysis of the survey - findings and conclusions.
Thanks to the initiative of our university students, on November 28, 2020, an international meeting of the project participants took place, during which they could get to know each other, exchange experiences in the work on the questionnaire and presentation, and talk about topics related to studying and student life in the times of the pandemic. The meeting resulted in the creation of groups using social messaging, which allowed the students from four universities to stay in touch.
On December 15, 2020, the final conference took place, during which students presented their universities, the analyses of the survey results and exchanged their conclusions. Apart from the formal part, there was also an opportunity to meet in smaller groups and talk freely.
A tangible and very special memento of working together on the project is a virtual 'padlet', where we can find profiles of project participants, short information about universities, presentations presented at the conference, and above all, entries and comments from students and lecturers. In addition, all project participants received a certificate issued by the University of State Rail Transport in Kharkov, which was the originator of the project.
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* Another telecollaboration project at the Foreign Languages Centre of the Silesian University of Technology – "A guide to 21st century skills."
The Foreign Language Centre once again engaged in an international online cooperation. The project, conducted as part of the English language course, was attended by fifth-semester students of German and Spanish philology of the Institute for Research on Education and Communication under the guidance of Bożena Stefanowicz, MA, and students of International Relations representing the Lvov University of Technology under the supervision of Olha Tsubova, a lecturer from the Lvov University of Technology.
The main topic of the project was to identify the most important skills needed in the job market in the 21st century and to prepare a guide to help students acquire and use these skills. The project started on November 5, and its official summary presentation took place on December 10, 2020. Students worked in international groups of five or six. During the first part of the project, the participants got to know each other and prepared interesting presentations about their interests. They also compiled a list of the most important skills that are required in the 21st century to be successful in the job market.
This introductory phase prepared students to develop a guide that defined the competences required and how to use them. Undoubtedly, an attempt to appear on the job market and showcase their strengths during the recruitment process and at the beginning of their professional career is a challenge for young people. The multimedia guides prepared by the students and the experience gained during the project implementation may be of assistance in the near future.
Working on the project naturally shaped and consolidated, inter alia, interpersonal communication skills, organizational skills, as well as creativity and the ability to adapt to various tasks resulting from different schedules. The students gained experience in international cooperation thanks to the most modern online tools. (ZOOM, PADLET)
Instead of the traditional way of learning, the students had the opportunity to use their own knowledge and create new solutions. Working with the method of the telecollaboration project allowed the participants more freedom to implement their own ideas, strengthened their responsibility and motivation, which are essential features in today's globalized area of employment. The practical use of the English language and the necessity to communicate in a foreign language showed students how important the knowledge of languages is in international cooperation.
The final presentation of the project was attended by invited guests, incl. Dr Małgorzata Rachwalska-Mitas, Director of the Foreign Languages Centre, and Iwona Rocznik, MA, Head of the English language section. The role of the expert was assumed by Dr Anna Kochmańska, Deputy Head of the Department of Applied Social Sciences from the Faculty of Organization and Management. On the Ukrainian side, the presentation was assessed and commented by Prof. Oksana Kaminska, head of the Foreign Language Centre of the Lvov University of Technology, Natalia Zhorniak - teacher and representative of the British Council in Ukraine, and Glenn R. Anderson from the Peace Corps in Ukraine.
"A guide to 21st century skills" is the second project carried out in cooperation with the Lvov University of Technology. Both Polish and Ukrainian students appreciated the experience gained during the joint work and they will certainly continue the established relationships.
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* A telecollaboration project entitled "EduBot" was carried out with the PBL method with the participation of the third-year students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Automation and Robotics, of the Silesian University of Technology under the supervision of Grażyna Duda, MA and students of the Budapest Business School in Budapest under the supervision of Dr. Ildiko Dosa.
The EduBot project was another edition of the cooperation between the Budapest Business School and the Foreign Languages Center of the Silesian University of Technology and lasted for nine weeks from mid-October to 9 December this year.
The subject matter of the project was to design a multifunctional robot for learning and teaching programming to children, youth and university students. Students participating in the project worked in six international teams and had to perform tasks related to the construction of individual parts of the robot (engineering tasks) and its promotion, estimating production costs and finding outlets (business tasks). The means of communication were internet platforms such as Discord, Zoom, Google Drive, Facebook, where the students from both universities met to discuss and implement the various stages of the project together. In addition, the students wrote weekly reports on the implementation of the project and uploaded them to PZE (our university's e-learning platform) so that project coordinators could assess the progress of work.
On December 9, 2020 the final presentation of the project took place. Due to the pandemic, it was presented online to the invited guests. When assessing the project, the students emphasized that it was a new challenge for them, an opportunity to gain new skills and knowledge, make new friends, work in international teams, learn about a different culture, and improve their knowledge of English. In addition to teamwork, students also emphasized the possibility of problem-solving, creativity, and sharing knowledge.
Telecolaboration and teaching using the PBL method once again proved to be an innovative direction in the development of university education and met with favorable opinions of the content and the language teachers participating in the presentation.
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