21 Dr. Waynne B. James Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu Dr. Muhi!in Cavusoglu - Editors
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VOLUME 4
‘21
Editors:
Dr. Waynne B. James
Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu
Dr. Muhittin CavusogluUniversity of South Florida M3 Center Publishing
Co-Editors
Dr. Waynne James, University of South Florida, USA
Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu, University of South Florida, USA
Dr. Muhittin Cavusoglu, Northern Arizona University, USA
ADVANCES IN GLOBAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH: VOLUME 4
ISBN 978-1-955833-04-2
*Authors are fully responsible for corrections of any typographical, copyrighted materials,
technical and content errors.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/m3publishing/vol3/iss2021/26
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833042Iglesias: Learning EFL online through Blogger and Flipgrid in higher education: A collaborative project in times of pandemic
Co-Editors
Dr. Waynne James, University of South Florida, USA
Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu, University of South Florida, USA
Dr. Muhittin Cavusoglu, Northern Arizona University, USA
ISBN 978-1-955833-04-2
© USF M3 Publishing 2021
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34243 USA.University of South Florida M3 Center Publishing
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Zahra Alrushdy, Bahcesehir University, Turkey
Gokhan Sener, Necmettin Erbakan University, Turkey
Abraham Terrah, University of South Florida, USA
*Authors are fully responsible for corrections of any typographical, copyrighted materials,
technical and content errors.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/m3publishing/vol3/iss2021/26
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833042Iglesias: Learning EFL online through Blogger and Flipgrid in higher education: A collaborative project in times of pandemic
Learning EFL Online Through Blogger and Flipgrid in Higher Education: A
Collaborative Project in Times of Pandemic
Montserrat Iglesias
CETT Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy
University of Barcelona, Spain
Abstract
A methodological online approach for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in a higher
education context is presented in this paper. The pedagogical experience is described and
examined following a mixed-methods approach based on bibliometric analysis, content analysis,
and categorization. The participants were a group of undergraduate students (n=17) at CETT
Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy, from the University of Barcelona
(Spain), who had to switch to virtual learning due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and
the subsequent lockdown. They were required to work on a collaborative project arranged in four
stages using a combination of two tools, namely Flipgrid and Blogger. Therefore, the underlying
theoretical framework draws on previous studies on class blogging and on a document search of
academic publications on these two instruments carried out across the core collection of Web of
Science (WoS). At the end of their EFL course, students submitted their final portfolio
questionnaires, where they expressed their satisfaction with this new approach. However, their
comments also put a spotlight on a number of concerns, like anxiety deriving from digital pressure
and technological difficulties.
Keywords: Flipgrid, blog, EFL, higher education, foreign language learning
Recommended Citation: Iglesias, M. (2021). Learning EFL online through Blogger and Flipgrid
in higher education: A collaborative project in times of pandemic. In W. B. James, C.
Cobanoglu, & M. Cavusoglu (Eds.), Advances in global education and research (Vol. 4, pp. 1–
16). USF M3 Publishing. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833042
Introduction
This paper will present and evaluate a methodological online approach for learners of English as
a Foreign Language (EFL) in a higher education context. In March 2020, the students of the
Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism at CETT-UB School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy from
the University of Barcelona (Spain) were forced to leave their classrooms due to the Covid-19
pandemic. Like in many other countries around the world, their lockdown was extended until the
end of the academic period 2019-20. Uncertainty and anxiety had to coexist with the need to adapt
to a new virtual learning environment. Teaching and learning resources and skills were
reconsidered and updated, while behaviors and attitudes were modified to face up to a new reality.
Since on-site integrated teaching-learning-assessment processes were no longer possible, a group
of freshmen learners of EFL were asked to undertake a collaborative project in pairs or groups of
three. Given that they were being trained to pursue a professional career in the tourism industry, a
major learning objective in their undergraduate program was to develop their communicative
competence in EFL at an upper-intermediate level of English, i.e. level B2 according to the
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Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Therefore, oral skills were
prioritized, even though academic writing was also strengthened alongside other key competences,
such as teamwork and critical thinking. Their collaborative project was thus a means and an end
for competence development.
The project consisted in analyzing an existing tourism or hospitality product and making
improvement proposals. It was structured in four stages: exploring and describing the product of
their choice; reporting and analyzing associated customer reviews; examining the product’s
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and finally, putting forward suggested
improvements based on their findings. They had to present their project orally to their teacher and
produce a written report, ultimately. At the end of the academic period, they also submitted their
learner portfolios, including a questionnaire with their reflections on several aspects of the whole
process. To guide learners in this project amidst the Covid-19 pandemic a new pedagogical
procedure was followed coupling Flipgrid (https://flipgrid.com/oxfordcett3392) with Blogger
(http://englishcett.blogspot.com).
Literature Review
Blogs and Foreign Language Acquisition
Previous studies on class blogging with the participation of undergraduate tourism students have
focused on the enhancement of their communicative competences, reflective and critical thinking,
autonomy, teamwork, work organization, and time management (Iglesias, 2014, 2019a, 2019b).
Since its creation in 2007, Welcome to CETT’s blog has been used as a learner-centered platform
where learners’ written and oral productions alternate with teacher posts. More specifically, this
class blog is composed of teacher guidelines, short articles, pictures, video recordings of student
performance, and written assignments, in addition to teacher and students’ comments. In the past,
the spotlight has been put on oral skills, as well as on the way students engage with peer feedback
and self-assessment, the politeness strategies shown, and the provision of teacher feedback. These
aspects have been analyzed alongside the implementation of assessment criteria as regards
research project presentations (Iglesias, 2014) on the one hand, and job interview simulations and
elevator pitches on the other (Iglesias, 2019a, 2019b). On balance, the outcomes have always been
very satisfactory.
In a comprehensive review of investigations conducted between 2009 and 2018 on blogs, social
networking, and wikis for foreign and second language acquisition, Reinhardt (2019) states that
the origin of the interest in the internet in applied linguistics dates back to the mid-1990s, when a
number of articles on the benefits of computer-assisted language learning were published. In the
second half of the 1990s, online personal journals or weblogs -i.e. blogs, for short- started to be
hyperlinked by their authors in a common virtual network or blogosphere. The appearance of social
media based on Web 2.0 platforms in the mid-2000s entailed the advent of other technological
resources in coexistence with blogs, which have been widely researched due to their longevity and
popularity. Web 2.0 has enabled users with no computer programming skills to create and interact
with web-based content, and in more recent times, new forms of microblogging have emerged,
e.g. Twitter (Reinhardt, 2019).
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DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833042Iglesias: Learning EFL online through Blogger and Flipgrid in higher education: A collaborative project in times of pandemic
Campbell (2003) classifies blogs for educational purposes into three categories, namely tutor
blogs, learner blogs, and class blogs. Teachers usually manage the first ones as a source of
resources and references, whereas the second ones are administered by individual students, who
can use them as online portfolios or journals. Class blogs are a shared space where groups of
learners and instructors can interact and work collaboratively (Campbell, 2003). Blogs offer,
therefore, a wide range of learning opportunities in many different areas of knowledge. In the field
of foreign and second language acquisition, five different research foci have been adopted since
the mid-2000s in relation to blogs, according to Reinhardt (2019): intercultural exchange and
cultural development; identity and literacy progression; learners’ autonomy; audience awareness;
and learner variables and task design. An array of methodological approaches have been used,
such as ethnography, discourse analysis, action research, quantitative analysis, and case studies.
Researchers must deal with technological limitations and privacy issues, among other challenges
(Reinhardt, 2019).
In the last 10 years, foreign language learning through blogs has been researched in different
educational contexts, like high schools (Kopinska and Lasagabaster, 2014; Petrova, 2018; Harkova
et al., 2018; Khomyshak and Patiyevych, 2020) and private language schools (Spanou and Zafiri,
2019). However, the majority of studies have looked at the use of blogs to foster foreign language
acquisition in different university programs all around the world, including agricultural studies
(Bogdanova and Zharkova, 2018), tourism and hospitality, (Ince and Akdemir, 2013; Iglesias,
2014, 2019a, 2019b), philology (Kolesnikov and Polyakov, 2017; Mamaeva and Noskova, 2017),
education (Villalba and Gonzalez-Rivera, 2015), law, electrical engineering, and physics (Behjat,
2013), just to mention a few. Scholars have reported on the practical implications of their research
on blogging to foster linguistic competences mainly in EFL (Sun, 2010; Wu, 2012; Ince and
Akdemir, 2013; Wang, 2013; Iglesias, 2014, 2019a, 2019b; Wang, 2014; Okzan, 2015; Miao,
2017; Hronova, 2018; Spanou and Zafiri, 2019). Yet, communicative competences in other
languages have also been increasingly examined, and more specifically in German (Schenker,
2013; Vlckova, 2014; Petrova, 2018), Spanish (Rovira-Collado, 2016; Mamaeva and Noskova,
2017), French (Appetito, 2018; Diez, 2020), Arabic (Kuntz, 2013), Italian (Miceli et al., 2010),
Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Catalan, and Irish (Appel et al., 2012).
A more learner-centered approach to foreign language education at a tertiary level requires the
active participation of students and a digital turn in teaching-learning-assessment processes
(Yaroslavova and Fedotova, 2017; Iglesias, 2019a). Information and communication technologies
are an everyday ingredient not only in individuals’ lives, but also in high-quality university
programs (Villalba and Gonzalez-Rivera, 2015; Kuimova and Zvekov, 2016; Bogdanova and
Zharkova, 2018; Buyvol et al. 2018). Instructors need to develop their digital competences (Titova,
2012a, 2012b) to support their students’ professional and personal growth, as well as their
linguistic, cultural, and inter-cultural development effectively (Schenker, 2013; Kolesnikov and
Polyakov, 2017; Uosaki et al., 2017; Bogdanova and Zharkova, 2018). A number of empirical
studies in higher education institutions suggest that vlogs, i.e. video blogs (Appel et al., 2012;
Harkova et al., 2018; Hronova, 2018) and blogs can be an effective means to work on writing (Sun,
2010; Wu, 2012; Ince and Akdemir, 2013; Kuimova and Zvekov, 2016), reading (Kuntz, 2013),
speaking (Appel et al., 2012; Iglesias, 2014, 2019a, 2019b), and to build a wider vocabulary range
(Behjat, 2013). In addition, they contribute to strengthening learners’ interactions (Miceli et al.,
2010; Uosaki et al., 2017), creativity (Kuimova and Zvekov, 2016; Mamaeva and Noskova, 2017),
autonomy (Sun, 2010; Kuntz, 2013; Yagcioglu, 2015; Kuimova and Zvekov, 2016; Gareyev et al.,
3University of South Florida M3 Center Publishing
2018) motivation, and engagement (Sun, 2010; Ince and Akdemir, 2013; Iglesias, 2014, 2019a,
2019b; Kuimova and Zvekov, 2016; Hronova, 2018). These aspects are fundamental to stimulate
lifelong learning (Yaroslavova and Fedotova, 2017).
Nevertheless, in order to make the most of blogging, instructors play a key role in managing blogs,
and they need to be carefully integrated into each program’s structure and content (Miceli et al.,
2010). Moreover, learning materials must be customized in a meaningful way to boost learners’
interest and real-life applicability (Hronova, 2018). Fruitful blog tasks promote expert knowledge,
self-presentation, and reflection, but the resulting outcomes may be affected by learner variables,
such as background, digital competence, and familiarity with social media, as well as by task
design and topic. Likewise, awareness of external audiences can be either intimidating or
encouraging for students (Reinhardt, 2019).
Flipgrid as a Learning Tool
Flipgrid is an asynchronous video-based online platform that has several functions. It is used
primarily for educational purposes, but other alternative applications are possible, e.g. as an expert
video reflection journal (Green and Green, 2018), as a communication channel to manage
professional teams (Michalak and Rysavy, 2020), or as a way to broadcast specialized guidance
(Green and Green, 2018). Even though it is more recent than other Web 2.0 tools, it is becoming
increasingly popular in different educational settings, since it is an effective means to engage in
oral tasks, like presentations, discussions, and reflections (Keiper et al., 2020). The simple
interface is functional and easy to use (Dettinger, 2018; Davis et al, 2019; Lowenthal and Moore,
2020; Stoszkowski et al., 2021), as it was originally conceived for young learners. Some empirical
studies have reported its affordances at primary (Dousay and Weible, 2019) and secondary school
(Colton, 2020; Oliver et al., 2021). Nevertheless, a growing number of investigations have lately
explored the benefits of using Flipgrid for field-based learning at a tertiary level. Thus, some
publications have provided an account of pedagogical interventions aimed at students of physical
therapy (Falco et al., 2020), educational technology (Lowenthal and Moore, 2020), nursing
(Sebach, 2020), chemistry (Grieger and Leontyev, 2020), business (Keiper et al., 2020), and sports
coaching (Stoszkowski et al., 2021). The results have been predominantly satisfactory. Students
have expressed their positive opinions and engagement, and considered that peer connections and
social presence have been boosted in online courses (Falco et al., 2020; Grieger and Leontyev,
2020; Keiper et al., 2020; Lowenthal and Moore, 2020), as well as reflective thinking (Stoszkowski
et al., 2021). However, a minority of students also felt uncomfortable with being recorded, even
though the flexibility of Flipgrid can help to mitigate student anxiety to some degree (Keiper et
al., 2020; Lowenthal and Moore, 2020; Stoszkowski et al., 2021).
The usefulness of Flipgrid to facilitate language learning in various contexts has been underscored
by Dettinger (2018), who states that it “can enhance exposure to the target language in authentic
settings and has the potential to boost speaking time, pronunciation, collaboration, and student
confidence” (Dettinger, 2018, p. 214). Flipgrid is free of cost and it can foster individual or
collective communication among students. It can be shared to promote cooperative work, the co-
construction of new knowledge, and peer feedback. Its website provides valuable guidance and
assistance, and users can contribute with their ideas and be part of a global community. Moreover,
as students can access Flipgrid through its application or through its website, they can use it
anywhere (Dettinger 2018).
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DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833042Iglesias: Learning EFL online through Blogger and Flipgrid in higher education: A collaborative project in times of pandemic
Colton (2020) evaluates the outcomes obtained by means of Flipgrid and two more digital tools to
work on narrative voice, literary language, and historical context in an English class at an
Australian secondary school. She concludes that digital literacies were integrated into the English
curriculum, and students’ cooperative learning and participation were stimulated by their digital
productions. A key element was the teacher, whose pedagogical expertise was fundamental to
design all the tasks. The role of the instructor in the successful incorporation of learning
technologies is also highlighted by Chaka and Nkhobo (2019). These authors analyze the
application of Flipgrid coupled with other digital instruments in an online module of Applied
English Language Studies at the University of South Africa (UNISA). In this case, Flipgrid was
underused by the participants. This implies that instructors must be very prudent when selecting,
designing, and implementing learning activities, as students’ participation may be discouraged by
their being unfamiliar with new technological resources.
As asynchronous video-based applications have been understudied to date (Keiper et al., 2020;
Lowenthal and Moore, 2020), this article will offer a new perspective from an empirical
standpoint.
Methods
A methodological mixed methods approach was adopted for this bibliographic and descriptive
research. Data collected by means of different techniques and tools were processed through
bibliometric analysis, content analysis and categorization in line with previous studies on this line
of research (Iglesias, 2019b).
Sample
The universe in this study consisted of 17 Spanish undergraduate tourism and hospitality students
who took an intermediate level EFL course. Even though all of them engaged in their group project
through Flipgrid and Blogger, eventually 16 of them sent their final portfolio questionnaires. Thus,
the size of the sample yields a margin of error of 6% for the results, with an overall confidence
interval of 95%.
Data Collection
To start with, a bibliographic exploration was conducted in March 2021 across the core collection
of Web of Science (WoS). In order to investigate scientific production related to Blogs and Flipgrid
between 2010 and 2021, two search actions were performed: a combined topic search of TS=Blog*
AND TS=(“foreign language learning” OR “foreign language teaching” OR “foreign language
acquisition”) on one hand, and a topic search of TS=Flipgrid on the other hand. After reading the
resulting documents, off-topic pieces were discarded.
Secondly, a thorough examination of the tasks that had been uploaded on Flipgrid and Blogger
between March and April 2020 was also carried out to provide a detailed description of every
activity and performance metrics. Each one of the four steps of the collaborative project mentioned
in the Introduction was set as a Flipgrid task. Every oral task comprised a join code, data metrics,
a short text with instructions, introductory five-minute videos with teacher guidelines, and the
videos of learners’ presentations (lasting between 1.5 and 5 minutes). Moreover, teacher feedback
was provided by means of five-minute videos, an overall grade for each speaker based on the
5University of South Florida M3 Center Publishing
assessment criteria set in the course syllabus -namely, language use, task achievement,
communication resources, and fluency and pronunciation-, and a brief qualitative evaluation.
The four stages were mirrored on Blogger, posted by the students as comments to the teacher’s
prompts for each stage. General holistic feedback was given by the teacher orally in class, while
inaccurate extracts from the comments posted on the blog were gathered in a word document by
the teacher and worked on as homework, to be subsequently corrected by means of an in-class
discussion.
Finally, the portfolio questionnaires submitted by students in May 2020 were inspected to find out
their opinions on their learning experiences. The final questionnaire was made up of 4 sections: a
grid with 16 can do tasks, a comparison of students’ initial and final questionnaires, a satisfaction
grid towards 7 competence developments, and a set of 8 open questions so that the students
commented on the following aspects:
• Q1. Which aspect of the course has been the most helpful/interesting/motivating?
• Q2. Which have been the pros and cons of the course materials?
• Q3. Are you satisfied with your work?
• Q4. Are you happy with the information you received from the teacher about assessment
procedures?
• Q5. Are your opinions different from the ones you had at the beginning of the course? In what
sense?
• Q6. Do you think this experience will have an impact on your learning of English?
• Q7. What is your opinion with respect to the online academic period due to Covid-19 lockdown?
• Q8. Others.
Even though no explicit questions were asked to the students in relation to the use of Flipgrid and
Blogger, these two tools were mentioned in their responses to the open questions. On the other
hand, Q7 was especially aimed at evaluating their virtual learning experiences.
Findings
The results obtained by means of the three data sources mentioned in the previous section will be
presented separately hereunder.
Bibliometric Analysis
The search for academic documents dealing with blogs and foreign language education yielded 37
results, two of which were discarded because in fact they comment on the affordances of Webquest
and Twitter, respectively. The vast majority focus on different higher education disciplines, mostly
in regard to the acquisition of EFL, although pedagogical experiences are also occasionally
reported in other target languages. Even though most pieces are concerned with the development
of students’ writing, individual authors also draw on blogging to work on other skills. Three papers
refer to video blogs or vlogs. As for Flipgrid, 14 scientific contributions were found. Ten of them
mention the use of this video platform to foster learning in various university disciplines, three of
them are linked to language learning at different ages, and only two are specifically related to
language learning in higher education. Table 1 shows the most significant bibliometric results
regarding types of document, research areas, and authors’ countries of origin, as well as the main
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DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833042Iglesias: Learning EFL online through Blogger and Flipgrid in higher education: A collaborative project in times of pandemic
year and language of publication. More detailed information derived from content analysis has
been included in the Literature Review, and full references will be provided in the Reference
section.
Table 1. Bibliometric Results
Parameter Blog Flipgrid
Year 18.9% in 2018 57.1% in 2020
Country 27% from Russia 71.4% from USA
Type of document 51.3% conference proceedings 71.4% journal articles
Language 73% in English 100% in English
Research areas 75.7% in Education 78.6% in Education
16.2% in Linguistics 7.1% in Linguistics
Source: WoS.
Additionally, a term co-occurrence map based on text data extracted from the title and abstract
fields was created using VOSviewer, a software tool for building and displaying bibliometric
networks (Van Eck and Waltman, 2010). After selecting a threshold of 5 minimum occurrences of
a term, 87 terms out of 1,300 in total met this requirement. For each of the 87 terms, a relevance
score was calculated automatically. As for term co-occurrence, the most relevant terms based on
the score calculated by VOSviewer can be visualized in Figure 1, grouped in 4 clusters featured in
different colors within a network of 2,264 links that connect all the terms. Their size correlates
with the frequency of occurrence.
Figure 1. Term Co-Occurrence Map for Blog Search
Source. VOSviewer and WoS
With respect to Flipgrid, having also selected a threshold of 5 minimum occurrences of a term, 9
terms out of 392 met this threshold. The most relevant terms based on the score calculated by
VOSviewer can be visualized in Figure 2, grouped in 2 clusters within a network of 33 links.
7University of South Florida M3 Center Publishing
Figure 2. Term Co-Occurrence Map for Flipgrid Search
Source. VOSviewer and WoS
The scarcity of these bibliometric outcomes in contrast with the ones related to blogs shows the
need to research Flipgrid to facilitate foreign language learning in tertiary education.
Descriptive Analysis of Project Tasks
Flipgrid
All in all, the four Flipgrid tasks entailed 38.6 hours of engagement, as 67 videos were uploaded,
which were viewed a total of 815 times. The videos encompassed 5 teacher guidelines, 34 student
presentations, and 28 teacher feedback contributions. A detailed description and metrics for each
task is provided below.
Task 1: Product Description. Join Code: ff09795c
Instructions: This project is an improvement plan of an existing tourist product -e.g. a hotel, a
theme park or a holiday package- that you must study in pairs following 4 stages. You can check
out portals like http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ or similar websites and pick a product which, in sight
of the customer reviews, is not too successful. Avoid focusing on Port Aventura, Hotel W, Ryanair,
Tibidabo, Park Güell, Horta Maze or Carmel Bunkers. First, you'll need to upload a video
describing your product. Tip: You need to write a report, but don't read it aloud on the video.
Metrics:
• 11 responses (2 teacher guidelines + 9 learner videos).
• 9 teacher feedback videos.
• 356 views.
• 16.2 hours of engagement.
Task 2: Statistical Analysis. Join Code: 92284b1d
Instructions: Now that you've chosen your product, you must find 80-100 customer reviews from
one or several sources -preferably the more recent, the better. It is very important to discard
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DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833042Iglesias: Learning EFL online through Blogger and Flipgrid in higher education: A collaborative project in times of pandemic
irrelevant comments. Next, you ought to represent the customer reviews through at least two
graphs -one of which must be a line/bar graph- and analyse statistically the reasons underlying
them. You'll refer to these data in subsequent stages of your project and need to mention your
information sources. Tip: Use specific vocabulary for describing graphs (see link below)
Link graph description: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/writing/advanced-c1-
writing/describing-graph-trends-over-time
Metrics:
• 10 responses (1 teacher guidelines + 9 learner videos).
• 11 teacher feedback videos.
• 229 views.
• 9.4 hours of engagement.
Remarks: Overall grading rubrics and grades were erased accidentally. On the other hand, a pair
of students uploaded two individual videos, so teacher feedback was also provided through two
individual videos. Likewise, a group of three students uploaded their video as a Youtube link, and
they received teacher feedback through three individual videos as comments.
Task 3: SWOT Analysis. Join Code: 7b6dba87
Instructions: SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats. This analysis is a fundamental component of the project. The data you collected in Part 2
will help to design this part. The analysis can derive from customer reviews, opinions or
information from press articles, where both internal aspects (strengths and weaknesses) and
external aspects (opportunities and threats) will be drawn from. Once more, remember to mention
your information sources. Tip: Click on the links below to find out more about SWOT analysis.
• Link SWOT analysis 1: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm
• Link SWOT analysis 2: http://esl-educate-school-learn.blogspot.com/2012/02/swot-analysis.html
• Link SWOT analysis 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_6AVRGLXGA
Metrics:
• 9 responses (1 teacher guidelines + 8 learner videos).
• 8 teacher feedback videos.
• 150 views.
• 8.1 hours of engagement.
Remarks: Overall grading rubrics and grades were erased accidentally. On the other hand, a group
of three students uploaded their video as a Youtube link.
Task 4: Improvement Plan. Join Code: 41b03b6d
Instructions: To finish your project, make specific improvement proposals drawing on your
findings, cross-referring to data from the previous stages and referencing your information sources.
Your suggestions may be based on several aspects from different points of view, like sustainable
development goals and environmentally-friendly policies, quality standards, experience design,
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human resources and corporate social responsibility, or revenue management, among others.
Tip: Present your improvement plan in a structured way.
Metrics:
• 9 responses (1 teacher guidelines + 8 learner videos).
• 80 views.
• 4.9 hours of engagement.
Remarks: No teacher feedback was provided. On the other hand, a group of three students uploaded
their video as a Youtube link.
Blogger
As for the four blog tasks, on the whole, 41 comments were made by the students. Full details can
be found at the following links.
Task 1: Final Project. Stage 1.
• Link: http://englishcett.blogspot.com/2020/03/final-project-stage-1.html
• Posted on March 16 2020.
• 13 comments.
Task 2: Final Project. Stage 2.
• Link: https://englishcett.blogspot.com/2020/03/final-project-stage-2.html
• Posted on March 23 2020.
• 10 comments.
Task 3: Final Project. Stage 3.
• Link: https://englishcett.blogspot.com/2020/03/fnal-projectc-stage-3.html
• Posted on March 30 2020.
• 9 comments.
Task 4: Final Project. Stage 4.
• Link: https://englishcett.blogspot.com/2020/04/final-project-stage-4.html
• Posted on April 11 2020.
• 9 comments.
Analysis of Portfolio Questionnaires
Even though no specific questions regarding Flipgrid and Blogger had been formulated, 6 students
expressed their views spontaneously in their portfolio questionnaires. Thus, while 2 students were
satisfied with the blog and all of them made positive observations in relation to Flipgrid, 2 of them
also made some negative remarks. On the other hand, eventually 13 students answered the explicit
question about their evaluation of the online academic period during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Whereas 11 made positive comments, 7 negative comments were also collected, mostly in
reference to general aspects other than the EFL class. Significant extracts from students’ comments
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DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833042Iglesias: Learning EFL online through Blogger and Flipgrid in higher education: A collaborative project in times of pandemic
are provided in the Appendices in their own words, to preserve their authenticity. The respondents’
opinions were categorized, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Categorization of Respondents’ Comments
Category Subcategory Respondents
C1. Positive aspects C1.1. Online classes as a good alternative R1, R2, R4, R8, R12, R14, R15, R16
C1.2. Project R3, R5, R14
C1.3. Organization of submissions R3, R7, R11
C1.4. Clear information R6, R7, R11
C1.5. Interesting method R9, R10, R15
C1.6. Teacher feedback R11, R14
C1.7 Dynamic approach R9, R14
C1.8. Fun system R8, R14
C1.9. More time available R4, R16
C1.10. Motivating tasks R14
C2. Negative aspects C2.1. Discomfort with online courses R7, R12, R13, R15
C2.2. Assignments deadlines not met R7, R10, R15
C2.3. Technological difficulties R7, R15
C2.4. Pressure from emails R7, R10
C2.5. Unclear information in other subjects R7, R11
C2.6. Other topics preferred R14
C2.7. Too much work R8
C2.8. Group organization R8
C2.9. No interaction or participation R13
Source: Final portfolio questionnaires.
Generally speaking, they show students’ satisfaction with online classes. The method used for their
project work was considered interesting and dynamic. Furthermore, students liked how tasks were
organized, as well as the information and feedback they received from their teacher. However,
online learning was also challenging for some students, for whom technology posed obstacles. A
minority complained about the unclear information they had received from other teachers, the
pressure of having to check their emails constantly, and the stress they felt for not missing any
assignment deadlines.
Conclusions
The pedagogical experience presented in this paper followed a truly unique method, as both
Flipgrid and Blogger were used simultaneously and complemented each other. At the end of the
process, students managed to write very satisfactory project reports, and their oral presentations
were excellent too. Generally speaking, their engagement was noticeable, and they also seemed to
have enjoyed each one of the different stages, while developing their communicative competence
in EFL. Therefore, it can be stated that this approach was very stimulating and successful from a
formative and a summative perspective. As a matter of fact, a similar approach has been used in
the academic year 2020-21.
This method can be useful for other language educators who are trying to find ways to adapt their
teaching practices to online environments. It can also be used in blended-learning courses or as a
supplement in on-site programs. Any replications of the pedagogical intervention that has been
described should, however, bear in mind learners’ context and preferences, as well as other
relevant aspects like technological equipment, workload, digital competences, and psychological
anxiety in relation to both, students and instructors.
11University of South Florida M3 Center Publishing
Despite the fact that this is a very small-scale study and its representativeness is therefore very
limited, the practical implications point to the need for a balanced, healthy virtual learning
environment in higher education. Future research could analyze how to implement online
meaningful, engaging, sustainable teaching-learning-assessment practices more extensively to
foster foreign language acquisition, and how they can be extrapolated to other academic settings
and fields of study.
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DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833042Iglesias: Learning EFL online through Blogger and Flipgrid in higher education: A collaborative project in times of pandemic
Acknowledgements
The author is very grateful to all the students who took part in this study.
Appendices
Positive Comments From Portfolio Questionnaires
Flipgrid/Blog
• R3: Another fact I really appreciated was the final project, which I am really proud of, thanks to
the classification of the different deliveries through flipgrid and the blog, the fact that every week
I was working little by little, specifying in every topic of the project, and on the whole I had a great
result summing up all the work done
• R5: The pros have been all the projects we have been able to do such as Flipgrid.
• R9: From my point of view the activities that we did with the Flipgrid have been the most interesting
ones since I believe that this method is a way of learning but in a more dinamic way
• R10: Apart from that, the most interesting part for me was the Flip-grid vídeo
• R14: All I have to say is that it has been very dynamic to do videos and post texts and then have
feedback. Making videos was so fun,
• R15: Although Flipgrid is an interesting application which allows you to share content,
Online Approach
• R1: In my opinion was so good. I know it is not the same as going to class but in this situation is
the only thing which we can do and I thing the online classes did it in a good way.
• R2: I think that this is the only way that we can do de classes and the exams and I know that the
teachers are doing their best like we are doing our bet. This situation is new to everyone so we
have to take it in the best way and help each other.
• R4: The course has been very satisfactory, despite the online learning fact (which was also good).
The Covid-19 situation has been a pity but the School has managed to contact students and keep
going with on-line learning and that was fine. Also, it gave us more time to focus on our projects.
• R6: Regarding this unusual situation that we are experiencing due to the pandemic, I think that at
all times we have received the necessary information about what had to be done in each class, we
have received support and when we have had any doubts, the response has been prompt.
• R7: English subject was not a problem as the teacher was clear and explained it from the very
beginning the steps we had to follow. She was organised and well prepared.
• R8: but in general it was good and funny.
• R11: I have to say that it has been one of the best subjects, in terms of organisation, we kept
having really good information and we knew what we were supposed to do at any moment. I
really wanted to appreciate all the feedback given, it is very important for us and not all the
teachers take their time to do it, so that’s a really positive point I wanted to highlight
• R12: but I think that, of course, is the best way to keep learning and doing all the subjects
• R14: Doing the last project, has also been very motivating for me during this time working at
home, which is very awkward for everyone. Finally, talking about the on-line academic period
due to Covid-19 lockdown, all I have to say is that it has been very dynamic to do videos and post
texts and then have feedback. I’ve really enjoyed this last part of the course although the situation
is hard. I really don’t have anything bad to say about this subject
• R15: My personal opinion is that classes are working well. I am proud that we can continue with
the content, since this is what will make us professionals in a future.
15University of South Florida M3 Center Publishing
• R16: Finally, my opinion about doing classes online because of the Coronavirus, I think it has
been a very good idea for all the students in this class because we have had more time to carry out
the activities. Besides, we find it very difficult to spend 2 hours in class, so I think that online
classes have been much better than being there personally
Negative Comments From Portfolio Questionnaires
Flipgrid/Blog
• R14: but I would’ve liked to do videos talking about other topics which I think that are more
interesting for us. That’s the only contra which I can think about.
• R15: sometimes it didn’t work properly and our work couldn’t be uploaded on time
Online Approach
• R7: On the other hand, some subjects are very hard to follow. I didn’t know what’s coming next
and even missed some assignments. Personally, I’m not comfortable with online classes at all. I
feel the pressure of having to check the emails every minute and follow the schedule virtually.
Everything depends on the technology after all. The exams are the real problem as we need to
focus on if everything is done correctly, the internet, etc
• R8: The main con, by far, it is the fact that we have to work from home due the COVID-19.
Maybe at some point I had too much work to do and I had some problems to organize the groups
works due the distance
• R10: During the epidemic, I was under a lot of pressure because of the many emails and messages
I received every day, and I was always worried that I would miss school information, requests,
and assignments.
• R11: Other courses didn’t provide us with enough information and we were, and still are a bit
lost.
• R12: Regarding the current situation, in my opinion, it is really difficult to follow the classes via
online for so many reasons,
• R13: As for the cons there is an obvious one but it could not be expected, because due to this
virus there are no presencial classrooms and therefore no participation or interaction. I really hate
working online but that’s with every single class. I don’t think it’s a good way.
• R15: However, sometimes it is difficult to connect because of poor connection; and to
concentrate because at some point it becomes really stressful to spend about 6 hours in front of a
computer screen.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/m3publishing/vol3/iss2021/26 16
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