Virtual environment in initial German teachers training as a support for language learning and teaching and reflexive teaching

Abstract

Scholars in the fields of Education, Applied Linguistics and Language Teacher Training today emphasize the crucial importance of including Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in initial training, as well as the need to promote the development of critical and reflective thinking in future teachers. Taking as theoretical assumptions studies about the characteristics of the information society, virtual learning environments and teacher training, the purpose of this paper is to discuss possibilities afforded by the Moodle learning platform for the initial training of German language teachers. To this end, we will present different ways of using virtual environments and their tools, which have proved to be very useful in the learning process of trainee teachers of German as well as during their initial teaching practices. Experience has indicated the invaluableness of virtual learning environments for monitoring licentiate students in the language learning process and in their first teaching experiences.