Marrying Two Existing Software Packages into an Efficient Online Tutoring Tool

Many teachers today use Learning Management Systems (LMS), several of which are open-source. Specific examples are Claroline and Moodle. However, they are not specifically designed for language learning, and hence not entirely suitable. In this article, I will compare two uses of the Claroline LMS available at Louvain-la-Neuve within the framework of an ESP writing course. In both a first experiment, conducted from October 2003 to May 2005, and a second one, conducted as from October 2005, students in Political Science had to make a similar number of written contributions on iCampus, which is the version of the Claroline platform available at UCL. In terms of e-learning, the possibilities for teacher feedback (only correction) were limited in the first experiment. The students' results at the ensuing exams were not as satisfactory as after the introduction, during the second experiment, of the possibility of teacher annotation (not only correction) of learner data. This idea was borrowed from Wible et al., who describe an error annotation system fully integrated into an LMS. In the absence of such a tool at Louvain, I combined the existing platform with an off-the-shelf annotating tool. This was done by “exporting” students' forum contributions and essays from iCampus into a program called Markin, which has extensive feedback possibilities in the form of annotation buttons. The students' annotated work was subsequently “re-imported” into iCampus. In this article, I will highlight the advantages and shortcomings of the combined approach, both in terms of proficiency gains and student satisfaction.