Creating a Zone of Proximal Development in a Virtual Environment
Creator: Nash Mendlinger
Description: Lev Vygotsky theorized that we are only able to learn the most when surrounded by and working together with peers and guiding instructors. Zoom classes don’t really encourage socialization, leaning more towards lectures. Break out rooms help to fix this on a small scale, but without enough direction they’re awkward and limiting, instead of providing a social space to work together in. In a time when we socialize virtually more often than not, how can we further expand on the idea that people should be communicating, sharing, and acquiring a second language together? Students have powerful tools at their disposal to watch television, write journal entries, and play games from their computers. Now, students can do all that together, with the context of L2 acquisition, virtually. This is how to build a zone of proximal development from the comfort of your own home.
