Atelier by Kimberly Jansma, Margaret Ann Kassen, and Laurence Denié-Higney (review)

As educational approaches have been influenced by the rapid changes in technology, ubiquitous learning has brought new assets and more expectations from students and instructors alike. Whereas most language methods incorporated online elements to respond to this evolution in learning by designing technologically-enhanced textbooks, this new introductory French method has made ubiquitous learning its main focus. Its aim is therefore to serve those teaching online or blended courses, as well as those who adopted a flipped approach to teaching and learning. Hence, the program is innovative as it combines two elements: extensive online components through the MindTap platform, and Atelier, a spiraled-bound book for students to bring to class, both elements truly complementing, rather than echoing, each other. The pedagogical reasoning behind the flipped approach or blended format is to extend the learning space out of the physical classroom. Its challenge is to spend enough face-to-face time to focus on interpersonal communications following the ACTFL guidelines. Both the printed and online components successfully manage to do so by carefully applying instructional design principles. Learning objectives are listed; content is presented in small chunks; scaffolding occurs online via a five-step guided instruction: "The Learning Path: Ready? Learn it! Practice it! Use it! Got it?"; animated grammar tutorials are presented in English; formative assessments and self-evaluations are provided throughout the modules; feedback is immediate; and episodes of the film Les copains set the cultural, lexical, and grammatical elements in an authentic setting. In short, all aspects of the program focus on developing a self-motivated learner as confident in learning French as in learning independently online. The program contains twelve Modules, each composed of five Thèmes including practice speaking activities and Perspectives culturelles, a Synthèse section proposing skill-development activities such as readings, writings, and role plays, to end on a recap of the structure and vocabulary items studied in the online Module. Learners and instructors will appreciate the creation of distinct lists for active and passive vocabulary, another aspect of the program that offers the possibility to individualize instruction for students. The method is indeed flexible. Many printed activities require students to bring their preparation notes from the online section. Additionally, some open-ended activities from the online component can be easily transferred to the classroom. Since the visual aids mostly consists of screenshots from the video, authentic photos, and a few drawings specifically created for the text, the method is visually more mature and should be attractive to its targeted audience: (young) adults at the college level. Last but not least when technology is involved, the MindTap interface is user-friendly, and accessibility is respected with the addition of subtitles to the videos. To provide a seamless experience, MindTap can be integrated within various Learning Management Systems, and grades can be synchronized when using Blackboard, Canvas, and Brightspace by D2L. While filling a gap in current offerings, Atelier is an instructional method that successfully responds to needs which are becoming increasingly prevalent in higher education.