CLILink
Connect CLIL Educators Globally
Project Overview
The Big Question
How can we help CLIL educators connect, access mentorship, and share resources to enhance their teaching effectiveness and professional growth?
What is CLIL ?
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a teaching approach where students learn subject content and a second language at the same time. As a widely adopted method within bilingual education, CLIL integrates language learning naturally into subject instruction, allowing students to develop both academic knowledge and linguistic competence. Unlike traditional bilingual programs that often prioritize language proficiency, CLIL places equal emphasis on mastering subject matter and language skills.
Solution
𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠 is a mobile application designed to connect CLIL educators, facilitate mentorship, and allow essential teaching resources sharing. By fostering collaboration and offering targeted support, 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠 helps teachers balance content and language instruction more effectively while building a global professional network.
My Role & Responsibilities
Founder and Designer
User Research
UX Design
Design Thinking
Design the BMC Model
Pitch and Presentation
Timeline
Sep 17, 2024 - Dec 13, 2024
Tools
ChatGPT Canva Figma PowerPoint
Why I Start the Project
My journey with Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) began during my first master’s program, where I explored its theoretical foundations. Later, as a CLIL teacher for three years, I witnessed firsthand the challenges educators face in practice. Two key issues stood out:
1. Lack of Mentorship and Connection – New CLIL teachers often struggle to find guidance, while experienced educators lack structured opportunities to share their expertise.
2. Limited CLIL-Specific Teaching Materials – Most available resources do not effectively integrate both language and subject instruction, forcing teachers to spend excessive time designing adaptable materials.
Recognizing these gaps, I wanted to design a mobil application can help with connecting educators, facilitating mentorship, and providing resources that empower teachers to deliver effective CLIL instruction.
The Process of the Project
Brainstorm
Wicked Problem
Empathize
Empathy Map
Define
Ideate
Define Core Problem
Personas
Persona Storyboard
Solutions
Business Model Canvas
Prototype
Low Fidelity
Elevator Pitch
Project Details
1. Brainstorm
Wicked Problem
At the beginning of this project, Dr. Cherner guided us to reflect on our experiences and identify a wicked problem that we are passionate about solving. Through this process, I chose to focus on the challenges faced by CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) educators—an issue I encountered both in my studies and during my three years of teaching as a CLIL educator.
2. Empathize
Emphasize with CLIL Educators
To better understand the challenges faced by CLIL educators, I created an empathy map from the perspective of a CLIL teacher. This process allowed me to step into their daily experiences, considering how they think and feel, what they hear, what they see, what they say and do, as well as their pain points and potential gains.
Click to Enlarge
3. Define
Define the Core Problem
After conducting research and developing an empathy map, I identified two key challenges: the lack of mentorship and professional networking opportunities for CLIL educators, and the limited availability of CLIL-specific teaching resources.
These challenges highlight the need for a structured support system that connects CLIL educators, facilitates mentorship, and provides adaptable teaching resources. This led me to refine my core problem statement:
How can we help CLIL educators connect, access mentorship, and share resources to enhance their teaching effectiveness and professional growth?
Define the Personas
Jisoo Kim (Inexperienced CLIL Teacher)
Jisoo is a passionate science teacher in Seoul who teaches in English, a language that is not her native tongue. As a new CLIL educator, she struggles with finding teaching resources tailored to bilingual instruction and feels isolated without a professional network to exchange strategies and insights.
Click to Enlarge
4. Ideate
Persona Storyboard
After defining the key personas, I sought to further explore their experiences and challenges by creating a persona storyboard. This visual representation maps out the journey of a CLIL teacher, illustrating the struggles they face in balancing content and language instruction, the lack of mentorship opportunities, and the difficulty in finding adaptable teaching resources.
By stepping into the perspective of CLIL educators, the storyboard helped me identify key pain points and refine potential solutions that directly address their needs. This process laid the foundation for developing 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠, ensuring that the platform is designed with user-centered solutions in mind.
Storyboard of the persona
Document Solutions
Before finalizing the core features of 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠, I used a mind mapping tool to expand on the challenges identified in the persona storyboard. This step allowed me to break down the three major problems CLIL teachers face and brainstorm potential solutions. By visually organizing these insights, I was able to determine which functionalities were essential for the app to effectively support CLIL educators.
Using mindmap to organize the ideas
Click to Enlarge
From this process, I identified four core features that 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠 needed to include in order to effectively address the challenges faced by CLIL educators:
1. Provide mentor matching
2. Allow virtual meeting among CLIL educators
3. Allow CLIL resources sharing
4. Allow teaching insights sharing through forums
Business Model Canvas
To ensure that 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠 is not only a valuable tool for CLIL educators but also a sustainable and scalable platform, I developed a Business Model Canvas (BMC) to outline its commercial viability.
This process involved identifying potential revenue streams, key partnerships, and effective marketing strategies for launching the app. I explored how 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠 could generate value through mentorship subscriptions, premium teaching resources, and institutional partnerships, while also considering ways to expand its user base and long-term impact.
.png)
Business Canvas Model of CLILink
Click to Enlarge
Refine My Personas
As I refined my go-to-market strategy, I reconsidered the ideal pilot location for introducing 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠.
After evaluating my existing resources, professional network, market knowledge, and the demand for CLIL support, I identified Shenzhen(China) and Hong Kong(China) as the most suitable regions to launch the app. These locations offer a strong presence of bilingual and CLIL educators, making them ideal for initial adoption and feedback.
This strategic shift also led me to re-evaluate the personas who would benefit most from 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠, ensuring that the app is designed to meet the specific needs of its first users. Except for the experienced CLIL teacher Ming Li, the others are all updated. The following are my updated personas:
Liu Na (Pre-service CLIL Teacher)
Liu Na is a master’s student in CLIL education based in Guangzhou, aspiring to become a CLIL teacher. Though she has a strong theoretical foundation, she lacks real-world teaching experience. She faces challenges in finding CLIL-specific resources and professional connections that could help her bridge the gap between academic knowledge and classroom practice.
Click to Enlarge
5. Prototype
Low-fidelity Prototype Design
Building on insights from the previous Ideate stage, I translated key user needs into a structured low-fidelity prototype. Here are the four core features that shape 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠’s design:
Elevator Pitch
At the end of the course, Dr. Cherner provided us with an opportunity to deliver a 3-minute elevator pitch to present our ventures. It was a valuable experience to refine my ability to communicate 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠’s vision and impact concisely and effectively. If you're interested, you can view my presentation slides to explore the key highlights of my pitch.
I was thrilled to receive first place in my round, getting most the "investment"(votes) from my peers, along with encouraging feedback from Dr. Cherner, which reinforced my confidence in the potential of 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠 and its value for CLIL educators.
Feedback I received from Dr. Cherner
Conclusion
The development of 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠 has been an insightful journey, from identifying the challenges CLIL educators face to designing a platform that fosters mentorship, collaboration, and resource-sharing. Throughout this process, Dr. Cherner’s guidance and support have been invaluable. His feedback encouraged me to refine my ideas, think critically about the practicality and scalability of my venture, and ultimately shape 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙠 into a meaningful solution for educators.
The opportunity to present my elevator pitch and receive first place in my round, along with Dr. Cherner’s encouragement, further reinforced my belief in this project’s impact. I am incredibly grateful for the experience, the knowledge gained, and the chance to develop a solution that empowers CLIL teachers worldwide.
