Hoven

Hands-on at a distance Technology and alternative delivery : 

Hands-on at a distance Technology and alternative delivery Dr Debra Hoven University of Queensland d.hoven@uq.edu.au http://www.arts.uq.edu.au/slccs/profiles/hoven.html AMEP National Conference 2004: Darwin Teaching for Learning

Overview: 

Overview Background Changing contexts of teaching & learning Changing roles of teachers & learners Needs for professional development of the ‘new classroom’ teachers Techniques for integration Tools for teachers and learners

Information/Knowledge Society then …: 

Information/Knowledge Society then … ‘the impact of information technologies on the social institutions responsible for knowledge production and distribution such as universities and schools is far less significant’ than on other social arenas such as industry, business or international relationships (Chen, 1992: 161-2)

… and now: 

… and now individual or ontogenic technologies such as the internet, e-mail and chat ubiquitous in our daily lives → technology has become an acceptable and accepted partner in learning Manifest in: Internet use CMC incarnations of CALL

Computer Mediated Communication (CMC): 

Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) Since the ‘watershed’ of CMC when: graphic interfaces for web browsers started to become commonplace (about 1995) when ordinary people began to take up e-mail & the internet for their own purposes: personal communication (with family & friends) knowledge/information gathering purposes (library catalogues, newspapers, encyclopedias, school projects) on-line shopping (amazons.com, e-Bay etc)

CMC: 3 modes: 

CMC: 3 modes 1. Synchronous (broadband permitting) Web-based video/audio/text chat e.g. Webheads http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/4631/papers/ evonline2002/webheads.htm & TappedIn http://ti2.sri.com/tappedin/ 2. ‘delayed synchronous’ (Enter Key dependent) Text chat some Virtual Reality (VR) environments MOOs

CMC: 3 modes cont’d …: 

CMC: 3 modes cont’d … 3. Asynchronous forums/BBS/discussion lists E-mail e.g. E-Tandem Project http://www.slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/

The Information Superhighway & the Digital Divide: 

The Information Superhighway & the Digital Divide Cost of hardware (computers, modems, other internet devices) Cost of connectivity Availability of connections Content divide

The Information Superhighway & the Digital Divide: 

The Information Superhighway & the Digital Divide By 2000, Black households were increasing their spending on computer-related goods 14 times faster than White households (Bailey, 2000)

7 measures of market maturity for (South Asian) online content:: 

7 measures of market maturity for (South Asian) online content: Total no. of Websites about (& in) the country Local relevance & usefulness of this content Local language standardisation & usage on Web Amount of sub-national content (state/province level)

7 measures of market maturity for (South Asian) online content:: 

7 measures of market maturity for (South Asian) online content: 5. Presence of metacontent e.g. directories, search engines 6. Amount of ad revenues targeting online audiences via these sites Presence of third-party services from online auditors, and market research groups (Rao et al., 1999)

In China in 2001:: 

In China in 2001: 22 million Internet users Most likely male Aged between 18-24 Have a Bachelor’s degree 76% access Chinese language websites Diving line therefore: Education Speak English OR Another language represented on the Internet i.e. the divide is as much about knowledge as infrastructure

Changing contexts of teaching & learning 1: 

Changing contexts of teaching & learning 1 Technologies do not directly mediate learning … learning is mediated by thinking … Thinking is activated by learning activities, and learning activities are mediated by instructional interventions, including technologies. […] In order to more directly affect the process, therefore, we should concern ourselves less with the design of technologies of transmission and more how learners are required to think in completely different tasks. (Jonassen, 1992: 2)

Changing contexts of teaching & learning 2: 

Changing contexts of teaching & learning 2 One thing that it is essential to realise is that the most interesting part of what is happening on the Web is not visible to the observer. What really matters is what is taking place in the communication between users of the Web … the critical difference … between content and connectivity. (Felix, 2002: 12)

Changing contexts of teaching & learning 3: 

Changing contexts of teaching & learning 3 A realistic assessment of Web-based teaching is that it is not a time-saving approach, but rather a time-shifting one. Teachers will save on the time they would otherwise spend preparing elaborate materials, but they will also have to invest time in assisting in the organization of tasks and projects, moderating communication, and creating sound assessment strategies. (my emphasis - Felix, 2002: 12)

Why use flexible delivery?: 

Why use flexible delivery? Institution reasons Teacher reasons Learner reasons Learning reasons

Distance learning & flexible delivery: 

Distance learning & flexible delivery ‘The old paradigm of on-site versus distant learners is blurring rapidly as the increasing availability of network resources and collaborative software stimulates a convergence. Technologies that were originally designed for meetings and conferences are now being pressed into service to provide the competitive edge for education, training, sales support and customer interaction.’ ( Wilson, 1997)

…and this is mainly due to the fact that: 

…and this is mainly due to the fact that ‘Just twenty years ago, few imagined what the future would hold for apparently trivial applications such as email. But it seems obvious today that the computer serves as a vital medium of communication, and not just as a calculating and information storage device. Its definition has changed in a direction determined by a social process.’ (Feenberg, 1999)

Shift in Pedagogical Approach to a design that is:: 

Shift in Pedagogical Approach to a design that is: Intentional Flexible Active Contextualised/Situated Experiential Learner-shaped

Based on an emerging meld of:: 

Based on an emerging meld of: Contructivism Sociocultural approaches Task-based approaches Ecological approaches Problem-solving approaches Collaborative learning approaches CSCL/WMCL

… and accompanied by: 

… and accompanied by Qualitative and ecological approaches to research into what we’re doing

Learning environments & changing roles: 

Learning environments & changing roles Learners (especially younger ones) are as comfortable if not more so than teachers with the newer (communications) technologies (Felix, 2001) learners who communicate more frequently also use a wider range of media (Haythornthwaite,1999) Learners prefer 1-1 over 1-many CMC interactions (Söntgens,1999)

Learning environments & changing roles 2: 

Learning environments & changing roles 2 Social relationships are necessary before and in order for information sharing to take place (Haythornthwaite, 1999; Söntgens,1999; Appel & Gilabert, 2002) After some familiarity and practice within an audio-enhanced CMC environment, learners appreciate the opportunity for real-time discussion of written and e-mail communication tasks (Kötter et al. 1999)

Learning environments & changing roles 3: 

Learning environments & changing roles 3 CMC environments can shape the increased range of communication strategies learners use during task-based CMC (Smith, 2003) Synchronous CMC tasks can expand the participant roles of learners beyond traditional writing roles and elicit more interactive negotiation of these roles (Abrams, 2001)

Learning environments & changing roles 4: 

Learning environments & changing roles 4 In synchronous CMC interactions learners: used similar communication devices to f2f (face-to-face) communicated through highly collaborative, negotiated interaction, ignoring inaccuracies compensated for lack of non-verbal cues using keyboard symbols e.g. ‘smileys’ etc. (Lee, 2002)

Cognitive style and Hypermedia : 

Cognitive style and Hypermedia ‘support does not always correlate with structure’ and regardless of cognitive style, learners want or prefer to interact with an instructor and regardless of cognitive style, learners achieve better when more resources (channels and suggestions for instructional paths) are provided (Summerville, 1999)

Learning environments: 

Learning environments not just a physical space consisting of teachers, learners and resources/technology, but rather the essentially intangible conflux of: Teachers their pedagogy their beliefs their roles their prepared materials and resource lists/sites Learners their needs-driven goals their competencies their learning styles and strategies

Learning environments cont’d: 

Learning environments cont’d Physical resources Technology Libraries as well as: the virtual or ‘soft’ technology represented by: software internet facilities and resources and the networks among all of these in which learning takes place

Modes of flexibility – a continuum: 

Modes of flexibility – a continuum Teacher/institution-defined course & materials Hybrid of on-line & hard copy Hybrid of f2f & on-line Fully on-line Teacher/institution-defined tasks based on range of teacher/institution-defined online resources Semi (guided)-exploratory – using on-line materials with teacher/institution-defined limitations or instructions & criteria

Modes of flexibility – a continuum 2: 

Modes of flexibility – a continuum 2 Collaborative & self- /group-managed Under guidance of a teacher Learner-teacher developed curriculum Collectively constructed tasks Collectively constructed evaluation Exploratory/autonomous With or without teacher guidance With or without formal enrolment

10 insights from distance teaching (Henrichsen, 2001): 

10 insights from distance teaching (Henrichsen, 2001) Different ICT options each have their own strengths (& weaknesses) Sophisticated ICT not necessarily better esp. in isolated areas/developing countries Regardless of technology, solid instructional design & effective teaching methods are crucial DE involves teaching & learning in new/ modified roles Teachers work as members of instructional/ technical team

10 insights from distance teaching (Henrichsen, 2001) cont’d …: 

10 insights from distance teaching (Henrichsen, 2001) cont’d … Importance & difficulty of creating & maintaining active, interactive learning Importance of building a sense of community & overcoming isolation Design flexibility is crucial Evaluating students and program success is challenging Reducing attrition also a challenge

Roles of a flexible teacher: 

Roles of a flexible teacher Designing/learning new protocols for interacting or turn-taking & identifying & responding to students in remote locations Up to 10 times more organising & planning Providing clear instructions (oral & written) Creating clear guidelines & structure for class conduct & expectations (Ts & Sts) Careful organisation of record keeping Increased personal contact via e-mail Training & supervising remote facilitators

Roles of a flexible teacher cont’d: 

Roles of a flexible teacher cont’d Designing materials or creating learning paths with web-based resources Special training with technology (e.g. teaching to a camera or headset?!) Establishing personal contact & creating a community Asking productive questions appropriately New strategies for ensuring comprehension & avoiding confusion Structuring independent learning tasks

Roles of a flexible learner: 

Roles of a flexible learner Increasing autonomy in learning approach Developing appropriate learning strategies Being responsible for own motivation & discipline Learning “process management” (Palloff & Pratt, 2001): new strategies for establishing & maintaining “presence”, interest, & turn-taking Learning how to encourage & critique others & give appropriate feedback (Palloff & Pratt, 2001: “collaboration”) Practise & learn to self reflect Demonstrate critical thinking to teacher & peers (Palloff & Pratt, 2001: “knowledge generation”)

Horror stories worthy of Halloween: 

Horror stories worthy of Halloween ‘Our experience has been that online classes are sufficiently different from traditional (face-to-face) classes and sufficiently accessible that students who would do badly in traditional classes or who could not take them at all typically thrive in online classes.’ […] The very features of online classes that make them so accessible to students – the freedom to participate in class at any time, from any place, without ever having to meet or speak to the teacher or other students in person – can also make such classes difficult and dangerous for unwary or underprepared faculty. Online classes can be unpredictable and potentially explosive.’ (Hailey et al. 2001)

Horror stories cont’d: 

Horror stories cont’d Volatile students create flame wars Inappropriate collaboration Unteachable moments Inappropriate channels for complaint BUT ‘… “empower” means to allow the teacher to make mistakes – and teachers going online for the first time will almost certainly make them.’ (Hailey et al. 2001)

Solutions suggested: 

Solutions suggested Use the right strategies & departmental support Employ/learn new pedagogies Address problems personally & early Use unsolicited friendly e-mail Pay careful attention to students Demonstrate attentiveness by: Frequent class visits Learning to recognise & respond to warning signs Posting messages often (“face time”) Responding immediately to students’ e-mail Using the phone to solve difficult problems

User-centred on-line course design (Blythe, 2001): 

User-centred on-line course design (Blythe, 2001) Systems approach versus user-centered approach to Web-based course design ‘Because distance education requires instructors to take part in unfamiliar design practices, they must seek appropriate models. […] Consider that a technology presents a gathering of artifacts and processes designed to enable users to accomplish a desired task.’ (p. 330)

A user-centered approach to Web-based course design: 

A user-centered approach to Web-based course design Power Time Administrators Instructors Users (students) Support staff Web-based course

Interaction vs interactivity: 

Interaction vs interactivity Interactivity is the activity learners have when there’s no interaction …???? Critical features: Sims (2000) The learner: who Content: what Pedagogy: how Context: when & where interactivity – the promise not yet realised van Lier: ecological affordance: the relations between perception and action of participants (2000)

Interactivity: 

Interactivity … can be defined as the degree to which a communication technology can create a mediated environment in which participants can communicate (one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many) both synchronously and asynchronously and participate in reciprocal message exchanges […]. With regard to human users, it additionally refers to the ability of users to perceive the experience to be a simulation of interpersonal communication and increase their awareness of telepresence. (Kiousis, 2002: 379)

Slide43: 

Interactivity (Kiousis, 2003: 378) Structure of technology Communication context User perception Speed Range Timing flexibility Sensory complexity Third-order dependency Social presence Proximity Sensory activation Perceived speed

Internet as resource:Metasites & libraries: 

Internet as resource: Metasites & libraries Online dictionaries: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ http://www.onelook.com/ http://www.yourdictionary.com/languages.html Libraries http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Classroom/English/Languages/Languages.html http://www.etown.edu/vl/forlange.html

Metasites & libraries 2: 

Metasites & libraries 2 Metasites http://www.speakeasy.org/~dbrick/Hot/foreign.html http://www.rong-chang.com/ http://www.internet4classrooms.com/esl.htm http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslplans.html Merlot – search on categories: Humanities  World languages, then search sitesESL http://www.merlot.org/Home.po

Skill- or interest-specific sites: 

Skill- or interest-specific sites CMC sites: e-Tandem project http://www.slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/ keypals http://www.iecc.org http://www.otan.us/webfarm/emailproject/school.htm SchMOOzeU http://schmooze.hunter.cuny.edu:8888/ MOOteach http://www.uiowa.edu/~ddrhet/mainpg.htm

Skill- or interest-specific sites 2: 

Skill- or interest-specific sites 2 Web-based activity types (Patricia Pecoy) http://facweb.furman.edu/~pecoy/lessons.htm Internet activities for FL classrooms http://www.clta.net/lessons/ Dave Sperling’s ESL Café http://www.eslcafe.com/ Lauren Rosen’s ideas for Teaching on the Web http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/lss/lang/teach.html

Skill- or interest-specific sites 3: 

Skill- or interest-specific sites 3 Disney http://disney.go.com/home/html/index.html Speechgems: Pizzazz! http://www.speechgems.com/pizzazz.html Virtual language Centre http://vlc.polyu.edu.hk/

Skill- or interest-specific sites 4: 

Skill- or interest-specific sites 4 Writing sites: Purdue Writing Lab http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ Ruth Vilmi’s Web World http://www.ruthvilmi.net/hut/index.html Listening resources: ESLGo http://www.geocities.com/eslgo/listen.html

Exploratory sites & tools: 

Exploratory sites & tools Cultura (French/USA) cultural stereotypes http://web.mit.edu/french/cultura/ TrackStar http://trackstar.hprtec.org/ Bernie Dodge’s Webquest page http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/webquest.html Travel simulations http://www.iei.uiuc.edu/travelsim/

Collaboratory sites: 

Collaboratory sites Jennifer Robins’ StoneSoup collaboratory & list of sites: http://www.stonesoup.info/ http://faculty.cmsu.edu/jrobins/collabs.htm The Inquiry Page http://inquiry.uiuc.edu/ Urban Legends Reference Pages http://www.snopes.com/snopes.asp University of Minnesota’s Cooperative Learning Center http://www.clcrc.com Northwest University’s collaboratory site http://collaboratory.acns.nwu.edu/cwebdocs/index.html

Some other interesting sites : 

Some other interesting sites British Council SearchEnglish search engine http://searchenglish.britishcouncil.org/ Enchanted Learning is another resource-rich site for teachers and younger (language) learners: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html  An excellent example of an on-line learning environment which incorporates many exploratory features (for learning Greek) is Hellas Alive ©: http://www.hau.gr/hau/en/edu_hellasalive.html

“Hard core” sites: 

“Hard core” sites Authoring templates Hot Potatoes http://web.uvic.ca.hrd/halfbaked/ Bob Godwin-Jones’ Language Interactive website http://www.fln.vcu.edu/cgi/interact.html The Swarthmore Makers http://lang.swarthmore.edu/makers/ Web style guide http://www.webstyleguide.com/

“Hard core” sites 2: 

“Hard core” sites 2 Html tutorials Basics http://www.homestead.com/prosites-vstevens/files/pi/ very_basics/starthere.htm For Kids (WebMonkey): http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/kids/ AWPA - Introduction to HTML (more technical) http://www.awpa.asn.au/html/links.html Learning HTML 3.2 by Examples (everything you [n]ever wanted to know about html!)  http://www.cs.tut.fi/%7Ejkorpela/HTML3.2/index.html

Resources sites: 

Resources sites Using images Virtual Picture Album http://carla.acad.umn.edu/VPA/VPA.html University of Victoria’s clipart library (Half-baked) http://web.uvic.ca/hcmc/clipart/ Copyright-free library of sketch clipart http://www.sla.purdue.edu/fll/JapanProj/FLClipart/ default.html Foreign language teacher’s clipart http://jobslide.com/directory/Teaching/Foreign languageteachers/clipart.shtml

Resources sites 2: 

Resources sites 2 Electronic books http://www.gutenberg.net/ Online news with activities http://abcasiapacific.com/livingenglish/

Courseware sites: 

Courseware sites WebCT http://www.webct.com/ Blackboard http://www.blackboard.com/ Moodle (freeware) www.moodle.org

9 Rules of good technology (Downes, 2000): 

9 Rules of good technology (Downes, 2000) Good technology is always available … Good technology is always on … Good technology is always connected … Good technology is standardized … Good technology is simple … Good technology doesn’t require parts … Good technology is personalized … Good technology is modular … Good technology does what you want it to do. And not something else.

Hands-on at a distance Technology and alternative delivery : 

Hands-on at a distance Technology and alternative delivery Dr Debra Hoven University of Queensland d.hoven@uq.edu.au http://www.arts.uq.edu.au/slccs/profiles/hoven.html AMEP National Conference 2004: Darwin Teaching for Learning