Telecollaboration in multimodal environments: the impact on task design and learner interaction

With the development of new digital technologies and their gradual introduction into the language classroom, the Internet enables students to reach out beyond the confines of traditional teaching and learning settings, allowing previously non-existent access to foreign languages and cultures. On the one hand, the web allows learners to find authentic information and expand their knowledge; on the other, computer-mediated communication tools enable students to establish contact with target language learners and native speakers by engaging in telecollaborative exchanges. The tools at students' disposal are becoming increasingly more powerful, often combining different modes of communication in one single environment. In 2005, students of French at Carnegie Mellon University, US and French learners at the Open University, UK worked synchronously and asynchronously in online environments with native francophone students enrolled on a masters' programme in distance education at the Universit de Franche Comt, France. Completing a set of three collaborative tasks, synchronous meetings took place over 10 weeks in the Open University's online audio-graphic tuition environment Lyceum, which provides multiple synchronous audio channels as well as synchronous text chat and several shared graphical interfaces. In addition to the output produced in this medium (oral, written and graphic) in the target languages (French and English), the project output, a shared reflection on cultural similarities and differences, took the form of several collaborative, asynchronous blogs. This contribution draws on data from pre- and post- treatment questionnaires, recordings of the online interactions, work published by the students in the blogs and discussions among learner and tutor participants exploring aspects of online partnership learning such as learning environment-specific affordances and their impact on task design as well as student and tutor perceptions of connectivity and interactivity

Designing an elearning space to teach about elearning - how hard can it be?

This paper supports a session given at the annual learning and teaching conference at Nottingham Trent University in April 2009. It considers the implementation of a Masters-level 30 credit module: PDEP43129 E-learning and teaching in Higher Education. Our focus here is on the design of a virtual learning space for the module. Our design is informed by the literature and reflection on our own practice. It was implemented under the auspices of the University’s VLE policy and strategy. Both the module and the learning environment in which it was implemented were new in September 2008. This posed some interesting challenges which will be explored in the paper. The module was developed in response to a perceived need for colleagues to experience, study and reflect on e-learning. Development work was supported by a CASQ secondment. We have now had one complete run through of the module (September 2008 to January 2009) and have started on the second. Together, we developed the module and are the only tutors teaching on it at this time. Much of the development work was undertaken during the academic year 2007-08, but the learning space was set up in September 2008. A unique feature of this module is that, apart from an introductory face to face session, it takes place entirely online. In this paper we discuss what we wanted to do (content and tools), how we wanted to do it (including layout and tools), the constraints that the new VLE imposed and the opportunities that it offered. We want to reflect on what people have said about the module in their evaluations and also in their formative comments in the orientation unit. We can also draw from many rich sources of primary data, both quantitative and qualitative, much of which derive from the VLE and its associated tools eg document access statistics, copies of Chat sessions, records of Discussions, and Blogs. In addition, of course, we have our own experiences and personal blogs to draw from. The guiding principle behind the learning and teaching strategy is one of construction of knowledge through discussion. The module uses the discussion forum tool in particular along with other collaborative technologies – both synchronous and asynchronous. The ethical considerations in presenting such a paper will require us to anonymised content or seek permission from participants. At the time of writing, it is still too early to draw firm conclusions though we can state now that it has been time-consuming, exciting, challenging and frustrating. We have learned a great deal from implementing the module for its first run at the same time as the launch of NOW and this paper will, we hope, inform colleagues on the generalisable aspects of the use of the learning space

Social media in collaborative learning in higher education : a qualitative case study of teachers’ and students’ views

In this study, it was investigated how social media are used in collaborative learning in higher education and also how it can be better used in teaching and learning according to the students and teachers. The research questions of this study were: 1) How social media are used in collaborative learning by the teachers and students in higher education for educational purposes? 2) How could social media be used in collaborative learning process in higher education, according to the students and teachers? Qualitative interviews were conducted to collect the data from ten students and five teachers from the different faculties of University of Lapland and Lapland University of Applied Sciences. In conclusion it was found that, social media were not much used in collaboration with teachers by the students of both institutions. In case of teachers, it was found that all of them were using social media in their collaborative ways of teaching design and they have found social media as useful tool to deliver their teaching. Most of the students and all the teachers found social media to be useful in their teaching and learning. But there were also some challenges faced and areas of improvements identified by them. Thus the higher educational institutions should understand the importance of using social media in teaching and learning and take initiatives to overcome the current challenges identified by the students and teachers

Postgraduate blogs: beyond the ordinary research journal

The study described in this paper investigated ways in which keeping a research journal as a blog rather than as a paper document influenced the postgraduate student research experience. Four blogs (three individual and one collaborative blog) initiated by three research students were used as the corpus of data. The three individual blogs acted as alternatives to the traditional research journal. The analysis indicated that blogs can promote a community where students are encouraged to reflect and share ideas, skills and research life idiosyncrasies. Blogs also acted as memory repositories and encouraged collaboration amongst the research students

Transforming pedagogy using mobile Web 2.0

Blogs, wikis, podcasting, and a host of free, easy to use Web 2.0 social software provide opportunities for creating social constructivist learning environments focusing on student-centred learning and end-user content creation and sharing. Building on this foundation, mobile Web 2.0 has emerged as a viable teaching and learning tool, facilitating engaging learning environments that bridge multiple contexts. Today’s dual 3G and wifi-enabled smartphones provide a ubiquitous connection to mobile Web 2.0 social software and the ability to view, create, edit, upload, and share user generated Web 2.0 content. This article outlines how a Product Design course has moved from a traditional face-to-face, studio-based learning environment to one using mobile Web 2.0 technologies to enhance and engage students in a social constructivist learning paradigm. Keywords: m-learning; Web 2.0; pedagogy 2.0; social constructivism; product desig

Blogging: Promoting Learner Autonomy and Intercultural Competence through Study Abroad

The current study explores closely how using a combined modalities of asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) via blogs and face-to-face (FTF) interaction through ethnographic interviews with native speakers (L1s) supports autonomous learning as the result of reflective and social processes. The study involves 16 American undergraduate students who participated in blogs to develop their intercultural competence over the course of one-semester study abroad. The results show that blogs afforded students the opportunity to work independently (e.g., content creation) and reflect upon cross-cultural issues. Critical reflection, however, relied on the teacher’s guidance and feedback, as most of the students were cognitively challenged by not being able to clearly articulate different points of view. It is likely that students were not accustomed to reflecting. The findings also indicate that task type fostered autonomy in different ways. While free topics gave students more control of their own learning, teacher-assigned topics required them to critically think about the readings. Lack of access to Internet at the host institution and family also contributed to a limited level of social interaction. The study concludes that well-designed tasks, effective metacognitive and cognitive skills, and the accessibility to Internet are essential to maximize the potentials of blogs for learner autonomy and intercultural communication

Engaging students in the curriculum through the use of blogs; how and why?

This paper presents an academic case for the use of blogs in higher education, and some key considerations for those planning and designing blogging activities in an HE setting. Focusing on the roles of action/activity and experience, reflection and community in learning, this paper suggests how the blogging process can engage students and enhance learning, and how specific features of blogs might be used to bring maximum benefit to the learner

A reality check: Taking authentic e-learning from design to implemntation

Tampere University of Applied Sciences has developed a postgraduate certificate program for teaching in higher education that is currently being implemented at Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates. In the design of the program, the principles of authentic e-learning (Herrington, Reeves, & Oliver 2010) have been used as a guideline. This paper examines how the design principles have been transferred into practice and how the elements of authentic learning have been realized from the student perspective. The experiences of the students have been mapped in a survey conducted after the first semester of the program. The data was analyzed with the help of the authentic e-learning framework in order to identify the challenges and successes regarding the implementation of the elements of authentic e-learning and thus draw guidelines for future development

Blogs: A tool to facilitate reflection and community of practice in sports coaching?

A reflective approach to practice is consistently espoused as a key tool for understanding and enhancing coach learning and raising the vocational standards of coaches. As such, there is a clear need for practical tools and processes that might facilitate the development and measurement of “appropriate” reflective skills. The aim of this preliminary study was to explore the use of online blogs as a tool to support reflection and community of practice in a cohort of undergraduate sports coaching students. Twenty-six students (6 females, 20 males) reflected on their coaching practice via blogs created specifically for reflection. Blogs were subjected to category and content analysis to identify the focus of entries and to determine both the emergent reflective quality of posts and the extent to which an online community of practice emerged. Findings revealed that descriptive reflection exceeded that of a critical nature, however, bloggers exhibited a positive trajectory toward higher order thinking and blogs were an effective platform for supporting tutor-student interaction. Despite the peer discourse features of blogs, collaborative reflection was conspicuous by its absence and an online community of practice did not emerge