Telecollaboration

Greetings,

This week I am completing a course on telecollaboration which was offered through the Elevate Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. If you are interested in learning how to integrate technology into your language classroom I recommend you reach out to Edwige.Simon@Colorado.EDU and to visit altec.colorado.edu/elevate.

"In sum, telecollaboration is characterized by institutionalized technology-mediated intercultural communication for the purposes of FL learning and the development of intercultural awareness  (Byram, 1997; Harden & Witte, 2000:  Kramsch, 1998)." (Belz, J 2005)

I was fortunate to be experiencing a telecollaboration between my second-semester Spanish students and a group of Brazilian students studying Spanish simultaneously while taking the course. I say 'fortunate' because it gave me an opportunity to reflect upon the literature, research, concerns, and recommendations while observing it unfold in my classroom and virtually.

This combination of academic and real world classroom experience resulted in a few key takeaways for future telecollaborative endeavors.

1.  Planning is crucial. Telecollaboration isn't something one just decides to do spontaneously. First you have to identify the desired learning outcomes and articulate them clearly so that you and your partner understand and agree upon the objectives. Once the outcomes are established it is time to identify the type of task that will best elicit the learning outcomes. I found the work of Robert O'Dowd and Paige Waire in Critical issues in telecollaborative task design (2009) to be very helpful in not only identifying appropriate tasks but also in considering the pitfalls associated with such tasks.

The reason planning is so important is because there are potential pitfalls for every type of telecollaborative task and for every partnership. If we consider these factors prior to execution we are more likely to develop mitigating strategies. This will ultimately lead to a more productive partnership and learning experience for teachers and students.

2.  Relationships must be developed and nurtured.  In our course Carolin Fuch, our instructor, had us begin by introducing ourselves both in writing and video. The literature offered additional ice breaker strategies that can be used to help the students on both sides of the exchange get to know one another. In future partnerships I would argue that it is just as important for the teachers to have a solid relationship as it is for the students. It would be well worth the time up front to complete multiple relationship building activities with the partner teachers. These might include not only the written and video introductions, but perhaps a questionnaire activity like those that are used in the Cultura Model. I found as I was working with my Brazilian counterpart that in our daily correspondence they were much more comfortable with very familiar greetings such as 'besos'. I, on the other hand, struggled to know what I should say and if I would be judged as 'too formal' and distant if I didn't reciprocate with similar salutations. This could have been resolved early in our relationship and contributed to our understanding of one another's culture.

Strong relationships based upon open communication will make it possible to work through misunderstandings, miscommunication, and just pure exhaustion that invariably creeps into these experiences.

3.  The conditions for optimal language learning are the same in a face-to-face classroom and in a telecollaboration.  I found it very interesting that our first reading wasn't about telecollaboration rather it was Introduction:  Foundations for teaching and learning by Joy Egbert, Elizabeth Hanson-Smith and Chin-chi Chao, (2007). In this article they reviewed eight conditions for an optimal language learning environment. These conditions are not modified based upon the means of delivery but are the hallmark of a productive and nurturing learning environment. The takeaway for me is to consider each of the eight conditions while planning regardless of the delivery platform. Perhaps I should put a poster above my desk outlining the ideal language learning environment.

4.  Lastly, students need to be introduced to best practices for a virtual exchange. Throughout the course I found myself adding to a list of 'best practices' that I envision sharing with my students in the future. I learned from the exchange this semester that much of what they experience and the expectations that are placed upon them are very 'foreign' from previous learning experiences. They needed to be prepped and taught how to maneuver an inter-cultural relationship and in doing so we will help to avoid propagating stereotypes and cultural misunderstandings. Here is a list of recommendations that I pulled from the work of O'Dowd, Waire, and Fuch.

1.  Acknowledge comments made by your partner and show interest. Ask questions in response to information received.
2.  Answer questions you are asked.
3.  Be curious - seek additional information about your partner and his/her culture.
4.  Complete all assigned tasks on time.
5.  Don't judge.
6.  Listen to their views and share your views. The goal is to exchange perspectives not change one another.
7.  When frustrated by an exchange reach out to your teacher.
8.  Be sensitive, tolerant and willing to consider opposing views and perspectives.
9.  Be considerate in how you present information.
10.  Dig deep and explore the cultural significance.
11.  Don't be afraid to share how you feel about your own culture, positive and negative, but explain your views. Provide your partner with analysis and personal opinion.
12.  Go beyond the assigned tasks to build your relationships.
13.  Consider the use of the second person. Is it appropriate?
14.  It is more  important to get to know one another than to go straight to the assigned task. 


Going forward I plan to continue to seek out opportunities for my students to learn through virtual exchanges. The learning extends beyond language and culture to team dynamics and use of technology, all skills that they need to be the leaders of the future.


I would like to extend a special thank you to Carolin Fuch for her guidance, responsiveness, and willingness to share a plethora of resources and expertise with us throughout the course. I would also like to thank all my classmates, especially Amanda Damon, who contributed to improving my understanding of the power of telecollaboration. 

Affordances and Challenges of Technology

The Affordances and Challenges of Technology in the World Language Curriculum

 “The Statement of Philosophy in the National Standards for Learning Language clearly defines what matters, saying; “The United States must educate students who are linguistically and culturally equipped to communicate successfully in a pluralistic American society and abroad” (Fowdy and Hendrickson, p. 32).

   In my view, technology is critical to successfully accomplishing this charge despite the challenges that come with employing new approaches. Technology affords greater connection, differentiation, personalization, and assessment all of which are essential to creating a curriculum that leads to linguistic and cultural proficiency. 

   The Cultura exchange is a model which connects learners in two different countries for the purpose of comparing perspectives. This online connection along with Skype sessions gives students in both countries an opportunity to identify their own culture and reflect upon it while simultaneously learning about others. Sabine Levet (2015), one of the founders of Cultura, explained that “on the forum, students ask and answer questions, allude to the context, make hypotheses about their own culture, and react to their classmates’ comments. They agree, disagree, try to see both sides and reconcile different viewpoints” (p. 4).  The Cultura model gets beyond what many refer to as Big C and pushes participants to think deeply about many aspects of culture that previously were left unmentioned.

   Over the past two years I have piloted experiences that connect students to native speakers for the purpose of linguistic and cultural development. Talk Abroad (https://talkabroad.com/) is a service in which students schedule an appointment to speak for 30 minutes with a native Spanish speaker who is living outside the United States. I provide guidance with regards to the theme of the conversation but invariably they take unpredictable twists and turns. This forces students to find a way to communicate just like they would have to do in another country. The conversations are recorded and can be used as formative or summative assessments, as well as being a tremendous source of cultural information.

    Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is another type of international partnership which connects classrooms in two countries. Students in both countries collaborate using online tools to complete research, activities, and presentations together. In order to be successful students must work through the coordination, logistics, linguistic, and cultural issues that could easily divide and hinder progress. Currently, my second semester Spanish students are initiating a collaboration with students of Spanish in Brazil. The common language for the instructors and students is Spanish making it an authentic learning environment for growth. The international connection that is occurring in all three scenarios described is only possible because technology affords us that connection.

    Technology also affords differentiating and personalizing of the learning experience. The flipped classroom model is one approach that recognizes that students learn differently and at different paces and that life sometimes gets in the way. It also reverses the traditional model in terms of what students do in the classroom and what they learn and practice on their own. By posting videos of skills based activities, lectures, or other content based information and requiring students to watch the videos, take notes, and come to class prepared teachers can subsequently use class time for real world applications.

The time that would have previously been spent “teaching” from the front of the room can now be spent in a classroom that is buzzing with active learning, student-centered activities, and teachers guiding the learning (Bergmann & Sams, p. 5).

  There are many technological tools that afford both differentiation and personalization. Among those that we examined were gaming, digital storytelling, and online tools that can be used for both formal and informal learning.  Teachers have used games in the language classroom I would venture to say for a very long time. However, today students have the ability to immerse themselves in virtual worlds, solve problems, and in doing so practice the target language and/or learn about the culture with the help of technology. Students can progress through games at their own pace and start at their appropriate level. Both of these factors demonstrate differentiation and personalization of the learning. Many games online are not played alone rather they are a collaborative effort of players anywhere in the world. Prensky (2003) contends that the long held belief that video games for example are just a form of play fails to acknowledge the deeper learning that transpires “to take in information from many sources and make decisions quickly; to deduce a game’s rules from playing rather than by being told; to create strategies for overcoming obstacles; to understand complex systems through experimentation” p. 2).  All of these skills are skills that are needed to thrive in the 21^st century workforce.

   Digital storytelling is a way to tell stories using computers and digital media. It is also an ideal way to personalize the learning experience. Vinogradova (2014) explained  that “digital stories as multimodal personal digital narratives can address the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse language learners as well as the needs of educators looking for innovative, transformative, and student-centered teaching” (p. 3). Digital story projects give the students choice and an opportunity to communicate about what is personal and meaningful to them. This can be a very powerful tool for a student who is more of an introvert by nature.

   There are countless online tools that language educators can use today in conjunction with their curriculum or can promote to students for informal learning. Among the tools mentioned throughout the course were: Duo Lingo, Busuu, Babbel, Conjuguemos, social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Informal learning can also be promoted through language social networking on sites such as Lenguajero and the Polyglot Club.

  This brings me to the challenges of integrating technology into the language curriculum. Although I believe the benefits far outweigh the challenges and as a colleague stated just yesterday when talking about the merits of technology integration “I have drank the Kool-aid”.  I see one challenge that will continue to hinder our progress and that is time. Integrating these tools into our curriculum requires time.  We need time to research the tools in order to thoroughly understand their applications and identify which tools are most appropriate for the task at hand. We need time to train on their uses and to develop student learning outcomes, assessments, and activities. In some cases, as in Voice Thread, we need time to promote the tool and request funding. Once we identify a tool and plan an activity to pilot with the tool we need time to reflect on its effectiveness and make adjustments. The list of time related activities is endless but the amount of time we have to dedicate to this endeavor is not endless. Therein lies the biggest hindrance to technology integration.

   However, I refuse to end this paper on such a negative note. My strategy of perseverance is little by little. Each semester I will experiment with a few more tools. I will keep some and refine how I use them and drop others. This semester I experimented with course specific Face Book pages to share language and culture related information amongst my students. I am in the midst of a collaboration with a classroom in Brazil and am experimenting with Google Forms for formative assessments. Next semester I would like to tackle digital storytelling! The learning and teaching cycle continues … isn’t that what it is all about?

References

Bergmann, Jonathon & A. Sams. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day. United States: International Society for Technology in Education.

Fowdy, K. & L. Hendrickson. (2014). Assessing what matters. The Language Educator, 9 (2).

Levet, S. (2015). The cultura model: Developing students intercultural competence. FLTMAG.

Prensky, M. (2003). Really good news about your children’s video games.

Vinogradova, P. (2014). Digital stories in a language classroom: Engaging students through a meaningful multimodal task. FLTMAG, July. Retrieved from http://fltmag.com/digital-stories/

Final Report of Technology Integration Project

https://www.emaze.com/@ACORTRLC/tip-final-report?autoplay

Independent Language Learners

"What do you do to help students take ownership of their own learning and therefore become more self-regulated and independent language learners?"

The past two semesters I have started my classes with an introduction to the language proficiency levels. Using an shared by Kara Parker my students create sample texts in English for each of the proficiency levels (Novice low - Intermediate high). We then evaluate the texts to underscore what constitutes each level. I conclude this activity by asking each student to state what they can already do with the Spanish language, what they want to be able to do with the language, and how they will meet their goal. Their input gives me a sense of where they are when we begin and we refer back to those responses at the end of the semester to see what has been achieved.

To continue along this path of employing the performance levels, after each unit assessment students work in groups to tackle the writing performance task and the speaking performance task that were on the test. Each group brainstorms and develops a group response. The responses tend to employ more language then they produced as individuals but it shows them how to tackle the assessments and provides them with strategies for future assessments. As part of this activity they exchange group products and assign a performance level. This helps them become more comfortable with the criteria and with the idea of assessing one's own work.

I plan to expand this activity for my introductory language students to include a strategy that David Thompson presented in the Language Educator article Developing Student Awareness with Self-Assessment Exercises (Feb 2014).  Students will complete a post-test reflection which Thompson refers to as a wrapper (54).  The self-assessment that occurs will presumably aid students in preparing for the next assessment. I anticipate that once students have completed the post-test reflection individually they will share their ideas for preparing for the next assessment.

At the start of first semester Spanish my students read an article which presents ten strategies that one can use to learn a language. I ask them to rank the activities from the strategies they are most likely to employ and find helpful to the least and to explain why they ranked certain activities at the top. We then discuss the strategies and how they can best accelerate and solidify their learning.

Self-motivated students who spend time watching movies and programs in the target language, reading authentic text, and creating quizzes to review the vocabulary on Quizlet are precious few. Many students do the minimum and expect favorable results both in grades and in proficiency. It takes consistent guidance and encouragement to inspire these students to set personal goals and rise above the status quo.

I believe that technology has a role to play in helping students to expand and assess their growth with the language. I provide students with a list of different tools so they can use the tool which best meets their needs and interests. One current student of mine has chosen to use Rosetta Stone to add to his vocabulary and improve his pronunciation. Another creates quizzes for herself that not only reinforce unit vocabulary but have an auditory component so she can hear the words and then spell them. A third student uses Duo Lingo to expand her skills with the language. Giving these students an opportunity in class to share the merits of the tools they are using and how they are independently taking control of their own learning is another way that I can help to promote students learning on their own.

Video Games: Are they really educational?

I have been asked to reflect upon the following quote:

“What attracts and “glues” kids to today’s video and computer games is neither the violence, or even the surface subject matter, but rather the learning the games provide. Kids, like and all humans, love to learn when it isn’t forced on them. Modern computer and video games provide learning opportunities every second, or fraction thereof.” (Prensky, 2003)

Having read this quote countless times I am still not convinced that children are attracted to games because of the learning that games provide. Perhaps this is pessimistic on my part but I believe that people in general are attracted to games because they are fun, stimulating, and often challenging. From my experience the learning that occurs is an added benefit of engaging in the game often repeatedly, but I don't believe it is the motivation. 

I have a nine year old granddaughter who will spend a concerted amount of time playing a game. As I watch her, I see she is challenged to succeed in the game's objectives and she repeats the game because she is determined to surpass her own best scores. When I ask her why she plays the game she typically tells me that it is fun. 

I agree wholeheartedly with Prensky that modern computers and video games provide tremendous learning opportunities for all of us. From a teaching and learning standpoint they are particularly valuable for helping our students to learn and practice their skills in a fun and engaging way. The games captivate people's attention causing them to try over and over in an effort to improve their mastery. I also believe that the quality of games continues to improve making them more dynamic and attractive to the player. Although learning may be occurring it is the dynamic nature of the interaction and competition that I believe motivates us to play.

I would argue that the more important point that Prensky makes in his article Really Good News About Your Children's Video Games is that according to an increasing amount of research children are gaining more than just knowledge from their experiences with games. He states that "on deeper levels they learn infinitely more: to take in information from many sources and make decisions quickly; to deduce a game's rules from playing rather than by being told; to create strategies for overcoming obstacles; to understand complex systems through experimentation. And, increasingly, they learn to collaborate with others." (1)

Given the mounting research demonstrating that through the use of video and digital games children develop critical skills needed for the future there would seem to be significant implications for our education system. The evidence supports a strong counter argument to the long held belief that 'play' is only valuable for elementary students. It also validates the declaration that people learn both content and critical skills through gaming. 

The nature of educational transformation is a topic of debate across this nation as stakeholders demand that students graduate with adequate knowledge and skills to succeed. Although I am not one to play games I feel compelled to acknowledge that there is a valid place for games in the teaching/learning experience. These tools are yet another resource that can be used to teach, practice, and assess 21st century skills such as the ability to collaborate, problem-solve, and think critically.  Perhaps it is time for educational institutions across the K-16 spectrum to adapt the learning experience to include a gaming dimension among other research based best practices and technologies. 

Teaching Culture

"Teaching culture is not an easy task, and many teachers feel that they do not know the culture they need to teach well enough to be an expert in the classroom." Sabine Levet, FLTMAG, July 2013.

I agree that teaching culture is a challenge in many respects. However, given the inherent need for our students to be inter-culturally competent it is even more important that we commit to moving beyond teaching surface culture. 

The biggest challenge that I am experiencing when it comes to teaching culture is one of a mindset change in how I approach teaching and learning experiences. At a recent professional development session our presenter, Kara Parker started the workshop with "Lead with culture and language will follow!" She then proceeded to show us over the course of two days that through the use of culturally authentic resources we can create student-centered language learning experiences. But this is more difficult than just finding some good stuff on the internet and introducing it into the classroom. This requires time, cultural knowledge on the part of the educator, resourcefulness, connections, and creativity. 

In fact, this philosophical switch from language being the driving force to culture is very dramatic. Traditionally, I would teach a topic and weave in cultural tidbits, products, practices, and perspectives based upon my own experiences and education. I recognize now that this approach will only result in a cultural competency level of novice. Previously, students weren't asked to analyze their own culture in relation to others. They were not asked to evaluate their perspectives and those of others on a broad range of issues. The challenge of creating these experiences is great but exhilarating.

This leads me back to Sabine Levet's quote in which she points out that some teachers don't feel they have the requisite expertise to teach culture. I understand why teachers feel that way. I teach Spanish and there are 21 Spanish-speaking countries each with their own products, practices, and perspectives. It is impossible to be culturally connected to all the societies where our languages are spoken. In our classrooms we share what we have studied and experienced personally and for some teachers that is more than others. Even a native speaker of a particular country is not versed in the entire community. This is yet another challenge but one that can be managed through the use of technology. We are now able to connect with native speakers through a multitude of networked sites, conversation exchanges, and social media.   

The technology of today affords us the opportunity to easily connect with people of other cultures. 

By applying the strategies that make up models like Cultura our students can move beyond the superficial understanding of others to being culturally informed and competent citizens. 

Another challenge we face as a profession in relation to teaching culture is the assessment component. Many if not most educational institutions and their constituents expect learning to be assessed. We are expected to prove that our students have learned what they were taught. Capturing cultural knowledge for purposes of assessment has often resulted in the meaningless regurgitation of facts rather than deep cultural understanding. 

This question of 'how to assess culture' resulted in a bit of a personal transformation. I was inspired by yet another presenter, Pablo Muirhead, to rethink how what culture is taught and how the learnign is assessed. Pablo shared the Iceberg Concept of Culture and a culture project he designed that was in large part experiential. Students actually go into the community, interact with Spanish-speakers, and explore the culture. The required reflection serves as an indicator of how far along the ICC continuum a student has traveled through these experiences. These projects replaced the ten culture questions on the final exam and my students are better for it. They have expressed deeper interest and enthusiasm for the community and culture. In this respect I believe we are on the right path, but I recognize that our students need even more intensive exploratory experiences  and the challenge for me is to create them.