Effective strategies for applying multiliteracies in collaborative learning

Effective strategies for applying multiliteracies in collaborative learning environments http: //tinyurl. com/m 4 ow 6 Vance Stevens Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE The Language Centre 6 th Annual ELT Conference, 19 – 20 April 2006 Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

The UAE context Hooked to the Net by Manal Alafrangi, Gulf News, March 2, 2006 - http: //archive. gulfnews. com/articles/06/03/02/10022377. html Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

The survey In the UAE, 1, 384, 800 people use the Net p It was a You. Gov survey p 779 UAE residents answered questions on their online experiences. p n n 33% Arab expatriates = 260 (rounded, estimated) 33% Asian expatriates = 260 16% Western expatriates =125 18% remaining ? ? ? UAE Nationals? ? = 140 Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Findings: VOIP and blog proclivities p “As many as six out of 10 respondents said they are familiar with the term Vo. IP. ” n n p “When it was explained, an overwhelming nine out of 10 said they found it appealing” “With the inevitable increase in awareness and improvement in technology, some say restrictions on Vo. IP usage will be difficult to maintain. ” “more than half the respondents were supportive of blogs once it was explained to them (with only one in 10 respondents being unsupportive). ” Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Findings: Chat proclivities Net primarily used as a medium for communication (chat, e-mail, Vo. IP and blogging) p “Almost half the respondents engage in online messaging” p n n “some (especially respondents aged below 21) considering it a good way to make new friends” “only 19 per cent of Western expatriates agree with this opinion (24 of the 125)” (I think it’s good for making friends of professional contacts … Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Web 2. 0 as a social phenomenon p Making friends of professional contacts http: //www. homestead. com/prositesvstevens/files/efi/chat 2005. htm#elderparty_marquee p Vance and Eric Baber have collaborated for 5 years online - met first time at this conference n n n May, 2001 conference in Nicosia webcast over WMP/Encoder server (Webheads had been experimenting with Hear. Me and Excite voice chat rooms) Eric presented via Netmeeting at the Teacher to Teacher 2001 conference Stood ready to webcast CALL-IS Academic Session at the 2002 Salt Lake City TESOL Conference Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

The Oman context @ SQU ELT conf p p p Samia Kara – IT and women empowerment (established that female subjects felt empowered with CMC vs. F 2 F) Al Dhahab and Al Ghassani – Join the podcasting revolution: Walkaway content (showed how easy it is to use podcatchers to catch podcast feeds, and have students create them for global audiences) Unissa Siyadath - Reading Skills: Traditional vs. Online (crucial multiliteracy skills required for reading on the Internet, strategies for teaching these) Jacob Cheruvathoor - Multimedia annotations in TEFL: Role of ICT in everyday classroom (Most number of positive responses were in being able to integrate IT skills with LL and communicating with others using emails and making friends from other countries Eric Baber’s plenary: Web 2. 0 – True Interactivity at Last? (same as this presentation? – question from audience: How do teachers ‘train up’? ) Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

What is (are? ) multiliteracies? From: http: //www. pkp. ubc. ca/multiliteracies/index. php p “The term multiliteracies was coined by the New London Group (1996) to highlight two related aspects of the increasing complexity of texts (reference): n n the proliferation of multimodal ways of making meaning where the written word is increasingly part and parcel of visual, audio, and spatial patterns; the increasing salience of cultural and linguistic diversity characterized by local diversity and global connectedness. ” Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Aspects of Multiliteracies Stuart Selber. (2004). Multiliteracies for a digital age. Southern Illinois University Press Multiliterate individuals can, for example … p p p develop file-naming schemes that can be searched meaningfully write effective email messages participate appropriately in asynchronous discussion analyze currency, authority, and reliability of website content (Reading Skills: Traditional vs. Online – Unissa Siyadath) generate visual images that represent data relationships accurately and convincingly situate technology in social, political, and economic contexts Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Connectiveness Connectivism p George Siemens: Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age http: //www. itdl. org/Journal/Jan_05/article 01. htm “The pipe is more important than its content” p p "At first people used to say it's not the e that's important, it's the learning. I don't think that's true. I think it's the e that's important. It's networking, it's management, and it's learning how to deal with computers. " - Jay Cross, in Abu Dhabi for an e. Merging e. Learning Conference, quoted in the Gulf News, Sept. 13, 2004, p. 6 George Siemens: Connectivism: Learning as Network. Creation http: //www. learningcircuits. org/2005/nov 2005/seimens. ht m This last has implications for curricula … Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Implications for curricula? From: http: //www. learningcircuits. org/2005/nov 2005/seimens. htm p p “Instruction is currently largely housed in courses and other artificial constructs of information organization and presentation. Leaving this theory behind and moving towards a networked model requires that we place less emphasis on our tasks of presenting information, and more emphasis on building the learner’s ability to navigate the information—or connectivism. Blogs, wikis, and other open, collaborative platforms are reshaping learning as a two-way process. Instead of presenting content/information/knowledge in a linear sequential manner, learners can be provided with a rich array of tools and information sources to use in creating their own learning pathways. The instructor or institution can still ensure that critical learning elements are achieved by focusing instead on the creation of the knowledge ecology. The links and connections are formed by the learners themselves. ” Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Manifestations in curriculum Examples … p The Multiliteracy Project in Canada http: //www. pkp. ubc. ca/multiliteracies/ p Cheryl Oakes’s blog (an example of putting it all together) http: //coakes 50. suprglu. com/ p Maria Claudia Bellusci uses a Frapper slide show at: http: //e-toys-ar. blogspot. com/ Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Impact on TEACHERS 4 questions to ask ourselves: p Do we teach what we know (already)? p Or what we should know (and others appear to be discovering)? But how do we figure out what is important enough to teach? (given the plethora of information available) p How do we learn new concepts ourselves, new techniques, well enough to teach them? p Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

How can TEACHERS stay current? Costly, time-bound p Attending conferences / presentations p Enrolling in face to face courses p Enrolling in online courses Free, any-time p Becoming involved in Communities of Practice p Harnessing Pull information technologies as opposed to Push Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Communities of Practice p p A community of practice forms when participants in an online community evolve a working relationship that leads them to focus spontaneously on shared tasks and problems Constructivist n n p p p zone of proximal development established scaffolding enhanced through developing interpersonal relationship of the participants Model constructivist techniques to use in teaching Friendships develop, affective filter diminished Training is by-product of queries, discussion Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Communities of Practice for IT p p Webheads in Action, hundreds of members since 2002 http: //webheads. info TESOL sanctioned EVO (Electronic Village Online) each January to March http: //www. tesol. org and http: //webpages. csus. edu/~hansonsm/What_is_ EVO. html Eric Baber’s Extreme. Techno. ELT. com (not for the fainthearted) Real. English. Online at http: //groups. yahoo. com/group/Real_English_Online/ a Yahoo. Group with a focus on video & hotpotatos Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Pull info technologies vs Push What IS a blog and why is it PULL? p It runs on ‘blog’ software installed on a server somewhere p It allows postings p It archives postings p It allows comments to postings p Crucially, it generates an RSS feed This is WHY is is ‘pull’ Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Pull vs Push – RSS p Jay Cross: Push and Pull, Informal Learning February 8, 2006 http: //internettime. com/wordpress 2/? p=14 p Will Richardson Gave up daytime job to become full-time blogger RSS Quick Start Guide for Educators http: //www. weblogg-ed. com/rss_for_ed Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Info Management - Aggregators Allow you to PULL information as preferred p Several available; e. g. Bloglines p Stephen Downes's Bloglines links: http: //www. bloglines. com/public/downes p Suggestion: n n Have students address some assignments in blogs, have their postings appear in your / each other’s aggregators as they are made Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Why blog? Anyone can publish (students, teachers) p Students have a voice, an audience p For both students and teachers: conducive to Communities of Practice p For serious bloggers (tend to be teachers) Instant communication. Echoes reverberate around the world, literally p An up-to-date and critical literature emerges Spontaneous, creative commons (shared) p Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Are blogs the new literature? p p p p p Stephen’s Web http: //downes. ca (in hiatus) Will Richardson, Weblogg-ed Jodie Fraser Edublogs Harold Jarche’s Conversations at the intersection of learning, work & technology http: //www. jarche. com James Farmer George Siemens Jay Cross, Internet Time Blog Dave Cormier and Jeff Lebow http: //www. worldbridges. com See International Edublog Awards Winners for 2005 at http: //www. incsub. org/awards/ Etc. etc. (easily found in Google searches and references to one another) Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

What kinds of BLOGS are there? p p p ‘Standard’ blogs like Blogger Photo blogs like Buzznet HTML Blogs like Live Journal Audio blogs Video blogs Podcasts n n Gigadial http: //www. gigadial. net/public/ Juice Receiver: http: //juicereceiver. sourceforge. net/index. php n Doppleradio: http: //www. doppleradio. com/ (thanks to Al Dhahab and Al Ghassani) Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Podcasting characteristics p p p Work through blogs Essentially, audio postings to blogs Thus, can be harvested through RSS Can be downloaded for listening later Podogogical resources n n n Randy Meredith’s Podogogy http: //www. podagogy. com/pedagogy. html Learncasting & Podogogy in Language Teaching [03 -042006] by Graham Stanley, Allan Carrington and Randy Meredith http: //home. learningtimes. net/learningtimes? go=1151315 Graham Stanley, Podcasting: Audio on the Internet Comes of Age, Volume 9, Number 4: http: //tesl-ej. org/ej 36/int. html Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

The Voice p p p Michael Coghlan: Is Voice Online for You? http: //users. chariot. net. au/~michaelc/mater/eas y_voice. htm Michael’s Podomatic voice synthesis test: http: //michaelc. podomatic. com/entry/2006 -0119 T 05_36_13 -08_00 Finding your Voice Online – An Inquiry into the Use of Online Voice Applications in Higher Education by Michael Coghlan http: //www. elearn. wa. edu. au/kt/edition 05/downl oad/Coghlan. pdf Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Podcast and other voice examples p Aiden Yeh’s http: //www. aidenyeh. podomatic. com n n p Students post speeches others respond with recorded comments Odeo, Springdoo, Handybits n n A ‘threaded’ voice chat: http: //odeo. com/a/UE 66 sm. L 4 k. L 3 fl. KZHCP 6 f 8 ib GLmlw. Q 8 PO 5 i. K 4 xjff/#cmnt 6800 John Taylor-Johnston’s Odeo assignment http: //jtjohnston. ca/recording_odeo. php Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Other content managers p p Moodle e. g. Multiliteracies for Collaborative Learning Environments http: //www. opensource. idv. tw/moodle/course/vie w. php? id=23 Elgg? (Drupal? ) http: //www. eflbridges. com Facebook (see Wikipedia http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Facebook_(website) Bedo (see Emma Duke-Williams, Show and tell online: http: //www. tech. port. ac. uk/staffweb/dukewie/blog/? p=390 Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Content management and Co. Ps p What do Learning Mgm’t Systems do? n n p host some kind of content Provide teachers means of manipulating content provide means of access of that content Track student progress Foster communities when they: n n allow users to maintain their own profiles associate faces with events allow tagging http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Del. icio. us It might host user’s blogs Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Characteristics of community-friendly content mgmt 2. 0 p p Free Open Source http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Opensource_software Creative Commons http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Creative_Commons You can set them up on your own server … Venny Su. (2005) An Open Source Portal for Educators. TESL-EJ Vol. 9. No. 1, On the Internet http: //tesl-ej. org/ej 33/int. html Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Raising multiliteracy awareness Student threatens on Facebook to kill president http: //www. oudaily. com/vnews/display. v/ ART/2005/03/08/422 db 16170829? in_arch ive=1 p One issue (meaning of terms of use) picked up in Wikipedia http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Facebook%27 s_use_in_investigations p Implication: Educators may need to take on more responsibility for raising such awareness p Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Web 2. 0 e. Learning 2. 0 p Links to lists of tools: Graeme Daniel, Web 2. 0 and Education (Feb 14, 2006) in WWWTools for Education http: //m. fasfind. com/wwwtools/m/2756. cfm? x=0&rid=2 756 n Stephen Downes From Edu. Blogs to the Collective Consciousness: Director's Cut http: //downes. jot. com/Wiki. Home Some I use n Yahoo. Groups e. g. http: //groups. yahoo. com/group/efiwebheads/ n Frappr e. g. slide show at http: //wiaoc. org n PBWiki; e. g. http: //baw-06. pbwiki. com/ n Ajax (I got this one from Eric - Used in Google home page creator and in microsoft's live. com) n Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Other technologies p Buthaina Al. Othman’s Easy Technologies to Teach and Learn EFL/ESL Across Different Cultures: Using new methods of webcasts (cell phones) http: //alothman-b. tripod. com/tesol 06_callis_acsession 0316. htm p p Tony Vincent’s site on handhelds: http: //www. learninginhand. com/ i. Pod-learning n n Greg Kessler’s TESOL 2006 presentation , and Duke University, in the US, has distributed i. Pods to 1650 new students, pre-loaded with useful orientation information. Students can download from the Duke Web site, similar to i. Tunes, where they will find orientation schedules, audio books, language lessons, lectures, even the University song! http: //www. epic. co. uk/content/resources/white_papers/i. Pod. htm n n p p Georgia College Pushes for IPod Ingenuity By GREG BLUESTEIN http: //tinyurl. com/h 8 hvr Curtis Bonk’s OOPS, Did I mean to share that: Opensource, Opencourseware, and the learning objects of tomorrow https: //www. elluminate. com/site/pmtg. jnlp? psid=d 2036466210. 3482 89 (recorded presentation with numerous examples) Kerry’ Hargreaves’s http: //web. mac. com/kerryhargreaves/i. Web/Site/Photos%202. html Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

Conclusion p p p Those concerned about the decreasing half-life of information see little point (apart from the pleasure of paging through glossy photos) in subscribing to magazines or any other media that has a production run that delays news getting to you when you can get instantly updated constantly through the blogosphere. The blogosphere has emerged as the library of quality and of record, and it's not all text, but decidedly multimedia (aud-blogs, video-blogs). Being multiliterate means knowing where the library IS in the first place, and then organizing access to it, then utilizing and interacting with it. Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006

PP 107: Multiliteracies for Collaborative Learning Environments This presentation has been developed over the course of two years teaching online in the TESOL Certificate Program: Principles and Practices of Online Teaching p http: //www. homestead. com/prositesvstevens/files/efi/papers/tesol/ppot/portal 2005. htm p Presenter information: http: //vance. webheads. info Vance Stevens - Petroleum Institute - SQU ELT Conference Apr 2006