Pickings from the Panel discussion
Here are some perspectives from the panel discussion: Diana Laurillard called for more ambitious approach to the integration of technology and language learning with the focus on the learners' point of view. She also reminded us once again of the need for a holistic approach in our development efforts. Mike Levy raised the issue of learner engagement in the classroom. Paul Thebault and Anthony Baldry brought in the semiotic aspect to the discussion of integration and multimodality. There were many comments from the floor, some of which stating that CALL appears to be falling badly behind elearning in other disciplines. Althoough this may seem to be a controversial standpoint, there was little dissent from the audience. There was also some discussion around the fact that we need to rethink our teaching methods and content to capture the attention of our students among all the stimuli present in a learning situation.
Some food for though, eh?
Peppi & Lesley
Some food for though, eh?
Peppi & Lesley
posted by Peppi Taalas at 1:11 pm
9 Comments:
“There were many comments from the floor, some of which stating that CALL appears to be falling badly behind e-learning in other disciplines.”
Interesting! I entirely disagree. The current view among most people I know working in this area in the UK is that CALL is ahead of the game. In the secondary education sector it is often the modern foreign languages departments that are singled out by the inspectorate (Ofsted) as taking the lead in the applications of ICT to language learning and teaching. However, the negative view expressed above hinges on what you understand by e-learning (see the questions I raised elsewhere in this blog and in the wiki) and what can be done effectivley via e-learning. E-learning is widely used in disciplines that are knowledge-based rather than skill-based – because it’s easier to apply in those discplines. As someone once put it, “You can’t learn how to play the piano in the Web” – but maybe you can. Languages are DIFFERENT, a point that Tony Fitzpatrick and I brought out in the following report, where we say:
“The aim of this report was to survey current developments in ICT, to measure its impact on FLT & FLL in Europe and to predict possible future developments. One important fact that has emerged from this study is that Foreign Languages as a subject area is “different” from most other subject areas in the curriculum, namely that it is skill-based as well as knowledge-based, and in this respect it has more in common with Music than, say, History or Geography. This has implications both for the types of hardware and software that are used in FLT & FLL, but also for FLT pedagogy and methodology.”
Maybe, having become sceptical about technology following the introduction of the language lab, we are still committed to keeping the teacher in the forefront. Festine lente!
Reference:
Fitzpatrick A. & Davies G. (eds.) (2003)The Impact of Information and Communications Technologies on the teaching of foreign languages and on the role of teachers of foreign languages, EC Directorate General of Education and Culture. The contribution by Graham Davies, relating specifically to the UK, is available in HTML format at http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/docs/ICC_Grahams_Report_Final.htm
An afterthought to my last posting:
Language teachers are among the most demanding in terms of the technology they require – and have been for some time. As a university computer centre director and language centre director in the 1980s and 1990s, I constantly had to justify to my line managers why I needed to spend so much on hardware and software: language labs, satellite TV dishes, audio and video playback facilities, computer labs and word-processors in around 10 different languages, for example.
This blog shows what we are up against. The technology lags behind what we expect. We ARE demanding. Video streaming of the keynotes is not yet working as I write, but using my desktop PC at home in the UK I can watch the Natascha Kampusch interview on ORF in Austria. I can’t get the EUROCALL 2006 audio chat facility to work, but my friend in Italy can phone me via Skype.
Regarding Web technology, it still has not caught up with what can be done on a local hard disk server or CD-ROM. Last year I looked in vain for a good Web package to teach me some basic Polish. I found loads of stuff that I could read and some stuff that I could listen to, but I found nothing that enabled me to practise getting my tongue round the horrendous-looking Polish consonant clusters. Here, however, the EuroTalk CD-ROMs “Talk Now” and “World Talk” came to the rescue, enabling me to listen to basic words and phrases in Polish, to see them written down, to associate them with pictures, and – most importantly - to record and play back my own voice. I can now say “przepraszam” with confidence, order a large beer and say “thank you” nicely in Polish. How many VLEs (if this is what most people understand by e-learning) offer language learners these basic but essential facilities?
As for advanced learners, there's a lot of good authentic stuff (texts, audio and video) out there, but then we come up against increasingly stringent copyright legislation, e.g. the EU 2001 directive, which determines and restricts what can be "communicated to the public" - the public being understood as anything from a group of students in a school to the whole world.
I agree with Paul's comment regarding sound pedagogy. We do appear to have got a bit lost in this area in recent years but, from what I have observed in the UK, the absence of sound pedagogy and methodology has nothing to do with new technological developments. It's just lacking, whatever medium is used: books, chalk and talk, etc. Modern foreign languages is a unique subject area where pedagogy, methodology (or approaches, if you like) come and go year after year. Read Wilfried Decoo's article (see below) which takes a cynical look at this process. Maybe language teachers are just confused.
Reference:
Decoo W. (2001) On the mortality of language learning methods. Paper given as the James L. Barker lecture on 8 November 2001 at Brigham Young University: http://www.didascalia.be/mortality.htm
Lack of imagination and lack of sound pedagogy killed off the language lab. History seems to repeat itself. The language lab was regarded as the panacea because it was fancy technology (at the time) and not because a pedagogical revolution had taken place. But, on its own, it was no more useful than pencil and paper.
Yes, Paul, I do agree when you say: "In the UK, and I know Graham will agree with me here, it is our secondary school teachers who are leading the way, with Further and Higher Education trailing in their wake."
I was intrigued by Paul's comment and tried to test this out, by asking the audience the question: "Does anybody know what Web 2.0 stands for?" Only three people in the audience raised their hands and after I was asked to explain, I briefly stated: Web 1.0 is the ‘read only’ and Web 2.0 is ‘read and write’ web.
Then I asked the panellists, what they perceived Web 3.0 will be like... and the answers were fascinating.
Diana Laurillard thought it was the customized web and stated Amazon as an example, because Amazon knows her favourite books and recommends similar topics. This thought was taken up by another panellists.
A comment from the audience turned the discussion into the direction of multi channel communication, by frankly describing that she was able to read her emails whilst listening to the panellists discourse.
This again was taken up by Mike, by mentioning some Universities in Asia who deploy guards to watch over back row students so that they do not use their mobile phones for not surfing during the lecture (prior to the web, these guards might have been busy watching students not sleeping - hehe).
Well, this discussion did confirm somehow my observations about the EUROCALL community (I need to mention that I am a newbee). There is an overall business with applying technology a little bit and then spending huge amount on studying the possible outcomes a lot. But since the study outcomes are not very representative (due to little data and relatively new technology) sources and references need to be quoted to support the anticipated study results - and then it becomes a bit more a mere academic exercise with reasoning on theories rather than empirical data.
This is what surprised me about CALL. Those who try and test out new out in the field seemed at the outset 'networked' through CALL, but appeared to do their research and study relatively alone. This is what I read between the lines of the presentations.
May I ask the old-timers Graham and Paul: Is this a wrong impression? Please correct me if this is so.
If this is true, what will Web 3.0 for the CALL community as well as the language learners out there?
Ooops, I forgot to ask: what do you think Web 3.0 will be like?
Heike
Heike writes:
"This is what surprised me about CALL. Those who try and test out new out in the field seemed at the outset 'networked' through CALL, but appeared to do their research and study relatively alone."
Having read dozens of papers and MPhil and PhD theses, I am inclined to agree. Yes, CALL people often seem to work in a vacuum.
As for Web 3.0? My thoughts echo those of Sam Goldwyn and Winston Churchill:
Sam Goldwyn (founder of MGM):
“I never prophesy – especially about the future.”
Winston Churchill:
“I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has already taken place.”
It is actually not too difficult to prophesy about the future, since we can look at today's young generation and their 'futuristic' use of ICT.
These kids are also called power users (http://www.ictliteracy.info/summitonline.htm) or 'homo zappiens' . (Online Educa in Berlin). Teens who use the web to learn, reference, blog AND communicate with their peers.
The typical example of the multimodal learner of tomorrow is: the 14 year old who sits in his room doing his school work, with school books spread all over the bed, an iPod in one ear and mobile as well as laptop next to it, running at least 4-6 parallel chats with peers who at the same time are doing their homework too. Collaborating and exchanging files in the process that could be called 'just-in-time learning' but is probably driven by 'trying to save time'.
I foresee Web 3.0 to be the 'communicative' web with real-time communication tools such as Instant Messaging, Webinars, WebCasts, Virtual Classrooms, flashbased chat software for live support, live online expert advice via Skype, expert round table talkshows on the Internet, live online sales activities on webshops, real-time application sharing and synchronous co-browsing.
What an opportunity for language learning!
When people on this 'flat' earth start communicating in real-time across timezones, they will be greatly motivated to learn languages.
Blended learning can then take the shape of: Virtual Classrooom learning harnessing the web's full potential as a storehouse of content at the 'mouse'-tip.
So, where did we hear this exciting new trend at the EUROCALL conference?
Heike writes:
"When people on this 'flat' earth start communicating in real-time across timezones, they will be greatly motivated to learn languages."
They are doing that already. I am doing it (and have had to do it as a result of an ongoing medical problem) right now. I was only "virtually" in Granada. Shame about mising the food, wine and social programme, though!
Do you remember Ray Kurzweil's keynote at EUROCALL 2000? One of the reports summarises what he said:
"His views of future possibilities were quite shocking:
By 2009 computers as we know them now will disappear, it will be possible to write information directly onto our retinas. We will have great bandwidth, wireless connection to the Internet and the visual and auditory dimensions of virtual reality will be well developed.
By 2029 virtual reality will include all five senses and it will be difficult to differentiate between real people and simulations. Miniaturisation will make it possible to send millions of ‘nanobots’ into the human body. At the same time human life will be much longer, but knowledge will not be downloadable."
See:
http://www.eurocall-languages.org/confs/euro00e.htm
Hmm, a bit over the top maybe?
Coincidentally, Vance Stevens drew my attention this morning (Sat 9 September)to the WIAOC 2005 "virtual conference":
http://wiaoc.org
WIAOC stands for Webheads In Action Online Convergence. Another conference is forthcoming.
John Hibbs wrote to me a year ago inviting me to take part in his Global Learn Day:
http://bfranklin.edu/johnhibbs/
Unfortunately, I was on holiday at the time. The next one is on 8 October 2006:
http://bfranklin.edu/gldten/
The above page includes this text:
Global Learn Day Ten will focus on five topic areas
- e-learning for Kids
- e-learning and e-training for Adults
- English as a Second Language
- Tools for the Challenged
- Tools and Tips for Virtual Events
As always, the Global Learn Day will open in the South Pacific, where the planet begins the new day. Then it will travel west to Hawaii, "the long way around". It will feature the best and brightest from 24 time zones with loads and loads of audience participation.
I had a shot at predicting the future in my UCALL Keynote last year. Nothing all that exciting, I'm afraid. See:
"Computer Assisted Language Learning: Where are we now and where are we going?" http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/docs/UCALL_Keynote.htm
Thank you, Graham, for taking your time to post to my comments and also for taking your time to text chat using Blobber.
I have finished my blog on the EUROCALL conference and would like to share the link: http://www.kolabora.com/experts/heike_philp/2006/09/09/eurocall_conference_2006_in_grenada.htm
I am looking forward to the WIAOC, because last year's conference was an absolute highlight.
I also took part of Global Learn Day two years ago and was terrible sad to have missed last year's, having been unaware of the timing.
Thank you too for the many links to Robert O'Dowd's research and the ICT4LT.org website.
When health condition permits, I would very much like to ask you to present the history of EUROCALL to my group of language teachers at LANCELOTschool.com. All done from the comfort of your home using webcam and headset and a virtual classroom.
Heike asks:
"When health condition permits, I would very much like to ask you to present the history of EUROCALL to my group of language teachers at LANCELOTschool.com. All done from the comfort of your home using webcam and headset and a virtual classroom."
My health is fine right now. I have just returned from a 2-week driving holiday in Germany, France and Switzerland. It was really enjoyable and reinforced my long-held view that learning and reinforcing one's knowledge of a foreign language is best done by visiting countries where the language is spoken. I can even understand around 30% of spoken Swiss German now!
As for my personal History of EUROCALL, you can find it in two places:
http://www.eurocall-languages.org/about/history.html
http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/EuroHist.htm
But this account leaves out a lot of the interesting bits: the chat around the bar and over dinner and the memorable failure of the poower supply at the end of my presentation at EUROCALL 1991 in Finland!
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