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IATEFL Poland A Journal for Teachers of English ISSN 1642-1027 Vol. 3, Issue 2 (April 2003) |
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IATEFL Poland A Journal for Teachers of English ISSN 1642-1027 Vol. 3, Issue 2 (April 2003) |
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On the Web |
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INTERNET-BASED LEARNING ACTIVITIES. Abstract Work with the Internet is being
successfully integrated into language learning at Kaunas University of
Technology (KTU). KTU students have been participating in SIMULAB
(Internet-based intercultural learning project) activities and in Grundtvig
project eCOLE which offers on-line communication and learning activities
together with students from five European countries. The article deals with the
project experience and outcomes. The
authors also share ideas about the application of virtual classroom Nicenet,
which is an efficient tool in organising students’self-study work and
exchanging information. Background Since 1997 new technologies have
become an integral part of language teaching/learning at Kaunas University of
Technology. Different language courses have been supplemented with CD-ROM
materials or addresses of websites containing most recent information on the
topics studied, and worksheets have been prepared. The potential of ICT in
language courses has been enthusiastically welcomed both by teachers and by
students. Surveys have shown that web-based tasks as well as the classes spent
in the computer laboratory have been very highly rated by the students. In this
article we would like to share our experience in web-based activities that have
contributed most to making our English courses more attractive and efficient. Internet-based intercultural
projects SIMULAB project Internet-based learning activities
provide a number of possibilities for international communication and
cross-curricular learning. The two projects, SIMULAB and eCOLE, that our
University students are participating in can serve as good examples. The idea of SIMULAB is to involve
foreign language learners into real-life situations, simulations that reach
beyond national borders. These simulations are run on the Internet within Telsi
environment. The SIMULAB concept and Telsi environment are results of
international cooperation between European adult educators. Telsi platform
contains Documents, Mail, Chat, Help folders. (To see the environment, one can
go to one of presently run simulations "Cultural Awareness". It is password-protected, the username is: Observer,
password: Obs. A similar environment can be viewed in the eCOLE project, presented in the following part of this paper). Within
Document folders the environment supervisor creates folders for the procedure
of the simulation, instructions manual on how to use Telsi, and users’ folders,
in which they can create their own documents. The documents can be created in
plain text, hypertext formats, users can upload pictures, documents from their
own machine, can create links. The environment is user-friendly and it does not
require any programming knowledge. Our university students were highly
motivated when participating in simulations "Cultural awareness",
"European education", "The Will". Evaluation is the last
step of every simulation: students and teachers reflect on their experiences
during the activity, point out what they liked and disliked. Intercultural
communication is the key element that motivates them to be actively involved in
the activity. Students get really involved and the usual complaint they make
during the evaluation is lack of time, as simulations are designed to be run in
5 – 6 weeks. The scripts of simulations mentioned above are shareware and can
be found on the SIMULAB homepage (http://oyt.oulu.fi/tsimulab). eCOLE project A further development of the SIMULAB
concept is implemented in the eCOLE project, dedicated to collaborative
learning in adult education. This project is also run within Telsi environment.
It has two models: website story writing (WSS) and cross-curricular problem
solving activities (ACROSS). Both in WSS and ACROSS learners by joint efforts
have to produce either a fictional text or write a report. Let us focus on the ACROSS model. During
the first round of the activity the learners representing five countries had to
write reports on different energy sources used in these countries; during the
second round information about different professions had to be collected in
every country and reports summarizing the findings written. While analyzing the procedure of the
problem that learners had to solve (working in groups on a specific task,
browsing the Internet, collecting and selecting necessary information,
communicating with foreign partners to exchange or share information,
impressions, writing reports and placing them in the environment), a
constructivist approach to learning can be traced. "Constructivist
learning theory predicts that knowledge encoded from data by learners
themselves will be more flexible, transferable, and useful than knowledge
encoded for them by experts and transmitted to them by an instructor"
(Cobb, 1999). This view is supported by Ewing, Dowling and Coutts (1999), who
consider knowledge as personally constructed through internal mental actions of
the learner. The internal mental actions include organising, adapting,
reordering, and inventing or reinventing. The same authors proposed a model for
a constructivist approach to learning with ICT. Applying constructivism to learning
with ICT Practical application of the
proposed model can be illustrated by drawing a parallel between the principles
of the constructivist approach and the eCOLE web-based collaborative
cross-curricular activities: 1. Learning should be
context-based (make sense to real life environment; contextualized in authentic
activities; links with existing knowledge; content has established links with
past experience). In reference to the project, the students had some
general knowledge about the existing different sources of energy used either in
their own or other countries; or had general knowledge about different
standards of living, employment situations in their own and other countries. 2. Conceptual learning is through
active involvement (understanding through participation; knowledge construction
is internal; knowledge grows from personal reconceptualizing; learning involves
personal meaning; experience becomes part of the meaning). The tasks that
were formulated for the students enabled them to find and collate information
from the web and other sources, and to put it into their country’s report on
energy sources or a certain profession in different countries. For example, in
the activity "Energy sources" each participating country was
responsible for collecting information and writing a report on a particular
source of energy. The Danish group was responsible for finding out about the
situation of wind energy use not only in their country, but also in their
partner countries (Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Lithuania); the Norwegian group –
about hydro energy; the Swedish – about thermal energy; the Portuguese – about
solar energy; the Lithuanian – about nuclear energy. In another activity,
"Job mobility", the students from the countries mentioned above were
comparing the cost of living, cost of a supermarket trolley, aspects of social
security, comparing and writing reports about five occupations (a politician,
nurse, policeman/policewoman, cashier, student): what qualification is required
for that job, what working hours are, salaries, etc. 3. Learning is through
collaboration with others (sharing knowledge and resolving misunderstandings;
interaction for new knowledge; ideas available for comment; understanding from
shared constructing; negotiation of outcomes). Students had to negotiate in
their groups on how to structure their task: what parts should comprise the
report, who will be responsible for each part, what information to collect, how
to put it into meaningful categories. In order to get information about partner
countries, they had to exchange messages asking foreign partners questions for
specific information, giving their own answers to the questions received. 4. Learner should have personal
autonomy and control over learning (personal decision making; deriving own
learning strategies and own goals; learning event developing planning skills;
teacher mediation depending on needs and skills of the learners). When the
tasks were distributed among the groups within national groups, each
participant had the independence and responsibility for the completion of the
task. The teacher acted as a facilitator in helping to move forward when the
students couldn’t solve the emerging problems themselves. 5. Learning is personal growth
(thinking on task to reach shared understanding; personal reflection on
progress; argument leading to reflection helping refine concepts). Class
discussions on the progress achieved made the students reflect on the work they
were doing, compare to others and evaluate. The process itself becomes very
important. 6. Learning outcome is a
perspective and understanding (learning outcomes not specified; outcomes unique
to the learner; task to help multiple perspectives; different approaches to
understanding; no limit to relevance of resource). In the process of the
project, the students commented on the findings presented by other countries,
they urged their passive peers for their input as they realized that the final
outcome could be reached only in close cooperation. No restrictions were set
for the students on where to look for the information in order to attain the
final results. Those who are interested in the
project are welcome to eCOLE website addresses: Round One WebSiteStory Round Two: WebSiteStory 1 Each link will lead you to different
simulations of the project. As the platform is password protected, a username
and password for guests have been created. Username: lurker. Password: ecole.
Under the Document folders students place their reports or stories. Folder
Helpdesk on the left-hand side menu provides a user manual for TELSI platform. Folder
Mail contains several lists: Café for general communication, Step 1, etc. are
for discussions in a particular stage of a simulation. Virtual Classroom NICENET Another successful ICT
"discovery" of recent years was the application of a virtual
classroom Nicenet (http://www.nicenet.org) as an efficient course management tool. Nicenet, an
Internet Classroom Assistant (ICA), was founded in 1995 by Internet
professionals as a tool for providing services for secondary and tertiary
education. The service space is provided by the California Community Colocation
Project. It runs on a donated version of Macromedia ColdFusion. As the authors
introduce it, "the system was designed not as a replacement for the
classroom, but rather as a supplement allowing greater communication and
sharing of information among students and between teachers and their students. However,
Nicenet does not restrict the use of the ICA for any purpose". Our
teachers find it very useful in updating language courses with the latest
information as well. The main advantages of the Nicenet
classroom are that that it is very easy to apply, does not require any special
skills or programmes, and is free of charge. The information on the front page
of the website shows that it is a very popular tool: each week hundreds of new
classrooms are created that are visited by thousands of users. It takes only a few minutes to
create the class and to join it. The procedure is the following:
The menu of the classroom consists
of several sections: - Class members. Here all the names and e-mails of the class members
are listed, so the teacher can easily check who has registered for the class. - Class schedule. This section is of great help for the teacher as
well as the students, because all the topics, tasks and deadlines can be
registered here, thus making the structure, the content and the requirements of
the course clear to those who may have missed some instructions. - Documents. Both students and teachers find it very easy to
publish their documents here by using a simple "copy and paste"
technique, following the detailed instructions presented on the page. No
knowledge of HTML is needed. Besides, the section gives a possibility to edit
the published documents and to send an answer or a comment to the author. The
documents are accessible to all the members of the class, therefore all the
participants have a chance to familiarize themselves with the materials and the
teachers can paste any additional texts or exercises needed for the course
actually in a few minutes. Students’ essays can be easily
classified with the help of the sub-section "Online assignments",
where different topics can be turned into a specially defined space. This is
very convenient when the classroom is shared by several groups of students,
each group having their own "pocket" for their assignments. - Conferencing. This forum enables the students to discuss the
topics studied during the course. Here the class members can respond to each
other’s comments, express their ideas on the subject under study or suggest
another topic for discussion. We do not use this Nicenet section as it would be
quite artificial to have discussions on the net with somebody whom we meet
several times a week in the classroom, however, it could be especially helpful
in cases when students do not have many contact hours or in distance learning
education. - Personal messages. The section is similar to traditional e-mail, but
restricted to the usage among the class members, where the students and the
teacher can exchange their ideas or inform others about the latest news. All
the members of the class are informed about the new messages as soon as they
enter the classroom. When sending messages you are asked to mark those who you
wish to send the message to: either tick "All members" or select some
particular person(s), and the information reaches the desired addressee. This communication section was
especially popular among our students. Their messages added a personal touch to
the exchange of views and ideas, some of them encouraging others to join a
discussion or urging peers to keep to the deadlines of presenting essays. Some
students who were not very active in classroom discussions turned out to be
quite at ease in expressing their thoughts by e-mail. - Link sharing. This part provides a possibility to link your
classroom to the abundance of Internet resources. It also gives an opportunity
of introducing a variety of documents in different formats, as the other
sections have quite a monotonous layout. All the links that are related to the
subject under study as well as any materials relevant for self-study can be
listed here. The Nicenet informs the class members when a new link has been
added. The application of Nicenet has
surpassed our expectations: students were very interested in the new way of
communication and acquiring information. The networked learning environment
resulted in increased collaboration among students and new positive changes in
teacher-student relations. A students’ survey confirms that active involvement
and networking in language learning leads to higher motivation and
satisfaction. It is also a great possibility for teachers to update course
materials and make them accessible to the class in a simple way. Nicenet has
been successfully implemented in both General Language Practice and ESP
courses. For several years a substantial list of Internet resources has been
recommended as a supplement for Business English course and the Virtual
Classroom has given a perfect opportunity to present those websites as links in
the "Link Sharing" section which gives direct access to the
additional materials.In both Business English and General Practice courses
students are given different tasks – to make summaries and submit them in the
"Online Assignments" section, to work with Webquests according to the
detailed instructions sent by the teacher, or to express their opinions on the
topics under study via "Personal Messages". Those who are interested in the
structure of the classroom and the activities of our Business English course,
are welcome to join the class (Class Key H49246B79). In conclusion, we may say that
integration of web-based activities into language courses have considerably
enhanced students’ interest in language learning and their motivation. The
knowledge constructed by the learners themselves is usually most appreciated by
them. The process of learning and communication is also of great significance. References Cobb, T. (1999) "Applying
Constructivism: A Test for the Learner-as-Scientist." Educational
Technology Reasearch and Development 47 (3), 15-31. Ewing, J.M., Dowling, J.D., Coutts,
N. (1999) "Learning Using the World Wide Web: A Collaborative Learning
Event." Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia 8 (1),
3-22. FOOTBALL
CULTURE.NET Site URL: http://www.footballculture.net/ Language: English Contact email: feedback@footballculture.net Overview If you agree with the assumption
that football is a consuming passion; if you do believe it has a relevant
cultural dimension; if you are tired of fighting against your students for
commenting football matches instead of learning English; if you think football
is a suitable vehicle to learn English; if you wish to add some fun to your
English classes …then footballculture.net is the right site for
you. And for your students. Authored by the British Council and the BBC, it
combines the former’s language expertise, built up in tens of years of EFL
teaching around the world, and the latter’s universally acknowledged
information handling ability and accuracy. Launched in 2001, the site was
immediately selected by Yahoo.co.uk, as the best sports and recreation site of
the year. Two years later it is still an excellent site "fun and informed,
but with a genuine social value", as William Rowe from the Guardian
Unlimited words it, as well as "definitely innovative" and with
"a natural world audience." Accuracy Considering the authority and
prestige of the two institutions authoring the site, it is no surprise that
materials are plentiful, accurate and interesting. One would expect nothing
less, so to say. Nor is it surprising that all topics, even the most
controversial, are dealt with from an intercultural and cross-cultural
perspective. The commitment of the BBC and the British Council on the matter is
too well known for that. It is certainly more surprising that the authors chose
to report users’, either native or non-native, contributions or opinions
without any apparent selection and/or editing, thus giving a feeling of
authenticity and language in use by real speakers, so difficult to be
purposefully achieved. Authority Though it would be hard to find
somebody who never heard about them, the BBC and the British Council felt the
need to qualify themselves all the same. Here’s what they write in the "About
us" section, with a slight hint of British understatement. "The
British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for
educational and cultural relations. The BBC is a trusted global broadcaster of
quality programming." Using the site for teaching purposes or recommending
it to students for self-study can thus be done light-heartedly. Currency As already mentioned, the site was
originally launched in 2001. Different sections are regularly updated, a few
weekly, some monthly, others occasionally. Only a few sections have remained
more or less unchanged, such as "Photos" or "Colours". Contributions
provided by users are added on a regular basis, while new themes for debate are
often introduced. All the materials, features, interviews, language activities,
games, quizzes, etc. are archived, clearly indexed in each section’s menu as
well as in the site map, and made available to users that can retrieve them
easily, either by clicking on the left side menu or searching for them through
the "search" function. Users who want
to "keep up to date with what's new on the site" may join the site’s
mailing list and get a newsletter. One may safely state that the information
provided is current and relevant enough to catch up and keep visitors’ interest
alive, and so rich and varied that even regular users are bound to come across
some unusual football facts, or a strange piece of news. Objectivity Everything in the site is above
board. The aim is clearly stated: "to explore the culture of football
around the world". Information on copyright, safeguard of privacy, safety,
eligibility for competitions and use of cookies is provided, since the site has
a free access and users contributions and ideas are openly sought for. The site content is informative and
educational, as well as recreational and it covers a wide range of topics to
cater to as large an audience as possible. Reported facts and figures are
reliable and updated. Different points of view are always provided and articles
do not seem to be biased, even when dealing with highly controversial topics. This
is also true in surveys in which users provide their views on different issues.
Opinions are apparently reported with no editing but, though highly personal
occasionally, they are never offensive or abusive. Content The site is meant for learners of
English, who love football and wish to take advantage of their passion to learn
the language in a more relaxing and less structured way. The content is
arranged into 9 main sections: Teams, Players, Fans, Colours, Insider,
You’re on!, Photos, Games, Football English. Here’s an outline of what
users may find in each section. In Teams learners can read interesting
features on national teams, clubs and rivalries from all over the world, but
they can also find information on football-team names and nicknames, with
reference to their origins and meanings. Players section provides
interviews and features on past and present footballers from around the world. Here
learners are bound to find lots of material to satisfy their curiosity. The Fans
section is centred on team’s supporters and on how team supporting differs
in different countries and cultures. In the December 2002 issue there is a very
interesting feature on The Collapse of Soviet Soccer, investigating both
the fans’ need for new loyalty for new national teams and their longing for
former glories. Colours deals with origins and meaning of team’s kits. Users
may nominate their own best or worst kit in the world as well as reading what
other users think. The Insider section contains views of football from
different perspectives. In the current issue the opening feature is devoted to The
Humble Football, the forgotten hero of the game. In You’re on! fans
have the chance to contribute their football memories in the form of fans file.
They may also take part to cultural debates around football. There’s a new
theme suggested every month. December’s theme was Football and Home. Other
interesting themes currently under debate are Football and Love, Violence,
Football and Gender, Football and Faith, and many more. Photos provides
interesting and somewhat unusual football-related pictures divided into
different categories. The most interesting ones? See "Weird and wonderful
scenes, from mascots to flags" in Stuff, or Fans around the
world. Games contains a "collection of fun football games,
prize winning quizzes and rubbish distractions." Here users can have
"loads of timewasting fun", as the slogan goes. Finally in Football
English learners may improve their English through different types of
activities, cloze tests, feature quizzes; football phrases and phrases quizzes,
guess the word, make a sentence. Style and Functionality The site is laid out clearly and
logically with well organised subsections. It has highly intuitive navigation
bars both at the top and the bottom. A pull down left-side menu provides access
to all sections and subsections. Sections content is concisely indicated. Clearly
labelled, home, back, next, go to top links are included on each page, as well
as links to other sections A search function is provided for material
retrieval. The design and lay-out are quite impressive, a deep pitch green
background is the base for a smaller sized and lighter green page on which
content is arranged. Fonts, which used to be quite small in earlier issues, are
now big enough to allow a perfect level of readability and beautifully match
the site design. Thumbnail images and pictures are all well suited and can be
easily enlarged. In a word, the site is appealing visually, easy to navigate,
with interesting and fun enough materials to engage visitors. Learner Fit The site is highly suitable for
self-study. Most materials focus on reading providing comprehension activities
to ease understanding and appreciation (see feature quizzes). The Football
English section offers plenty of motivating language activities, covering
almost any aspect of language. New activities are added regularly. The
activities are self correcting and can be done over and over again. Both
learning materials and activities are unmarked, that is, with no level
indication. This is no serious drawback, though, since no learner beyond an
intermediate level could possibly make a profitable use of the site and each
learner can try by him/herself which activities suit him/her best. When reading features or interviews,
playing games or doing quizzes, completing language activities or joining a
debate, playing for one’s national team or finding out about unusual football
facts, one experiences the feeling of really learning while amusing oneself. It
may be said, then, that all the materials and activities provided comply with
the aim claimed. It is a real pity, though, that the site does not provide any
kind of interaction tool, either synchronous or asynchronous. Offering users
the opportunity to be in closer touch through, say, a forum or a chat room
would have meant fostering real language practice. Teacher Fit As stated, the site contains an ELT
Handbook for teachers to provide them with a practical guide on how footballculture.net
can be used in the classroom. The Handbook exactly matches the site
structure and is divided into two parts: Teachers’ notes, containing
activity ideas, and Teachers’ resources providing the worksheets and
game sheets for selected activities. As the handbook clearly indicates, online
access to the site is not indispensable. Most activities may be carried out in
the classroom using the site as a source of materials and/or support. According
to the Handbook introduction "the activity ideas in the handbook may be
used in any stage of a lesson but are particularly suitable to reinforce
previously taught language". Though the Handbook is a precious teacher’s
aid, teachers themselves may imagine many more ways of using the site, provided
they feel a personal appeal for the topics dealt with. The site can be used for almost any
kind of language activities, except for listening, since, unfortunately, no
audio or video recordings are provided. Apart from reading activities, which
have the largest share, teachers can use the materials for speaking activities:
discussions, debates, role-plays, pair works can easily be devised for nearly
any suggested topic. As for writing, lots of activities can be implemented:
note taking and précis, essay writing of any sort, short feature articles, you
just name one. As well as being suitable for self-study the site may also prove
an invaluable teaching tool. Conclusion Aren’t there any flaws in this
paragon site? It is difficult to say. I could only spot a couple. I was really
surprised that there are no audio or video recordings of any sort in the site. This
sounds strange indeed considered who the authors are. Both the BBC and the
British Council would be perfectly able to provide quality listening materials.
One wonders why they chose not to do so and regrets they didn’t. The second one
is the low level of user interaction. The site features a mailing list and
openly requests and publishes users contributions, but there is no other form
of either synchronous or asynchronous interaction. Would the site be less safe
if users could join forums or controlled chat rooms? Maybe. But only imagine
the amount of hot, live language practice that could be gained that way. | ||||||||||||
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Last Updated: April 10, 2003 |
