Chapter 4 Communication and Collaboration

8/8/2019 Chapter 4 Communication and Collaboration

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Chapter 4 Communication and Collaboration

Communication is a crucial component of language learningenvironments, including technology.

Communication implies simply conveying knowledge either one wayor through an exchange.

Collaboration is the process during which learners interact socially tocreate shared understandings. (Nyikos & Hashimoto, 1977).

Social interaction includes two ore more participants communicatingby negotiating meaning, clarifying for each other, and working inother ways to understand each other.

The focus on social interaction requires student mastery of technology communication tools, being able to collaborate, publish,interact with peers, experts, and other audiences. They have to use avariety of media and formats to communicate information and ideaseffectively to multiple audiences.

Computers cannot function as partners but as tools during truecollaboration.

Supporting Communication and Collaboration.

Social interaction:

- Student to student.

- Student to group.

- Group to group.

Learners can also interact socially with a variety of people:classmates, teachers, students in other classes, community members,external experts, and peers around the world.

In CALL environments, teachers must plan carefully to ensure that theinteraction is effective. Two techniques in order to achieve suchinteraction:

1. Provide opportunities for learners to be active.



- The teacher can build specific roles or assignments forindividuals into tasks in order to make each student’scontribution necessary to achieve the group or team goal.

- The more learners need to interact, the more effective theinteraction should be.

2. Provide reasons for learners to listen and respond.

- By providing reasons such as adding evaluation rubrics that theaudience completes, handouts to take notes for a quiz, orrequiring a group synthesis of the information presented, theteacher encourages all learners to listen and provides a basisfrom which to respond.

Teachers should consider the physical layout when designing CALLactivities. These are some layouts for doing so:

Interaction in the Computer Lab.

Labs are useful not only for individual language learning activities, butalso for working on individual tasks as part of collaboration with online

partners. However, this setting is better used, then, for individualtasks or online collaboration..

Interaction in the Multiple-Computer Classroom.

Computer classrooms allow more group configurations and activitiesthan traditional labs do.

Computer monitors are recessed into desks and the desks arranged inpods of four or six, students have free lines of sight to each other and

an unobstructed view of the teacher. Technology serves as a tool for all kinds of exercises, from buildingWeb pages to creating portfolios to working with stand-alone softwarepackages.

Interaction in the One-Computer Classroom.

U.S public schools commonly provide each teacher with one

computer. Although one seem to be insufficient for many CALLactivities it has some benefits like:



- The teacher can see what all learners are doing on the computer.

- The teacher has more control and more opportunities to directlyfacilitate interaction.

- Technology is available at any time.- Students can see each other and work cooperatively withoutbarriers.

- It is easier to give feedback.

Tips for Designing a Computer-Enhanced Collaborative Project.

Teacher must consider other factors when designing effectivecomputer-enhanced collaborative projects.

First, teachers have to consider what they know about their studentsand tailor the conditions to students’ needs and abilities.

Second , developing effective groups will encourage effectiveinteraction in the language classroom. This requires the teacher topay attention to the same factors as in any language learningsituation like the students’ first language and cultures, educationalbackground, and levels of target language proficiency.

Third , to make the technology fit the project and not vice versa.Fourth , consider what will encourage students to interact in thetarget language.

Finally , make sure that the outside experts, electronic mailing lists,or distant students have agreed to participate in the project and knowwhat is expected of them.

Activities that encourage communication and

collaboration.Using Stand-Alone Software.

One of the benefits of using this software packages is that they do notchange, whereas Internet resources must be checked regularly forchanges.

Putting Vocabulary into context

Roles: one student is the computer operator and the other the writer;

during the next unit, they may switch roles.



Choices: students decide on their partners and roles.

Reason to listen and respond: Students must cooperate to get all thewords and definitions down on paper and to study for the quiz.

Learning About the United States.Simulation provides each student with a set of six maps of the UnitedStates. Each map has information about a different aspect theeconomy, geography, or demographics of each of the 50 states. Theteacher sets a software for specific number of teams, and thesoftware gives each team a set of criteria that they must meet asthey travel across 10 continuous states.

Neighborhood trip.

The class is preparing for a field trip around their community. Eachstudent in the map group has been assigned a particular componentof the map to research and to add to the map. When the map isfinished, the group presents it to the class and the other groups sharequestions and resources.

Choices, Choices.

Elementary school ESL students working with a software simulationhave been presented with a problem.

Interaction: student and team members, teacher or class.

Roles: students each support one of the four different goals an makedecisions based on their goal.

Choices: students decide how their group functions; they discuss andmake their choices.

Reason to listen and respond: to meet the goal, students need to beable to make informed decisions.

Activities using Online Resources.

Shopping on the Web

Students are asked to develop a new advertising campaign for acommon product. To compare their product s̀ existing prices eachstudent checks a different web site. The other team members add theinformation that they have discovered about the product. Afterfinishing they will present it to the class for evaluation.



Reading Circles

Students are required to post a weekly reading reflection to theirclass’s online conference. To keep the discussion going, the teacherhas assigned each student to reply also to two other students’reflections each week during lab time. Each student writes a summaryin his or her reading journal of what he or she learned from theweek’s online discussion.

Web Quests

Interaction: student and small group members, small group to class,student or small group to external experts (chefs).

Roles: Each student contributes part of the information needed to

complete the project.Choices: Students choose their roles, where and how they find theirinformation, and how to present it.

Reason to listen and respond: the audience must listen to know whatthey are eating and why and to provide feedback.

Tools for Communication and Collaboration.

MOO

Multi user-object-oriented domain is a text-based program that runson a computer and can be accessed by a large number of users fromall over the world at the same time. It provides a map of locations andhelp screen to show users how to get around.

Chat

Provides a forum for users to communicate in real time. It is used forinteractive messaging. It is useful for interviews, guest lectures, anddiscussions in which instructors want everyone to have a chance toparticipate.

Discussion Forums

Forums provide benefits allowing student more time to think beforethey post and posting in themed threads that may be easier to readand follow than chats.

Electronic Lists



Sometimes called listservs are e-mail posting services created tofacilitate the exchange of information. When an e-mail message issent to a mailing list, it is automatically broadcast to everyone who issubscribed to the list.

Software

Software packages can also support collaboration andcommunication. Common software packages such as word processingprograms can be used for collaboration.

These tools support opportunities for English language learners towork with others for a wide variety of tasks and collaborations. Thiscan clearly help classroom environments to meet the conditions foroptimal learning. The most important fact here is to know why andwith whom learners connect.

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Chapter 4 Communication and Collaboration