Media as Levers (pdf)

Lawrie HunterKochi University of Technology

http://www.core.kochi-tech.ac.jp/hunter/

Media as Levers

alt.mediumsupporttask performance

Media as Levers

Determine a framework

for CALLoptimization.

Assemble a pattern language

for CALL

The obvious approach:

What if video games were like schools?fromDisrupting Class

Media as Levers

Assemble a pattern languagefor CALL

Taking a contrarian approach:

Explore the notion‘media levers’

Search for a framework

for CALLoptimization.

Ubiquitous IT now

Physical plant limitations =>=>non-ubiquitous access to IT classrooms.

Yet 'virtually' every learner does have some personal access toweb and media.

Though standardization remains an obstacle,IT uniquely affords individualization of learning activities.

Then crucial question:How to heightenthe learner's motivation/needto autonomously access task resources/media?

Beyond absorption

Wesch http://blip.tv/file/2615703/:

-stresses ‘meaningful’:<Today’s IT ubiquity throws us into a pit ofmeaninglessness and insignificance.>so<education needs to move beyondabsorption learning and critical thinkingtowards developing learner creativity>.

Macro creativity or micro creativity?Then creativity at what level, macro or micro?

Wesch stresses ‘meaningful’:nowadays, IT ubiquity throws us into a pit of meaninglessness and insignificance.“Ofcourse, multiple-choice questions are an easy target for criticism, but even more sophisticated measures of

cognitive development may miss the point. When you watch somebody who istruly “in it,” somebody who has totally given themselves overto the learning process, or if you simply imagine those moments in which you were “in it”yourself, you immediately recognize that learning expands far beyond the mere cognitive dimension. Many ofthese dimensions were mentioned in the issue precis, “such as emotional and affective dimensions, capacities forrisk-taking and uncertainty, creativity and invention,” and the list goes on. How will we assess these? I do nothave the answers, but a renewed and spirited dedication to the creation of authentic learning environments thatleverage the new media environment demands that we address it.

The new media environment provides new opportunities for us to create a community of learners with our studentsseeking important and meaningful questions. Questions of the very best kind abound, and we become studentsagain, pursuing questions we might have never imagined, joyfully learning right along with the others. In the bestcase scenario the students will leave the course, not with answers, but with more questions, and even moreimportantly, the capacity to ask still more questions generated from their continual pursuit and practice of thesubjectivities we hope to inspire. This is what I have called elsewhere, “anti-teaching,” in which the focus is noton providing answers to be memorized, but on creating a learning environment more conducive to producing thetypes of questions that ask students to challenge their taken-for-granted assumptions and see their own underlyingbiases.’http://www.academiccommons.org/commons/essay/knowledgable-knowledge-able

Macro creativity or micro creativity?

Hunter: in this discussion,go for fascination at the micro level.

In that frame, the notion ofcreativity in language learning scenariosraises critical design issues:

curriculum controllearner time demandinput/output sequencinginput/output proportion

Design for creativity in task:partial or overall solutions?

Task design to address critical design issues:curriculum controllearner time demandinput/output sequencinginput/output proportion

Recently available tools such asCmap Tools, Yahoo Pipes and debategraphprovide partial resolutions to these design issues.

Design for creativity in task:partial or overall solutions?

<claim>Task-intrinsic behavioral constraints

such as media leverage,

along withcontent-related and structure-related constraints,

can provide overall resolutions in macro scenarios

while at the same timemaking tasks more effectivein terms of motivation and available agenda.

For today, let’s go non-Weschian:Language tasks: overall solutions at the micro level

For today, let’s go non-Weschian:Language tasks: overall solutions at the micro level

Make task support mediumdifferent from task mediumdifferent from performance medium

same mediumsupporttask performance

alt.mediumsupporttask performance

Non-Weschian question:how to quantify ‘involvement’?

We need a bottom line: what are the markers/degrees of‘involvement’?

Possible markers:

Task success

Practice performance (vs. non)

Practice persistence

Reported experience

Neuro-electric

-articulating what is usually implicit

We need a ‘pattern language’:

A designer way for talking about processing, task shaping,involvement, media leverage.

Task design discourse


Target behavior…The language, and the processes which stem from it,merely release the fundamental order which is native to us.They do not teach us, they only remind us of what we knowalready, and of what we shall discover time and time again,when we give up our ideas and opinions, and do exactlywhat emerges from ourselves.

Christopher Alexander,The Timeless Way of Building

A pattern language?

www.patternlanguage.comTools


Target behavior

Tools

A pattern language?

www.patternlanguage.com

Pattern language emerges from practice: look at some examples first =>

Media lever example 1:

Task: learners are to prepare for a challenge where they must write sentences to describethe information embodied in any one of a set of line graphs with discrete data points.

Media lever: provision of web- and mobile-accessible sound files containing 'answers’,i.e. model language for the powerpoint set of graphs being studied.

Observations:In class practice sessions were lackadaisical and slow/stopped.~70% of students did report accessing the web files in their own time.~30% of those transcribed the speech.Frequent mention of having enjoyed the challenged of matching the unnumbered soundfiles to the numbered powerpoint graphs.

line graph audio file writing task

INPUT LEVER OUTPUT

Media lever example 1 – clever extensions


Media lever 1: make sound files available on the web, each file containing the utterancefor one graph in the flashcard set. Listening is foregrounded.Media lever 2: put the sound files, unlabeled, in random order on the web. Learnersmust match the sound files to the graph slides. Both listening and graph decoding areforegrounded. Higher cognitive load.Media lever 3: provide sound files for only some of the graph slides. Both listening andgraph decoding are foregrounded, and decision-making and pattern application areforced. Even higher cognitive load.Media lever 4: make the graphs similar in content. Listening is foregrounded. Make thegraphs dissimilar in content. Analytical process if foregrounded.

Media lever example 1 power variation 1:


Media lever: provision of web- and mobile-accessible sound files containing 'answers’but in jumbled order. Learners must match sound levers to task inputs.

5 line graphs 5 audio files(jumbled)

3 writing tasks(jumbled)

INPUT LEVER OUTPUT

12

34

5

32

51

4

41

2

Media lever example 1 power variation 2:


Media lever: provision of web- and mobile-accessible sound files containing 'answers’to only some tasks. Learners must match sound levers to task inputs, and must transferthe training to the remaining unleveraged tasks.

5 line graphs 3 audio files(jumbled)

5 writing tasks(original order)

INPUT LEVER OUTPUT

12

34

5

41

2

12

34

5

Conscious threshold

Remembering thatmedia levers’ power lies below the conscious threshold.

Remembering that the learner should be placed in executive role as muchas possible – or at least feel situated there.

Atmosphere change => attitude change

Conscious thresholdExample:rikai.com's web page mouseover reading tool:compared to a JEJ dictionary,completely different atmosphere.

Results: completely differenttext attack attitude.L2 Nihongo learners have respondedecstatically to discovery of this tool.

Analysis: Asked to analyze their response,the learners gave signs of not having thoughtanalytically about the tool.


Task perception: at timesit is motivating to providea 'distractor task' so as tobackground the actual task.

Low-tech example*:

Task: in a textbook, learners are to copy the sentences from the left handpage and adapt them to express the data given on the right hand page(information substitution) (appealing).Writing and calculation are foregrounded, reading backgrounded.

Covert task: read the left hand page (unappealing).

*don’t forget: not all media are electronic


Task: learners are presented with a mystery,embodied in a ‘scene of the crime’ drawing.Learners are to do abduction:find a believable explanationfor all the evidence in the graphic.



Obvious procedure:brainstorm in L1; compose in L2.

Media lever:learners receive pages of'fodder’ model sentencesfor composition withinthe problem solving task.

Outcome:hint searching is foregrounded;reading is backgrounded.

Media lever example 3 variation 1:


Media lever 3.1:give the fodder in textwhen the task is introduced.

Outcome: the reading of the fodderis foregrounded,as a source of problem solving help.



Media lever 3.2:give the fodder after the studentshave developed solutions.

Outcome: problem solving is foregrounded,and the fodder becomes the matrixfor a search for L2 versionsof what they want to say.



Media lever 3.3:make the fodder available assound files linked from objectsin the problem picture

Outcome: listening is foregrounded and cognitive load reduced.



Media lever 4:make the fodder long audio filesof whole solutions.

Outcome:problem solving is backgrounded,listening is foregroundedand cognitive load reduced.

Media levers point to:

The need for a framework for cognitive task design work.

The need for a pattern language for professional deliberation.

CALL cognitive task design work

Designer WANTS

Designer NEEDS

…The language, and the processes which stem from it,merely release the fundamental order which is native to us.They do not teach us, they only remind us of what we knowalready, and of what we shall discover time and time again,when we give up our ideas and opinions, and do exactlywhat emerges from ourselves.


A pattern language?www.patternlanguage.com

Tensions (to germinate pattern language)

Typical tensions in CALL work

Learner – PCLearner – softwareLearner – target contentLearner – interfaceInstructor intervention – learner performanceContent presentation style – learner performanceUbiquity – learner motivation


Hunter's tensions of interestInterface/task – learner perception of curriculumRepresentation – message comprehensionProcessing type – learner persistenceProcessing variation – learning effectiveness/efficiencyUse of metalanguage – learner attack styleRepresentation type – cognitive load in task scenarioRepresentation type – degree of abstraction

– curriculum transparencyRepresentation type – degree of abstraction

– task success


Hunter's tensions of interestInterface/task – learner perception of curriculumRepresentation – message comprehensionProcessing type – learner persistenceProcessing variation – learning effectiveness/efficiencyUse of metalanguage – learner attack styleRepresentation type – cognitive load in task scenarioRepresentation type – degree of abstraction

– curriculum transparencyRepresentation type – degree of abstraction

– task success

“Processing”: a pattern language element

L2 processing

Language -> informationidentify sounds/words/phrasesfind L1 equivalentfind mental construct equivalentidentify anaphora/exophoraidentify discourse patternidentify discourse intent

Information -> languagemimic sounds/symbolscreate sounds/symbolsencode visual impressionsencode discourse impressionsencode text impressionsbuild discourse from intention

Information processing

Recognize symbolsIdentify a patternIdentify a problemSelect a transformationSelect a techniqueApply a techniqueEvaluate results

“Processing” types

INPUT TASKS

ListeningLooking

Watching Reading a symbol

Reading text

FeelingSmellingTasting

OUTPUT TASKS

PointingMoving

Making a noiseSpeaking

DrawingWritingMaking

PROCESSINGTYPES

RememberingAccumulatingTransformingNamingDescribingClassifyingComparingFinding an answer to a questionSelecting an answer to a questionApplying a ruleDescribing a ruleDiscovering a ruleSequencingApplying a processInferringAnalyzingSynthesizingEvaluatingDeciding

By carefully monitoring the modes of task input and output,

the designer can lead the learner toa wide variety of cognitive activities

(here "processing").

“Processing” immediacy and presenceImmediate processing

Delayable processing

Minimumpresence

Maximumpresence

Testsfor points

Classroompaper tasks

Conversation

Classroomquestioning

Dictation

Cell phonepush

Homework

Drag n’ drop

Point n’ click

Chat

emailchat

SMSchat

Merging content and processingto decide task type

DescriptionClassificationComparison

SequenceCause-effect

InferencePro-con

Rem

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Acc

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Tra

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Nam

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Des

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Cla

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Com

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Find

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an a

nsw

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a q

uest

ion

Sele

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ans

wer

to a

que

stio

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App

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rule

Des

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a ru

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Dis

cove

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a r

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Sequ

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App

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proc

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Infe

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Ana

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Synt

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Eva

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Dec

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Sequencing of tasks Remembering

Accumulating

Transforming

Naming

Describing

Classifying

Comparing

Finding an answer to a question

Selecting an answer to a question

Applying a rule

Describing a rule

Discovering a rule

Sequencing

Applying a process

Inferring

Analyzing

Synthesizing

Evaluating

Deciding

Sample 1: False beginners(repeating same content in each task)

Aural onlyA1:listen and repeatA2-listen and repeat cumulativeA3-listen and draw/signify graphicallyA4-listen and complete pattern clozesA5-listen and problem-solve

Read/writeW1-reverse of A3W2-A4 with no listeningW3-Read cases and discover rulesW4-Read cases and draw scenarios W5-Read cases and solve problems

An essential pattern language element:Baddeley and Hitch’s1986 model of working memory,with its 3 components. Three-component model of workingmemory-assumes an attentional controller, thecentral executive, aided by twosubsidiary systems:

1. the phonological loop, capable ofholding speech-based information, and

2.the visuospatial sketchpad, whichperforms a similar function for visualinformation.

The two subsidiary systems form activestores that are capable of combininginformation from sensory input, and fromthe central executive. Hence a memorytrace in the phonological store mightstem either from a direct auditory input,or from the subvocal articulation of avisually presented item such as a letter.

Working memory model extended (2000)

Phonological loop:

Important for short-term storage-ALSO for long term phonological learning

Associated with-development of vocabulary in children-speed of FLA in adults

CentralExecutive

PhonologicalLoop

Visuo-spatialSketchpad

Visualsemantics

EpisodicLTM

Language

Baddeley, A. D. (2000) The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory?Trends in cognitive sciences 4(11) 417-423.

Working memory model extended (2000)

Phonological loop effects:

1. Phonological similarity2. Word-length3. Articulatory suppression4. Code transfer5. Central rehearsal code,

not operation

CentralExecutive

PhonologicalLoop


Visualsemantics

EpisodicLTM

Language


A most promising task design tool:

Baddeley’s model of working memory,

with its (since 2000) 4 components.

CentralExecutive

PhonologicalLoop


EpisodicBuffer

Visualsemantics

EpisodicLTM Language

The episodic buffer:-assumed capable of storing infor-mation in a multi-dimensionalcode.-thus provides a temporaryinterface between the slavesystems and LTM.-assumed to be controlled by thecentral executive-serves as a modelling space thatis separate from LTM, but whichforms an important stage inlongterm episodic learning.

Shaded areas: ‘crystallized’ cognitive systemscapable of accumulating long-term knowledge

Unshaded areas: ‘fluid’ capacities (such asattention and temporary storage), themselvesunchanged by learning.


…The language, and the processes which stem from it,merely release the fundamental order which is native to us.They do not teach us, they only remind us of what we knowalready, and of what we shall discover time and time again,when we give up our ideas and opinions, and do exactlywhat emerges from ourselves.


Shall we composea pattern language for CALL?

...a promising notion

Thanks for your attention.

Downloads from http://lawriehunter.com/presns/tw4/http://www.core.kochi-tech.ac.jp/hunter/http://slideshare.net/rolenzo/

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