Fear, Control, Failure and the Language Teacher/Technologist
Cooper Intl Learning Center, Oberlin College
Chinese Cyber Language Learning Project for UNESCO
BS goal is to stimulate conversation and move us to speak.
Admiration of Bootcamp and Felix' work
Starts with Caveats:
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should [note: long syllables-- Soooo Coooollllll--means stop thinking about that Ring that Will Rule them All]. What is the learning outcome of the experience?
Failure is OK--yes, failure is part of learning. Fail Whale is part of the process for positive benefit. Have we dropped failure from the model of higher ed, due to business model pushing the industry? "Have fun after you get tenure"
Fear is unacceptable. Sceptical is OK. But fear is paralyzing and closes you to other possibilities--no shades of gray. Do one thing that scares you every day. Keep your mind open as you do these things.
[Prensky @ IATEFL--5 stages of learning finishes in Power--can this be changed to Empowerment?]
Our students like us. Really. Show me how this technology will help me as a learner. UW Quote-- Affinity Spaces. Leave the personal, social spaces alone. Facebook is there for Facebook reasons. Find a space that's appropriate for learning. Find another space--stay out of the dresser drawers after 13...
It's not just about teaching anymore. It's about learning. What we do is important. What they do is essential. What we do to help them is critical. Help students engage in their own process. Learning is participatory.
Language learning technology today: Shows slide of husband's langauge lab in 1950s.
YouTube how to cheat series video clip. Stretch rubber band. "Verb conjugations won't help you in life." What is the meaningful assessment we can have?
Edi Izzard Speaks French video--show us how to make sounds and use filler words to 'sound native'. "Keep your honor". http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FEddie_Izzard&ei=jUrWScyfOI3gtAPr59CxCg&usg=AFQjCNHdUu3AGxL7QvANEGo0xCiAdUyL5g&sig2=LNC1nwlXumxWnoxnicNUKQ
Moved to Blog from BlackBoard--what was in place was not working. Open tool allowed other stuff in. Motivated students of conversation wanted to meet personal goals. Blog gave them a place to make mistakes for themselves and with others.
Learned that no one had asked them what they wanted to get out of the class--"It's the teacher's job to tell me what I want to get out of the class."
Uses WordPress multi-user. Class central, each student has own space.
Then the outside comes in. Screaming in. via Podcasts. Users in other countries searched for 'podcast' and found BS' student files. Comments about correction came from intl teachers. eg pronunciation, conjugations, etc. 'Camino Bueno' sent response podcasts on corrections that bothered her. Some students responded positively. Many horrified.
Able to talk about correction as a class. Exchange of podcasts with teachers and their students in other locations.
FARC topic brought in Columbians posting to blog. Even beat the 'real' news services in timeliness of intl events.
BS is a "risky" language teacher. Puts students in place where they can fail.
Blog posts have driven the students to write extensively in conversation--over 100 pages per student.
http://languages.oberlin.edu and follow 'class sites' link.
Example of music theory student Sean in HISP305.
The sky is the limit, but lots and lots of work. [http://thisisindexed.com]
3 goals for the class: what is the context of what grammatical point you want to master? Confidence. Comprehensible. Study abroad with natives.
Norton Pierce quote on complex social interactions.
Peter Filene Joy of Teaching quote: purpose of teahing is not to satisfy consumer wishes or find LCD.
Questions:
What levels of students? Met requirements of 1st 2 years. Students who won't blog--consent course only, so some students might be weeded out...
Reminder of languagelabunleashed.com
How do you assess student work? BS sees fear is central to assessment: What is A- vs. B+? So doesn't do it much on the "formal" basis. Students develop goals for class on overall and intermittant basis. Informal feedback is part of process. 10 min 1x/week. How does this work toward grade: end of sem: 1 page document on how they approached goals--expectations met, missed, surprised, etc. And what is your self-assessment. Also, grade each other. Help them to create a rubric for peer assessment. No attendance policy. If course is relevant, then maybe participation is natural.
Listening Comprehension: Speak with vs write to, etc.
Do we need digital TV? We have YouTube. Greatest hits of all newsworthy clips. And here's where we can make the information comprehensible.
80% of students find SL 'creepy'.
Q: How well is this stuff picked up? How many others are picking this up? What's effective in helping others to let go? A: If they buy in "I want to blog"... then ask "What do you want to do?" What's the goal?
Read Janet SWaffer's Remapping the Curriculum
New MLA piece on culture and connection to things other than the academy.
It took 3 weeks to help students develop set of goals for the course.
