Transcript Document

Transforming Learning through
Technology@HKU: June 5, 2008
Constructing a Conversational
Learning Community:
A Case Study
by
Adams Bodomo & Yuxiu Hu
School of Humanities
The University of Hong Kong
[email protected]
Introduction
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Interactivity in learning situations has
attracted considerable attention (Brogan, 1999;
Parker, 1999; Bodomo, 2006, 2008).
How can instructional interactivity be
enhanced?
The Conversational Learning Community
(CLC)
In the age of IT, web-based teaching in a
course plays a crucial role in enhancing
interactivity.
WebCT, a web-based platform for course
design, is the platform for implementing this.
Outline
 The model of CLC and three main types
of instructional interactivity
 Constructivist theories
 A case study comprising a report of
activities on the WebCT
 Conclusion
The Conversational Learning
Community (CLC)
 CLC is a model of learning that projects
the idea that learning is most effective in
an atmosphere of interactive
communication between learners,
teachers and modern digital resources
(Bodomo, 2001; Bodomo, Luke, and
Anttila 2003; Bodomo, 2006; Bodomo,
2008).
The theme of the model
 Knowledge and meaning are constructed
out of the learner’s own experience.
 One of the tenets of CLC is to gradually
encourage students to frenetically work
themselves into a community of
partnerships for learning based on
activities both in the classroom and
online (information mining, competitive
group debates, etc).
Main types of instructional
interactivity
 Instructor-learner
 Learner-learner
 Learner-resource
Instructor-learner
Interaction either via physical face-to-face
activities (at lectures, tutorials,
demonstrations, and consultations) or
via digital ICTs (email enquiries, bulletin
board enquiries and clarifications, and
very rarely chat rooms) or a mixture of
both
Learner-learner
Interaction within or without an ICT
medium, where students are involved in
communication with each other in the
classroom, in the corridors, on web-based
bulletin boards, in chat rooms, and
through email
Learner-resource
Interaction which involves learners actively
communicating with textbooks, hard-copy
hand outs, lecture notes, and with ICTbased current and remote resources such
as online lecture notes and outlines, CDROMs, glossaries, calendar of activities,
progress reports, quizzes, and links to
experts and more resources
Figure1: diagrammatic illustration of the model
Constructivist theories
 The CLC outlined above is based on a
group of theories known as
Constructivist theories of learning which
require that students be helped to
construct their own knowledge.
 Two distinct types of constructivist
theories include cognitive constructivism
as espoused by Piaget (1973) and social
constructivism as espoused by Vygotsky
(1962,1978).
Main tenets of Constructivism
 The learner plays an active role in the learning
process (Bruner, 1966, 1990);
 Learners build their own knowledge through
experience, but not through ‘given’ information
(Piaget, 1966, Bruner, 1966; 1990);
 Instructors should only serve as facilitators and
encourage students to discover new knowledge
by themselves. (Bruner, 1966, 1990);
 Learning is a social activity that takes place in
an environment that stresses the role of the
cultural context. (Vygotsky 1962, 1978).
More on Constructivism
 According to Blurton (1999:9), ‘[M]odern
constructivist education theory emphasizes
critical thinking, problem solving, "authentic"
learning experiences, social negotiation of
knowledge, and collaboration - pedagogical
methods that change the role of the teacher
from disseminator of information to learning
facilitator’. It involves self-paced, self-directed
problem-based…learning processes’
Our arguments/contentions:
 The core features of this learning model
must involve strategies to enhance
instructional interactivity.
 The Discussion Forum is the best part of
WebCT to implement interactivity.
Case study
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WebCT design of the course
— The Language and Information
Technology course aims to create a
more explicit awareness of the
growing importance of information
processing methods available in
linguistic analysis.
— A major objective of the course is an
exploration of the interface between
language, linguistics, and information
technology
Main features of the WebCT
platform
 Course content
Main features (cont’d)
 Announcements
On this board, instructors and teaching
assistants can make announcements out
of class to the students about the course.
Main features (cont’d)
 Assessments
This section makes online quiz, survey,
and self test possible and available to
students. We posted an online survey
which mainly investigates the
phenomenon of mobile phone usage,
from which students could learn how to
design a survey in this area.
Main features (cont’d)
 Discussion Forum
This module provides a useful discussion platform
for students to ask questions on different
aspects of the course and to post comments
and general messages to the class. On the
other hand, the instructor can send information
to the class, make clarifications about specific
points, answer questions, and inspire more
discussions to arouse students’ interest in the
course so that they can learn more.
How interaction was achieved
in the course?
 Instructor - learner
Through WebCT, instructors can interact
with their students just like in class, and
sometimes it is even more effective
through WebCT than in class, as some
students are just too shy to ask
questions and participate actively in
class.
How (cont’d)
 Learner - Learner
WebCT allows students to communicate
online after class and discuss specific
topics on the course that haven’t been
discussed in class/tutorials because of
the time limit for each class/tutorial
After her suggestions, 17 follow-up
messages were posted on the board.
How (cont’d)
 Learner - resource
WebCT makes different resources
accessible to students. We can upload
reading materials, tutorial arrangements,
lecture notes, etc. to different sections of
WebCT. Students can read and
download them at any time they want to
do so. For example, students did an
exercise on information mining in this
course.
Observations
 The Discussion Forum was the most
patronized by the students.
 The Discussion Forum is the best part of
WebCT to implement interactivity.
 Students posted more messages than
the instructor and the teaching assistant.
Observations (cont’d)
 The amount of discussion decreased at the end
of February, and then increased around the
mid-term quiz. After the notification of no endof-term quiz, the amount decreased again.
Student Postings
Instructor/TA Postings
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
January Feb 1- Feb 11- Feb 21- Mar 1- Mar 11- Mar 21- April 1- April
10
20
29
10
20
31
10
11-20
April
21-30
Observations (cont’d)
 Some facilitative measures could
enhance the use of WebCT for achieving
an interactive learning community. For
example:
1. Posting encouraging messages
2. Requesting technical workshops
Conclusion:
WebCT provides a platform for enhancing instructional
interactivity. Our observation, description, and the
empirical evidence presented above show that within the
WebCT platform, the Discussion Forum is the most
important feature that can be exploited for achieving
interactivity.
However, facilitative measures should be taken to intervene
at appropriate times to promote student initiative and
innovation. These include constant technical support and
constant monitoring by teacher and tutors – involving
constant intervention during periods of low interaction
and minimum intervention during periods of intensive
debates.
Acknowledgements:
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The 34 students in the Language and Information
Technology course whose activities were the basing of
this study.
The HKU WebCT team, especially Ms Agnes Chau for
assisting us with our technical questions and even for
organizing a special WebCT workshop for our Research
Team: The Linguistic Theory & Technology Research
Group.
References
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