Classroom materials creation and pedagogical knowledge improvements in a telecollaboration project for pre-service EFL teachers

M. Camino Bueno-AlastueyPublic University of Navarre

IndexIntroduction

• Telecollaboration• Telecollaboration in FL teacher training• Knowledge creation metaphor

The project• Context and objectives• Methodology• Participants• Data collection instruments• Procedure

ResultsLimitations and further researchConclusions

Introduction

Telecollaboration projects (Helm et al, 2012)

• Linguistic (more expert conversation partners)

• Cultural awareness (intercultural communicative

competence)

• Development of digital literacy and techno-pedagogical

skills

Telecollaboration research

Research has focused on:• real interaction opportunities to gain expertise in language

development through exposure to non-native or native speakers of the target language (Grosbois, 2011) in written (Guth &Marini-Maio, 2010) and oral modes (Bueno-Alastuey, 2010, 2013)

• an increase in language learner´s motivation (Jauregui & Bañados, 2008)

• the development of intercultural competence (Tian &Wang, 2010)

• the development of techno-pedagogical skills (Koehler & Mishra, 2009) in teacher training programmes (Dooly & Sadler, 2013; ReCALL 23 (3), 2011)

“knowing the pedagogical affordances and constraints of a range of technological tools as they relate to disciplinary and developmentally appropriate pedagogical designs and strategies” (p.65)

Telecollaboration in FL teacher training

Teacher training programmes should aim at• Developing techno-pedagogical skills through

experiential use • Lesson planning• Materials design• ICT use in teaching EFL

International telecollaboration • Experiential use of variety of distance communication

tools• Reflection of various techno-pedagogical aspects

• Purpose and usefulness of the telecollaboration project• Appropriateness of design and realistic expectation

Telecollaboration in FL teacher training

Studies on telecollaboration in teacher training programmes have noted:

• an increase in pre-service teachers competences in CALL and CMC (Guichon & Hauck, 2011)

• the adoption of telecollaboration into trainees´ own repertoire of teaching techniques (Antoniadou, 2011)

• an increased awareness of the difficulties inherent to these projects (Dooly & Sadler, 2013)

• but negative perceptions of the project related to these difficulties (Bueno-Alastuey & Kleban, 2012)

Research has hardly explored the potential of these projects for joint lesson planning and material creation

Knowledge creation metaphor

• This metaphor “emphasizes the collaborative effort of developing joint objects of activity’ (Paavola, Lipponen & Hakkarainen, 2002:1)

• Learning takes place as a result of solving problems, facing challenges or puzzles while learners “actively engage in collaborative tasks and knowledge-building dialogue”. (Lee et al., 2008:509)

This projectContext

▫Previous telecollaboration project (linguistic vs. techno-pedagogical objectives) unequal participation levels lack of awareness of pedagogical value few data collection methods

Objectives▫Techno-pedagogical skills development

Awareness of the techno-pedagogical skills (lesson planning with ICT) Experiential learning of telecollaboration: awareness of benefits and

constraints Plan realistically and how to overcome or accept some of the problems

involved

Methodology

Participants16 Polish university participants enrolled in a course of ELT Course Design (five months)▫Level of English language proficiency: C1▫Age: 20 -24•13 Spanish participants enrolled in a Master of Education▫ICT applied to English language teaching (three weeks)▫Level of English language proficiency: from C1 to C2 (1 native speaker)

▫Age: 24 to 45 years old

Multiple data collection instruments

Dropbox: a folder per group •Skype conversations (8/6 project)

•Lesson plans (drafts and final) (7/12)

End-of-project on-line survey (n=23/79%)

Reflections reports (7)

ProcedureTASK: create two lessons plans with the materials to be used using technology • Step 1: Skype conversation in class

• Objectives: getting to know each other, get familiar with the technology and plan your work

• Step 2: Create a draft version of a lesson using technology

• Step 3: Skype conversation to comment on draft versions of the other group

• Step 4: Refine lesson plan based on comments and add written comments to lesson plan

• Step 5: Final version of lesson plans and materials

• Step 6: Write a reflection about the process and answer survey

Results

▫Technological tools used For communication and collaboration In lesson plans

▫Evidence of collaboration and knowledge creation Type: pedagogical, technological and techno-pedagogical

Location: Skype, e-mail, reports and lesson plans Successful (lesson plan and/or materials transformation)

▫Perceived benefits and problems ▫Possible improvements

Technological tools for communication and collaboration

Tools N survey % N. data files %

4 toolsSkype, Facebook, e-mail and comments 0 5 17.2

3 tools

Skype, Facebook and comments 2

47.80

69Skype, e-mails and comments 9 20

2 tools

Skype and Facebook 4

30.4

0

0E-mail and Skype 2 0

E-mail and comments 1 0

1 tool

Skype 1

21.7

0

13.8E-mail 1 4

Facebook 1 0

Comments in dropbox 2 0

Technological tools in lesson plans

No. lessons Tool

10 lesson plans Internet for material (download YouTube videos or images)

7 lesson plans Hot Potatoes

6 lesson plans Editing software /graphs (1)

5 lesson plans Internet to search for information

4 lesson plans Power Point

3 lesson plans Edmodo Wiki

2 lesson plansWallwisherPodomaticWebquest with videos and links

1 lesson plan Facebook chatWebsiteSurveymonkey

Evidence of collaboration and knowledge creation: Pedagogical

Technological collaboration

•Skype:

PS1: “What is that Surveymonkey?”SS2 : “It is a web page to create quizzes”PS2: “Oh, good idea. We wanted to do a quizz but we did not know which tool to use”

Techno-pedagogical collaboration•Skype

•Reports

PS1: “At the end, they could do some collaborative writing, maybe in a wiki”SP1: “ Do you propose to do it in a wiki?”SP2: “Great idea. The wiki is not complicated” SP1: “Yes. They can write and share reports in a wiki”PS2; “I think it´s a good idea, putting the vocabulary in context. They share reports in a wiki”

The comments we were exchanging helped our groups to reflect on what we did and to modify/improve the lesson plans both in terms of the ideas/activities designed for the lessons

and in terms of the CMC tools.

Evidence of collaboration and knowledge creation

Type Skype Comments Reports Changes

PED 71 23 15 29

TECH 25 3

TECHNO 58 18 10

Group Type Skype Comments Reports ChangesG1 Ped 4

TechTechno 6

G2 Ped 7 2 2 3Tech 1 1Techno 4 1

G3 Ped 38 1 3 11Tech 19 2Techno 40 1

G4 Ped 9 7 3 4TechTechno 5 6 5

G5 Ped 20 6 8Tech 5Techno 7 4

G6 Ped 4 3 7 3TechTechno 2 2 3

Lesson plans and materials: product modifications

•Evidence: 9 (75%) out of 12 lesson plans were modified as a result of the collaboration process.

•Changes related to all three types of collaboration: ▫15 Pedagogical changes (timing, specifications of

objectives, topics of interest ..)▫2 Technological changes (placing links in Edmodo,

exploring Surveymonkey ..)▫12 Techno-pedagogical changes (e.g. length of video, using

Edmodo to place everything together)

Report and survey analysis: Perceived benefits

Reports and survey analysis: perceived benefits•Pedagogical•Differences between groups

•Telecollaboration issues

•ICT tools/materials•Collaboration

The feedback provided by someone from “outside” may be extremely helpful and

beneficial

“We have been able to see the way people from another country work: how they prepare lessons, materials, the use of technology for teaching …. They developed different ideas, working different skills”

“I’m glad we´ve made it as we have seen the pros and cons of the activity and know better nowadays when, how and with whom this type of activities can be carried out”

The exchange let me know about Edmodo and Hot Potatoes since these tools greatly make teachers work

easier

It shows that there is the possibility of collaborating together in different projects and it is a small door that

can lead students to propose new activities and cooperative ideas

Report and survey analysis: Perceived benefits

Telecollaboration issues

Differences between groups

Pedagogical solutions ICT tools/materials use Collaboration issues0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

reportssurvey

Reports and survey analysis: perceived challenges

•Perceived usefulness low for international telecollaboration (Kleban & Bueno-Alastuey, 2013)

•Technological planning problems (said by teacher)/time to meet on Skype (19 students)

•Some students did less/lack of involvement ( 3 students)•The process, deadlines and expectations clearer (5

students)•Slowness of process (2)•Technological problems (technology not working or lack of

social presence) (1)

Project improvement suggestions from students

•To improve schedule/institutional constraints:▫align timetables so it can be done in class (unrealistic)▫longer time on project at the same time as course.

•Joint creation of each lesson by all group members and more conversations in Skype

•More planning and monitoring project progress on the part of teachers: leads to limited autonomy

•Examples of successful work

Conclusions•Improvements over previous project

▫Participation Skype conversation in class Influence of project in grade Profile of students Outcome of task

▫Multiple data sources Triangulation of data from multiple perspective Insight into the collaboration

▫Awareness raising effect (still some negative perceptions and great variations)

Conclusions

•Creating lesson plans and pedagogical materials through telecollaboration effective way of:▫Experiential learning of different technological tools for

collaboration Alternative ways of communicating that originally planned

▫Improving ICT use in lessons▫Improving pedagogical, technopedagogical and technological

knowledge in lesson planning and materials creation▫Promoting increased awareness of telecollaboration benefits and

constraints and possible ways of solving them•even though willingness to collaborate levels varied within

groups.

References• Antoniadou, V. (2011). Using Activity Theory to understand the contradictions in an online

transatlantic collaboration between student-teachers of a foreign language. ReCALL, 23(3), 233–251. • Bueno-Alastuey, M.C. (2010). Synchronous-Voice Computer-Mediated Communication: Effects on

pronunciation. CALICO, 28 (1), 1-25• Bueno-Alastuey, M.C. (2013). Interactional feedback in Synchronous Voice-based Computer Mediated

Communication: Effect of dyad. System, 41(3), 543 -559. • Bueno-Alastuey, M.C, & Kleban, M. (2012) A (partially successful) telecollaboration project for pre-

service EFL teachers. Paper delivered at EuroCALL 2012 Conference, 22-25 August, Gothenburg, Sweden.

• Dooly, M, & Sadler, R. (2013) Filling in the gap: Linking theory and practice through telecollaboration in teacher education. ReCALL, 25(1), 4-29.

• Grosbois, M. (2011) CMC-based projects and L2 Learning : confirming the importance of nativisation. ReCALL, 23(3), 294-310.

• Guichon, N .& Hauck, M. (2011) Teacher education research in CALL and CMC: More in demand than ever. ReCALL, 23(3), 187 -199.

• Guth, S., & Marini-Maio, N. (2010) Close encounters of a new kind: The use of Skype and Wiki in telecollaboration. In: S. Guth and F. Helm (Eds.). Telecollaboration 2.0. Bern: Peter Lang AG, 413–427.

• Helm, F., Guth, S.,& O'Dowd, R. (2012) University Language Classes Collaborating Online. A Report on the Integration of Telecollaborative Networks in European Universities. http://intent-project.eu/sites/default/files/Telecollaboration_report_Final.pdf

References• Kleban, M., & Bueno-Alastuey, M.C. (2013). Creating pedagogical knowledge through

electronic materials in a distance telecollaboration project for pre-service teacher trainees. Paper delivered at WorldCALL 2013, 10-13 July, Glasgow

• Koehler, M.J. & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge?. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9 (1), 60 -70.

• Jauregi, K., & Bañados, E. (2008) Virtual interaction through video-web communication: A step towards enriching and internationalizing learning programs. ReCALL, 20(2): 183–207.

• Lee, M. J. W., McLoughlin, K. and Chan, A. (2008) Talk the talk: Learner-generated podcasts as catalysts for knowledge creation, British Journal Of Educational Technology, 39(3), 501-521.

• Paavola, S., L. Lipponen, l. and K. Hakkarainen. (2002) Epistemological foundations for CSCL: a comparison of three models of innovative knowledge communities. In G. Stahl (ed.) Computer support for collaborative learning: Foundations for a CSCL community. Hillsdale, NY: Erlbaum, 24- 32.

• Scardamalia, M. & Bereiter, C. (2003) Knowledge building. In J.W. Guthrie (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan, 1370–1373.

• Tian, J. & Wang, Y. (2010) Taking language learning outside the classroom: learners' perspectives of eTandem learning via Skype. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 4(3), 181-197.

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