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Thoughtfest09

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Maria Perifanou
Maria Perifanou

''Collaborative Blended Language Learning using WikiQuests: learning Italian as a FL'' ThoughtFest 2009 Pontydysgu - University of Salford Manchester , UK 5-6 March 2009

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Collaborative Blended Language Learning using WikiQuests: learning Italian as a FL Maria A. Perifanou School of Philosophy, Faculty of Italian and Spanish Language and Literature, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. ThoughtFest 2009 Pontydysgu - University of Salford Manchester , UK 5-6 March 2009
Fest of thoughts and experiences………… … .sharing my journey.. … ..my story….!
Many years ago … when I started teaching I wanted to find the best way to introduce my students in the ‘real’ world of italian language and culture … . but how ?
… .trying to find the best way to start this learning-teaching journey….…… it was not enough to use just some or some It was also difficult to take my students to Italy…………………………
… ..everything changed when I discovered the magic world of web …..all the ‘world’ in a computer????? Let’s find out more!!! .…from a group work tool of CERN to………… … .a global information-communication space of billion of users …… how can I use this ‘powerful tool’ in my language lessons????
What? How? When? …… lets start the exploration!!!
Α. Italian Language in Web – ‘ exploration and classification’ Educational sites dedicated to teachers teachers - learners 7 . Course plans/ material 8. Magazines/Journals 9. Information for teachers training, seminars, jobs 2 . Italian Language Courses 3 . Authoring tools for language learning material 1. Practice ( exercises , tests , etc .) 6. Portals/ Data Bases for Italian Language 4. Tandem Learning, E-pals 5. Forum s/ Discussion Lists
B . Italian Language in Web – ‘ exploration and classification’ Supportive - authentic teaching material/tools 2. e-libraries, translators, glossaries, thesaurus, dictionaries, etc 1. Magazines/ Journals 5 . e-commerce, e-business 6. Communication Tools: forums , chat, discussion lists 4. Edutainment 3. Electronic C orpus, Concordan cers 7. Authoring tools- free multimedia software 8. Portals/Data bases for Italian culture
Searching for the right teaching methodology… Incentivise Search Reflect Learn
model ? ‘ inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet’ (Bernie Dodge, 1995)
WebQuest Parts Introduction Task Process Resources Evaluation Conclusion
Problems?? Time Space
 
Odeo
Second phase of web: new services and software are transforming the web from a predominantly "read only" medium to one where anyone can publish New world of social interconnectivity
… .not easy to find the right web 2.0 tools and combine webquest blended activities… No time and space limits Collaboration - during and outside of class structure- Student-centered learning Content- driven users can share different material Sharing ideas Track history Social Constructivism- (Duffy, Jonassen, Piaget) Trust- people and the process
 
What’s a wiki? “ a wiki is a freely expandable collection of interlinked Web pages, a hypertext system for storing and modifying information – a database, where each page is easily edited by any user with a forms-capable Web browser client” Leuf and Cunningham first wiki [http://c2.com/cgi-bin/wiki] came online in March 1995 most known wiki is t he Wikipedia the "free content encyclopedia" - the largest public wiki with nearly 469,000 articles in English alone until 2005
Wiki’s features
Wiki’s features - Pros Wiki pages are controlled — created, linked, edited, deleted, moved, renamed, and so on — by a programming or scripting language, and stored either as plain ASCII text files or in an external relational database. e-mail notification for every change faceless contact -no limits of place or time users freely create and edit web page content using any web browser with no knowledge of HTML coding collaborative tool limited only to a selected group of users
Wiki’s features - Cons No simultaneous editing: If that happens, one user's edits will be deleted except Twiki employs a page locking system The page is too long to scroll Lack of real time communication
Wiki’s general & educational USES
Wikis’ general uses collaborative environments collaborative online projects active on-line communities on the web professional network with continuing access to the content for an indefinite period of time site of collaborative authoring of a document development collaborative communication forums collective content management (e.g. DocuWiki) knowledge bases knowledge management systems personal information managers (PIMs) content management for academic instruction
Wiki’s educational uses The beauty of wikis is …. shaped from within-not imposed from above ’ (Lamb, B. 2004) Traditional instruction instruction of collaboration / shared construction of knowledge class communication site collaborative knowledge base place to post assignments for peer review tool for process writing place for co-authoring professional books an environment for group projects collaborative use of wikis is for problem-solving in small or large groups teacher can trigger, stimulate, monitor, guide online as well as offline activities conducive to learning, determine problem areas for students increases participation and student involvement natural tool for distance education (DE) interactive activities - course information effective platform to help electronic and online learning ideal place for learning effective tool for building virtual learning communities
Wiki’s use in Foreign Language Learning Georgia Institute of Technology (2002) English classes wiki environment-CoWiki -collaboration, comments on each others work Public college in Tapei, (2007) 2 weeks study, ESL essay writing on a Wiki -building an instructive or constructive instructional model with Wiki in a rigorous manner requires more empirical evidence Senior high school students in Taiwan (2005) Collaborative system of EFL composition writing.  Wiki platform - peer-reviewing  Link grammar - automatically checking students' papers  RSS reader to periodically retrieve articles from the platform published in BLOG. - exchange of skills opinions when writing the article - link grammar helped teacher ’s concentrat ion on students' higher level skills instead of correcting mechanical problems. University of Zagreb Engwiki project 2007-08 2 tertiary-level (ESP) courses Web-oriented learning activities (e-tivities) supplement the traditional language course  use of wiki-based e-tivities for LL / evaluation of the e-tivities for teachers to use them in CALL - positive outcome of the use of the wiki &usefulness of the e-tivities West Virginia University, 2007 The Effects of Wiki-and Blog-technologies on the Students. Performance when Learning the Preterite and Imperfect Aspects in Spanish - test of pre-existing knowledge  same performance level blog/wiki -not any difference in satisfaction levels in use of blog/wiki
Case study
Case study- Developing italswebquest a particular area not sufficiently explored use of Web 2.0 tools - wikis in teaching and learning Italian as a foreign language in higher education. implementation of a wiki as a language learning environment of collaboration & as a language course management system at the same time The most innovative aspect of the study is the development of a blended language learning model which combines blog activities with webquest projects that take place in face-to-face lessons and online in a wiki as a language learning platform and course management system at the same time
Research Questions RQ1 – Can the wiki technology be used successfully in teaching/learning Italian as a FL at the university level as an environment of collaborative learning that can increase motivation, participation and collaboration among students? RQ2 – In what ways and in what frequency the students used wiki during the ‘italswebquest’ project? RQ3 – Have the students affronted any technical difficulties in using the wiki tool as a communication tool or as a tool for collaborative writing for their webquest projects and if yes how this affected the process of their language learning? RQ4 – The idea of mixing online warm up blog activities and webquest projects using a wiki online environment in combination with face-to-face lessons had a positive impact on learners’ satisfaction levels comparing to their prior learning experiences of traditional language class?
Methodology 1 Participants - 25 advanced students - future Italian language teachers -Dep. of Italian and Spanish Language and Literature, Univ. of Athens - Year of study different year of Italian studies - Technology literacy None or limited experience with technology - Gender 23 females 2 males - Age 70% early twenties - 30% 25 to 50 years old Period fall semester 2007-08, four week research Course description “Introduction of Internet and Web 2.0 tools in the language classroom” 1 st part theoretical and practical introduction to the use of internet in education, the Web 2.0 tools and their educational use in the language teaching/learning (basic computer skills, Web 2.0, creation of WQ projects) 2 nd part a series of blended lessons , focus on different cultural italian topics cinema italiano ,citta’ italiane 4 lessons= 2 online/ 2 face-to-face lessons alternatively for each topic, 2 weeks
Methodology 2 1st on-line lesson series of online blog pre-online warm up activities -introduction of the cultural topic of WQ project, duration 1 week 2 nd face-to-face lesson (lab) introduction to the webquest project presentation of all the steps of the WQ project division of the class in groups of four distribution of the different roles Collaborative work, presentation of a final work at the end 3 nd on-line lesson wiki class italswebquest , a password protected environment tutor responsible administrator of the space, monitor- control the progress of students work, see the variety and level of student contributions 1 common class space – get informed on material, activities, FAQ 5 different group spaces of work and collaboration discussion areas 4 th face-to-face lesson (lab) oral group’s presentations of the final group work by one representative (ppt presentations not obligatory) class discussion Publication of the final groups’ works on the wiki environment (read, comment, add) WQ tool Wiki tool
Results
Results RQ1 + great collaboration attitude and a gradual increase of students’ motivation and participation + group wiki space: collaboration on writing the final wq groups discussion area: communication process of their work + Use of Italian language - on line interactions S1: This is a great experience for me. RQ2 + communication on their group work + download tutor’s notes + getting information on course’s activities - not everyone asked guiding questions for problems occured - use of wiki environment during the face to face lessons - technical difficulties - impact on frequency of wiki’s use - bigger participation during the last day before the f2f lessons + most used successfully the basic potentials of wikis - 15% used wiki’s most potentials (ex.downloading videos)
Results RQ3 - Technical problems: logging in, simultaneous editing - lost time / stress - 70% blog tool more friendly in use - 50 % would continue to use blog for personal reasons but no wiki + Very good experience + Wish to experiment wiki tool in future classes RQ4 implemented blended learning scenario + 88% very high satisfaction levels , despite difficulties of wiki’s use because No limits of time & space , collaborative class work, communication italian + Communication stud-stud, stud-tutor
Conclusions Implementation of a new methodology Blog+WQ+Wiki to advanced level of Italian language students Face-to-face lessons + online using a wiki as a platform of collaborative language learning Positive attitudes towards the use of wiki as an online language learning environment of collaboration. Interest and participation Further quantitative results will be presented - analysed in a future paper Hope that other foreign language students &teachers will continue the discussion and inquiry started here
References 1. Steve O'Hear: Web's second phase puts users in control. The Guardian, Retrieved 20/06/2008 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2006/jun/20/elearning.technology8 2. Richardson,W.: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classroom. Sage, Corwin Press (2006) 3. Eijkman Henk: Web 2.0 as a non-foundational network-centric learning space. Journal: Campus-Wide Information Systems, 2008 Volume: 25 Issue: 2 Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited pp. 93 – 104 4. David Mattison: Quickiwiki, Swiki, Twiki, Zwiki and the Plone Wars Wiki as a PIM and Collaborative Content Tool. Access Services:Archivist British Columbia Archives, Cananda, Vol. 11 No. 4 — April 2003 5. Bo Leuf, Ward Cunningham: The Wiki way: quick collaboration on the Web. Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, (2001), pp. (14), (30) 6. http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page 7. http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About . 8. Augar, N., R.Raitman and W.Zhou: Teaching and learning online with wikis. In R.Atkinson, C.McBeath, D.Jonas-Dwyer & R.Philips (Eds), Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21 st ASCILITE Conference.(95-104) (2004). 9. Axel Bruns and Sal Humphreys: Building Collaborative Capacities in Learners: The M/Cyclopedia Project, Revisited. Build Proceedings of the the International Symposium on Wikis, Montréal, 21-23 Oct. 2007. 10. Theony, P.(2005). Twiki. Retreived June 20, 2008 from http:// www.twiki.org 11. Duffy, Peter D. and Bruns, Axel: The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in Education: A Conversation of Possibilities. In Proceedings Online Learning and Teaching Conference 2006, pages pp. 31-38, Brisbane, (2006). 12. Beldarrain, Yoany: Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group, Volume 27, Number 2, August 2006 pp. 139-153(15) 13. Slykhuis, D. & Stern, B.: Whither our Wiki?. In K. McFerrin et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2008 14. Andreas Lund, Ole Smørdal: Is There a Space for the Teacher in a WIKI? WikiSym’06, August 21–23, 2006, Odense, Denmark. 15. R Godwin-Jones: Emerging Technologies: Blogs and Wikis: Environments for On-line Collaboration. Language Learning & Technology, 2003 - llt.msu.edu  16. Lamb, B.: Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not. EDUCAUSE review (2004) 17. Mejias U.:Teaching social software with social software. Innovate 2 (5). (2006.) http:// innovateonline.info/index.php?view = article&id =260 (accessed July 24, 2006). 18. Chao, Joseph T., and Kevin R. Parker.: Wiki as a Teaching Tool. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects (2007): 57-61. MSU, Plymouth, UK., 10 July 2007. Keyword: Wiki. 19. Collaborative Software Lab.: A catalog of CoWeb uses. 2000 ftp://ftp.cc.gatech.edu/pub/gvu/tr/2000/00-19.pdf (accessed May 24, 2008).
References 20. Richard P. Schuler, Nathaniel Laws, Sameer Bajaj, Sukeshini A. Grandhi, Quentin Jones: Finding Your Way with CampusWiki:A Location-Aware Wiki CHI 2007, April 28–May 3, 2007, San Jose, California, USA ACM 978-1-59593-642-4/07/0004. 21. Schwartz, L., Clark, S., Cossarin, M., & Rudolph, J. Educational Wikis: features and selection criteria. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 5(1). (2004). 22. Doolan A. Martina:Collaborative Student learning and the Role of the Tutor: Using online Web 2.0 technologies (Wiki) to enhance traditional face-to-face teaching and to improve the HE student learning experience UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 23. Sheung On Choy and Kwok Chi: Implementing wiki software for supplementing online learning The Open University of Hong Kong ,Australasian Journal of EducationalTechnology 2007, 23(2), 209-226. 24. Shu Ching Yang and Yi-Ju Chen : Technology-enhanced language learning: A case study Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 23, Issue 1, January 2007, Pages 60-879 25. Rick, J., Guzdial, M., Carroll, K., Holloway-Attaway, L. ,Walker, B. Collaborative Learning at Low Cost: CoWeb Use in English Composition., Paper presented at Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, (CSCL 2002 Boulder, CO. ) , 2002 Retrieved June 2008 from http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu:8888/csl/uploads/24/CoWebInEnglish-CSCL2002.pdf 26. Wang, H.-C., Lu, C.-H., Yang, J.-Y., Hu, H.-W., Chiou, G.-F., Chiang, Y.-T., et al: An empirical exploration of using wiki in an English as a second language course. Proceedings of the Fifth IEEE In-ternational Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT’05), Kaohsiung, Taiwan: July 5-8, 155-157. (2005). Retrieved November 2006 from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/10084/32317/01508634.pdf?arnumber=1508634 27. Chang, Y.-F. & Schallert, D.L: The design for a collaborative system of English as foreign language: Composition writing of senior high school students in Taiwan. Proceedings of the Fifth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT’05), Kaohsiung, Taiwan: July (2005). 28. Andreja Kovacic, Goran Bubas, Miran Zlatovic: E-tivities with a Wiki: Innovative Teaching of English as a Foreign Language. University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organization and Informatics, Croatia. EUNIS 2008 VISION IT - Vision for IT in higher education June 24 - 27, 2008 29. Kovacic, A., Bubas, G., Zlatovic, M. : Evaluation of activities with a wiki system in teaching English as a second language. International Conference "ICT for Language Learning", Florence, Italy, (2007a).Retrieved July 10, 2008, from: www.leonardo-lets.net/ict/common/download/AndrejaKovacic.pdf 30 . Daniel Alex Castaneda: The Effects of Wiki-and Blog-technologies on the Students. Performance when Learning the Preterite and Imperfect Aspects in Spanish . Dissertation submitted to the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University, Department of Technology, Learning, & Culture, Morgantown, West Virginia 2007. 31 . Duffy, T. M. & Cunningham, D. J.: Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. IN: Jonassen D. H. (Ed) Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (pp.170- 198). New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan. (1996) 32 . James, H: Aiming for communal Constructivism in a Wiki Enviroment. (2004). Retrieved 3 May 2005 from http://kairosnews.org/node/3809 33 . McMullin, B.: Putting the learning back into learning technology. In S. Moore, G. O’Neill, & B. McMullin (Eds.), Emerging issues in the practice of university learning and teaching (pp. 67-76). Dublin: AISHE.,(2005)Windeatt, 34 . S.: E-learning FAQ for University Teachers . (2002) Retrieved 24 June 2008 from: http://www.windeatt.f2s.com/ijet/index.htm 35 . Alm, A. : CALL for autonomy, competence and relatedness: Motivating language learning environments in Web 2.0. The JALT CALL Journal 2(3): 29-38. (2006) 36 . March, T.: The learning power of WebQuests: Educational Leadership, 61Educational Leadership December 2003/January 2004 | Volume 61 | Number 4 37 . Dodge, B. J. : Some thoughts about WebQuests. (1995). Retrieved July 22, 2008, from http://edWeb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596/about_Webquests.html
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More Related Content

Thoughtfest09

  • 1. Collaborative Blended Language Learning using WikiQuests: learning Italian as a FL Maria A. Perifanou School of Philosophy, Faculty of Italian and Spanish Language and Literature, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. ThoughtFest 2009 Pontydysgu - University of Salford Manchester , UK 5-6 March 2009
  • 2. Fest of thoughts and experiences………… … .sharing my journey.. … ..my story….!
  • 3. Many years ago … when I started teaching I wanted to find the best way to introduce my students in the ‘real’ world of italian language and culture … . but how ?
  • 4. … .trying to find the best way to start this learning-teaching journey….…… it was not enough to use just some or some It was also difficult to take my students to Italy…………………………
  • 5. … ..everything changed when I discovered the magic world of web …..all the ‘world’ in a computer????? Let’s find out more!!! .…from a group work tool of CERN to………… … .a global information-communication space of billion of users …… how can I use this ‘powerful tool’ in my language lessons????
  • 6. What? How? When? …… lets start the exploration!!!
  • 7. Α. Italian Language in Web – ‘ exploration and classification’ Educational sites dedicated to teachers teachers - learners 7 . Course plans/ material 8. Magazines/Journals 9. Information for teachers training, seminars, jobs 2 . Italian Language Courses 3 . Authoring tools for language learning material 1. Practice ( exercises , tests , etc .) 6. Portals/ Data Bases for Italian Language 4. Tandem Learning, E-pals 5. Forum s/ Discussion Lists
  • 8. B . Italian Language in Web – ‘ exploration and classification’ Supportive - authentic teaching material/tools 2. e-libraries, translators, glossaries, thesaurus, dictionaries, etc 1. Magazines/ Journals 5 . e-commerce, e-business 6. Communication Tools: forums , chat, discussion lists 4. Edutainment 3. Electronic C orpus, Concordan cers 7. Authoring tools- free multimedia software 8. Portals/Data bases for Italian culture
  • 9. Searching for the right teaching methodology… Incentivise Search Reflect Learn
  • 10. model ? ‘ inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet’ (Bernie Dodge, 1995)
  • 11. WebQuest Parts Introduction Task Process Resources Evaluation Conclusion
  • 13.  
  • 14. Odeo
  • 15. Second phase of web: new services and software are transforming the web from a predominantly "read only" medium to one where anyone can publish New world of social interconnectivity
  • 16. … .not easy to find the right web 2.0 tools and combine webquest blended activities… No time and space limits Collaboration - during and outside of class structure- Student-centered learning Content- driven users can share different material Sharing ideas Track history Social Constructivism- (Duffy, Jonassen, Piaget) Trust- people and the process
  • 17.  
  • 18. What’s a wiki? “ a wiki is a freely expandable collection of interlinked Web pages, a hypertext system for storing and modifying information – a database, where each page is easily edited by any user with a forms-capable Web browser client” Leuf and Cunningham first wiki [http://c2.com/cgi-bin/wiki] came online in March 1995 most known wiki is t he Wikipedia the "free content encyclopedia" - the largest public wiki with nearly 469,000 articles in English alone until 2005
  • 20. Wiki’s features - Pros Wiki pages are controlled — created, linked, edited, deleted, moved, renamed, and so on — by a programming or scripting language, and stored either as plain ASCII text files or in an external relational database. e-mail notification for every change faceless contact -no limits of place or time users freely create and edit web page content using any web browser with no knowledge of HTML coding collaborative tool limited only to a selected group of users
  • 21. Wiki’s features - Cons No simultaneous editing: If that happens, one user's edits will be deleted except Twiki employs a page locking system The page is too long to scroll Lack of real time communication
  • 22. Wiki’s general & educational USES
  • 23. Wikis’ general uses collaborative environments collaborative online projects active on-line communities on the web professional network with continuing access to the content for an indefinite period of time site of collaborative authoring of a document development collaborative communication forums collective content management (e.g. DocuWiki) knowledge bases knowledge management systems personal information managers (PIMs) content management for academic instruction
  • 24. Wiki’s educational uses The beauty of wikis is …. shaped from within-not imposed from above ’ (Lamb, B. 2004) Traditional instruction instruction of collaboration / shared construction of knowledge class communication site collaborative knowledge base place to post assignments for peer review tool for process writing place for co-authoring professional books an environment for group projects collaborative use of wikis is for problem-solving in small or large groups teacher can trigger, stimulate, monitor, guide online as well as offline activities conducive to learning, determine problem areas for students increases participation and student involvement natural tool for distance education (DE) interactive activities - course information effective platform to help electronic and online learning ideal place for learning effective tool for building virtual learning communities
  • 25. Wiki’s use in Foreign Language Learning Georgia Institute of Technology (2002) English classes wiki environment-CoWiki -collaboration, comments on each others work Public college in Tapei, (2007) 2 weeks study, ESL essay writing on a Wiki -building an instructive or constructive instructional model with Wiki in a rigorous manner requires more empirical evidence Senior high school students in Taiwan (2005) Collaborative system of EFL composition writing.  Wiki platform - peer-reviewing  Link grammar - automatically checking students' papers  RSS reader to periodically retrieve articles from the platform published in BLOG. - exchange of skills opinions when writing the article - link grammar helped teacher ’s concentrat ion on students' higher level skills instead of correcting mechanical problems. University of Zagreb Engwiki project 2007-08 2 tertiary-level (ESP) courses Web-oriented learning activities (e-tivities) supplement the traditional language course  use of wiki-based e-tivities for LL / evaluation of the e-tivities for teachers to use them in CALL - positive outcome of the use of the wiki &usefulness of the e-tivities West Virginia University, 2007 The Effects of Wiki-and Blog-technologies on the Students. Performance when Learning the Preterite and Imperfect Aspects in Spanish - test of pre-existing knowledge  same performance level blog/wiki -not any difference in satisfaction levels in use of blog/wiki
  • 27. Case study- Developing italswebquest a particular area not sufficiently explored use of Web 2.0 tools - wikis in teaching and learning Italian as a foreign language in higher education. implementation of a wiki as a language learning environment of collaboration & as a language course management system at the same time The most innovative aspect of the study is the development of a blended language learning model which combines blog activities with webquest projects that take place in face-to-face lessons and online in a wiki as a language learning platform and course management system at the same time
  • 28. Research Questions RQ1 – Can the wiki technology be used successfully in teaching/learning Italian as a FL at the university level as an environment of collaborative learning that can increase motivation, participation and collaboration among students? RQ2 – In what ways and in what frequency the students used wiki during the ‘italswebquest’ project? RQ3 – Have the students affronted any technical difficulties in using the wiki tool as a communication tool or as a tool for collaborative writing for their webquest projects and if yes how this affected the process of their language learning? RQ4 – The idea of mixing online warm up blog activities and webquest projects using a wiki online environment in combination with face-to-face lessons had a positive impact on learners’ satisfaction levels comparing to their prior learning experiences of traditional language class?
  • 29. Methodology 1 Participants - 25 advanced students - future Italian language teachers -Dep. of Italian and Spanish Language and Literature, Univ. of Athens - Year of study different year of Italian studies - Technology literacy None or limited experience with technology - Gender 23 females 2 males - Age 70% early twenties - 30% 25 to 50 years old Period fall semester 2007-08, four week research Course description “Introduction of Internet and Web 2.0 tools in the language classroom” 1 st part theoretical and practical introduction to the use of internet in education, the Web 2.0 tools and their educational use in the language teaching/learning (basic computer skills, Web 2.0, creation of WQ projects) 2 nd part a series of blended lessons , focus on different cultural italian topics cinema italiano ,citta’ italiane 4 lessons= 2 online/ 2 face-to-face lessons alternatively for each topic, 2 weeks
  • 30. Methodology 2 1st on-line lesson series of online blog pre-online warm up activities -introduction of the cultural topic of WQ project, duration 1 week 2 nd face-to-face lesson (lab) introduction to the webquest project presentation of all the steps of the WQ project division of the class in groups of four distribution of the different roles Collaborative work, presentation of a final work at the end 3 nd on-line lesson wiki class italswebquest , a password protected environment tutor responsible administrator of the space, monitor- control the progress of students work, see the variety and level of student contributions 1 common class space – get informed on material, activities, FAQ 5 different group spaces of work and collaboration discussion areas 4 th face-to-face lesson (lab) oral group’s presentations of the final group work by one representative (ppt presentations not obligatory) class discussion Publication of the final groups’ works on the wiki environment (read, comment, add) WQ tool Wiki tool
  • 32. Results RQ1 + great collaboration attitude and a gradual increase of students’ motivation and participation + group wiki space: collaboration on writing the final wq groups discussion area: communication process of their work + Use of Italian language - on line interactions S1: This is a great experience for me. RQ2 + communication on their group work + download tutor’s notes + getting information on course’s activities - not everyone asked guiding questions for problems occured - use of wiki environment during the face to face lessons - technical difficulties - impact on frequency of wiki’s use - bigger participation during the last day before the f2f lessons + most used successfully the basic potentials of wikis - 15% used wiki’s most potentials (ex.downloading videos)
  • 33. Results RQ3 - Technical problems: logging in, simultaneous editing - lost time / stress - 70% blog tool more friendly in use - 50 % would continue to use blog for personal reasons but no wiki + Very good experience + Wish to experiment wiki tool in future classes RQ4 implemented blended learning scenario + 88% very high satisfaction levels , despite difficulties of wiki’s use because No limits of time & space , collaborative class work, communication italian + Communication stud-stud, stud-tutor
  • 34. Conclusions Implementation of a new methodology Blog+WQ+Wiki to advanced level of Italian language students Face-to-face lessons + online using a wiki as a platform of collaborative language learning Positive attitudes towards the use of wiki as an online language learning environment of collaboration. Interest and participation Further quantitative results will be presented - analysed in a future paper Hope that other foreign language students &teachers will continue the discussion and inquiry started here
  • 35. References 1. Steve O'Hear: Web's second phase puts users in control. The Guardian, Retrieved 20/06/2008 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2006/jun/20/elearning.technology8 2. Richardson,W.: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classroom. Sage, Corwin Press (2006) 3. Eijkman Henk: Web 2.0 as a non-foundational network-centric learning space. Journal: Campus-Wide Information Systems, 2008 Volume: 25 Issue: 2 Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited pp. 93 – 104 4. David Mattison: Quickiwiki, Swiki, Twiki, Zwiki and the Plone Wars Wiki as a PIM and Collaborative Content Tool. Access Services:Archivist British Columbia Archives, Cananda, Vol. 11 No. 4 — April 2003 5. Bo Leuf, Ward Cunningham: The Wiki way: quick collaboration on the Web. Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, (2001), pp. (14), (30) 6. http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page 7. http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About . 8. Augar, N., R.Raitman and W.Zhou: Teaching and learning online with wikis. In R.Atkinson, C.McBeath, D.Jonas-Dwyer & R.Philips (Eds), Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21 st ASCILITE Conference.(95-104) (2004). 9. Axel Bruns and Sal Humphreys: Building Collaborative Capacities in Learners: The M/Cyclopedia Project, Revisited. Build Proceedings of the the International Symposium on Wikis, Montréal, 21-23 Oct. 2007. 10. Theony, P.(2005). Twiki. Retreived June 20, 2008 from http:// www.twiki.org 11. Duffy, Peter D. and Bruns, Axel: The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in Education: A Conversation of Possibilities. In Proceedings Online Learning and Teaching Conference 2006, pages pp. 31-38, Brisbane, (2006). 12. Beldarrain, Yoany: Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group, Volume 27, Number 2, August 2006 pp. 139-153(15) 13. Slykhuis, D. & Stern, B.: Whither our Wiki?. In K. McFerrin et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2008 14. Andreas Lund, Ole Smørdal: Is There a Space for the Teacher in a WIKI? WikiSym’06, August 21–23, 2006, Odense, Denmark. 15. R Godwin-Jones: Emerging Technologies: Blogs and Wikis: Environments for On-line Collaboration. Language Learning & Technology, 2003 - llt.msu.edu  16. Lamb, B.: Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not. EDUCAUSE review (2004) 17. Mejias U.:Teaching social software with social software. Innovate 2 (5). (2006.) http:// innovateonline.info/index.php?view = article&id =260 (accessed July 24, 2006). 18. Chao, Joseph T., and Kevin R. Parker.: Wiki as a Teaching Tool. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects (2007): 57-61. MSU, Plymouth, UK., 10 July 2007. Keyword: Wiki. 19. Collaborative Software Lab.: A catalog of CoWeb uses. 2000 ftp://ftp.cc.gatech.edu/pub/gvu/tr/2000/00-19.pdf (accessed May 24, 2008).
  • 36. References 20. Richard P. Schuler, Nathaniel Laws, Sameer Bajaj, Sukeshini A. Grandhi, Quentin Jones: Finding Your Way with CampusWiki:A Location-Aware Wiki CHI 2007, April 28–May 3, 2007, San Jose, California, USA ACM 978-1-59593-642-4/07/0004. 21. Schwartz, L., Clark, S., Cossarin, M., & Rudolph, J. Educational Wikis: features and selection criteria. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 5(1). (2004). 22. Doolan A. Martina:Collaborative Student learning and the Role of the Tutor: Using online Web 2.0 technologies (Wiki) to enhance traditional face-to-face teaching and to improve the HE student learning experience UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 23. Sheung On Choy and Kwok Chi: Implementing wiki software for supplementing online learning The Open University of Hong Kong ,Australasian Journal of EducationalTechnology 2007, 23(2), 209-226. 24. Shu Ching Yang and Yi-Ju Chen : Technology-enhanced language learning: A case study Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 23, Issue 1, January 2007, Pages 60-879 25. Rick, J., Guzdial, M., Carroll, K., Holloway-Attaway, L. ,Walker, B. Collaborative Learning at Low Cost: CoWeb Use in English Composition., Paper presented at Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, (CSCL 2002 Boulder, CO. ) , 2002 Retrieved June 2008 from http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu:8888/csl/uploads/24/CoWebInEnglish-CSCL2002.pdf 26. Wang, H.-C., Lu, C.-H., Yang, J.-Y., Hu, H.-W., Chiou, G.-F., Chiang, Y.-T., et al: An empirical exploration of using wiki in an English as a second language course. Proceedings of the Fifth IEEE In-ternational Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT’05), Kaohsiung, Taiwan: July 5-8, 155-157. (2005). Retrieved November 2006 from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/10084/32317/01508634.pdf?arnumber=1508634 27. Chang, Y.-F. & Schallert, D.L: The design for a collaborative system of English as foreign language: Composition writing of senior high school students in Taiwan. Proceedings of the Fifth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT’05), Kaohsiung, Taiwan: July (2005). 28. Andreja Kovacic, Goran Bubas, Miran Zlatovic: E-tivities with a Wiki: Innovative Teaching of English as a Foreign Language. University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organization and Informatics, Croatia. EUNIS 2008 VISION IT - Vision for IT in higher education June 24 - 27, 2008 29. Kovacic, A., Bubas, G., Zlatovic, M. : Evaluation of activities with a wiki system in teaching English as a second language. International Conference "ICT for Language Learning", Florence, Italy, (2007a).Retrieved July 10, 2008, from: www.leonardo-lets.net/ict/common/download/AndrejaKovacic.pdf 30 . Daniel Alex Castaneda: The Effects of Wiki-and Blog-technologies on the Students. Performance when Learning the Preterite and Imperfect Aspects in Spanish . Dissertation submitted to the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University, Department of Technology, Learning, & Culture, Morgantown, West Virginia 2007. 31 . Duffy, T. M. & Cunningham, D. J.: Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. IN: Jonassen D. H. (Ed) Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (pp.170- 198). New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan. (1996) 32 . James, H: Aiming for communal Constructivism in a Wiki Enviroment. (2004). Retrieved 3 May 2005 from http://kairosnews.org/node/3809 33 . McMullin, B.: Putting the learning back into learning technology. In S. Moore, G. O’Neill, & B. McMullin (Eds.), Emerging issues in the practice of university learning and teaching (pp. 67-76). Dublin: AISHE.,(2005)Windeatt, 34 . S.: E-learning FAQ for University Teachers . (2002) Retrieved 24 June 2008 from: http://www.windeatt.f2s.com/ijet/index.htm 35 . Alm, A. : CALL for autonomy, competence and relatedness: Motivating language learning environments in Web 2.0. The JALT CALL Journal 2(3): 29-38. (2006) 36 . March, T.: The learning power of WebQuests: Educational Leadership, 61Educational Leadership December 2003/January 2004 | Volume 61 | Number 4 37 . Dodge, B. J. : Some thoughts about WebQuests. (1995). Retrieved July 22, 2008, from http://edWeb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596/about_Webquests.html
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Editor's Notes

  1. Introduction to Quest The introduction is a short paragraph written in second person that introduces the students to the activity. It should catch the students’ attention, provide background information and include the role being taken in the quest. For example, “You just found out your best friend is an alien from another planet and need to explain Christmas . . . “ or “Your favorite author will be visiting . . . .” WebQuest Task The task is what should be accomplished through the WebQuest. It typically starts with a paragraph, but may also contain a list of what the students will be required to do. Another primary component of the task section is to explain to the students what is expected to be created for evaluation and any specific tools, such as PowerPoint, that will be used to create them. Step-by-Step Process The process is a logical, step-by-step guide for the students to follow. It should provide responsibilities, either for individuals or for each group member. It should also suggest to students how to organize or save their information for the final product. This is also the section where links are provided to specific Internet sites. These sites should be investigated in advance for content, relevance and even availability from school. The links would be placed as part of the steps involved in the process so students know where to go to look for the information. Evaluation Using Rubrics The evaluation section contains the rubric with which students will be evaluated. This could be for an individual or group. It could also be a self-evaluation, overall evaluation or a combination as deemed appropriate by the teacher. Though the evaluation style is objective it should be written in such a way that students understand how they will be evaluated. Conclusion or Summary of WebQuest The conclusion is an overall summary of the WebQuest. It should provide students with a way to reflect about the process. Also, it should provide advanced, related questions that might be investigated at another time. Throughout the WebQuests, students should be engaged through second person writing, as if the lesson speaks directly to them. By following this basic form the WebQuest also provides a structure that is easy for teachers to design and for students to follow.