Wednesday, February 22, 2012

My Wordle! My Blog!

Wordle: Group WORK



So, I just ran my blog URL through Wordle to get a word cloud (it doesn't look very nice pasted here, but if you click on it, you can see the real one).  I thought it would be interesting to see what emerges as my most used words....maybe see what it could tell me about my writing. Here's what I discovered.

It's a fairly new blog, so there aren't a lot of topics yet. As you can see, there has been a lot of focus on GROUP WORK!  hahaha   Hopefully, we'll be moving on to other things shortly!
But I like how WORK is the biggest word. It fits with what's going on in my life. Between my job, and my studies, there is a whole lotta WORK going on...and I think that's a good thing!
Other good things I see are: KNOW, THINK, LIKE, PEOPLE, TEACHERS.  These seem quite positive to me. I'm glad it's not overrun by words like hate, loathe, suspect, jerks.....or something like that.
Some things I don't like very much.... JUST, REALLY.  These aren't bad things....perhaps only bad habits. Maybe it's time to get some new vocabulary.

I have known about this fun little tool for a couple of years, though I've never used it with students. I think it can help you to analyze your writing, and perhaps see what others see when they read it. Maybe you can see something that you missed before. I'd like to find a way to use this with students, but I haven't figured out the details yet. Since my students don't type any of their work, I think this would be a big hassle that perhaps I don't need at the moment. Well.... I'll keep thinking about it.

In the meantime, I'm going to think about my own writing style and I'll try again in a few months to see if anything has changed!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Adios to the Group Work!

Group Work Done!

After all the grumbling, and all the stress, and all the mixed up meetings and non-meetings...it's DONE!! You can view it here if you so desire...

http://portal.sliderocket.com/BMZNX/Copy-of-Cognitive-and-Metacognitive-Reading-Strate-(2)_1
I think it turned out pretty good. I'm very happy with it. I'm also happy about the fact that in the process, I learned how to use new tools I had never used before: Sliderocket, Prezi, Glogster, and PBWiki.
Sliderocket was awesome and easy. Prezi still makes me dizzy and seasick, and Glogster was really simple and fun!
The PBWiki is still baffling to me....too many things on there...it's overwhelming....too many pages, lists, menus...my group had at least 6 different pages set up and I never knew where was the best place to communicate. Plus, you can see ALL of the OTHER groups' work too, and when you multiply the 20 messages a day by 8 groups and 6 pages per group....it's very very confusing! Not a fan of Wikis so far! We ended up communicating almost exclusively by Gmail, which perhaps defeats the purpose a bit, but it was much more direct and easier to understand!

Now... has my opinion on group work changed at all? Hmmmm.... perhaps it has softened a little. I had really nice guys on my team, and even though we took an uncomfortably long time to get started, I think we all pulled it together in the end. But I still have to wonder...was all the discomfort, panic, and 'taking over my life' really worth it? I still say no. If I'm honest, I think I could have done the same thing completely on my own, and in much shorter time. The process of working across time zones just isn't efficient. By the time I make changes, post to other members, wait for their replies, sleep, and get online again...it's 24 hours between each communication. I wouldn't get responses to my stuff until every morning. And then not be able to work on it until later that evening (have to work in between). The process was incredibly, painfully slow and inefficient, and in our busy lives, with work, school, family, and personal obligations...it was just too long to wait. I felt like I could have been done a week ago if I had done it myself.

So, now....on to the rest of my life...and the next units...where new challenges await! Group Work...adios, good-bye, and good riddance..... for now!



Thursday, February 16, 2012

"Marco........" " Polo........ " "Marco......."

Group work in an online, distance course is something like this. (hmm... I don't know if Marco Polo is a universal game, or just a North American thing...does everybody know it?)
So, you're in the swimming pool, eyes closed, and you're sending out 'pings'.... " Marco...."
And you wait for your friends to answer   "Polo..."  so that you can try and swim towards them and tag them. Problem is...THEY have their eyes open....and  by the time you get there, they're gone!

"Marco...."

It's a bit like scientists sending radio messages into deep space...and hoping to hit something intelligent enough to send a reply, but not actually knowing what they might be inviting home for dinner.

Shouting into the void........
Waiting for signs of life....intelligent or otherwise..... doesn't matter.....just somebody ANSWER, PLEEEEASE!

It gets lonely.
It gets frustrating.
If you're like me (and apparently I'm in the minority), it makes you hate group work.

I've had a lot of responses to my "I hate group work" rant. And I've had some time to think it over a bit. My new analysis goes like this:

My rational brain can look at group work and see all the benefits. I know that it fosters a sense of community, it allows students to collaborate...moral support, better grades, improved trust, social learning, etc. etc. That's great! In my MIND, I know that.

My gut reaction though, is still hatin'. I can't help it! I KNOW the benefits, and I still hate it. That's the honest reaction. I can't change that. You can change your mind, but you can't change your heart! Your feelings will be your feelings no matter what your mind tells you.

I feel a little schizophrenic about this! Now I'm wondering if I really am some kind of horribly anti-social freak. Since this isn't a problem for the rest of the world, I must conclude that the problem is in me! But if the problem is in me (and I'm willing to go with that), then is the problem in other people too? Surely there must be others out there who feel like me, despite what they know in their skulls. And what do we do with these people? If all the studies, and all the literature, and all the experience tells us that group work = good, then what about those outliers who don't respond well to it? Do we write them off? Do we force them to conform? Do we find another way for them to work, perhaps disrupting classroom plans?

Or, do we just say "Well, we tried...that was last week, this is this week. Let's move on."?  I believe we can learn SOMETHING from ANYTHING, so maybe it doesn't matter anyway.

Besides, I think the aliens are coming. I just heard it......    very far off in the distance......

"Polo....."






Monday, February 13, 2012

Group Work: Love It, or Loathe It?

Teachers love it. Students loathe it.

At least, that is my experience. Actually, I don't know if ALL students loathe it. I haven't done a survey or anything. I've just never heard anyone say "Let's do some group work!"  (take my poll on the right!)


A quick search on Youtube comes up with a long list of rants against group work. Check out this one (nasty language alert, but typical of most of the complaints).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DGxC06AjjA


So, right now I am wading through the "swamp of tangly, dirty, every student for themselves, take no prisoners, just get it done" group work. It inspires dread...justly so, in my opinion.
Teachers always say "but you have to learn to collaborate and negotiate in real life".
Students always say "but I'd rather poke out my eyes with these paperclips".

Please understand, I don't mean this as an attack on my fellow group members. They are fine people, and have their own commitments and their own realities, just like me. I don't have anything against them. We are all doing our best. I believe we will come up with something in the end. It might, if we are lucky,  resemble something like what we are supposed to be doing....but on the other hand....

Do the benefits really outweigh the pain and discomfort? Do the means really justify the end? I'd better see some damn impressive results in the next week if I'm gonna swallow it.
As a teacher, I am now seriously considering banning group work from my repertoire forever. I'm hating every second of it. Again, nothing to do with my groupees...I just think I don't have the personality for this. I'm just really anti-social, I guess. I think that's where group work falls down. It doesn't take into account that some people don't work well in groups. Some people are not joiners. Some people work best while cocooned in their own little universe, perhaps like snails (I know snails don't live in cocoons, but you know what I mean). And is that such a bad thing? Some people say that "there is a role for everyone" in group work, and that a natural organization will occur....leaders will emerge, workers will find their groove, accountants will do the accounting, designers will do the designing. But what if you get a group where all of the members just want to be left alone?
It can happen.
I'm just glad it's not for marks. We'll just chalk it up to experience and pray it never happens again!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Do They Think They Can Replace Instructors With Online Courses?

Well, contract negotiations are underway between part-time teachers and the university. The union meeting was a couple of nights ago, and although I couldn't attend, I've been following the email trail between various teachers and union reps. One email in particular struck me as odd, and the more reading I'm doing in one of my courses, the more I am surprised by the thinking behind the email.
The language institute has been promising that Moodle is coming. And now they are starting to do some teacher training, to prepare us to use it. Most of the teachers have no idea what it CAN do, let alone what they WANT it to do (myself included). There is a sense of fear among teachers. New Technology = Scary!
Back to the email in question... I'll paraphrase...
We (part-time teachers) are being asked to do curriculum design using Moodle.
Those plans become the property of the university.
The university will then use the plans to offer online courses, forcing us part-time teachers out of jobs.
"Do they think they can replace instructors with online courses?"   (The bottom line).
Apparently, this is an issue in contract negotiations.  Seriously??
Why is this weird to me?
One of my courses is entitled "Teaching and Learning Online". I've been reading papers and studies done over the past 15 years or so, and so far...in all that I've read...there is a great emphasis on the role of the teacher as a 'resource manager' and a 'partner in learning'...a 'maximizer of student interaction', 'monitoring and facilitating interactions, and participating in the exchange of knowledge' (Beldarrain, 2006). I've not yet come across any suggestion that teachers will become obsolete with the advance of technology. If you know of any, please advise now, and I'll look into re-starting that Art career!
So, I'm more than a little surprised that my colleague has this fear. I guess that's the "fear and awe" that Bax mentions: "fear, alternating with exaggerated expectations" (Bax, 2003). I never would have thought that my job would be jeopardized simply by taking up a new tool and finding uses for it. It's just a tool...like a hammer...you can learn to use it, and create magnificent cabinetry, or you can let it sit under the kitchen sink, only taking it out once a year to hang the next year's calendar. Hardly something to get in a knot about. And taking it to the union....as a threat to our jobs...*sigh* .....I don't know what to say.
It brings to mind a great quote I heard years ago by David Thornburg:
 "Any teacher who can be replaced by a computer...deserves to be."

References: (I didn't intend for this to become a research paper, but I really must cite those refs!)
Beldarrain, Y. (2006) Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2). 139-15
Bax,  S. (2003) CALL-past, present and future. System, 31. 13-28

Gods... this might be the only blog in existence with a frikkin reference list!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

My Computer Guy

I have a good friend who for the past 10 years has been my 'computer guy'. He gives me great advice when I'm buying new machines. He sets up my computer with all the 'good stuff'. He fixes all the things that go wrong. And when I call him in a panic because Word is locking me out of my 'final assignment' documents, he somehow manages to calm my nerves, fix the problem, and send me on my way, a little smarter than before. He has never let me down. And he has never made me feel like a complete and total moron, even when I know that somewhere inside he's just rolling his eyes in disbelief! When it comes to the things I don't know, but should....his patience is infinite!
Today I got a little taste of what he must feel like when dealing with computer geniuses like me!
It was a Speaking class. Beginner level. The topics for review were, 'using there is/there are to describe rooms' and 'prepositions of place' and 'names of furniture'. "Standard" activities apply. There's the 'describe a room', the 'find the differences between the two rooms', and the 'design your room, and dictate it to your partner who will draw it' activities. You can find them in ANY textbook.....page 16.
I decided to spice it up a little bit by taking activity #3 into the lab. There is a great little game-like program at http://www.allfungirlsgames.com/play-game/room-maker/ where you can click on cute little bits of furniture, and design your room any way you like. It's fun and EASY! I got students to design their own room, print it out, and then use their printouts to play a game where they describe the room to a partner who will try to recreate the room on the website, based on the description they hear...no cheating...no looking at partner's printout!
I expected it to take 30-40 minutes. It took 65.
The game was fun, and the students really seemed to enjoy making their rooms. Some of them even wanted to email themselves the rooms, so they could remember them later!
The technical difficulties left my head spinning!
These are supposed to be the kids of the "internet generation".... you know... the ones who grew up with binary code running through their veins, and who ate Web 2.0 for breakfast!!! THEY should be teaching ME how to build rooms, office towers, themeparks, and virtual cities!!! THEY should be teaching ME how to hack into IKEA and steal room designs right off the drawing boards!!!
They couldn't sign in. They couldn't figure out where to enter the address, putting it in Google, rather than the address bar. They couldn't see that they used dots instead of slashes, and that they had too many spaces between the words 'all fun  girls.  com../ play// game-s /./"...  and why wouldn't that work??? They couldn't make the computer print. They deleted it all by accident. They turned it off by mistake and couldn't get it to open again. They couldn't sign out.
I felt like my 'tech-friend' who can surely see how dumb I am, but who patiently persists, showing me my mistakes, and waiting for me to get it right.....again....and again.....and again.
I wonder if I'm going to hear complaints now...about how we spent too much time 'playing games' and not enough time 'studying'. I hope they don't lose sight of the fact that we DID practice "there is/there are", "prepositions of place", "names of furniture", "adjectives", along with plenty of speaking skills...."speaking", "listening", "asking questions", "asking for clarification". I hope the language learning has not gotten lost in the confusion.
Confusion we had aplenty....   Computer guy.... I could learn a thing or two from you.


Monday, February 6, 2012

Normalisation

"Normalisation" is the goal: The point where technology is so integrated into the everyday language learning, that it is no longer visible. 
My classes are a long long way from normalisation. I wondered why. 
A classmate said this:
"I think it partially comes down to the fact that you haven't used them in class yet.  Like everything new (which phones, Office and the like were at one point for all of us in our daily lives), it takes a bit of discomfort and fiddling around with it for a while to become comfortable enough to use it consistently, without too much concious thought--normalised." 

I was thinking about this over the weekend, and it got under my skin a little bit. I thought "Yeah...he's right.... not normalised because I just don't use it enough". I see a lot of roadblocks, and so I don't bother to try to get around them. So I decided that I need to do something about that. I need to get my students into the lab. And often. And we need to start somewhere... and deal with the bumps as they come.
So, for this morning's reading class, I prepared 2 lessons: one version was a standard, pen and paper, communicative, top-down reading lesson. The second took the text and the communicative scanning -for-details activities into the lab. I wasn't sure if I would be able to book the lab, so I wanted a backup plan ready to go!
I was in luck! The lab was open for exactly one hour at the beginning of my lesson, which meant that I had to rearrange bits of my lesson plan so that we could be there in the allotted time slot. Some normally 'first' things got shifted to 'last'. OK. No problem. One roadblock down!
Next, my students need demonstrated instructions, but I cannot do that inside the lab, since there is no central teacher's computer, no projector, and red walls which are not exactly projector-friendly. I spent the first 30 minutes of class in the usual pre-reading preparation activities...activating background schemata, examining titles and pictures, making predictions, etc., and then I gave them a demonstration of how to get to the website (we were examining the "Canada Food Guide", published by the government of Canada, and available freely online). I also gave them a little card with the directions clearly printed out, so they could take it with them. Second roadblock down!
The activity was a simple skimming and scanning activity which I won't describe here, but it went fairly smoothly. Students were interested in the topic, and took some time to read other sections of interest. They worked in pairs and it took about 20 minutes (until the lab closed). We then went back to the classroom to continue the lesson and share results.
The worst part of the whole thing was that most of the students (7/10) did not know how to get into the computers. Almost none of them knew their user ID's and passwords. It took about 10 minutes to get everyone signed in. The start-up time delayed us quite a bit. What that tells me is that NONE of the students have tried to use the lab since their first day of class, 5 weeks ago. They haven't even tried to get in to check email, and clearly, none of their other teachers have taken them to use the lab. I made it clear that they will need to learn their ID's, because we will be going in quite often. Third roadblock...coming down!
It is my intention to try to get students into the lab at least for a few minutes every day. It may not be possible, as the signout sheet is already quite full until the end of the month. But I really believe it is necessary to try for even a few minutes a day! Normalisation...integration surely must start this way: one step at a time. " A little bit of discomfort and fiddling around" may be necessary, but slowly, it becomes a natural occurence, hardly worthy of note.  That is my hope.
Thanks, Tyson, for the inspiration!


Saturday, February 4, 2012

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/aberration

One Degree

So, this is the first week of the second semester of my Masters degree. I'm already behind.
I just finished the readings, but have not yet responded to them (task #2, or #4....can't remember). I also haven't done task #3, which is to meet with classmates and find our 6 degrees of separation. And I missed my first online meeting with the professor because I fell asleep mid-day due to the extreme exhaustion I am still feeling from my new work schedule. All in all, not off to a great start. 
It can only get better, right?
Let's see...what are the good things?
1. I have two friends in one class, which is really nice. Last session we made our own little support group, and through weekly Google+ chats, were able to kind of help each other figure stuff out.
2. I have a chance to re-do that meeting that I missed....tomorrow morning at 9:00 am.
3. I really liked the 2 articles that I just read, as they talked about the learners' experience in distance and online courses. For the first time since I started this degree, I finally felt that somebody understands what I'm going through. It hit me very emotionally. Friends, family, and co-workers do not realize the massive challenges that the online learner faces, and do not know that every aspect of your life is changing in ways that you can't always control, and don't always like. For everything gained in studying, something else precious is lost. Friends fall away because you can't make time for them, family is shifted aside because you can't get to them, work schedules must be rearranged to accommodate the studies, there is a huge loss of income, and as a result, a loss of social contact (hard to go for a beer or a burger, and the theatre is just out of the question!). I'm lucky if I can pay the rent. Financial worries are a BIG concern. Even the reduction in student-contact time is a loss, because I need to be able to relate what I'm learning to real-life classrooms. I also had to re-arrange my house; my office space...to make room for a growing collection of binders, papers, and textbooks. Then, there's the constant, constant exhaustion, and the sleepwalking between work and studying, and the constant feeling that you are 12 steps behind everyone else. And nobody seems to get the isolation. Not only geographical isolation, but the feeling that you can't really talk to anyone about these challenges because they just accuse you of whining. "Suck it up" I was told! 
So, these articles acknowledge that these are very real concerns for online learners, and that institutions that want to implement online and distance programs cannot simply rely on technological advances to solve all of their problems. They need to understand where the students are coming from, and understand how students will, or will not take advantage of the opportunities afforded them. 
4. I think University of Manchester has done a really good job of meeting students' needs with regards to "socializing, support, interaction, flexibility, minimizing technological difficulty" (Schrum and Hong, 2002).  The challenges are real, but I believe that my courses were designed with 'people like me' in mind.  I'll get there....