The inspiration for my final project came to me as I was rinsing out the last bubbles of this tea tree shampoo I picked up at Wards (locally made in Gainesville)...
For those who follow my blog, you'll remember that I gave up Facebook not too long ago. Well, that experiment lasted a week and now I'm back on. I recognized that I was on that site very often - multiple times a day. Looking at the web habits of others in this class, I noticed the same.
I believe that to make technology an efficient part of the classroom, it has to integrate into the lives of students. We are no longer dealing with students who view the computer as a novelty. They live connected to the internet - I evidence this in my classroom on a daily basis as two of my students download the daily powerpoints onto their Smart phones.
I have read about the history of CALL and the different steps we have taken as teachers. I think with the advent of Web 2.0 and the changing nature of the internet (from encyclopedia to conversation) requires a change in CALL research. CALL must reflect the change that has been documented in web browsing itself. We visit a few sites a day - a lot - and have them tabbed or within easy access. Having students remember a specific site that falls outside their daily, robotic browsing habits is a disturbance.
Case in point: QUIA. Students often don't remember the website or are unfamiliar with the interface as it's alien to their routine.
My suggestion: let's use something that has become ubiquitous online - Facebook
Note: I am going with this site as opposed to its competition for various reasons. First, it is more popular than others; second, it has security settings limiting who can access material; and finally, it has an easy-to-use interface.
The last factor is especially important. My last boss (at the insurance software company I worked for) asked me once if I knew why Google had come to dominate the search engine business. I replied that it was due to their logarithm and its advanced search capabilities. He took a swig of cola and a bite from his Big Mac, leaving ketchup on his face and onion in the air, and gave me a smug reply: Google, no matter how good its search engine is, is the site of choice due to its simplicity of use and aesthetic cleanliness. We cannot discount the look and feel of a site.
So I decided to use Facebook in two ways: first as a course management system (CMS, see TIFLE book for the Dook article) {that's Duke University - but I prefer their actual name}; and second, as a means of ACMC.
I have currently created the Facebook group for my students and have started posting links, grades, assignments, etc.
I've also started a few threads for out-of-class discussion.
We'll see how this goes...
PS:
I am adopting an information science theory here. As discussed in class, FL doesn't do well sharing with other disciplines. I hope to change this by including IS theory here, specifically the TAM system (technology acceptance model) which builds upon previous research. The gist of this schematic is that the perceived ease of use, and the extant use of a technology system correlates directly with the actual usage of said system.
More on this in future posts.....Please comment if this interests you or if you think TAM and other IS theory may help in your own research.
PPS:
The main guy doing research in TAM shares my first initial and last name. We are not the same person.
A worldwideweb log. Technology in foreign language education.
About Me
- Vinodh Venkatesh
- MA student at UF. UNC class of 2005. Food. Sports. Technology. Mac. Spain.
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5 comments:
I think your research idea is awesome! I think using a sit that students are already comfortable with is a wonderful way to make them feel comfortable using a new language. Having students do tasks for your class while they are already on facebook for personal reasons should really increase motivation I think! Good luck!
This is great Vinodh, you definitely have a long road to go here with web 2.0 in Fl education but I think that a site like facebook is probably one of the most obvious cases that our research can use. Your ex-boss is right about Google's simplicity but there is more to it..I got curious the other day and explored about how the company works, the owners etc..and it is a different world. This people are not only re-shaping the online market but the whole corp. environment as well. Anyways, facebook's simplicity is of great advantage...in that sense I think they also belong to the new kind of online corp. that is here to stay. Have you thought of inviting native speakers from outside the class to the group?
Hi Vinodh,
I share that the Web 2.0 software Facebook could act as a classroom tool for a classroom community - especially it can used as an effective pedagogical. We, as teachers, can use sites like Facebook as a tool, in order to develop a sense of community with our students. It is true that Facebook, alike others, such as MySpace, would be more appropriate and safer to use in the classroom, since the viewing of other’s profile is restricted to friends only. Besides, access needs approving, which limits the risk of undesired visitors. All in all, that students are able to work collaboratively and constructively together is highly propitious.
To my mind, for instance, comes the experience of starting a group on Facebook and the main preoccupation was the long-term plans for this group, specially because after their experience (e.g., those groups of studying abroad on Facebook, such as: “Sólo en Español...summer of 2007” or “CCCS - Sevilla 07”), the use of Facebook decreased or even disappeared. Needless to say, if the purpose of creating a group is more general or even more specific, I believe that students could collaborate even after the semester or your research has finished (e.g.: “You know you've lived in Spain when...”)
However, I have some questions I would like to pose: how effective would Facebook be in keeping in touch with classmates?; what would your goals be when you started the group?; do you find it a good way of learning new information?; how long do you think the group would last? I have already encountered the answered for some of these questions and I would like to share them with you.
Regarding Facebook, I think the problem is that it may make people a bit TOO connected. I don't like being asked to participate in Poll X or Game Y from a friend from 10 years ago that I rarely keep in touch with. I mainly use Facebook as a way of having easy access to all of my contacts in a single place even if I don't necessarily feel the need to contact them every other day. I can't be bothered with updating my status and sending out chain letters and whatnot. Don't get me wrong, SNS like Facebook and MySpace can be quite fun, but as with anything, they must be used in moderation.
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