Week 1: Question 2

[edwige...@gmail.com]

“It makes little sense [to use e-learning] to replicate or stimulate
traditional face to face approach.” (Anderson & Garrisson, p2) Do you
agree with this statement? If using new technologies to “port our
classrooms” to the web is NOT the right thing to, then what is the
right thing to do?

[Skyler]

This statement stood out for me. This has been one of my largest
criticisms of e-learning: that it would always fail to live up to
human contact. I have come to see that that isn't even the point. In
this way I can see how I reproduced the observation made on page 7, I
believe, about newer technologies initially being used to replace old
ones (i.e. Internet for mail). I had been seeing e-learning as a poor
replication or a lazy substitute for real-time teaching. The "right
thing" for e-learning seems to be the development of a learning
community that is true to its own form, which is sprawling and
asynchronous. It facilitates the development of a larger community at
the same time that it allows for independent participation. Beyond
that, I have trouble providing examples of specifics of ways that e-
learning should be used. I have been a part of the camp resisting e-
learning, as a result, I am ignorant of its possibilities and
applications.

[Yoshie]

I don't know if I can fully agree with the statement. If I were to
take an online foreign language course, I would like to have something
similar to 'face-to-face' communication as much as possible to
practice the language. But I don't think that to "port our classrooms"
to the web is the right thing to do. It's important for the educators
to understand what is capable and what is not and take advantage of
the available technology.

[Maggie McCullar]

I think the key lies in the statement, "port our classrooms" to the
web. I have been resistant to e-learning for the very reason that I
feel it will be very hard to replicate the classroom setting and the
face-to-face approach. So, maybe the answer lies in redirecting the
objective: Just as we tell our students that in order to learn a
foreign language, they must stop translating directly from their
native language, so should we, as future online teachers, stop trying
to directly translate our face-to-face classrooms to a virtual one.
For example, when imagining an online course, I keep thinking about
what goes on in my classroom, and how I can do the same thing on the
web. But maybe I need to put that aside and work backwards in a
sense. Maybe the right answer is thinking about what the existing
technologies offer and THEN begin to construct a virtual classroom...

On Jan 15, 10:17 am, edwige.si...@gmail.com wrote:

[Petra]

Skyler, I had the same reservations as you that e-learning was just
some replication for real-time teaching when a friend of mine took
over teaching an online class in German. Beyond the point that it
facilitates a different and larger community and allows for
independent participation, I was struck by the argument that it leads
toward critical thinking and "reflexive text-based interaction" (p
6). One thing that I have found difficult in my language classes is
that students are often reluctant to produce written answers in class
and sometimes even at home. They are fine as long as they only have
to plug in words but don't like to produce a longer sentence or even
paragraph about a text. The interesting question would be, if e-
learning would force students to write more and on a truly deeper
level in the target language as Anderson seems to suggest.

[Edwige Simon]

I think we tend to oppose online learning and onsite learning as if it had to be one or the other. Some schools and universities are experimenting with "hybrid course" where a part of the course happens online. Like you said Petra, online learning environments are very much text-based, which represents an excellent opportunity for our students to develop their writing skills. Asynchronous computer mediated communication is half way between spoken and written language, and if we provide very clear directions on what we expect in terms of structure and quality, we can use it to scaffold both better writing and better speaking skills. Any idea how we could use asynchronous CMC in a hybrid context? How would you incorporate a discussion forum in a third year class that meets face to face 3 days a week? and for what purpose?

[edwige...@gmail.com]

Teaching a language online is difficult to do, providing that we want
to do it well, of course. This is why I would never advise anybody to
move a language class to the web, just for the sake of doing it.
From my experience (and we can talk to Lisa about this next week),
online language courses mostly serve the purpose of providing access
to language instruction where it would not be otherwise possible. It
includes high schools who can't afford language teachers, and it
especially is relevant in the context of less commonly taught
languages. Designing an online course represents a lot of work and
even with the best intentions and proper training, the outcome is
always satisfactory. It is important to have a good reason to offer a
course online or we might indeed end up with "a poor replication of
real time teaching".

On Jan 16, 1:52 pm, Skyler <skylerar...@gmail.com> wrote:

[edwige...@gmail.com]

I really like your analogy with literal translation!