Computer-Mediated Communication How is it actually being used in the classroom? Randall Sadler

Computer-Mediated Communication

How is it actually being used in the classroom?

Randall Sadler

Why is this important?

• Some might argue that an increased use of CMC might lead to greater communicative competence, thus avoiding things like this……..

• Clearly, a respectable hotel!• But what about people who WANT

to leave their values in the car?????

CALL versus CMC• CALL self-contained, programmed applications (e.g., tutorials,

drill, simulations, instructional games, standardized tests, such as TOEFL, TSE) [e.g. Rosetta Stone]

• CMC a different kind of CALL– computers connected in local or global networks – human-to-human communication is the focus (K&W:1)

• computer as tutor computer as tool (Crook, 1994)

Why use CMC?

• Experiential & Social Learning (Dewey, 1916), (Kilpatrick , 1918)

• Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1934)

• Constructivist Theory (Piaget, 1967)

• Interaction Hypothesis (Long & Robinson,1998)

• Negotiation Model (Doughty, 2000)

Also...• extends interaction possibilities beyond

classroom walls; time constraints; and the usual limited type of interlocutors of classroom pair and group work (Belcher,99)

• Allows learners to engage in “playful” interaction (Belz & Reinhardt, 2004)

• enhances opportunities and motivation for authentic interaction and meaning negotiation (Kern, 1995)

And don’t forget…• reduces anxiety and produces more talk (Fanderclai,

1995; Harris, 1995; Kern, 1992; Reid, 1994, Smith 2003)

• improves linguistic proficiency and increases self-confidence (Beauvois & Eledge, 1996; Gebhard & Nagamine, 2005).

• Simulations... [allow] students to be immersed and actively involved in an environment that is not otherwise accessible (González-Lloret, 2003, citing 3 others)

CMC is….

• “Cutting edge technology”• “New”• “Groundbreaking”• “…will change the world.”• OF THE 1970s!• (yes, I made up the quotes—but I’m

sure somebody said that!)

• PLATO Notes, 1973, one of the 1st online message boards.

• By 1976, included:– Personal Notes (e-mail),

– Talkomatic (chat rooms),

– Term-Talk (instant messaging),

– monitor mode (remote screen sharing)

– and emoticons.

• Online (interterminal) games70s & 80s,– Empire (multiplayer Star Trek game),

– Airfight (“just” like Microsoft Flight Simulator),

– dnd and Rogue. Moria, Dry Gulch. – Avatar (one of the first MUDs).

The point is…

• This is NOT new technology.

• It has matured for decades,

• has great potential,

• but…are teachers really using it?

Research Questions: to put it simply

• What CMC tools are teachers using at home?

• What CMC tools are they using in their teaching?

• How are they having their students use CMC for language learning?

Data Collection

• Stratified Sample of TESOL membership

• Survey mailed to 400 current members

• 50% U.S.

• 50% International

• Data collection ongoing…..and ongoing

Results: Respondents (N=95)

International Participants

Age (mean=32.8, Median=40, mode=37)

Males vs. Females: A breakdown

Highest Degree Earned

Years of Teaching ExperienceMean=12.3

Current Teaching Leveltotal = 142??

Computer Access

• Home– Computer & Equipment– Internet Access

• Work– Computer & Equipment– Internet Access

Home computers

Home Internet

Self Ratings: Home Tech (by %)

I pay a hefty monthly fee to have a high speed internet connection. Where I live, the only high speed choice is through cable. No competition stinks! (US)

In Cameroon only the rich can afford home internet. However those facilities are found in business places and we do use them. A few city schools have multimedia centers with these facilities.

Office Computers (total = 95)

Office Internet

Ratings: Office Tech (by %)•We've recently been given 'tablets‘ and wireless connection (UK)

•Teachers do not have offices but a staffroom for all where we can have a break between classes; so that room is not designed for any kind of work. There is however a multimedia room, with 20 computers but no internet connection. The material is used to initiate students to computers. Most of the times, there are about 3 or 4 on the same computer. Our school principal is the only one to access to the internet connection. (Mali)

•Many sites are blocked because they are web chat. Would love to have access to whole internet (US)

CMC Use

1. Teacher Personal Use

2. Teacher use for Teaching

3. How teachers have their students use CMC

Teacher Personal Use (%)  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???Word processing 72 23 4 1 0 0Surf Net 91 6 2 1 0 0Research 66 29 4 1 0 0E-mail 95 3 1 0 0 0

Teacher Classroom Use (%)

  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ?

Word processing 59 27 8 2 4 0PowerPoint 12 19 34 23 14 0Surf Net 47 31 12 7 3 0Research 40 30 12 6 3 0E-mail 54 23 11 8 4 0

Teacher Classroom Use (%)

  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???

Word processing 59 ↓13% 27 8 2 4 0PowerPoint 12 19 34 23 14 0Surf Net 47 ↓44% 31 12 7 3 0Research 40 ↓26% 30 12 6 3 0E-mail 54 ↓43% 23 11 8 4 0

Personal Use part 2 (%)Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???

Text Chat 27 17 12 25 19 0Audio Chat 12 20 10 22 32 3Video Chat 9 9 11 23 44 4Forums 5 16 26 28 25 1MOOs, etc. 0 1 1 7 38 52Blogs 10 10 17 15 41 6Wikis 14 24 20 19 19 3Soc Networking 14 12 18 19 30 8Vitual Worlds 3 1 7 7 55 27Use in a lang class 21 30 12 22 14 0Use to improve L2 21 20 25 17 16 0

Classroom Use, part 2 (%)  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???

Text Chat 3 7 10 17 60 2

Audio Chat 2 2 7 16 69 30

Video Chat 1 2 8 10 75 3

Forums 2 6 17 25 46 3

MOOs, etc. 0 1 4 5 44 46

Blogs 1 6 13 12 62 6

Wikis 8 20 17 13 38 4

Soc Networking 1 3 5 12 72 7

Virtual Worlds 0 2 1 12 68 17

Use in a lang class 28 32 16 8 16 0

Use to improve L2 16 23 16 18 27 0

Teacher Classroom Use, part 2

 Daily

Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ??

Text Chat 3 7 10 17 60 ↑41% 2Audio Chat 2 2 7 16 69 ↑37% 30Video Chat 1 2 8 10 75 ↑31% 3Forums 2 6 17 25 46 ↑21% 3MOOs, etc. 0 1 4 5 44 ↑3% 46Blogs 1 6 13 12 62 ↑21% 6Wikis 8 20 17 13 38 ↑19% 4Soc Networking 1 3 5 12 72 ↑42% 7Virtual Worlds 0 2 1 12 68 ↑13% 17Use in a lang class 28 32 16 8 16 ↑2% 0Use to improve L2 16 23 16 18 27 ↑11% 0

There ARE some positives!•Some students would contact me in the facebook…and I think this is a good way for them to practice writing messages…. (Taiwan)

•I use it mainly for research in the classroom. (US)

•I plan to use blogs in the future. (Italy)

•the internet is indispensible to me in teaching. (US)

•The use of some of these (text chat, audio chat, forums) is typical only in my graduate classes, in which we use virtual classrooms like wiziq. This takes place once a year (1 out of 3 terms). During the term, the frequency of use has a weekly basis. (Venezuela)

Teacher Classroom Use, part 2

  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ??

Text Chat 3 7 10 17 60 ↑41% 2Audio Chat 2 2 7 16 69 ↑37% 30Video Chat 1 2 8 10 75 ↑31% 3Forums 2 6 17 25 46 ↑21% 3MOOs, etc. 0 1 4 5 44 ↑3% 46Blogs 1 6 13 12 62 ↑21% 6Wikis 8 20 17 13 38 ↑19% 4Soc Networking 1 3 5 12 72 ↑42% 7Virtual Worlds 0 2 1 12 68 ↑13% 17Use in a lang class 28 32 16 8 16 ↑2% 0Use to improve L2 16 23 16 18 27 ↑11% 0

And some negatives as well•sometimes , we run our of computer because of constant beakdowns or lack of electricity or viruses because somme sutdents in opening their inboxes bring viruses… (Mali)

•Where we work, we are not supposed to e-mail students. (Peru)

•I would love for them to chat, but it is not possible on our system. (US)

•…we are only starting using computer technologies for teaching in our country and there is very few computers and computer labs…and the connections are very poor and the universities have no money to pay for different Internet programms… (Ukraine)

•When more technoloies are applied, I have to memorize a lot of usage process. Sometimes it is a challenge to me! (?)

How Ts ask Students to use (%)

  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???

Word processing 21 39 22 7 11 0PowerPoint 3 12 31 26 28 0Surf Net 17 31 35 10 7 0Research 17 32 31 15 5 0E-mail 23 29 27 9 12 0

How Ts ask Students to use (%)

Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???

Text Chat 7 5 10 17 61 0Audio Chat 4 7 8 12 69 0Video Chat 4 2 7 15 72 0Forums 4 10 8 18 56 5MOOs, etc. 1 0 5 6 48 40Blogs 4 8 7 16 58 7Wikis 5 12 22 16 41 7Soc Networking 6 2 5 11 70 6Vitual Worlds 1 5 2 10 67 15Use in a lang class 21 33 21 14 10 1Use to improve L2 20 23 21 21 10 5

•Some of these things are DEFINATELY against our county policy for saftey reasons!•I ask my students to use the Internet at home and then we discauu what they read or watched or studeid in class•We don't allow audio, video and text chat because it slows down our system too much.•We have forums on Moodle and use them a lot. I also set up a wiki for an international exchange.•I have students in some classes use blogs and wikis daily for projects that might continue for several weeks, but we also go for periods of weeks not using them at all.•My students do many of these, but not for language learning.

But what about traditional CALL?

And what exactly ARE they using?•DynEd •Proprietary program, Efekta TOEFL Tense Buster Cambridge Exam prep other UK based programs•eslstation.net•Connected Speech•BABLEFISH•Transparent language•Hot Potatoes Exercises•specally on biology programms related to medical grounds•Let's Do Business•English DisYahooligans read.think.write.org•Edusoft, Connected Speech•English Discoveries; Focus on Grammar

So, what does this mean???

• In short, the teachers who participated in this survey generally place very low importance on either CALL or CMC in their classrooms……………

• After all, on average 74% of them “rarely” or “never” have their students use CMC for language learning!

• Or do they value it after all?

How important a role does CALL play in your class this year?

Extremely very important somewhat not 5 16 21 15 44

How important a role does CMC play in your class this year?

Extremely very important somewhat not 10 18 19 17 36

Conclusions

• Tools with clear practical benefits (e.g. Wikis) are being used.

• In many locations economic challenges are preventing the use of CMC.

• However, in other nations CMC use is still problematic due to technical restrictions

Thanks!!!rsadler@illinois.edu