Online Cafés for Heritage Learners

Building online

inter-institutional learning communities

NFLRC – University of Hawai‘i

June 17-21, 2008

Daily presentation agenda

June 17 (T) - Building community: anticipating challenges, defining parameters

June 18 (W) - Defining content, tasks, activitiesJune 19 (H) - Pedagogical considerations for

teaching in online communitiesJune 20 (F) - Considerations for

classroom-based action researchJune 21 (S) - Project showcase

Range of café formats

NL send, TL receive

TL send and receive

NL/TL send and receive

Workshop café projects

Japanese, HS - NL send, TL receive

(cultura model)Samoan, HS, CC, UH - TL send/receive

(e-pathways)Filipino, UH, UC - TL send-receive

(heritage service clubs)Chinese, UH, Sun Yat-Sen - NL s, TL, r

(China-US business exchange)

Pedagogy of Intercultural Understanding

Communities of practiceConstructionismInquiry-based learningNetwork-based communication

environmentsFurstenberg 2006

Communities provide social contexts for learning

Individuals (re)construct identity through community experiences

Experiences accumulated by participation in social contexts

Social participation as learning processWenger 1998

Individuals migrate among cultural contexts

Individuals import practices and perspectives from one community context to…another

Boundary encountersBrokers straddle communities and facilitate

alignment between perspectivesBrokers provide participative connection due to

experience and multi-membership (legitimacy) Wenger 1998

Communities of practice

A group of individuals participating in a communal activityWenger

Social learning groups that form when people have a common interest and collaborate over time…

Lave and Wenger 1991

In CoPs co-constructed knowledge – larger than individual knowledge – is developed through discussion and collaboration Johnson 2001

Sociocultural theory

Human activities take place in cultural contexts mediated by language and other symbol systems

Emphasizes interdependence of social and individual processes in the

“co-construction of knowledge”Vygotsky

Constructionism

Learning happens especially well when people are engaged in constructing a product such as a machine, a computer program or a book…

Papert

Constructivism (Piaget)

Learners with different skills/backgrounds collaborate to arrive at shared understanding

Duffy and Jonassen 1992

Learners arrive at own version of the “truth” based on background, culture, world view

Gredler 1997

Students produce and analyze their own dataFurstenberg 2001

Inquiry based-learning

A student-centered, active learning approach focusing on questioning, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

Associated with the idea "involve me and I will understand." Bass

Network-based communication environments

Computer-mediated technologies provide opportunities for virtual communities of practice.

Hybrid/distributed formats provide opportunities to integrate face-to-face instruction, on-line elements, off-line elements.

Hybrid/distributed formats

Face-to-face instruction

On-line elements

Off-line elements

Viability of online communities of practiceAccess (++)

Asynchronous (+)

Archived (+)

Nonthreatening (+)

Disconnected (-) =======> lack of community

http://web.mit.edu/french/culturaNEH/

East-West Cafe

La Tour Eiffel

meets Diamond Head

Nurturing CoPs online

Share opinions and feelings

Group knowledge developed

Cohesion - Wenger

– reference to other postings

– low redundancy

Pedagogy of online communities

Task: relevant/personally important

Task: clearly defined with clear outcome

Teacher: prime the pump

Teacher: share responsibility/management

Goals for using technology in teaching and learning

Slow down the learning experience

Make thinking visible

Create a culture and context of reflective practice

Bass

Project considerations

Overall goals Mode

Participant cohorts Motivation

Level of language ability Role of eacher

Language(s) of exchange Timeframe

East-West Café students

East-West Café students

East-West Café students

East-West Café students

East-West Café students

East-West Café students

East-West Café students

East-West Café students

East-West Cafe students

East West Café students

East West Café students

Bass, R. (2000). Hyper activity and under construction: Learning Culture in a Wired World. http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/hauc3-00_files/v3_document.htm

Duffy, D & Jonassen, D.H. (1992). Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Furstenberg, G., Levet, S., English, K., & Maillet, K. (2001). Giving a voice to the Silent Language of Culture: The Cultura Project. Language Learning & Technology, 5(1), 55-102. http://llt.msu.edu/vol5num1/furstenburg/default.html

Gredler, M. E. (1997). Learning and Instruction: Theory and Practice (3rd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

Lave, J & Wenger E (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Papert, S. (1980s). Mindstorms. Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas. New York: Basic Books.

Piaget, Jean. (1950). The Psychology of Intelligence. New York. Routledge.

Proust, M. (1932). La Prisionnière. Paris: Gallimard.

Vygotsky, L. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bibliography