Using a Social Networking Site for Experiential Learning

8102019 Using a Social Networking Site for Experiential Learning

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullusing-a-social-networking-site-for-experiential-learning 19

Using a social networking site for experiential learning Appropriating lurking

modeling and community building

Nike Arnold a1 Trena Paulus b12

a Portland State University Department of Applied Linguistics PO Box 751 Portland OR 97207-0751 USAb University of Tennessee Educational Psychology and Counseling 515BEC 1122 Volunteer Blvd Knoxville TN 37996-3452 USA

a b s t r a c ta r t i c l e i n f o

Keywords

Social networking site

Vicarious interaction

Case study

Experiential learning

Lurking

Teacher education

With social networking sites playing an increasingly important role in todays society educators are

exploring how they can be used as a teaching and learning tool This article reports the 1047297ndings of a

qualitative case study about the integration of Ning into a blended course The study draws on the

perspectives of the students the instructor and an outside observer to explore the intended and unintended

outcomes of Ning use As intended by the instructor the site effectively served as an information repository

and the blogs and discussion forums promoted re1047298ection and review of each others work Unintended

outcomes included community building and modeling both of which are types of vicarious interaction that

fall into the category of pedagogical lurking

copy 2010 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved

1 Introduction

With blogs wikis and social networking sites (SNSs) the Internet

has entered the new era of Web 20 which goes beyond linking

information to connecting people (Warschauer 2009) Facebook andother SNSs are becoming more prevalent in educational environ-

ments with educators exploring how such tools can be used for

teaching and learning (Schwartz 2009 Terris 2009) Social network-

ing sites differ from and provide an alternative to proprietary course

management systems such as Blackboard since SNSs emphasize

community and collaboration They are designed to combine

individual pro1047297le pages with group interaction tools such as chat

blogs and discussion forums Many existing SNSs are free and can be

incorporated by teachers without additional cost which is why they

can be particularly useful when teaching courses on technology

integration in the classroom Through the use of experiential learning

techniques students themselves learn the computer-mediated com-

munication (CMC) technologies they will eventually use in their own

teachingThis paper describes the useof a publicly availableSNS Ning and its integration into a blended university course on computer-

assisted language learning (CALL)

Our study is informed by a re1047298ective practice stance more

speci1047297cally a retrospective re1047298ection-on-action perspective (Schoumln

1983) Framed as a case study (Merriam 1998) we drew upon data

from three perspectives (that of the course instructor the students

and an outside observer) to explore how the Ning site served as an

online presence for the class rede1047297ned the meaning of interaction

and modeled the potential of technology to support language

learning By including the students as well as an outsiders

perspective we do not focus exclusively on theteacher a shortcoming

of the re1047298ective practice stance identi1047297ed by Kumaravadivelu (2003)We integrated these three perspectives as follows Dr Arnold the

instructor of the course described and re1047298ected upon the context of

the course and articulated her design decisions for using the Ning tool

In this article she presents her descriptions and re1047298ections in her own

voice using the1047297rst person The students perspectives were obtained

through interview data collected by Dr Paulus an instructional

designer with 11 years of experience using and researching comput-

er-mediated communication in language and other teaching environ-

ments She analyzed the content and structure of the Ning site to

provide an outside perspective on what was happening in the class

Both Dr Arnold and Dr Paulus collaborated on iterations of the data

analysis to answer the research questions Together these three

perspectives mdash instructor student and outside observer mdash shed light

on the potential for SNSs to support learning

2 Conceptual framework

From a pedagogical stance CMC tools offer a variety of bene1047297ts

such as an increased potential for student-to-student and student-to-

instructor interaction outside of traditional class time (Garrison

Anderson amp Archer 2000) In distance learning environments this

may lead to a greater sense of community which in turn can motivate

learners and decrease attrition rates (Rovai 2003) In hybrid or

blended learning environments however students sense of com-

munity may come primarily from the face-to-face meeting time

Internet and Higher Education 13 (2010) 188ndash196

Corresponding author Tel +1 44 503725 8258 fax +1 44 503725 4139

E-mail addresses narnoldpdxedu (N Arnold) tpaulusutkedu (T Paulus)1 Contributed equally to this article2 Tel +1 44 865974 8144 fax +1 44 865974 0135

1096-7516$ ndash see front matter copy 2010 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved

doi101016jiheduc201004002

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Internet and Higher Education



Providing additional venues for interaction is especially valuable

for foreign language learning where exposure to the target language

is often limited CMC can provide authentic contextualized language

input beyond the con1047297nes of the classroom (Luke 2006) Chat email

and other forms of electronic communication can serve as a space for

meaningful interaction that promotes cultural pragmatic and lin-

guistic competence by allowing learners to use the language with

native speakers or other learners (Abrams 2006 Lomicka 2006)

Given its pedagogical potential for language instruction futurelanguage teachers like theparticipants of our study need to be able to

make informed decisions about appropriate CMC implementation

This is one reason CMC hasbeen integrated into many teacher training

programs Electronic discussions for example are a valuable tool for

teacher development because they can encourage information

exchange collaboration re1047298ection and problem solving (Arnold amp

Ducate 2006)

For many language teachers the decision whether and how to use

CALL including CMC is no longer based solely on their personal

preference but in1047298uenced by curricular requirements or employer

demands (Kessler 2006) This growing pressure further emphasizes

the need to provide teacher candidates with adequate training in how

to make effective use of technology Recognizing the importance of

such training teacher educators have debated not only which skills

and knowledge are necessary (Compton 2009 Teachers of English to

Speakers of Other Languages 2009) but also the format of such

training (Hubbard 2008 Hubbard amp Levy 2006) To help future

teachers understand the connection between theory and practice as

well as facilitate the application of their new skills and knowledge in

the classroom some scholars have called for training that explicitly

connects with realistic teaching contexts ldquoClearly CALL teacher

education must be more like the contexts in which such language

instruction takes placerdquo (Egbert 2006 p 168) There are several

pedagogical approaches to achieve this such as project based

learning situated learning and experiential learning

Experiential learning is ldquothe process whereby knowledge is

created through the transformation of experience Knowledge results

from the combination of grasping and transforming experiencerdquo

(Kolb 1984 p 41) According to the four-stage model of experientiallearning learners engage in re1047298ection and observation based on

concrete experiences in order to synthesize them into abstract

concepts which then form the basis for active experimentation

(Kolb Boyatzis amp Mainemelis 2001) The course described here was

designed to promote experiential learning by allowing students to

experience CMC as learners (concrete experience) and re1047298ecton these

experiences (re1047298ection) Students were asked to draw on both of

these course components when formulating their personal philoso-

phies about if and how to use CALL in their own teaching (abstract

concept) which it was hoped would inform their future teaching

(active experimentation)

The class investigated for this study used several CMC tools

through a SNS While instructional uses of CMC have been

investigated extensively research on the educational potential of SNSs is still in its infancy As Mitchell (2009) described students self-

motivated use of Facebook can promote language learning in a variety

of ways The idea of creating expressing and experimenting with

identities a central aspect of SNSs seems to have signi1047297cant

pedagogical potential (McBride 2009) especially within the meth-

odological framework of critical language learning (Halvorsen 2009)

As described by Blattner and Fiori (2009) Facebook can be used for

language instruction to promote socio-pragmatic competence Ob-

serving groups on Facebook can raise learners awareness of linguistic

issues such as regional language variation as well as provide

opportunities to put pragmatic knowledge to use while engaging in

communicative acts

As described above social networking can be an informal

(Mitchell 2009 Stevenson amp Liu 2010) or formal learning tool in

blended or onlineenvironments Therole of social networking tools in

blended environments has been investigated less frequently than in

fully distant environments How and why faculty and students use

SNSs as part of blended environments warrants further study This

study is intended to contribute to our understanding of how SNSs can

be used to support blended learning environments as well as model

technology integration practices to future teachers More speci1047297cally

we wanted to investigate the following research questions

1 How did the students in this blended course use the Ning site

2 What were student perceptions of Ning

3 How did the modeling of Ning use impact students plans to use

CMC andor SNS tools in their future teaching

4 How were the instructor goals for the use of the site met

3 Methodology

31 Research design and data collection

A qualitative case study (Merriam 1998) was our strategy to

explore this blended learning environment Merriam (1998) empha-

sizes that qualitative design is emergent with a recursive dynamic

process of data collection and analysis After receiving IRB ap-

proval from both our institutions the following data sources were

gathered a student questionnaire the content of the Ning site and

student interviews All data collection instruments are available

upon request

The questionnaire was administered to the students at the end of

the quarter and gathered the following information (1) demograph-

ics (age gender native language and undergraduate or graduate

status) (2) type of previous language teaching experience (language

and level) and (3) previous experience learning languages with

instructional technology (language and technologies) Further to

assess their level of technology use participantswere asked to take an

online quiz available from the Pew Internet and American Life Project

which categorizes respondents as oneof ten types on their technology

user taxonomy (Horrigan 2007)

After grades were entered at the end of the term all content fromparticipating students was downloaded from the Ning site for analysis

This included nine memberpro1047297le pages 14 wall comments 143

discussion forum posts 81 blog posts and three group pages (with

nine commentsposts) Students position papers were also down-

loaded for analysis Completed towards the end of the course this

assignment required students to draw on information from the

professional literature as well as their own experiences in the course

to formulate their personal philosophy of the role CALL can play to

promote language learning

Allparticipants were invited to participate in a one hour interview

Four participants (Ruth Tsukiko Gary and Karen) agreed to be

interviewed To allow students to speak openly about their opinions

Dr Paulus the outside observer conducted the interviews Since she

was not located in the same state as the participants synchronousinstant messenger tools were used for the interviews Participants

chose the tool they were most comfortable with and a variety of tools

(Skype Yahoo and Gmail) were used These text-based interviews

were automatically archived for analysis

32 Participants

Eight of the ten students consented to participate in the research

study Pseudonyms are used throughout this paper As illustrated in

Table 1 two students were male and the rest were female Their ages

ranged from 20 to 26 and two were non-native speakers of English

Four were undergraduates and four were graduates They had a range

of previous teaching experiences and experiences learning with

technology While four participants were ldquo

omnivoresrdquo

(heavy users)

189N Arnold T Paulus Internet and Higher Education 13 (2010) 188ndash196



of technology according to the Pew taxonomyothers made less use of

technology in their daily lives Pavla who was classi1047297e d as

ldquoconnected but hassledrdquo represented the lowest level of technology

use of this class being at level 5 of the taxonomys ten levels

33 Data analysis

We analyzed the data in an inductive iterative manner using a

modi1047297ed form of the constant comparative method guided by the

research questions (Bogdan amp Biklen 2007 Strauss amp Corbin 1998)

Merriam (1998) outlines three phases in this type of qualitative data

analysis intensive analysis developing categories and developing

theory Since we were interested in how students used the Ning site

we calculated descriptive tallies of the communication that took place

in the site (eg number of posts and comments made) as well as

reading through and making notes on the content of the site We

compared our initial descriptive tallies and notes with questionnaire

responses interviews and position papers Intensive analysis began as

we read and re-read the data each making notes and re1047298ections to

isolate the most striking aspects comparing and noting themes

related to theresearchquestionsWe kept a list of the major ideas thatcut across the data searching for regularities and patterns similar to

open coding as described by Strauss and Corbin (1998) Units of data

were isolated and labeled in the margins of the paper transcripts in

preparation for the next phase of developing categories We then

developed our initial lists into categories Similar to axial coding

(Strauss amp Corbin 1998) we sorted the concrete units into more

abstract categories Through an iterative process of convergence and

divergence we organized emerging categories and subcategories

Finally through a process of selective coding we developed a tentative

set of 1047297ndings From the initial concrete codes we identi1047297ed abstract

themes which were then compared to the data and to the literature

until the 1047297nal iteration of 1047297ndings were agreed upon

34 Course context and design decisions

We now move to a description of the course and the design

decisions made by Dr Arnold the course instructor This description

was written prior to data collection and analysis and it is written in

the 1047297rst person

I teach in an applied linguistics department at a large urban

university in thePaci1047297c Northwest Our program is primarily designed

for future teachers of English as a secondforeign language and offers

an MA in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) At

the undergraduate level the majority of our students are enrolled in a

certi1047297cate program In the winter quarter 2009 I taught a course

called ldquoComputer Assisted Language Learningrdquo (CALL) This was the

1047297rst time the course was offered and it was cross-listed as an elective

for undergraduate and graduate credit To allow for the seamless

integration of technology during class time the course met in a

computer lab

In light of the fact that most of our students are planning to

become professional language educators the pedagogical aspect of

CALL wasmy main focusMore speci1047297cally I wanted to equip students

with a solid knowledge and skill foundation to make informed

decisions about whether and how to use CALL in their own teaching

One of the main pedagogical principles driving my design of this

course was experiential education I 1047297rst experienced instructional

technology in a graduate class where online discussions allowed me

to step out of my self-imposed role as an outsider and become a more

active participant This experience is the basis for my belief in the

power of experiencing an instructional approach or tool1047297rsthand For

this course this meant providing students with the opportunity to

experience a variety of technological tools as userslearners This

would allow them to experience 1047297rst hand the potential bene1047297ts and

drawbacks of instructional technology

In selecting the thematic focus of this class I chose tools that

(1)do notrequire a lot of technological expertise from theteacher and

learners (2) are commonly used by members of the Net Generation

(Oblinger amp Oblinger 2005) and (3) are available at no cost In my

experience training future language teachers these criteria cansigni1047297cantly facilitate the implementation of instructional technology

Ultimately I decided that I wanted my students to work with four

applications mdash blog chat wiki and online discussion Many course

management systems like Blackboard now offer features like blogs

chats wikis and online discussions While they are available to many

instructors af 1047297liated with large institutions (usually in higher

education) they are not usually not an option for teachers in the

public school system Therefore I searched for an alternative that

would be more accessible to these future teachers

I also wanted to provide an online presence for the course I

envisioned this online presence mainly as an information resource

(similar to a course management system) as well as a portal for all the

tools that students would be working with Community building a

common reason for using SNSs was not a signi1047297cant factor in thisdecision-making process I felt that our class meetings which were all

conducted face-to-face would be the primary force in promoting a

supportive learning community

Social networking and group sites often include the tools I wanted

to use I decided against Facebook or MySpace because of their focus on

individual pro1047297les Joining Facebook requires creating an individual

pro1047297le after which users add friends join groups provide status

updates and comment on others activities My intention however

was 1047297rst and foremost to create a space for the class as a whole Ning

in contrast is group-centered somebody creates a site for a group

before inviting potential members to join the group While each Ning

site can be set up with blogs chats and online discussions it does not

include a wiki feature Unfortunately no other SNS or group site

offered all the features I was looking for so I settled for Ning and

Table 1

Description of participants

Name of

participant

Age N at ive

language

Status Type of previous teaching

experience

Previous experience learning

with instructional technology

Level of technology use Participated

in interview

Karen 23 English Graduate College level ESL Software for learning German Omnivore X

Pavla 21 Russian Under-gradu ate No teaching experience Course management s ystem Connected but hassled ndash

Alissa 26 English Graduate No teaching experience No experience Productivity enhancer ndash

Ruth 25 English Under-graduate Tutoring ESL Online exercises and tests for

learning Spanish

Connector X

Gary 24 English Graduate College level Japanese Audio and notes of class lectures Omnivore XAnette 26 English Graduate No teaching experience No experience Omnivore ndash

Tsukiko 25 Japanese Under-graduate Elementary school Japanese Software for learning English Omnivore X

Car l 20 En glish Under -g raduat e No te aching exper ience Sof twar e f or learning Spanish +cour se

management system

Lackluster veteran ndash

190 N Arnold T Paulus Internet and Higher Education 13 (2010) 188ndash196



supplemented it with an outside wiki tool Fig 1 is a screen shot of the

main Ning page

At the beginning of the course I encouraged students to make the

Ning site their own and use it in whatever way they saw 1047297t I also

encouraged students to experiment with and tailor the tools made

availableto them through Ning when they were getting ready to work

on their group projects To facilitate collaboration I set up an outside

wiki and a separate page for each group on our Ning site Each group

then picked the features of their page (eg they decided if theywanted to have a discussion board on their group page)

After registering a personal page is set up for each user During

this process the user must respond to a series of pro1047297le questions

determined by the sites administrator To promote a feeling of

ownership I asked the students to decide which questions to include

to facilitate their getting to know each other This information was

then visible on each individual pro1047297le student status teaching

experience reason for taking the class goals for the class how they

currently use technology Delicious user name (a bookmarking site we

used in class) and membership status in other SNSs (eg Facebook)

4 Findings

Next we describe how students used the Ning site their

perceptions of the site how they plan to use technology in their

future teaching and how well the site helped the instructor reach the

goals for her course

41 Research question 1 student use of the Ning site

Pro1047297le pages ldquofriendingrdquo and wall posts are common features of

SNSs In this class students pro1047297le pages were personalized with

eight of the 10 students uploading photos and changing the

background and format of their pro1047297les In Ning ldquofriendingrdquo a

member of the social network allows you to exchange private

messages Wall posts are another way of communicating with other

members but the messages are visible to all members of the social

network All participants in this study friended at least one other

student in the class and all friended the instructor Fourteen wall

comments were made throughout the quarter and these were

primarily small talk or logistic in nature such as asking about

assignments missed during an absence

Most of the studentndashstudentndashinstructor conversations took place

in the Ning discussion forums Eleven forums were created by theinstructor and the class made a total of 143 posts Three of these

forums were used only by the instructor and their purpose was for

the instructor to share 1047297les with the students as there was no other

wayto upload1047297les to the Ning site Another three forumshad only one

post per student The 1047297ve forums with the greatest levels of

interaction had structured tasks for the students which required

feedback from their peers See Table 2 for task details

Overall the site did not have a high level of visible student-to-

student interaction beyond what was required by these assigned

tasks Some students were much more active than others Karen and

Gary both ldquoomnivoresrdquo posted most often (20 and 19 times

respectively) and Pavla who described herself as ldquoconnected but

hassledrdquo posted a good deal as well (16 times) (see Table 3)

The blog feature was also heavily used with 81 blog posts made

during the quarter This resulted from each student making 10

re1047298ective posts as assigned plus an additional post made by the

instructor Thegroup sites were used hardlyat all Whilethe instructor

advised groups to set up a group page it was the students who chose

whether and how to customize and utilize their pages (eg decided

which tools to feature on their page) All groups selected a pro1047297le

picture for their group which indicates at least initial intentions to

personalize and use the site Activity on the group sites was very

limited however All three groups did what the instructor had

recommended namely formulate a plan for the group project and

postit onthe group page Ofa total ofnineposts fourcan beattributed

Fig 1 Screen shot of Ning Site




to this type of organizing The remaining posts were to share resources

(2) refer group members to the wiki for new content added to theproject (1) and to thank group members for their work (2)

In summary unlike SNSs such as Facebook the friending and wall

post features were not heavily used The intended purpose for the

Ning site was to serve as a central repository for course materials and

submission of assignments in a public venue Visible interaction took

place in thediscussion forum andblogs as responses to assigned tasks

rather than as wall posts or student-initiated blog entries However

while not required to do so students reported in the interviews that

by virtue of the posts being publicly visible they were motivated to

read each others re1047298ective posts and assignments This 1047297nding is

explored in the next section

42 Research question 2 student perceptions of the Ning site

Overall the students felt that Ning operated as a ldquohubrdquo for the class

and was a ldquofresh alternative to Blackboardrdquo (Gary) Anette reported

that Ning was ldquoa great way to communicate and store informationrdquo

and sheldquoliked being able to refer to the site any time for info on classrdquo

Students would have liked Ning to have a calendar feature and some

felt that the design was not very intuitive for new users Although the

instructor was instrumental in organizing the Ning site she was not

heavily involved in the studentndashstudent interactions taking place

either during the chats or in the forums Students felt that the

instructor wanted it to be more of a student space where she would

facilitate but not dominate Three themes capture the student

perceptions of the Ning site community building modelingfeedback

and authenticity

421 Community building

While not an explicit goal of the instructor students felt that theirindividual pro1047297les encouraged bonding among students Unlike most

course management systems Ning allowed students to upload a pro1047297le

picture which was displayed as an identi1047297er whenever they posted

content to the site According to Karen being able to easily identify the

author of a post ldquomade for more community We knew everyones

name and we could link a person to their post betterrdquo Ruth described

When you share a special place like that I feel it bonds you in a

way And when youre bonded like that I feel your [sic] more likely

to care about your classmates which creates a better class

environment which promotes student success

Ning also made it easier for students to contact each other outside

of class when they needed to Gary explained ldquoThere were times

when students would miss a class and could ask for the notes or

assistance on an individuals lsquowallrsquordquo He also felt

it was a little challenging to lsquoopen-uprsquo and talk about personal

feelings towards problems andor situationsbut by being able to

do this in a blogwritten format helped and knowing that the

other students were going to be doing the same thing reduced the

anxiety

Ruth concurred that ldquopeople who did not often speak up in class

did so during these chat [making] comments that were more open

especiallyabout how certain words and phrases made us feel based

on our culturerdquo Thus even in this blended environment where

students met face-to-face Ning added to the sense of community

among students

422 Modeling and feedback

Having student work publicly available was felt to be a good way

to provide modeling in that students could see how others were

approaching the assignments Tsukiko explained ldquoSometimes I wasnt

sure what I needed to write But I read couple other students posting

to get the ideas of the assignment and what I needed to include in my

postingrdquo Students claimed to read each others work more than they

usually would even though they didnt necessarily respond to this

work with additional posts or comments Karen said ldquoI think I read

more than I normally would have Normally I dont read others posts

unless that is part of the assignmentthe homepage gave you a taste

and then you got curiousrdquo Apparently the list of latest activity on the

Ning homepage (eg blurbs of recent posts) not only allowed

Table 3

Number of posts and comments in discussion forum

Participant Number of forum posts made

Instructor 33

Karen 20

Gary 19

Pavla 16

Carl 15

Tsukiko 13

Alissa 11

Ruth 10

Anette 6

Total 143

Table 2

Most active discussion forum tasks and number of posts

Task description Number of posts

Post the 1047297le with your CALL activity as an attachment to a posting in this message board If you have any speci 1047297c

questions for the reviewer include them in the post Review the activity designed by one of your classmates

Pretend to be a learner and work through the whole activity It is important to provide detailed constructive

and honest feedback she can use to revise the activity before turning it in for a grade Here are some guiding

questions [9 questions included here] Post your feedback as a reply to the original message with the 1047297le

Your evaluation counts as a participation grade

27

Discuss the pedagogical pros and cons of annotations transcripts visual input (ie video+audio instead of audio only)the learners ability to pausereplay collaboration among learners and the use of authentic materials

Be sure to make this an interactive discussion Post your 1047297rst message by Thursday 12 noon

At least 3 messages are expected from each student

22

Post your CMC Activity here for peer review 18

Post the URL for your online text here 18

There are three phases to this assignment

1) Group A makes a list of keywords from the chapter and posts it in this forum

2) Group B assigns the keywords in Group As list to broader categories Reply to Group As original post

3) Group C works on an annotated list of based on the categorized list produced by Group B (originally made by Group A)

Statements should be added to the keywords to provide a short summary of what Chun reports regarding these issues

12




students a quick overview but also encouraged them to review each

others contributions

When required to give feedback it was more thorough critical

feedback than it would otherwise have been Karen explained

ldquoSometimes we would comment on each others lessonsand that

was really helpful It seemed to be a little bit more well thought out

then if we would have just shared in class and given criticismrdquo

Having peer feedback posted in Ning then made it easier to revise

their work Ruth felt that ldquo

it was nice to have a way to look at whatclassmates said later especially in the case when we would give

peer feedback It made it much easier to revise your assignments

that wayrdquo It also supported re1047298ection in that they could re1047298ect on

their blog posts and see their progress over time Tsukiko explained

ldquoThe 1047297rst couple re1047298ections were about my thoughts towards

technology And last couple re1047298ections were about the same topics

I was surprised how my thoughts had changed in 10 weeks rdquo Thus

we see that students went beyond what was required by the

instructor reading each others posts and providing feedback in

more depth than would be possible during the face-to-face class

session

423 Authenticity

Of all the Ning activities the chats were seen as least helpful due

to a perceived lack of authenticity Karen explained ldquoI wasnt

particularly fond of chatting in classit seemed pointless thats why I

dont think chat works It is arti1047297cial Its hard to chat with people

you are in the same room withrdquo Ruth admitted to having a similar

attitude at least initially ldquoit was a little strange being in the same

roombut the more we used it the more I realized that it helped

shyer students talk morerdquo Ruths opinion changed over time as she

noticed some of the affordances of chat such as building community

among participants This is one example of a student evaluating the

pedagogical potential of a tool based on her personal experience as a

user which was the main goal for integrating experiential learning

into this course

Tsukiko was critical of the fast pace of chats revealing that as a

non-native speaker ldquoit was very dif 1047297cult for me I could not think fast

enough to make a sentence in Englishpeople were talking way fasterthan merdquo As a result she reported that she would carefully consider

group size when using chat in her own teaching ldquoIf I need to use

chatting I will only use it to do the activity wit [sic] partner If there

are more than couple students using chat at a one time students will

notbe able to communicate wellrdquo Tsukiko appears hesitant to usethis

type of CMC for language teaching as evident in her choiceof the verb

lsquoneedrsquo

While students were most critical of their experience with

synchronous CMC they did see educational potential in chats blogs

and discussion boards Students plans for using technology in their

own teaching are described next

43 Research question 3 students plans to use CMC in their future

teaching

The students described concrete ways that they would use CMC

tools such as Ning in their own classrooms In many cases their ideas

mirrored the Ning implementation for this course which focused on

posting instructor and student generated materials and creating an

interactive online space Tsukiko for example felt that she ldquowould

post all the assignments and materials for my students I would like

my students to post some of their homework and give and get

feedback or comments from other studentsrdquo However students also

reported their intentions to use a SNS and CMC in ways that extended

how it was used in this course One example is for community

building mdash not one of the instructors goals but a potential use

identi1047297ed by the students Karen said ldquoI will use [Ning ] (for my own

teaching)it is a great way to create communityrdquo

Ruth expressed

similar plans when she said she liked ldquothe idea of my future students

having a community like that mdash with personal pro1047297les and highlights

of who they are and what they want to accomplishrdquo

Experiencing a variety of CMC tools allowed students to get ideas

for assignments that extended the instructors use Ruth for example

might use blogs in a less structured way ldquoI would also have my

students blog somehow mdash either journals like we did or even more of

a free writerdquo She also plans to use chat outside of class similar to

Karen who ldquo

might also do chat with people from another areardquo

Thisseems to directly build on their experience as learners1047297nding ways to

more authentically use synchronous chat by conducting it outside of

class or with people at another location

Students reported that the hands-on approach to learning the

technology was bene1047297cial especially for easing non-1047298uent technology

users into the experience Carl commented that ldquoover the course of

this class I have progressed from knowing next to nothing about CALL

to knowing enough to feel con1047297dent about itrdquo Alissa explained

ldquoTechnology can be intimidating as I have found in the past but by

using this mode of communication in the class I was encouraged to

stay open minded when it came to the use of other technologiesrdquo

Besides concrete ideas about their own teaching students formed a

general philosophy of how CALL should or should not be used Alissa

felt that CMC wikis and SNS ldquoshould be part of the standard CALL

teaching in the classroomrdquo andthat ldquothesethree technologies offer the

opportunity for students to not only express themselves but

discovera style of learning that is new and excitingrdquo

Students also engaged in thoughtful critique of the place of

technology in language classrooms Anette mused that she ldquolearned

German just 1047297ne without the use of blogs chats the Internet wikis

CMCs and so onL2 learners [foreignsecond language learners] have

managed to learn language for centuries without the use of computersrdquo

She went on to articulate ldquothe real question is what are the bene1047297ts of

thecomputer in the classroom how can CALL add value to thelanguage

learning experiencerdquo Pavla pointed out some important practical

concerns such as obstacles to implementation ldquonot all regionshave the

access to computers and Internet Not all schools have big computer

labs and the 1047297nances to provide IT [instructional technology] to every

class I can say that IT and CALL are the luxuryrdquo Thus experientiallearning served not only to model the bene1047297ts of CALL use but it also

raised questions about the appropriateness of its use

44 Research question 4 instructor re 1047298ections on goals for use of Ning

site

We now turn back to the instructor and her re1047298ections on the

course She describes here again in her voice the technical

performance of the Ning site outcomes of the tasks its potential for

supporting interaction and overall effectiveness of the experiential

learning approach

441 Technical performance

Over the quarter the site was extremely reliable and I did notexperience any major technical dif 1047297culties (eg the server being

down) Registering and designing the site was easy The only problem

we encountered was that toward the end of the course the chat

feature was redesigned and we struggled to access it The new chat

feature was also problematic because longer messages were simply

cut off Dealing with these issues in class however gave students the

chance to see 1047297rst hand what logistical problems they might

encounter in their own CALL implementation I was able to model a

collaborative approach to solving the problem and turn it into a

teachable moment

One disadvantage of the Ning site was that it did not allow me to

set up the different tabs and content areas I would have liked (this has

since been changed and you can now customize the tabs and content

areas) For example there was no easy way to post 1047297les and based on




the suggestion of a student I resorted to creating a discussion forum

and attached 1047297les to a post (Ning now offers an application for 1047297le

sharing) In addition it would have been desirable if the Ning site

offered a wiki feature Instead I incorporated a wiki tool outside of

Ning which was not heavily used Students may have used the wiki

more for their group projects if it had been integrated in the Ning site

Commercial course management systems like Blackboard do offer

these features but my goal was to introduce students to a free

alternative to course management systems Such alternatives oftenrequire some creativity and compromise

442 Tasks

Ning effectively supported the tasks I wishedstudentsto complete

The main page allowed me to feature several text boxes with

organizational information (eg homework group assignments)

Online discussions were effective for in-class as well as homework

assignments Students were able to post drafts of their work in forums

to receive peer feedback In addition these forums were used to

discuss the reading assignments The blog was for required student

re1047298ections on their experiences and attitudes using prompts provided

by me While students could easily read each others blogs I did not

design any activities speci1047297cally asking them to read these entries

Unlike the blogs and discussion forums synchronous communication

was used exclusively during class (at least as initiated by me) for

activities that lend themselves to the fast-paced nature of the

interaction Brainstorming for example seemed appropriate because

chat allows for less re1047298ection and requires shorter turns Towards the

end of the term I was unable to make it to class because I was

traveling to a conference Students met face-to-faceand we all logged

on to the Ning chat to discuss some upcoming assignments This was a

very valuable experience for the students because they noticed how

dif 1047297cult it is to communicate with somebody exclusively through this

modality The task selection for the chat was also in1047298uenced by the

fact that Ning does not archive chat transcripts which didnt allow me

to read the interactions unless I as the instructor was logged at the

same time as the students Interestingly some students decided to

integrate the chat feature into their 1047297nal presentations

443 Interaction

I was surprised to hear that the latest activity updates (displayed

on the main page) served as teasers encouraging some students to

read their classmates posts I have to admit that initially this feature

of the homepage didnt seem to serve any real purpose and I even

considered deleting it Since Ning allows customization of the

homepage layout I will be sure to 1047297nd a prominent place for this

feature the next time I teach the class

I was encouraged to learn through the analysis of this data that

students did read each others blogs without it being a requirement or

part of the grade In my view educational technology is most effective

when students make it their ownand initiate some useby themselves

In the future I will consider adding an interactive component to the

blog assignment to increase students exposure to their classmatesperspectives and to more overtly support community building

444 Experiential learning

Overall Ning supported experiential learning in ways consistent

with my goals Based on their own experiences students noticed

important issues that are essential to consider when designing CMC

tasks First and foremost instructors have to be prepared for the

technology not to work and be able to useproblem-solving skills such

as when the chat tool was redesigned The students experienced 1047297rst

hand the affordances and constraints of chat and discussion forums

The time lag of asynchronous CMC tools allows for the careful

composition of posts a feature that makes them a good 1047297t for tasks

targeting higher cognitive skills (Arnold amp Ducate 2006) such as the

lesson plan peer review mentioned by Karen Thefast-paced nature of

synchronous CMC on the other hand can make it a challenge to

follow an online conversation This issue was brought up in class by

one of the students after we had just completed a chat activity

Tsukiko a non-native speaker of English admitted that the demands

of simply following the exchanges among the 10 students in our class

prevented her from fully participating This emphasizes how

important it is to carefully consider group size when using chat

with language learners

5 Discussion

Experiential learning activities can model for students how

technologies such as Ning can be used in their own teaching These

learning activities helped the participants in our study to identify the

limitations and possibilities of using technology tools in their own

teaching and the tradeoffs this entails However the tools were not

always used in the way that the instructor had intended For example

students did not make much use of the outside wiki or their Ning

group pages which in retrospect is not particularly surprising Since

students came to campus on a regular basis (which is not the case for

fully online classes) they were able to meet in person to work on this

assignment Students often prefer face-to-face meetings for group

projects especially when major decisions are involved (ArnoldDucate Lomicka amp Lord 2009)

People often appropriate technology reinventing it for their own

uses mdash uses which may differ from the designers intentions

Technologies are equivocal able to be ldquointerpreted in multiple and

perhaps con1047298icting waysrdquo (Fulk 1993 p 922) Students may not use

technologies in the way they are envisioned by the instructor instead

ldquorecreatingrdquo the tool to meet their needs (Walther 1999 Paulus

2007) In this study providing a mechanism for students to view

models read each others work provide feedback engage in

conversation and build a sense of community was not the intended

purpose for the Ning site yet students appropriated it for these uses

Much of this student interaction could easily have been missed

because it was vicarious and constitutes a form of lurking that is

reading but not responding to posted information or discussions

among other students Previous studies have explored this phenom-

enon of vicarious interaction and the role of lurkers in online

environments (Dennen 2008) Lurkers are often viewed as not

engaging in what many consider essential learning behaviors namely

dialogue and interaction

What we do not see in asynchronous environments literally and

1047297guratively is what else [besides visible online activity] is going

on that contributes to participants learning And it is easy to

assume that unless learners in online formats are actively

participating by posting frequent and relevant contributions they

may be bene1047297ting relatively little from this more passive

experience (Beaudoin 2002 p 147ndash148)

In our study much of the student interaction was invisible to theinstructor but it was anything but passive Instead the invisible

interactions supported community building and provided opportuni-

ties for modeling both of which promote learning We argue

therefore that thiskind of invisible interaction falls under the category

of pedagogical lurking ldquotemporary situational or topical lurking in a

class contextrdquo (Dennen 2008 p1631) As Dennen (2008) pointed out

pedagogical lurking is a vital component of online learning environ-

ments which rely on the reading of posts to facilitate interactive

learning Nonneckeand Preece (2003) made a similar argument when

suggesting the term ldquonon-public participationrdquo be used instead of

lurking because ldquoit is notpejorative andsuggeststhereare other forms

of valid participation other than public postingrdquo (p 130)

Rovai (2000) suggested that lurking can undermine community

building which was not the case in this blended course The vicarious




participation of these students was not a sign of disengagement

(unlike free riding) On the contrary it was integral to the sense of

community expressed by the students a phenomenon that has also

been observed in discussion lists (Nonnecke amp Preece 2003)

Interestingly CMC tools are often used to foster a sense of community

among learners In our case community building was not an explicit

goal for this course yet students felt that the use of the Ning site

fostered their ability to do so Even though the overt community

building features (ldquofriendingrdquo and wall posting) in Ning were not

highly used the individual pro1047297les added a personal touch to the

posts Our participants perceived the Ning site to function differently

than proprietary course management systems as re1047298ected in Garys

evaluation that Ning was a ldquofresh alternativerdquo This might be due to

Ning s emphasis on individual pro1047297les within a group context and the

communication among members of the community In contrast

course management systems put the instructor at the center of the

experience with total control of the environment Students may

perceive the former to facilitate communication and collaboration

while the latter are primarily designed for a one-way information

transfer controlled by the instructor This focus on transmission of

knowledge is evident even in the name of one course management

system BlackboardMore visible interactions among students may have been

unintentionally hindered by the structure and authenticity of the

tasks in the class While highly structuring tasks in online environ-

ments is increasingly seen as a ldquobest practicerdquo they can also reduce

spontaneous communication that could take place in these environ-

ments (Scherff amp Paulus 2006) Including less structured tasks may

encourage more conversation community building and collaborative

re1047298ection

Authentic and meaningful tasks are important in all learning

contexts especially language learning Using chat with students who

are in the same classroom is somewhat arti1047297cial There are however

sound reasons to use this strategy especially for foreign language

instruction For example some reticent students participate more

actively in synchronous chat than in face-to-face classroom discus-sions (Beauvois 1998) The value of using chat with learners who are

in the same room has been debated among CALL researchers and

practitioners for some time Sharing this debate with students and

talking explicitly about task authenticity may improve the outcome of

this teaching strategy

6 Conclusion

As suggested by tenets of re1047298ective practice (Schoumln 1983)

combining the students and both our perspectives (that of the

instructor and that of an outsider) proved especially valuable for

exploring the learning opportunities created through the Ning site

This approach provided ldquoa multifaceted stereoscopic view [] of

the intended and unintended outcomes of classroom eventsrdquo

(Kumaravadivelu 2003 p 290) Table 4 summarizes the intended

as well as unintended uses of the Ning site

Our research was designed as a case study to gain a holistic

understanding of how Ning was used in this particular class A

limitation of the study is the small number of participants and we

acknowledge that our 1047297ndings are context speci1047297c We leave it to the

reader to identify how our 1047297ndings may transfer into similar contexts

(Lincoln amp Guba 1985) Our 1047297ndings do however have implications

for the instructional design of blended learning environments

Students will likely appropriate the online tools and space to meet

their needs mdash and how they do so may surprise us as educators

Vicarious interaction and pedagogical lurking may be occurring even

though we cant see it so instructors should talk with students about

how they are using the online space For a small class with frequent

face-to-face meetings a SNS while not the primary tool for

community building may extend the community originally formed

in the physical classroom into an online space The online ldquohubrdquo

provides students the chance to publicly post and read each others

work modeling approaches to the assignments and opportunities to

provide feedback Pro1047297le pages allow posts and completed work to be

connected to a person not just a name adding to a sense of

community Tasks should be authentic and unstructured enough topromote visible interaction if that is a desired outcome of the course

Our 1047297ndings have implications for future research as well The

vicarious interaction that occurred calls into question our reliance on

visible online behaviors as evidence of for what happens in online

environments Techniques such as content analysis can provide

insight into only part of a whole Future research may want to

incorporate data collection procedures such as think-aloud protocols

interviews real-time observations or even key strokelogging and eye

movement tracking to get a more complete picture of online learning

behaviors We propose several questions for further study It is still

unclear how online and face-to-face community building and

maintenance differ in blended courses Rovai and Jordan (2004)

speculated that the blended format might accommodate the needs of

a wider variety of learners thus contributing to the stronger sense of community found in a blended courseover a fully onlineor residential

one What happens when a group of learners has two venues for

community building available (online and face-to-face) Does this

create two separate communities or do they overlap Which tools do

they choose to use and for which aspects of the community building

Furthermore research should explore the role of the instructor in

community building in hybridblended courses Brown (2001)

reported that in onlinecourses the instructorsrole is quite important

In blended courses do students prefer a separate community online

without involvement of the teacher Finally could less structured

tasks promote more visible interaction among participants While

pedagogical lurking has bene1047297ts how much lurking is too much A

better understanding of these processes will allow educators to better

match their instructional goals with appropriate tools and tasks

Table 4

SNS features and intendedunintended uses

Feature Intended goal for use Goal met Unintended uses

Text boxes Repository of course information Yes None found

Discussion forums Re1047298ection through completing tasks

peer feedback

Yes Modeling peer f eedback pedagog ical lurking

Chat Brainstorming informationopinion exchange

more equal participation

Yes but students

criticized lack of

authenticity

Incorporated by students into their 1047297nal presentations

Instructor joined class remotely during

conference travel

Blog Re1047298ection through journaling Yes Modeling community building pedagogical lurkingGroup sites Facilitate collaboration among

students for their group project

No St udent s directed gr oup member s t o t he wiki site

Individual pro1047297le pages and friending No de1047297ned instructor goal NA Community building

Activity updates No de1047297ned instructor goal NA Modeling community building

Wall posts No de1047297ned instructor goal NA Sharing information




Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participants of this study for allowing

us to use their data and sharing their experiences with us We are also

grateful for the reviewers valuable comments

References

Abrams Z I (2006) From theory to practice Intracultural CMC in the L2 classroom In

L Ducate amp N Arnold (Eds) Calling on CALL From theory and research to newdirections in foreign language teaching (pp 181minus210) San Marcos TX CALICOPress

Arnold N amp Ducate L (2006) Future foreign language teachers social and cognitivecollaboration in an online environmentLanguage Learning amp Technology 10(1)42minus66 Retrieved from httplltmsueduvol10num1pdfarnoldducatepdf

Arnold N Ducate L Lomicka L amp Lord G (2009) Assessing online collaborationamong language teachers A cross-institutional case study Journal of InteractiveOnline Learning 8(2) 121minus139 Retrieved from httpwwwncolrorgjiolissues get1047297lecfmvolID=8ampIssueID=26ampArticleID=132

Beaudoin M F (2002) Learning or lurking Tracking the ldquoinvisiblerdquo online studentInternet and Higher Education 5 147minus155

Beauvois M H (1998) Conversations in slow motion Computer-mediated commu-nication in the foreign language classroom The Canadian Modern Language Review54(2) 198minus217

Blattner G amp Fiori M (2009) Facebookin thelanguageclassroomInternational Journalof Instructional Technology and Distance Learning 6 (1) Retrieved from httpwwwitdlorgjournaljan_09article02htm

Bogdan R C amp Biklen S K (2007) Qualitative research for education An introduction to

theories and methods 5th ed Boston Allyn amp BaconBrown R E (2001) The process of community building in distance learning classes

Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 5(2) 18minus35 Retrieved from http sloan-corgpublicationsjalnv5n2pdfv5n2_brownpdf

Compton L K L (2009) Preparing language teachers to teach language online A lookat skills roles and responsibilities Computer Assisted Language Learning 2273minus99

Dennen V P (2008) Pedagogical lurking Student engagement in non-postingdiscussion behavior Computers in Human Behavior 24 1624minus1633

Egbert J (2006) Learning in context Situating language teacher learning in CALL In PHubbard amp M Levy (Eds) Teacher education in CALL (pp 167minus182) AmsterdamNetherlands John Benjamins

Fulk J (1993) Social construction of communication technology Academy of Management Journal 36 921minus950

Garrison D Anderson T amp Archer W (2000) Critical inquiry in a text-basedenvironment Computer conferencing in higher education The Internet and Higher Education 2(2ndash3) 87minus105

Halvorsen A (2009) Social networking sites and critical language learning In M

Thomas (Ed) Handbook of research on web 20 and second language learning (pp 237minus258) Hershey PA Information Science ReferenceHorrigan J B (2007) A typology of information and communication technology users

Retrieved from httppewInternetorg~mediaFilesReports2007PIP_ICT_Typologypdfpdf

Hubbard P (2008) CALL and the future of language teacher education CALICO Journal 25(2) 175minus188

Hubbard P amp Levy M (Eds) (2006) Teacher education in CALL AmsterdamNetherlands John Benjamins

Kessler G (2006) Assessing CALL teacher training What are we doing and what couldwe do better In P Hubbard amp M Levy (Eds) Teacher education in CALL(pp 23minus42) Amsterdam Netherlands John Benjamins

Kolb D A (1984) Experiential learning New Jersey Prentice HallKolb D A Boyatzis R E amp Mainemelis C (2001) Experiential learning theory

Previous research and new directions In R J Sternberg amp L -F Zhang (Eds) New perspectives on thinking learning and cognitive styles (pp 227minus248) Mahwah NJLawrence Erlbaum

Kumaravadivelu B (2003) Beyond methods Macrostrategies for language teaching NewHaven CT Yale University Press

Lincoln Y S amp Guba E G (1985) Naturalistic inquiry Beverly Hills CA SagePublications

Lomicka L (2006) Understanding the other Intercultural exchange and CMC In LDucate amp N Arnold (Eds) Calling on CALL From theory and research to newdirections in foreign language teaching (pp 211minus236) San Marcos TX CALICOPress

Luke C (2006) Situation CALL in the broader methodological context of foreignlanguage teaching and learning Promises and possibilities In L Ducate amp NArnold (Eds) Calling on CALL From theory and research to new directions in foreign

language teaching (pp 21minus

42) San Marcos TX CALICO PressMcBride K (2009) Social-networking sites in foreign language classes Opportunitiesforre-creation InL Lomicka amp G Lord (Eds)The nextgeneration Social networking and online collaboration in foreign language learning (pp 35minus58) SanMarco TexasCALICO Press

Merriam S B (1998) Qualitative research and case study applications in education Reved San Francisco CA Jossey-Bass

Mitchell K (2009) ESOL students on Facebook Portland Oregon Portland StateUniversity Masters thesis

Nonnecke B amp Preece J (2003) Silent participants Getting to know lurkers better InCLeugamp DFisher (Eds) FromUsenet to CoWebs Interacting withsocial informationspaces (pp 110minus132) London Springer-Verlag

Oblinger D amp Oblinger J (2005) Is it age or IT First steps towards understanding theNet Generation In D G Oblinger amp J L Oblinger (Eds) Educating the Net Generation Retrieved from httpwwweducauseedueducatingthenetgen

Paulus T M (2007) CMC modes for learning tasks at a distance Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 1322minus1345

Pew Internet and American Life Project (nd) What kind of tech user are youRetrieved from httppewinternetorgParticipateWhat-Kind-of-Tech-User-Are-

YouaspxRovai A P (2000) Building and sustaining community in asynchronous learning

networks The Internet and Higher Education 3 285minus297Rovai A P (2003) In search of higher persistence rates in distance education online

programs The Internet and Higher Education 6 (1) 1minus16Rovai A P amp Jordan H M (2004) Blended learning and sense of community A

comparative analysis with traditional and fully online courses International Reviewof Research in Open and Distance Learning 5(2) Retrieved from httpwwwirrodlorgindexphpirrodlarticleview192274

Scherff L amp Paulus T (2006) Encouraging ownership of online spaces Support forpreservice English teachers through computer-mediated communication Contem-

porary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education 6 (4) 354minus373Schoumln D (1983) The re 1047298ective practitioner How professionals think in action London

Temple SmithSchwartz H (2009 September 28) Facebook The new classroom commons The

Chronicle of Higher Education 56 (7)Stevenson M P amp Liu M (2010) Learning a language with web 20 Exploring the use

of social networking features of foreign language learning websites CALICO Journal 27 (2) 233minus259

Strauss A amp Corbin J (1998) Basics of qualitative research Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory 2nd ed Thousand Oaks CA Sage

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) (2009) Technologystandards for language teachers Retrieved July 15 2009 from httpwwwtesolorgs_tesolsec_documentaspCID=1972ampDID=12052

Terris B (2009 October 13) At oneEnglishcollege Facebook serves as a retention toolChronicle of Higher Education Retrieved from httpchroniclecomblogPostAt-One-English-College-Fac8435

Walther J B (1999May) Visual cuesand computer-mediated communication Dont lookbefore you leap San Francisco CA Annual meeting of the InternationalCommunication Association

Warschauer M (2009) Foreword In M Thomas (Ed) Handbook of research on web 20and second language learning (pp xix-xx) Hershey PA Information ScienceReference




Providing additional venues for interaction is especially valuable

for foreign language learning where exposure to the target language

is often limited CMC can provide authentic contextualized language

input beyond the con1047297nes of the classroom (Luke 2006) Chat email

and other forms of electronic communication can serve as a space for

meaningful interaction that promotes cultural pragmatic and lin-

guistic competence by allowing learners to use the language with

native speakers or other learners (Abrams 2006 Lomicka 2006)

Given its pedagogical potential for language instruction futurelanguage teachers like theparticipants of our study need to be able to

make informed decisions about appropriate CMC implementation

This is one reason CMC hasbeen integrated into many teacher training

programs Electronic discussions for example are a valuable tool for

teacher development because they can encourage information

exchange collaboration re1047298ection and problem solving (Arnold amp

Ducate 2006)

For many language teachers the decision whether and how to use

CALL including CMC is no longer based solely on their personal

preference but in1047298uenced by curricular requirements or employer

demands (Kessler 2006) This growing pressure further emphasizes

the need to provide teacher candidates with adequate training in how

to make effective use of technology Recognizing the importance of

such training teacher educators have debated not only which skills

and knowledge are necessary (Compton 2009 Teachers of English to

Speakers of Other Languages 2009) but also the format of such

training (Hubbard 2008 Hubbard amp Levy 2006) To help future

teachers understand the connection between theory and practice as

well as facilitate the application of their new skills and knowledge in

the classroom some scholars have called for training that explicitly

connects with realistic teaching contexts ldquoClearly CALL teacher

education must be more like the contexts in which such language

instruction takes placerdquo (Egbert 2006 p 168) There are several

pedagogical approaches to achieve this such as project based

learning situated learning and experiential learning

Experiential learning is ldquothe process whereby knowledge is

created through the transformation of experience Knowledge results

from the combination of grasping and transforming experiencerdquo

(Kolb 1984 p 41) According to the four-stage model of experientiallearning learners engage in re1047298ection and observation based on

concrete experiences in order to synthesize them into abstract

concepts which then form the basis for active experimentation

(Kolb Boyatzis amp Mainemelis 2001) The course described here was

designed to promote experiential learning by allowing students to

experience CMC as learners (concrete experience) and re1047298ecton these

experiences (re1047298ection) Students were asked to draw on both of

these course components when formulating their personal philoso-

phies about if and how to use CALL in their own teaching (abstract

concept) which it was hoped would inform their future teaching

(active experimentation)

The class investigated for this study used several CMC tools

through a SNS While instructional uses of CMC have been

investigated extensively research on the educational potential of SNSs is still in its infancy As Mitchell (2009) described students self-

motivated use of Facebook can promote language learning in a variety

of ways The idea of creating expressing and experimenting with

identities a central aspect of SNSs seems to have signi1047297cant

pedagogical potential (McBride 2009) especially within the meth-

odological framework of critical language learning (Halvorsen 2009)

As described by Blattner and Fiori (2009) Facebook can be used for

language instruction to promote socio-pragmatic competence Ob-

serving groups on Facebook can raise learners awareness of linguistic

issues such as regional language variation as well as provide

opportunities to put pragmatic knowledge to use while engaging in

communicative acts

As described above social networking can be an informal

(Mitchell 2009 Stevenson amp Liu 2010) or formal learning tool in

blended or onlineenvironments Therole of social networking tools in

blended environments has been investigated less frequently than in

fully distant environments How and why faculty and students use

SNSs as part of blended environments warrants further study This

study is intended to contribute to our understanding of how SNSs can

be used to support blended learning environments as well as model

technology integration practices to future teachers More speci1047297cally

we wanted to investigate the following research questions

1 How did the students in this blended course use the Ning site

2 What were student perceptions of Ning

3 How did the modeling of Ning use impact students plans to use

CMC andor SNS tools in their future teaching

4 How were the instructor goals for the use of the site met

3 Methodology

31 Research design and data collection

A qualitative case study (Merriam 1998) was our strategy to

explore this blended learning environment Merriam (1998) empha-

sizes that qualitative design is emergent with a recursive dynamic

process of data collection and analysis After receiving IRB ap-

proval from both our institutions the following data sources were

gathered a student questionnaire the content of the Ning site and

student interviews All data collection instruments are available

upon request

The questionnaire was administered to the students at the end of

the quarter and gathered the following information (1) demograph-

ics (age gender native language and undergraduate or graduate

status) (2) type of previous language teaching experience (language

and level) and (3) previous experience learning languages with

instructional technology (language and technologies) Further to

assess their level of technology use participantswere asked to take an

online quiz available from the Pew Internet and American Life Project

which categorizes respondents as oneof ten types on their technology

user taxonomy (Horrigan 2007)

After grades were entered at the end of the term all content fromparticipating students was downloaded from the Ning site for analysis

This included nine memberpro1047297le pages 14 wall comments 143

discussion forum posts 81 blog posts and three group pages (with

nine commentsposts) Students position papers were also down-

loaded for analysis Completed towards the end of the course this

assignment required students to draw on information from the

professional literature as well as their own experiences in the course

to formulate their personal philosophy of the role CALL can play to

promote language learning

Allparticipants were invited to participate in a one hour interview

Four participants (Ruth Tsukiko Gary and Karen) agreed to be

interviewed To allow students to speak openly about their opinions

Dr Paulus the outside observer conducted the interviews Since she

was not located in the same state as the participants synchronousinstant messenger tools were used for the interviews Participants

chose the tool they were most comfortable with and a variety of tools

(Skype Yahoo and Gmail) were used These text-based interviews

were automatically archived for analysis

32 Participants

Eight of the ten students consented to participate in the research

study Pseudonyms are used throughout this paper As illustrated in

Table 1 two students were male and the rest were female Their ages

ranged from 20 to 26 and two were non-native speakers of English

Four were undergraduates and four were graduates They had a range

of previous teaching experiences and experiences learning with

technology While four participants were ldquo

omnivoresrdquo

(heavy users)








33 Data analysis









































computer lab















































Table 1


Name of

participant

Age N at ive

language


experience




in interview





learning Spanish

Connector X




management system






main Ning page

















4 Findings









































































and authenticity




















anxiety






among students














Table 3



Instructor 33

Karen 20

Gary 19

Pavla 16

Carl 15

Tsukiko 13

Alissa 11

Ruth 10

Anette 6

Total 143

Table 2









27




22








12























session

423 Authenticity













into this course









lsquoneedrsquo






teaching














Ruth expressed









Karen who ldquo

































site





learning approach











teachable moment

















442 Tasks


























443 Interaction


































5 Discussion



















































































re1047298ection











6 Conclusion























































Table 4





peer feedback




Yes but students

criticized lack of

authenticity



conference travel










Acknowledgements




References

























































33 Data analysis









































computer lab















































Table 1


Name of

participant

Age N at ive

language


experience




in interview





learning Spanish

Connector X




management system






main Ning page

















4 Findings









































































and authenticity




















anxiety






among students














Table 3



Instructor 33

Karen 20

Gary 19

Pavla 16

Carl 15

Tsukiko 13

Alissa 11

Ruth 10

Anette 6

Total 143

Table 2









27




22








12























session

423 Authenticity













into this course









lsquoneedrsquo






teaching














Ruth expressed









Karen who ldquo

































site





learning approach











teachable moment

















442 Tasks


























443 Interaction


































5 Discussion



















































































re1047298ection











6 Conclusion























































Table 4





peer feedback




Yes but students

criticized lack of

authenticity



conference travel










Acknowledgements




References






















































main Ning page

















4 Findings









































































and authenticity




















anxiety






among students














Table 3



Instructor 33

Karen 20

Gary 19

Pavla 16

Carl 15

Tsukiko 13

Alissa 11

Ruth 10

Anette 6

Total 143

Table 2









27




22








12























session

423 Authenticity













into this course









lsquoneedrsquo






teaching














Ruth expressed









Karen who ldquo

































site





learning approach











teachable moment

















442 Tasks


























443 Interaction


































5 Discussion



















































































re1047298ection











6 Conclusion























































Table 4





peer feedback




Yes but students

criticized lack of

authenticity



conference travel










Acknowledgements




References














































































and authenticity




















anxiety






among students














Table 3



Instructor 33

Karen 20

Gary 19

Pavla 16

Carl 15

Tsukiko 13

Alissa 11

Ruth 10

Anette 6

Total 143

Table 2









27




22








12























session

423 Authenticity













into this course









lsquoneedrsquo






teaching














Ruth expressed









Karen who ldquo

































site





learning approach











teachable moment

















442 Tasks


























443 Interaction


































5 Discussion



















































































re1047298ection











6 Conclusion























































Table 4





peer feedback




Yes but students

criticized lack of

authenticity



conference travel










Acknowledgements




References








































































session

423 Authenticity













into this course









lsquoneedrsquo






teaching














Ruth expressed









Karen who ldquo

































site





learning approach











teachable moment

















442 Tasks


























443 Interaction


































5 Discussion



















































































re1047298ection











6 Conclusion























































Table 4





peer feedback




Yes but students

criticized lack of

authenticity



conference travel










Acknowledgements




References






























































442 Tasks


























443 Interaction


































5 Discussion



















































































re1047298ection











6 Conclusion























































Table 4





peer feedback




Yes but students

criticized lack of

authenticity



conference travel










Acknowledgements




References

















































































re1047298ection











6 Conclusion























































Table 4





peer feedback




Yes but students

criticized lack of

authenticity



conference travel










Acknowledgements




References





















































Acknowledgements




References



















































Documents

Using a Social Networking Site for Experiential Learning