Successful teaching and learning

with LEI

Dr. Michael Rost

Presentation Outline

• Background: Design Features

• Learning Principles

• Keys to Success with LEI

• “Best in Show” Supplements

• Research Methods

• Q-A

LEI learning features: • Access anywhere, anytime – Your students log on from any

computer anytime, offering flexibility and convenience.   • Easy to use – The navigation is simple and intuitive.• Contemporary video with engaging characters presents real

language in context.• Ongoing student assessment allows teachers and students to

monitor student progress.• Full-time conversation partner provides unlimited controlled

conversation practice• Automated feedback guides students’ skill development.• Living Grammar dynamically illustrates how grammar works.• Culture Notes help learners understand cultural differences and learn

a new language within a broader social context.• Native language support is offered through translation into Ss’ L1. • Study plans: Customize the course syllabus to meet your curriculum

pace and needs.• Progress reports: View detailed reports displaying “time on task” as

well as practice, quiz, and test scores.• E-portfolios: Monitor and assess students’ progress on written

assignments electronically.

Student Survey FeedbackStudent Survey Feedback

In a recent survey of 500 LEI students : • 93% found the platform easy to use• 95% found their study plans useful• 91% found online writing with teacher

feedback and grading helpful• 85% believed they improved their grade• 98% felt they benefited from using the online course

Learning Principle 1: Input Theory

short episodes, story-based, comprehensible, multimedia, reviewable

Learning Principle 1: Input Theory

short episodes, story-based, comprehensible, multimedia, reviewable

Learning Principle 2: Sociocultural Theory

Natural settings; wide coverage of social functions; culture notes; learning strategy instruction

Learning Principle 2: Sociocultural Theory

Natural settings; wide coverage of social functions; culture notes; learning strategy instruction

Learning Principle 3: Depth of Processing Theory

Anchored syllabus; re-wiring language points; thorough feedback and revision; expansion

Learning Principle 3: Depth of Processing Theory

Anchored syllabus; re-wiring language points; thorough feedback and revision; expansion

What does the research of online learning suggest?

• Classroom only > Distance (TD) only

• Hybrid-1 (Classroom + TD) > Classroom only

• Hybrid-2 (Classroom+ Textbook+ TD) is better.

• Hybrid-3 (TD+CR+TB+OLSup) is best.

Most Successful Cases of Using LEI + Classroom Communication Tasks

+ Teacher Coaching

+ Direct teaching of learning strategies (see list)

+ Additional Individual Speaking Practice (see list)

+ Group Collaboration Projects (see list)

+ Ongoing Fluency Writing Program (see list)

+ Supplementary Reading and Listening (see list)

Power of Five

Power of Five

Best in Class: Learning Strategies• Motivation Strategies (Try learning interactively, List your goals,

Form your own English group, Learn to take risks, Stay in the game)

• Self-Management Strategies (Take time to plan; Rehearse by yourself, Learn from your mistakes, Consider your learning style, Understand the learning process, Set up your own learning routines; Practice self-discipline)

• Memory Strategies (Use charts to organize your thoughts, make vocabulary cards, Think in English, Practice sounds with tongue twisters, Share the news in your own words, Focus on details)

• Input Strategies (Listen with a purpose, Read about current events in English, Understand more by making predictions, Read famous stories aloud, Focus on stressed words

• Communication Strategies (Increase your participation in group work, Interact with your classmates, Get ready to discuss ideas, Compare polite forms, Ask questions in real time)

Best in Class: Extra Listening• Broadcasts from the BBC A range of audio and video

broadcasts available for online streaming.www.bbc.co/uk/worldservice/BBC_English/progs.htm

• YouTube Selection Selected YouTube videos, subtitled by members http://yappr.com

• Free TV Watch your favorite TV shows. Anytime. For free. http://www.hulu.com/

• English Language Listening Lounge Massive number of interesting interviews, tasks, vocabulary and cultural notes

www.elllo.org

• Awesome Stories “The story place of the web” Tell yours, listen to others’. www.awesomestories.com

Best in Class: Extra Speaking

• ESL Gold includes situations, conversation topics, speaking tasks

www.eslgold.com/speaking.html• Chatterbox Challenge – variety of controlled conversations with

chatterbots www.chatterboxchallenge.com• English Baby – Forums and chat rooms for conversation www.englishbaby.com• Voice Thread – Group conversations (asynchronous) around

images, documents and video clipswww.voicethread.com• Google Voice Free phone voice messages, transcribed

automatically (80%), feedback mechanismhttps://www.google.com/voice/

Best in Class: ExtraReading and Listening

• Khan Academy Learn almost anything (mostly about science)http://www.khanacademy.org/ • Academic Earth Online courses from the world's top scholars.www.academicearth.org• Brain Pop animated, curriculum-based content that engages

studentshttp://www.brainpop.co.uk/• Wikiversity – Audio and Text-based courses, “set learning free”http://wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity• Literacy Net Graded and supported readings on a range of

topics, with skill building exerciseshttp://www.literacynet.org

Best in Class: Group Communication

• Write and record your own story www.storycorps.org • Direct and post your own videoswww.vimeo.com• Assemble and narrate multimedia shows slideshowswww.smilebox.com www.animoto.com• Share your own presentationswww.slideshare.com• Design original multimedia presentationshttp://prezi.com

Best in Class: Extra Fluency Writing

• The Common Language Project Inform each other on “crucial human issues of our time.”

http://clpmag.org/about.php• Language Exchange Meet other international students and

communicate via Skypehttp://www.language-exchanges.org• Qualia Soup A YouTube channel discussing controversial topics

and argumentshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h9XntsSEro&feature=relmfu• Journal Writing Prompts 300 prompts for reflective journal

writinghttp://creativewritingprompts.com• Social Networks Connect with others, locally and

internationally, promote yourself and your interests; pre-fab communities

www.facebook.com, www.orkut.com

Research Paradigms

• Input-Interaction Theory: Is amount and type of input & interaction enhanced with the new technology?

• Socio-cultural Theory: How does the new technology increase motivation? Increase/ ‘connectedness’ to the TL culture?

• Processing Theory: How does the new technology promote progressively deeper levels of processing?

Michael Rost 2011

3 Types of Research Questions

Type 1: DescriptivePurpose: identify and describe some

phenomenon (without immediate attempt to intervene in outcome)

Examples:• What are the characteristics of students

who are most successful with LEI?• What activities are most often used by

students during self-access?

3 Types of Research Question

Type 2: DifferencesPurpose: Identify differences between groups in

relation to some phenomenon (with assumption of zero difference)

Examples: • Do Students who use the Pronunciation section for

2 hours a week develop better pronunciation skills than Students who use it for 1 hour a week?

• Do Students who use LEI + Classroom Activities develop better communication skills than Students who use LEI without Classroom Activities?

3 Types of Research Question

Type 3: RelationshipsPurpose: Find out if two or more phenomena are

related in some systematic manner (with assumption of zero relationship).

Examples: • If a Student’s Vocabulary ability (score) increases

does the Student’s Reading ability (score) also increase?

• If a Student spends more time on LEI, does the Student’s proficiency level increase accordingly?

Research Method 1 (Descriptive)

• Learner perception studies ask learners about their experiences of various forms of (hybrid) learning (e.g. Pasfield, 2011; Lee, 2004).

Research Method 2 (Descriptive)

• “Snapshot” studies provide data sets that show how learner activity is apportioned to various aspects of SLA (e.g.Dooly, 2011; Wagner, 2009; Sing and Khine, 2006 ) .

Research Method 3 (Differences)

Cross-mode (live-online) task studies compare learning outcomes of classroom vs. distance learning vs. hybrid settings (e.g.Bloch, 2008, Armstrong et al, 2005).

Research Method 4 (Relationships)

• Differential impact explore effects on online coursework on accuracy and proficiency gains studies (e.g. Vinagre and Munoz,

2011).

Research Method 5 (Relationships)

• Detailed course reports by teachers of online courses track student progress and effects of topic and task types (Baralt et al, 2011; Healy et al, 2011).

Questions?

• Classroom management?

• Adding speaking?

• Best balance of activities?

• Teacher’s role?

• Conducting classroom research?

Thank you for your participation…

Michael Rostmichael.rost@latcomm.com

latcomm.com/blog

Please contact me with your research designs …and with your experiences teaching with LEI

Best in Class: Teacher Blogs

• English with Jennifer http://englishwithjennifer.wordpress.com/• English Raven http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/• ELT from A to Zhttp://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/• That’s Life http://slife.dudeney.com• TEFL Mattershttp://www.facebook.com/Marisa.Constantinides• Critical mass elt http://sjhannam.edublogs.org

Some References• Healy, D. et al. (2011) TESOL Technology Standards. TESOL.• Horizon Project

http://horizon.wiki.nmc.org/About+The+Horizon+Project• MSU Michigan State's Confucius Institute and MMOG for Chinese:

http://b2e.nitle.org/index.php/2007/01/26/massively_multiplayer_online_learning

• Thorne, S. L. (2009). 'Community', Semiotic Flows, and Mediated Contribution to Activity. Language Teaching, 42(1): 81-94.

• Thorne, S. L. & Reinhardt, J. (2008). “Bridging Activities,” New Media Literacies and Advanced Foreign Language Proficiency. CALICO Journal, 25(3): 558-572.

• Wesch, Michael (2011) The Machine is Us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE&eurl=

Best in class: Vocabulary • Vocabahead – short videos to illustrate vocab for

standardized testshttp://www.vocabahead.com • Word a Day – receive a new word each dayhttp://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/list/• Visual Thesaurus – Visualize word webs http://www.visualthesaurus.com• Corpus Based Learning – Use large database of spoken

English to learn collocations and contextshttp://corpus.byu.edu/coca/• Listen to English Focuses on short pedagogic podcasts and

vocabulary building www.listen-to-english.com

Best in Class: Learning Games• The Experiential Learning Group Offers listening games

oriented for adults.www.experiential-learning-games.com/listeninggames.html• ESL Games World Flash-based games for lower levelshttp://www.eslgamesworld.com/ http://topwordgames.com/• Multiplayer Games (MMOG) Interact with other players

around the world http://www.novelgames.com/multiplayerflashgames/• English Wizz A Jeopardy style board game on over 300 world

topics www.englishwizz.com• Free Thinking Games A variety of critical thinking gameswww.freethinkinggames.com