Task design for telecollaborative exchanges – in search for new evaluation criteria Andreas Müller-Hartmann -Pädagogische Hochschule, Heidelberg Malgorzata Kurek - Jan Dlugosz University, Czestochowa
Transcript
1. Task design for telecollaborative exchanges in search for
new evaluation criteria Andreas Mller-Hartmann -Pdagogische
Hochschule, Heidelberg Malgorzata Kurek - Jan Dlugosz University,
Czestochowa
2. Our plan for today: The importance of task design; In-class
vs. telecollaborative CALL tasks; Context of the study and our
research approach; Task evaluation: examples and lessons learned; A
checklist of criteria for task design.
3. On the importance of tasks: Our main role, then, is to
design tasks. This role is crucial in an interactive multimedia or
Web environment since the task is what gives meaning to the
learners explorations. Only a well-designed task can ensure the
quality of the learning process which is a teachers ultimate
responsibility (Furstenberg 1997: 24). In established CALL,
language-learning task design is very much at the heart of the
matter. And since the task has come to be the means or agent of
learning ( the structure, content and sequencing of
language-learning tasks are critical (Levy & Stockwell 2006:
16, 248). A poor understanding of task design principles for the
new environment may blunt pedagogical aims, confuse task writers,
cause difficulties for learners and result in low task completion
(Gruba, 2004:72).
4. CALL tasks for in-class instruction CALL tasks for
telecollaboration macro level - institutional contexts Independent
of cultural interpretation (e.g. resulting from differences between
educational models/systems) Prone to culturally-tinted
interpretation micro level (classroom) 1.Task-as-workplan Teacher
mediation reduces the need for self- explicitness of task
instructions Tool independent the focus is on working with texts
and designing direct F2F interaction Task performance requires
familiarity with traditional literacy standards The meta language
of tasks (clarity, self- explicitness, task support) is crucial
Tool dependent - the process of task design depends on teachers
awareness/perception of available affordances Task performance
requires a juxtaposition of modes and modalities 2) Task-as-process
May involve learners from different linguistic and cultural
communities meaning negotiation is facilitated by paralinguistic
features of F2F presence and teacher By definition involve
different linguistic and cultural communities highly authentic in
terms of promoting meaning negotiation
5. Common problems related to task design in telecollaboration:
choice of topics; not meeting learners expectations (e.g. error
correction); striking the right balance between loosely-structured
and teacher- controlled tasks; keeping balance between task demands
and task support. What are the criteria for efficient task design
in telecollaborative learning?
6. Case study: A teacher-training exchange Czestochowa -
Heidelberg (Fall 2013) Teachers: Andres Mller-Hartmann, Malgorzata
Kurek Participants: 24 German and 32 Polish students Time scope:
October - February 2013 Competences in focus: integrating
telecollaboration into FLT developing multimodal competence
telecollaborative task design Language of exchange: English as
lingua franca Tools: a Canvas course + a selection of tools for
communication and task design Other features: no real-time
communication possible
7. Suggested timeline Czestochowa - Heidelberg: a task sequence
for teacher trainees - an overview Purpose weeks 1-2 Creating
individual online presentations. Forming intercultural groups and
creating their identities. Getting to know each other week 3 The
groups negotiate to adopt names. They present their new identities
on a forum. Creating group identities - first attempt at online
collaborative work weeks 4-5 The groups create the first
intercultural tasks for online students. Product creation -
individual tasks weeks 6-7 The groups are assigned their partners
tasks to evaluate them using Chapelles criteria for CALL task
design. The evaluations are posted to the auhors for consideration.
Task implementation Peer evaluation and feedback weeks 8-11 The
groups use Weebly to a set of pedagogivcally consistent online
activities for a group of online learners. Product creation - task
sequences weeks 12-13 Peer evaluation students can use Chapelles
criteria and their own, common sense ones to evaluate their
partners websites. Application of previously studied criteria to a
new context Week 14-15 Project evaluation the magnifying glass
technique. Discussion of teacher competences. The farewell task - a
Padlet wall for exchanging goodbyes and greetings. Final
questionnaires. Reflection Bringing closure a 2013
8. Our research approach: According to Nunan and Bailey (2009)
action research: is a systematic, iterative process of (1)
identifying an issue, problem, or puzzle we wish to investigate in
our own context; (2) thinking and planning an appropriate action to
address that concern; (3) carrying out the action; (4) observing
the apparent outcomes of the action; (5) reflecting on the outcomes
and on other possibilities; and (6) repeating these steps again.
(p. 227). Our methodology was..
9. Our approach: case studies of two telecollaborative
exchanges in teacher education Action research links research,
teaching and learning. To integrate research and teaching we focus
on exploratory practice (Allwright and Hanks 2009, 149, 154-157) :
Exploratory practice will take us beyond the third-party model
methodologically, will not marginalize learners, will prioritize
learner understandings (p. 149). By analyzing the pedagogic
activity of the students task design and the evaluation thereof we
use these potentially exploitable pedagogic activities activities
as investigative tools.
10. Task 1 Dear Students, Here is your first task: Design an
intercultural activity which will help learners to get to know more
about the online partner. The task should help the participants
exchange information about their cultures or make them explore the
cultures of their partner(s). () Consider: the age and level of the
group the procedure the tools used clarity of instructions Refer to
handout 1 and study the task described there.
11. Task 1 - Evaluation Task description: Find a task assigned
to you and, with your team mates, discuss it using the criteria for
task appropriatness by Chapelle, that is: language learning
potential learner fit meaning focus authenticity positive impact
practicality In your evaluation pay attention to whatever you find
important to successful task implementation, e.g. the clarity of
instructions, realistic timing, technical support in the form of a
tutorial (if applicable).
12. Chapelles criteria (2001) What the evaluating group had to
say: language learning potential: Learners may improve vocabulary
connected with food and they have to create a presentation, it
means they focus on form. learner fit: The topic seems to be
universal and appropriate for both genders. Another positive aspect
is that the task is good for advanced Ls at the age of 13/14.
meaning focus: During the task learners can learn about the
traditions and culture from their partners by exchanging
presentations, or with the help of books and the Internet.
authenticity: The task is authentic because making presentations is
sth that people do in real life. Consider the case of employees of
advertising companies or tutors at universities, and multimedia
presentation is a tool that can be used in education, business etc
positive impact: The task has a positive impact on the students
because they can exchange cultural aspects concerning Christmas
dishes with their partners and learn a lot more about other
cultures. practicality: For CALL it is useful cause students will
get with the help of different technical tools into contact with
each other and exchange their experiences.
13. Task criteria What the evaluating group had to say: Purpose
of the task We dont think that the goal of the task is clear to the
students. Do they know why they are doing this task? What do they
get from the task? Why should students talk on Christmas Eve with
their families about Christmas dishes, are there not other aspects
more important (celebrating Christmas with your family)? Task
instructions Your task instructions are divided into steps, which
makes it easier to follow but some instructions (e.g. Step 4) are
not clear enough and examples are missing. Choice In case that you
want to give the students more choice, give them a more opened
task. For example, let them speak about general Christmas
traditions or something which would also include other religions
like festive situations. Task demand Task support It is quite
demanding for students to talk about Christmas dishes, because
students might not be aware of them, in general.
14. A pedagogic approach (T)here is an urgent need to relate
task-based research to pedagogic situations. () task research needs
to be conducted within pedagogic contexts, to establish whether or
not the research findings have relevance for classroom reality. []
we need to make progress in understanding what the role of the
teacher can most effectively be, as well as how relevant insights
on tasks can be incorporated into teacher training (Skehan 2007:
298). We need more description of the learners, settings, and
events in [CALL] contexts (Huh and Hu in Chambers and Bax: 467);
and we especially need a better understanding of how exactly all of
these factors interact and operate in real pedagogical contexts
(Chambers and Bax 2006: 46667).
15. What the evaluating group had to say Importance of this
criterion for developing ICC 1. During the task learners can learn
about the traditions and culture from their partners by exchanging
presentations, or with the help of books and the Internet.
(Chapelle: meaning focus) The task supports the learning of
cultural knowledge. (--> cultural knowledge) 2. The task has a
positive impact on the students because they can exchange cultural
aspects concerning Christmas dishes with their partners and learn a
lot more about other cultures. (Chapelle criterion: positive
impact) The learners exchange aspects of cultural knowledge and
thus gain cultural knowledge about other cultures. (--> cultural
knowledge) 3. We dont think that the goal of the task is clear to
the students. Do they know why they are doing this task? What do
they get from the task? There is no real exchange of information.
(TBLL criterion: purpose, goal of the task) Looking at the purpose
or goal of the task the evaluators realize that there is no real
intercultural interaction or negotiation, hence the skill of
relating cultural information and with that cultural concepts is
not possible in this task. (--> skills of relating)
16. 4. To make the task more communicative, you can ask the Ls
to prepare a presentation about Christmas dishes that are popular
in their mother country. Then the Ls from Germany and Poland may
exchange their presentations they will learn sth about their
cultures not from the Internet or books, but from their online
partners (TBLL criterion: task sequencing) By focussing on the
sequencing of tasks and keeping the purpose of the task in mind,
the evaluators suggest the exchange of information and with that
the possibility of discovering cultural aspects in the interaction.
(--> skills of discovery and interaction) 5. It is quite
demanding for students to talk about Christmas dishes, because
students might not be aware of them, in general. And also it might
happen that students mention something which is not a general
German or Polish dish but they think it is because they have it in
their family. Every family has a tradition they follow, but it
might not be a tradition which everyone in the country follows.
(TBLL criterion: task demand) In case that you want to give the
students more choice, give them a more opened task. For example,
let them speak about general Christmas traditions or something
which would also include other religions like festive situations.
(TBLL criterion : choice) When analyzing the task demands the
evaluators point out the complexity of IC which goes beyond the
comparison of national cultures, necessitating a closer focus on
individual cultural identity of the participants. Hence they look
critically at the national paradigm of cultural learning. (-->
critical cultural awareness)
17. Tasks and technology a 2013
18. Tasks and technology We have to ensure that tasks are
appropriate to the medium used and that we develop tasks that take
into account the affordances (i.e. the constraints and
possibilities for making meaning) of the modes available (Hampel
2006: 111). For learners: it is important to be aware of
affordances and constraints of tools mediating task completion. For
teachers and teacher trainees: it is also important to notice
pedagogical affordances of those tools which havent been designed
for education.
19. Examples of confused affordances:
20. Task 2 Refer to handout and go through the task created by
our students
21. Multiliteracies Tools, tasks, and ICC Situated Practice
Learners are immersed in their local cultural contexts,
participating and negotiating meaning in different discourses.
Tasks have to make learners aware of their cultural dispositions
and practices. Tools: learners do this by using the potential of
the tool fotobabble to represent their own cultural context Task
criteria: giving learners a purpose for the task, involving them in
the task, activating their resources Byrams ICC criteria: becoming
aware of/discovering ones own cultural practices Overt Instruction
Learners need knowledge in form of cultural information, but also
in terms of the specific discourses they are involved in through
the tasks. This includes technical competence. Tool: Learners are
introduced to the tool fotobabble. By using it they access cultural
information about the partner Task criteria: task demand/support in
terms of tool use, providing/activating rich [cultural] resources
Byrams ICC criteria: cultural knowledge
22. Critical Framing Tasks are supposed to help learners
interpret the social and cultural context of particular cultural
practices and meaning Tool: by using the recording function in
fotobabble, learners can interpret the cultural representation of
their partners Task criteria: a clear communicative purpose of the
task, interaction based on a real- life problem Byrams ICC
criteria: skills of discovering and interpreting, skills of
interaction Transformed Practice Tasks enable learners to transfer
their knowledge and competences to other contexts and cultural
sites, participating and creating (new) discourses Tool: by using
the commenting function in fotobabble (as well as using skype)
learners can exchange and negotiate the differences and
similarities in their contexts Task criteria: a clear communicative
purpose of the task, interaction based on a real- life problem,
task sequencing Byrams ICC criteria: skills of interpreting and
relating, skills of interaction, critical cultural awareness
Multiliteracies Tools, task, and ICC
23. Your task Choose one of the following categories for task
evaluation. Pedagogy Technology ICC learning and multiliteracies
Think of a sequence of telecollaborative tasks that you know well
or used yourself. Use the set of criteria from Handout 2 for
evaluation. Do the criteria work for you? Which of them need
elaboration?