Approaching Remediation from a Blue Sky Perspective

1. Approaching Remediation from a Blue Sky Perspective International E-learning Conference WSU - East London 31 Oct - 1 Nov 2011 Margaret McKinney RubenComadinaGranson University of Groningen, theNetherlands

2. Overview Blue Sky thinking Remediation language context A descending spiral or a bold new direction? A digital age Spanish blogs Blogs as motivators Blogs for “independent users” The New Literacy: Life Writing The bête noir of academic writing? The student voice

3. Blue Sky Thinking • Thinking outside the box to formulate a vision of an ideal future, unconstrained by current conditions. • Brainstorming to open up our minds as widely as possible.

4. Remediation Language Context “Students in remedial courses have more negative outcomes in comparison to similar students not in remediation … In addition, remediation is estimated to have a negative effect on degree completion within four years.” (Bettinger & Long, 2004) Remediation  “mediational process” (Klenk & Kibby, 2000, p.681)

5. A Descending Spiral or a Bold New Direction? Teachers complain about the declining standard of writing

6. “Digital natives” vs. “Digital immigrants” Integrating web technologies into teaching is inevitable. “…the single biggest problem facing education today is that our digital immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language - that of the pre-digital age- are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.” (Prensky 2001) Work on your digital accent!

7. A Digital Age “Technology isn’t killing our ability to write. It’s reviving it – and pushing our literacy in bold new directions.” (Thompson 2009)

8. Spanish Blortfolios Blog + portfolio “Basic Users” More guidance Blog 1Blog 2Blog 3

9. Blogs as Motivators for “Basic Users” • They give students an authentic purpose to write for a real online audience • Posts and comments provide collaboration opportunities • TT can guide SS to appropriate online resources via blogs • Shy students often find their voice • They extend learning beyond the classroom environment • They increase the sense of community in a class • They allow SS to share their work with family members around the world • They propel SS for life in an international platform

10. Blogs for “Independent Users” Topic: Language learning Purpose: to reflect on their communication skill needs, progress and goals Audience: like-minded individuals Role of writer: reflective explorer Situation: SS preparing for a career in an international setting Blog 1Blog 2Blog 3

11. The New Literacy: Life Writing “A mind-boggling 38 percent of all Stanford student writing took place out of the classroom in real-life situations.” (Lunsford 2006) “Most Americans never wrote anything, ever, that wasn’t a school assignment. Unless they got a job that required producing text (like in law, advertising, or media), they’d leave school and virtually never construct a paragraph again.” (Thompson 2009)

12. The Bête Noir of Academic Writing? • Acute awareness of audience (purpose, register and style) • No text speak in any student-written academic paper • More investment in language acquisition • Goal setting • “Specificity and proximity ” • Agency and self-regulation

13. The Student Voice |

14. Approaching Remediation from a Blue Sky Perspective QUESTIONS? Margaret McKinney [M.G.McKinney@rug.nl] RubenComadinaGranson[A.R.O.Comadina.Granson@rug.nl]

15. References Bettinger, E. & Long, B.T. 2004. Shape Up or Ship Out: The Effects of remediation on Students at Four-Year Colleges. Klenk, L., & Kibby, M. W. 2000. Remediating reading difficulties: Appraising the past, reconciling the present, constructing the future. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, and R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research, Vol. III (pp. 667–690). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Lunsford, A. 2006. Stanford Study of Writing. http://ssw.stanford.edu/ Murphey, T. et al 2010. Real Voice: Suggestions for Changing English Education for Future Generations from 1st Year University Students.http://www.eltnews.com/columns/mash/MasterEngRepFresh2010Complete.pdf Rader, L. (2005). Goal Setting for Students and Teachers: Six Steps to Success. Clearing House, 78(3), 123. Schunk, D. H. & Clearinghouse, E. 2001. Self-Regulation through Goal Setting. ERIC/CASS Digest. Schunk, D.H. & Zimmerman, B. 1997. Developing self-efficacious readers and writers: The role of social and self-regulatory processes. Reading engagement: Motivating readers through integrated instruction (pp.34-50). Newark, Delaware: Reading Association. Thompson, C. 2009. Clive Thompson on the New Literacy. Wired Magazine 17 September 2009. http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-09/st_thompson |

16. Blog References Students of Spanish: Hein, J.:http://johnhein.wordpress.com/ Kaiser, K.: http://kimffkaiser.wordpress.com/ Valerius, F.: http://miss-spanish.blogspot.com/ Students of English: Haas, J. de: http://languagelearningblogjuliet.wordpress.com/ Sijbrandij, P.J.: http://english-llb.blogspot.com/ Heimann, B.: http://berndslanguagelearninglab.blogspot.com/ |