Teacher perceptions of the ‘affordances’ of social software for language education in their teaching contexts

1. Teacher perceptions of the ‘affordances’ of social software for language education in their teaching contexts Susan Brown & Gary Motteram (Language Teacher Education Group: University of Manchester)

2. Introduction Outline of presentation • Part 1: Ecological perspectives • Why ecological perspectives? • Ecological perspectives in the literature • Part 2: The nature of Web 2.0 (social software): Ecological perspectives and affordances • Part 3: Description of the MA course in Educational Technology and TESOL entitled Courseware Development in Distributed Learning. • Part 4: Case Study: Vida Zorko (of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)

3. Part 1: Why ecological perspectives • Our interest in ecological perspectives when considering the affordances of social software has arisen mostly through the accounts of teachers working with technology in context. We have gathered a number of these accounts since the first run of the course (described in Part 3). • These accounts have reinforced our belief that the value of social software in language education needs to be considered from the perspective of context and the rich weaver of factors that make up that context. The case study in Part 4 provides a situated accounts of how the value of social software is perceived in relation to those factors.

4. Ecological perspectives in the wider literature on learning • A full analysis of any learning context must : • acknowledge complex unfolding non-linear interactions with a technology (Young et al, 2001) • Pin down how learning and development can be driven by perceptions of the affordances of an environment and by cyclical interaction of perception and action

5. Perspectives in the language education literature • Increased emphasis on ecological perspectives (Tudor, 2003; Bax, 2003) and appropriate methodology (Holliday, 1991) in the literature • The ecological perspective on language teaching: • focuses attention on the subjective reality which various aspects of the teaching-learning process assume for participants, • on the dynamic interaction between methodology and context • confronts us with the complex and multifaceted nature of teaching and learning as they are actually lived out in specific settings. (Tudor, 2003: 1)

6. Ecological perspectives: the fit of technology to pedagogy and vice versa • The role and positioning of technology with respect to an ecological perspective has been little discussed in the literature on language learning. • Technology in that literature tends to be discussed principally with regard to • the ‘fit’ (appropriateness) of technology to pedagogical approaches ( Salaberry, 2001; Watts, 1999; Hanson- Smith , 1997) • That fit of technology to pedagogical approach is often articulated in terms of • socio-cultural theory and social constructivism • problem-based, task-based learning and situated learning

7. Ecological perspectives: considerations • However pedagogical approaches perceived as consonant with technology may not be consonant with the ecology of a context • language teachers working with technology may well need to consider the role of technology from three perspectives: • The relevance of the technology to context • The relevance of the technology to pedagogical approach • The relevance of the perceived fit of technology and pedagogy to their context. • There should be integrated, dynamic and negotiated links between perception of the affordances of technology, pedagogy and context.

8. Part 2: Social software • Emerging social software genres such as wiki are often referred to as Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is described as: • A state of mind (Miller, 2005) • An attitude not a technology (O’Reilly, 2005) • Providing “an architecture for participation” (O’Reilly, 2005) • taking on “emergent properties” (O’Reilly, 2005)

9. Social software and context ‘Architecture of participation’ • The affordance of such architecture may have great potential for language education. It may, for example, afford great scope in student-centred learning. • A teacher may need to consider this affordance with respect to how a student –centred approach relates to their context: e.g. • how learners in their context may feel about negotiating a course • whether that sets a precedent that is not in keeping with the accepted practices and goals of the educational institution they work at.

10. Social software and context • takes on “emergent properties” (O’Reilly, 2005) • By inference Web 2.0 properties are moulded by perceptions of user. • We might argue therefore that the inherent ‘malleability’ of Web 2.0. means it can be adapted to the specificities of context.

11. Part 3: Ecological perspectives: MA Educational Technology and TESOL course entitled: Courseware Development for Distributed learning • An Ecological perspective forms the reflective backbone of the course. The course seeks to promote reflection on the appropriateness of social software to the ‘ecology’ in which the teachers work, and to the pedagogical approaches teachers feel are most suited to that ecology. • Other objectives of the course are to: • Give teachers the practical skills to develop courses using a range of technologies: • VLE’s: WebCT, & Moodle • Wikis, blogs, podcasting, social bookmarking, synchronous environments (breeze) • Help frame teachers’ thinking on the development of courses with respect to instructional design for language education

12. Brief Description of Course: Home Page

13. Course Wiki area

14. Course blog area

15. Course sample materials

16. Part 4: Case study: Vida Zorko at the University of Ljubljana • Technologies Vida uses in her courseware: • Wiki(for problem based learning and as a ’vocabulary’ aid) • Blog • Aspects of context Vida focuses on when discussing the value of social software in her courseware • The Learners: • Sociology students at the Faculty of Social Sciences, studying ‘English for Specific Purposes’ . They have advanced English and good Internet skills. They all have access to an internet connection at home and given the limited hours available for face-to-face study, many of them use the Internet to further their studies. • The Teaching: • includes communicative methods with a recent focus on problem-based learning (PBL) and the provision of an online resource of useful vocabulary • The Institution • Encourages a cross disciplinary approach • Encourages the greater use of technology in teaching

17. Part 4: Case study: Vida Zorko at the University of Ljubljana • Vida says that “PBL is based on the social constructivist belief that learning occurs when students are meaningfully engaged in social activities” • She sees a PBL approach, which has recently been introduced at the sociology department, as promoting a more active learning amongst the students which will in turn lead to better learning outcomes • She perceives social software (wikis and blogs) as a means of facilitating and promoting a PBL approach

18. Case study: Vida Zorko at the University of Ljubljana • The introduction of PBL in Vida’s context raised a number of concerns relating to: • student participation • group learning, • motivation, • the sharing of knowledge, • responsibility, • the assessment of student work • communication with teachers • vocabulary related problems : students lack a bilingual dictionary of problematic terms.

19. Case study: Vida Zorko at the University of Ljubljana • The use of wiki and blogs , as Vida sees it, can address those concerns by: • promoting peer-to-peer, teacher-teacher and student-teacher interactions • increasing motivation by publicly displaying group products • facilitating the sharing of knowledge among students and teachers • empowering students with the authority to construct their own knowledge • enabling teachers to better assess students’ progress by monitoring the historyof the process.

20. Case study: Vida Zorko at the University of Ljubljana • Vida’s perceptions of the affordances of wiki which can play a role in addressing those concerns: The wiki • can adapt and simplify interface to make them more transparent for users • Student and tutor contributions are easily accessible with mostly 1 click access to all areas, thus • promoting greater sharing of knowledge and • allowing tutors to better monitor student progress and to collate reoccurring language problems and deal with them in a face-to-face environment • Tutors can see who is working in the wiki, and can respond almost immediately to student contributions. From this perspective Vida characterises the wiki as “nearly a synchronous space” • Allows for easy dialogue between student and student, and student and tutor through comment area. Students prefer this area as it is less prominent and less accessible than in a blog .

21. Case study: Vida Zorko at the University of Ljubljanahttp://www2.arnes.si/~vzorko/http://fdvenglish2pbl.pbwiki.com/

22. Case study: Vida Zorko at the University of Ljubljanahttp://fdvenglish2pbl.pbwiki.com/

23. Case study: Vida Zorko at the University of Ljubljana • Final points on the case study: • In Vida’s context there is a happy consonance between pedagogy, technology and context though Vida feels the wiki environment needs to be carefully shaped in order to facilitate collaboration between learners • Other teachers who have taken the MA course looking at courseware development in distributed learning have described a number of tensions between context, social software and pedagogy. Where they see the value of a social software genre, they try to find ways of reconciling those tensions. Their experiences will form the basis of future case studies.

24. Concluding comments: what case studies such as Vida’s tell us • Our course: • Our experiences with past and present students on our course underlines to us the need to consider the affordances of social software from an ecological perspective, as this is a crux concern for language teachers • Perceptions of the affordances of social software • I hope I’ve shown, via Vida’s case study, how the value of social software is perceived very much in relation to contextual factors and how that influences the way the social software is shaped and used.