Building Online Cafés for Heritage Learners: Creating Inter-institutional Learning Communities

1. Online Cafés for Heritage Learners Building online inter-institutional learning communities NFLRC – University of Hawai‘i June 17-21, 2008

2. Daily presentation agenda June 17 (T) - Building community: anticipating challenges, defining parameters June 18 (W) - Defining content, tasks, activities June 19 (H) - Pedagogical considerations for teaching in online communities June 20 (F) - Considerations for classroom-based action research June 21 (S) - Project showcase

3. Range of café formats • NL send, TL receive • TL send and receive • NL/TL send and receive

4. Workshop café projects • Japanese, HS - NL send, TL receive (cultura model) • Samoan, HS, CC, UH - TL send/receive (e-pathways) • Filipino, UH, UC - TL send-receive (heritage service clubs) • Chinese, UH, Sun Yat-Sen - NL s, TL, r (China-US business exchange)

5. Pedagogy of Intercultural Understanding • Communities of practice • Constructionism • Inquiry-based learning • Network-based communication environments Furstenberg 2006

6. Communities provide social contexts for learning • Individuals (re)construct identity through community experiences • Experiences accumulated by participation in social contexts • Social participation as learning process Wenger 1998

7. Individuals migrate among cultural contexts • Individuals import practices and perspectives from one community context to…another • Boundary encounters • Brokers straddle communities and facilitate alignment between perspectives • Brokers provide participative connection due to experience and multi-membership (legitimacy) Wenger 1998

8. Communities of practice • A group of individuals participating in a communal activity Wenger • Social learning groups that form when people have a common interest and collaborate over time… Lave and Wenger 1991 • In CoPs co-constructed knowledge – larger than individual knowledge – is developed through discussion and collaborationJohnson 2001

9. Sociocultural theory • Human activities take place in cultural contexts mediated by language and other symbol systems • Emphasizes interdependence of social and individual processes in the “co-construction of knowledge” Vygotsky

10. Constructionism Learning happens especially well when people are engaged in constructing a product such as a machine, a computer program or a book… Papert

11. Constructivism(Piaget) • Learners with different skills/backgrounds collaborate to arrive at shared understanding Duffy and Jonassen 1992 • Learners arrive at own version of the “truth” based on background, culture, world view Gredler 1997 • Students produce and analyze their own data Furstenberg 2001

12. Inquiry based-learning • A student-centered, active learning approach focusing on questioning, critical thinking, and problem-solving. • Associated with the idea "involve me and I will understand."Bass

13. Network-based communication environments • Computer-mediated technologies provide opportunities for virtual communities of practice. • Hybrid/distributed formats provide opportunities to integrate face-to-face instruction,on-line elements, off-line elements.

14. Hybrid/distributed formats • Face-to-face instruction • On-line elements • Off-line elements

15. Viability of online communities of practice • Access (++) • Asynchronous (+) • Archived (+) • Nonthreatening (+) • Disconnected (-) =======> lack of community

16. http://web.mit.edu/french/culturaNEH/

17. East-West Cafe La Tour Eiffel meets Diamond Head

25. Nurturing CoPs online • Share opinions and feelings • Group knowledge developed • Cohesion-Wenger • reference to other postings • low redundancy

26. Pedagogy of online communities • Task: relevant/personally important • Task: clearly defined with clear outcome • Teacher: prime the pump • Teacher: share responsibility/management

27. Goals for using technology in teaching and learning • Slow down the learning experience • Make thinking visible • Create a culture and context of reflective practice Bass

28. Project considerations Overall goals Mode Participant cohorts Motivation Level of language ability Role of eacher Language(s) of exchange Timeframe

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40. Bibliography Bass, R. (2000). Hyper activity and under construction: Learning Culture in a Wired World. http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/hauc3-00_files/v3_document.htm Duffy, D & Jonassen, D.H. (1992). Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Furstenberg, G., Levet, S., English, K., & Maillet, K. (2001). Giving a voice to the Silent Language of Culture: The Cultura Project. Language Learning & Technology, 5(1), 55-102. http://llt.msu.edu/vol5num1/furstenburg/default.html Gredler, M. E. (1997). Learning and Instruction: Theory and Practice (3rd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill. Lave, J & Wenger E (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Papert, S. (1980s). Mindstorms. Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas. New York: Basic Books. Piaget, Jean. (1950). The Psychology of Intelligence. New York. Routledge. Proust, M. (1932). La Prisionnière. Paris: Gallimard. Vygotsky, L. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.