Reflections in cyberspace: Web conferencing for language teacher education

Abstract

This paper reports on an in depth evaluation of a distance format Applied Linguistics course in which web based computer conferencing was used as a tool to support student knowledge construction and collaborative group work. Students and their teacher reflected on what they expected from the course, whether or not computer supported discussion was effective for personal learning, and how e-learning environments could be improved. The findings are reported within categories of social cohesion and the role of online discussion to support meaningful experiential learning. More generally, the paper discusses how situated evaluation can help educators gain a better understanding of the roles of task, structure, and language use in e-learning environments.

Changing relationship: Who is the learner and who is the teacher in the online educational landscape?

“…In these interactions the members of successful online learning communities, according to Twigg (2001), often take on the role of the teacher more often than do students in traditional classrooms. Other studies (Johnson, 2001;Rogers, 2003) suggest that students from online communities tend to learn more from information added by their peers than from the teacher. In Maor's study (2003), the role of facilitator was extended to include members of the community on a rotation basis to let them experience the responsibility of the teacher by presenting the weekly topic, posing relevant questions and providing a synthesis of the discussion (Maor, 2003).…”

“…This question was raised in previous studies of online learning (Johnson, Bishop, Holt, Stirling & Zane, 2001;Aviv, 2000). Although the first analysis reveals that cognitive and social processes are mutually interactive and overlapping in online learning, it is important to know who contributes to the facilitation of the cognitive learning and in what ways.…”

Issues in the education of TESOL teachers by distance education

“…Studies of individual programs still have an important role to play in researching LTED, and studies documenting instructors' perspectives on program development and implementation (e.g., Egbert & Thomas, 2001;Henrichsen, 2001;Holmberg et al, 2005;Howard & McGrath, 1995;Kouritzin, 2002) and learner perspectives on studying in particular LTED programs (e.g., Arnold & Ducate, 2006;Johnson, Bishop, Holt, Stirling, & Zane, 2001;Kamhi-Stein, 2000;Olofsson & Lindberg, 2006;Schocker-von Difurth & Legutke, 2002) will remain valuable. In addition, rigorous and rich case studies of learners' experiences, classroom-based studies of the impact of the aspects of learning particular to LTED on the learners' language teaching practices (both immediate and in the long term), and rigorous curriculum evaluations employing a range of data collection and analytical methods (cf.…”

“…It is not coincidental that many of the relevant studies in this area focus on online discussions (see Hammond, 2005) and rely on online discussion and/or questionnaire data (e.g., Arnold & Ducate, 2006;Biesenbach-Lucas, 2003;Johnson et al, 2001;Kamhi-Stein, 2000;Nunan, 1999). The data from online discussions and questionnaires are easy to collect, convenient, and useful to quote in publications, and in the case of discussion data illustrate aspects of the learning process and of learners' and teachers' discursive construction of knowledge.…”

The Promise and Practice of E-Learning within Complex Tertiary Environments

“…A common theme occurring throughout the interviews was that e-learning was extremely timeconsuming and yet, upon closer examination, we believed that the real issue was lack of skills in effective online instructional practice. It is well known that existing courses and pedagogical approaches cannot be simply transferred from a face-to-face context into an online format [7], [8]. Many staff reported online instructional practices that we would consider to be pedagogically tedious and which could (and did) lead to increased workloads.…”