June 8
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Summing-up and Some Words about Twitter
Thanks to all who contributed and read and thought with us this week on the topic of independent and supplemental online learning for adults w low skills and/or English proficiency. As last time, I have learned so much about what people are doing around the continent as well as where the barriers are.
There are so many related elements we didn't get to....a good reason to keep the conversation going on this and related lists. Elements brought up in the questions submitted in advance that should be discussed soon in some way include accessible and assistive technologies online and in the classroom that can support literacy development and independence (the "facilitated access" piece) and the scope of self study for adult learners. Nell is putting up much of this discussion on the adult ed wiki for knowledge capture and sharing and will send a link and describe her work in more details.
The PD List is taking up the element of teacher preparedness in the near future. This is a critical area and I'll be watching and listening to that conversation. I hope you all will, too, as you have much to share.
I applaud all that you are doing, and encourage you to consider conducting action research and case studies and writing it up in a way that others can find it, learn from it, replicate/adapt it, and begin to build the research base in the use of technology for adult learners. At the same time, we have to keep up the advocacy for adequate funding for adult education so that we can serve students, support teachers, conduct rigorous research, and provide appropriate PD and technical assistance.
All best and thank you again for the conversation -
Heidi Silver-Pacuilla
I would add: what in adult learning theory might indicate enhanced learning using technology (learning modalitieis, multiple intelligences, neurological theories of language acquisition...)?
Bonnie Odiorne
Thought this article from Time magazine may be of interest.
I haven't explored the viability of twitter to enhance adult literacy education. Perhaps there are some possibilities amidst the vast trivialities.
Heres the link: http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1902604,00.html
George Demetrion
The objective should be to enhance the reach and effectiveness of teachers as guides and coaches. There is no way that a blended solution should be more expensive than classroom instruction( as claimed below), even without considering the cost of the learner getting to class.
Our experience suggests quite the opposite. A lot of people can be helped very inexpensively using technology. Until the classroom ceases to be viewed as the focal point of learning, no great change can occur. The centre of learning is the learner's brain. The teacher is one of many resources available to help. If the teacher sees her/himself as a coordinator, coach, guide or even orchestra conductor, rather than teacher of the language, then much can be achieved to help many more people than are now being helped with their language learning.
Steve Kaufman
I think you might want a little more "cross fertilization" of groups. This seems like a lot of breakdown.
One of thought I had was separating out health and human services from education. I work in the former and do sift through many emails that don't directly apply to my work. However, I do occasionally pick up some interesting tips anyway,...
Tammy Pilisuk
Steve Kaufmann wrote:
> There is no way that a blended solution should be more expensive
> than classroom instruction( as claimed below), even without
> considering the cost of the learner getting to class....Our
> experience suggests quite the opposite. A lot of people can be
> helped very inexpensively using technology.
Just to clarify, the Massachusetts Department of Education, the funder
of the program I referred to in 4 (see below) was not impressed that
the retention and learning gain outcomes of this DL (actually a
blended learning) program were very good. Given that it was more
expensive than classroom instruction, they immediately abandoned this
intensive support blended model and moved to a pure DL model that, in
its design at least, had very little instructor support -- one teacher
contact hour by phone or in person for every 15 hours of independent
online (or text-based) learning. (This was an affordable model, but
the retention and outcomes were disappointing.) The question, "What
supports do what kinds of learners need to be successful in distance
learning" is a good one, but I learned from doing our study that a
more useful question, especially for funders, might be this
refinement: "What are the minimal supports (especially teacher contact
by phone, online or in-person) needed for different kinds of learners
to succeed (defined by attaining specific learning objectives and/or
outcomes) with distance learning?" It would be useful to have a
national research center that studies using technology in adult
literacy education (including ESOL/ESL,) to set up some experiments in
which we systematically look at a range of supports in several
different programs serving the same kind and level of adult learner.
For example, suppose 6 intermediate level ESOL programs were chosen,
with learners who were comparable on key variables, and each used a
different support model, ranging from a ratio of 1:12 to 1:4 hours of
teacher support to hours of independent learning. Suppose further,
that each learner was pre- and post- tested (after the same number of
hours) using the same standardized instruments used to measure
learners in intermediate level ESOL classes. And suppose that the cost
of the DL programs were equal to or less than classroom models. This
would give us a design that might be able to answer the question of
what kinds of supports intermediate level ESOL DL learners need to
attain the desired outcomes, and perhaps also whether more instructor
support leads to better or faster outcomes.
Steve, has there been any research done on the approach you refer to?
David J. Rosen
I am actually an active participant on Twitter, (@jmarrapodi, follow me at http://twitter.com/jmarrapodi ) and have been playing around with the idea of an experimental class segment for low literacy learners in a Tweetchat. They could practice writing, reading, conceptualizing their thoughts, computer skills. We can block who has access to them. Having a 140 character limit makes things manageable and provides quick feedback. I have put out several Tweets about adult literacy, tagging them #adultliteracy if anyone cares to search.
Jean Marrapodi
Hi all,
Thank you, Heidi Silver-Pacuilla, for guest moderating such a thoughtful and animated discussion. And thank you list subscribers for such great participation. Our discussion was mentioned on at least one blog and on twitter
Blog: http://tdsbliteracy.blogspot.com/2009/06/learning-online-discussion.html
Twitter:
literacycaf <http://twitter.com/literacycaf> Link: National Institute for Literacy - Technology Discussion List http://tinyurl.com/nthuct1:05 PM Jun 2nd <http://twitter.com/literacycaf/status/2005719753> from web
literacycaf <http://twitter.com/literacycaf> i have been following the NIFL tech list discussion on intergrating online learning. day one people made a graffiti wall of recent changes.1:02 PM Jun 2nd <http://twitter.com/literacycaf/status/2005684975> from web
literacycaf <http://twitter.com/literacycaf> day 2 nifl tech ?: What will it take to help our colleagues (teachers and administrators) try technology infused teaching and learning, too?1:03 PM Jun 2nd <http://twitter.com/literacycaf/status/2005698007> from web
As Heidi mentioned, in July there will be a second part to this discussion moderated on the NIFL Professional Development Discussion List. Once the date is finalized I will make sure to post it on the Tech List. Also I am still working on the content for the ALE Wiki and will send out a post when it is all up. As I do this I will gather a list of questions that didn't get fully explored and post one or two questions a week so we can keep this discussion going.
Nell Eckersley
Great article on Twitter. I don't need another time eater in my life, but I think that we can, at minimum, use twitter as an outreach tool. Many bright students drop out of high school because they're bored. Capturing this easy to serve group should be a "slam-dunk". Getting them to recommend a GED program to their non-high school completer friends, family and acquaintances may be a good recruiting tool. Isn't there a national clearinghouse for inquiries? I know that Virginia will tell students about the nearest program.
Gail Troy
Jean, thanks for sharing this. I think this is a wonderful example of how to authentically integrate technology into instruction as a learning tool.
Melinda
This might be an elementary question, but If you don't have a mobile device, how can you keep up with Twitter? I signed up, but have to go into the Titter page to see tweets from the folks I want to follow. And I would like to jump on board!
Tammy Pilisuk
David,
You are welcome to look at what we are doing at LingQ, to survey our learners and to look at the cost. Most people use the system free of charge. However the active learners spend between $30 and $100 a month on tutor services.
Better still you can look at how this model could be modified to suit the needs of different kinds of learners.
It can be argued that we only get motivated learners at LingQ since there is no coercion. I would argue that only motivated learners achieve any meaningful progress in any case. The question is how to motivate and encourage more learners.
I am quite convinced that more face to face interaction than we offer would dramatically increase the number of motivated or engaged learners. This should be less expensive than relying exclusively on the classroom.
Steve Kaufman
An analogous question: are there apps that allow Tweets to come in as text messages do, rather than having to go to the website? I have a Palm Treo, which is pretty archaic in all this. Which mobile devices are more suitable? (I need a smartphone for assistive technology reasons).
Bonnie Ondiorne
Hello Tammy,
I appreciate your thoughts!
I agree with you completely about "cross-fertilization" across discussion lists. That's precisely why messages are (or ought to be) cross-posted whenever they are applicable to more than one discussion area.
Let me briefly explain my rationale for proposing the lists below: there are fundamental differences in L1 vs. L2 acquisition, especially when L2 is acquired subsequent to schooling having begun in the L1. In fact, I was schooled in English (my third language) from kindergarten onward (but knew not a word of English until then), and it took me two years to "catch up" with my English L1 peers. When you look at Collier's famous studies that point to a 5-7 year period for ELLs to catch up, the time I needed doesn't appear unusual. Further, I come from a well-educated family and my parents were devout believers in education and helped me with my studies, albeit in Hungarian (which is fine, because they could read English and understood my assignments). Of course, there are so many variables that impact L1 vs. L2 acquisition (many of which, in turn, certainly do cross borders, such that meaningful cross-posting might be the way to go).
As for immigrants with limited or no schooling and provided they take ESL classes and pursue some type of ABE, the threshold of learning what they already know in their L1 will soon have been reached and they will then be learning vocabulary and concepts they are not familiar with in their L1. This is an additional challenge unto itself.
I have actually proposed maintaining the same number of lists we currently have, but drawing a line that separates L1 and L2 learning, assessment, and professional development. What I'm not satisfied with is having lumped all other literacies into one multiple literacies list. Reading and writing literacy has evolved into such an such an array of literacies (each valid in their own right), that I'm not sure how the discussion lists can accommodate them and include more as they crop up, which they surely will in time.
You are the first one to have responded to my thoughts, and again, I greatly appreciate it. My attention is clearly directed at making the NIFL discussion lists as powerful a platform as only possible as we look toward the future, which is what prompted my thoughts in the first place.
Michael A. Gyori
I am a new tweeter. how do I find the bookmarks?
Joan Guthrie Medlen
Dear Steve,
The countries that do the best job at teaching EFL are the ones that teach it across the curriculum rather than as a separate "subject" area (which, in some fundamental ways, it is not, but rather a medium whereby learning is enabled). That we learn to read so we may read to learn is true for all languages, whether natively spoken or not.
I have read the many thoughts about a variety of personal traits, such as empathy and passion, and skill sets, such as being familiar with the experience of learning an L2 (ideally, I would say, in the context of a foreign country in which one is literally forced, even if for a few months, to learn the dominant language in order to maneuver the adopted surroundings, even if temporarily), and other skills sets derived from appropriate formal education in subject areas that relate to SL/FL language acquisition. I site these two skills sets as non-exclusive examples, but would argue that most teachers without them would further enhance their teaching abilities by developing them.
Unfortunately, many teachers rightfully claim they don't have any remaining time or resources to attend to more professional development. This is a real social and economic problem in the United States that is increasingly backfiring as a result of a currently umet need for bilingual (or multilingual) individuals across a broad range of language groups. I trust as the world becomes ever smaller, things will begin to change at an exponentially increasing rate.
Further, that technology in instruction should be used is, in my mind, a no-brainer. The only caveat is that its use is limited by its still uneven availability and perhaps even more so the lack of requisite knowledge on the part of some teachers as to how to incorporate technology as a vital resource both inside and outside the classroom.
Unfortunately, SL/FL education in the United States lags behind numerous other countries. Obvious reasons, in my opinion, include the lack of need for most Americans to learn another language, rampant subtractive bilingualism, and the relatively limited (to put it mildly) sociopolitical status of SL & FL education in this country.
When all is said and done, my experience tells me that the best teachers are the ones who self-admittedly keep on wanting to learn more about their professions. I frequently tell my students that the best teachers are the best students, and that the best students are the best teachers. Learning is a lifelong venture.
world10
Michael A. Gyori
That's ok Tammy. It is a learning process. There are a couple of ways to track Tweets. I keep Tweetdeck (http://tweetdeck.com/beta/ ) open on my system which also tracks my Facebook updates. This is a freebie you download and log into. It keeps the Twitter updates in columns, including a separate column for any replies mentioning me, or direct messages to me. I have over 200 people following me, so I've created groups of people, and columns for each group: for learning, nonprofits and Providence, where I live. You can also have searches active in another column so if someone mentions a particular word, you can be aware of it. That's how marketing people keep up with news and comments on their product. It's also a great way to find people interested in the things you are interested in.
You can just work with one column, by keeping the Twitter.com page open and logged in. It keeps a running list ("timeline") of your incoming and outgoing tweets, and you can easily scan for news. You can just minimize it, or use it as another tab on a web browser that allows for multiple tabs.
Think of it like e-mail: something to check in on from time to time.
Here's a nice overview of how-to, with some terminology, but warning: you may need your sunglasses. http://www.deannazandt.com/2009/02/26/a-non-fanatical-beginners-guide-to-twi tter/
Jean Marrapodi
