Developing a Personal Learning Environment for Language Learning Using Web 2.0 Tools Sarah Guth EFL teacher Università degli studi di Padova

agenda Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008 Some background and definitions Personal Learning Environments The course Results Conclusions

Web 2.0 Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008 community create customization free informallearning integration interactive interoperability multimedia open openstandards personalization publish read-writeWeb remoteservers responsibility share user-controlled transportableskills ‘ Web 2.0’ does not necessarily describe a new set of tools but rather a new way of using the Internet that is made possible by these new tools.

the social web and social software Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008 The social web has the potential to be an effective environment for formal and informal language learning. create http://www.websocialarchitecture.com/community/2008/06/a-conceptual-ma.html share interact gather manage

the old vs. the new Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008 Centralized learning in a closed LMS, CMS, VLE. Distributed learning in the open, participatory social Web. Easy course creation and management Repositories of learning materials Self-contained system Protected platform Institution controlled Teacher-centric Personalized Student-controlled/owned Overlap into personal spheres Additional skills A Personal Learning Environment? Diagrams by Stephen Downes (2006) http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/paper92/paper92.html

Easy course creation and management

Repositories of learning materials

Self-contained system

Protected platform

Institution controlled

Teacher-centric

Personalized

Student-controlled/owned

Overlap into personal spheres

Additional skills

A Personal Learning Environment?

What is a PLE? A Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is NOT software, but “a new approach to using technologies for learning” (Attwell, 2007). “ a combination of the formal and informal tools and processes we use to gather information, reflect on it and do something with it, which is essentially what we mean when we talk about learning” (Martin, 2007). “ a collection of free, distributed, web-based tools, usually centred around a blog, linked together and aggregating content using RSS feeds and simple HTML scripts” (Fitzgerald, 2006). Most definitions share the following four characteristics (adapted from Lubensky, 2006): Individual control over tools and contents Aggregation of contents Integration of services No space and time limits Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008 Web 2.0

A Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is NOT software, but “a new approach to using technologies for learning” (Attwell, 2007).

“ a combination of the formal and informal tools and processes we use to gather information, reflect on it and do something with it, which is essentially what we mean when we talk about learning” (Martin, 2007).

“ a collection of free, distributed, web-based tools, usually centred around a blog, linked together and aggregating content using RSS feeds and simple HTML scripts” (Fitzgerald, 2006).

Most definitions share the following four characteristics (adapted from Lubensky, 2006):

Individual control over tools and contents

Aggregation of contents

Integration of services

No space and time limits

setting course: Lingua Inglese II or BloggingEnglish students: final year Master’s level students in International Communication Studies ’ 06-’07: 25 students ’ 07-’08: 60 students 90% female, aged 23-24 modules: 2 semester-long (10 weeks) modules 1st semester: developing a PLE 2nd semester: telecollaboration projects with the USA blended learning (2 hrs in class, 3-4 online) course platform: BloggingEnglish, a public blog (Blogger) Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008

course: Lingua Inglese II or BloggingEnglish

students:

final year Master’s level students in International Communication Studies

’ 06-’07: 25 students

’ 07-’08: 60 students

90% female, aged 23-24

modules:

2 semester-long (10 weeks) modules

1st semester: developing a PLE

2nd semester: telecollaboration projects with the USA

blended learning (2 hrs in class, 3-4 online)

course platform: BloggingEnglish, a public blog (Blogger)

course aims Language: written fluency in English: blogging and wiki spoken fluency and accuracy in English: classroom and telecollaboration reading and listening skills: accessing online resources Information/electronic/participation literacy: develop practical research skills using online information networks develop competency in the use of blogs, wikis, social bookmarking and web syndication (RSS feeds). Intercultural: develop intercultural competency (ICC) through reading, reflection, writing and through telecollaboration Aims of developing a PLE: learn to be autonomous learn to be able to recognize progress through self-diagnosis and by raising awareness of learning process Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008

Language:

written fluency in English: blogging and wiki

spoken fluency and accuracy in English: classroom and telecollaboration

reading and listening skills: accessing online resources

Information/electronic/participation literacy:

develop practical research skills using online information networks

develop competency in the use of blogs, wikis, social bookmarking and web syndication (RSS feeds).

Intercultural:

develop intercultural competency (ICC) through reading, reflection, writing and through telecollaboration

Aims of developing a PLE:

learn to be autonomous

learn to be able to recognize progress through self-diagnosis and by raising awareness of learning process

tasks Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008 Pedagogical approach: student-centred resource-based learning (Hill and Hannafin, 2001), i.e. students find text, media, and sites that have the potential to support their learning community-based learning, i.e. students gradually create a learning community through their interconnected blogs e-tivity title 1 Let’s get started 2 Exploring the blogosphere 3 Developing your own blog 4 Feeds and Feed Aggregators 5 Social Bookmarking 6 Podcasts 7 YouTube 8 Judging online resources 9 What’s your PLE ?

Pedagogical approach:

student-centred

resource-based learning (Hill and Hannafin, 2001), i.e. students find text, media, and sites that have the potential to support their learning

community-based learning, i.e. students gradually create a learning community through their interconnected blogs

What does this have to do with English? Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008 skim online texts quickly “in order to focus on the relevant aspects” learn “to be critical, interpret and select information”. “ become more familiar with grammatical structures and different genres” “ while studying a language, one should also be aware of the more informal side of it, which emerges exactly from blogs” “ to me, the interesting thing … is the process of creating a written text that YOU KNOW will have readers!” podcasts: students learn while they commute YouTube: “they give you the possibility to learn by having fun” (classroom discussions) (telecollaboration projects using Skype) increased interest and motivation Reading Writing Listening Speaking

skim online texts quickly “in order to focus on the relevant aspects”

learn “to be critical, interpret and select information”.

“ become more familiar with grammatical structures and different genres”

“ while studying a language, one should also be aware of the more informal side of it, which emerges exactly from blogs”

“ to me, the interesting thing … is the process of creating a written text that YOU KNOW will have readers!”

podcasts: students learn while they commute

YouTube: “they give you the possibility to learn by having fun”

and their PLEs? “ I have to say that this is the first time I’m seriously reflecting on how and how much I’m actually learning English. I was surely aware of the fact that only a very low percentage of what I learnt at school or at the university is fixed into my brain! Anyway I didn’t imagine how much of my knowledge came from those silly things I do every day!” “ The final presentation of our P.L.E. we had in class made it finally clear to me that what we’ve been doing with Delicious, and Bloglines and YouTube and so on was actually a way to broaden our possibilities and increase our sources. Getting acquainted with new tools which can be useful for us is great but they are means, the end remaining our very personal process of learning.” Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008

“ I have to say that this is the first time I’m seriously reflecting on how and how much I’m actually learning English. I was surely aware of the fact that only a very low percentage of what I learnt at school or at the university is fixed into my brain! Anyway I didn’t imagine how much of my knowledge came from those silly things I do every day!”

“ The final presentation of our P.L.E. we had in class made it finally clear to me that what we’ve been doing with Delicious, and Bloglines and YouTube and so on was actually a way to broaden our possibilities and increase our sources. Getting acquainted with new tools which can be useful for us is great but they are means, the end remaining our very personal process of learning.”

barriers and challenges Technological barriers: access stability myriad of tools inappropriate content Pedgagocial challenges: assessment feedback time Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008 reserve hours in a lab choose well-established tools gradual intro. and continued use develop ability to judge sources fluency? accuracy? collaboration? other literacies? teacher: online to groups / in-class peer: online to other group members social-constructivist requires a lot of time, but student participation is almost 100%

Technological barriers:

access

stability

myriad of tools

inappropriate content

Pedgagocial challenges:

assessment

feedback

time

conclusions Developing a PLE is an on-going process whose aim is to better understand how each of us individually learns best. It is different from an ELP because it records the process, not the products; it promotes reflection and learning about the way we learn. It is suitable to last-year students as they are embarking on a life of informal learning beyond their formal education. However, ideally, students would start developing their PLE in their first year of language studies and continue developing it throughout their studies. For some students, the blog remains the main locus of their PLE and language learning. For others it becomes Facebook (with their American peers) or simply face-to-face encounters such as tandem learning. The tools are merely the means to the end, which is raised awareness of how and where we learn. Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008

Developing a PLE is an on-going process whose aim is to better understand how each of us individually learns best.

It is different from an ELP because it records the process, not the products; it promotes reflection and learning about the way we learn.

It is suitable to last-year students as they are embarking on a life of informal learning beyond their formal education.

However, ideally, students would start developing their PLE in their first year of language studies and continue developing it throughout their studies.

For some students, the blog remains the main locus of their PLE and language learning. For others it becomes Facebook (with their American peers) or simply face-to-face encounters such as tandem learning. The tools are merely the means to the end, which is raised awareness of how and where we learn.

Thank you. [email_address] http://bloggingenglish1.blogspot.com/

Thank you.

[email_address]

http://bloggingenglish1.blogspot.com/

Keeping track using feeds Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008

Student blog Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008

Student’s social bookmarking Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008

BloggingEnglish on YouTube Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008

podcasts Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008

Student’s PLE Friday, 5/9/2008 EUROCALL 2008 Writing my PLE on paper and making in this way my learning world visible, hasn't been simple. … I like the idea of imaging my PLE like a map ; a sort of map I use to find something, to achieve something...There are four main groups; GATHERING INFORMATION, CHECKING INFORMATION, PEOPLE and SPACES. I subdivided the " gathering information area" into two smaller groups: FORMAL LEARNING and INFORMAL LEARNING. Just some months ago, my PLE was different ; now new tools like del.icio.us and Bloglines enrich it, giving me other possibilities to improve my knowledge of tasks English (and of anything I'm interested in). A PLE is a changeable concept that's always gr0wing into something different; it reflects our approach to learning and given we all never stop to learn and discover something new, our PLE is destined to follow us...