Guth_Helm Skype and the Web

Skype and the web: how learners develop new online literacies to promote learning in telecollaboration Sarah Guth & Francesca Helm University of Padova, Italy

„ In the dynamically evolving and turbulent global culture, multiple literacies necessitate multicultural literacies , being able to understand and work with a heterogeneity of cultural groups and forms, acquiring literacies in a multiplicity of media , and gaining the competences to participate in a democratic culture and society.“

(Kellner 2002:166)

Multiple dimensions of Telecollaboration 2.0 new online literacies ICC savoir... Language learning (CEFR) Operational ‘ technical stuff’ computer literacy information literacy participation literacy new media literacies code-switching apprendre/ faire comprendre Spoken production Spoken interacion Written production Aural comprehension Written comprehension Operational ‘ ethos stuff’ willingness to explore, learn from, participate in, create, and collaborate and share in online communities. etre Autonomy Motivation Willingness to communicate. Cultural knowledge of literacy practices and appropriate ways of communicating in online contexts savoirs Linguistic competence Sociolinguistic competence Pragmatic competence Critical how and why new information and communication technologies are used s’engager Critical Discourse Analysis

Padova-Dickinson Exchange (2 nd iteration) 13 June 2008 EDEN Annual Conference 2008 Lisbon, Portugal tools modes of communication Interculture wiki (exchange platform) asynchronous text Skype synchronous oral / text other, e.g. blogs, Facebook, email asynchronous text Padova Dickinson No. 31 28 Majors 22 – MA in International Communications Studies 9 - Engineering Mixed Exchange Course 22 – B2-C1 level 9 – B1-B2 level B1 level, 3rd semester Mean age 23 18

Exchange goals & tasks

Goals:

Based on the C’s set by the American Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21 st Century:

Communication

Culture/s

Comparisons

Connections

Communities

Tasks:

9 1-hour weekly Skype sessions in the respective language-labs based on predetermined topics

preparatory questions on the wiki before each synchronous session

development of a bi-lingual wiki page in groups of 4 (weeks 3-7)

Why wiki and

Skype: a multimodal online application

Video or voice chat and synchronous text

Allows communication between multiple users

Can instantly share links, files, images

Free recording software – Pamela

Wiki: a tool for collective authoring

Asynchronous editing and commenting

Allows for upload of multimedia files

It’s public, free and open

Use of both tools requires:

multitasking

multimodal communicative competence

multiliteracies

Research questions

How do learners use the different modes of communication available (text chat whilst engaging in voice chat) in Skype?

Do learners make use of other online resources available to them whilst chatting in Skype?

For what purposes do learners use these resources and what added value, if any, do they bring?

In the end, what, if anything, can we teach our students, or how can we develop tasks, to promote these online literacies?

Research methods: action research

Data

survey results

audio files

student transcripts of audio files

student analyses of audio files

text chat transcripts

ICC self assessment

wiki pages: collaborative project & learner diary

teacher observations

Suburbs: preparatory questions

Example 1: John and Anna

[13/11/2008 17.08.45] anna says: palazzi [13/11/2008 17.11.12] anna says: poste [13/11/2008 17.14.42] anna says: spacciatori [13/11/2008 17.16.28] anna says: malissimo [13/11/2008 17.17.33] anna says: double rooms [13/11/2008 17.18.56] John says: carlisle [13/11/2008 17.21.10] anna says: 15000 [13/11/2008 17.25.18] John says: buroughs [13/11/2008 17.27.30] anna says: boroughs [13/11/2008 17.28.50] anna says: ghetto

Example 2: Kimberly and Maria

[13/11/2008 16.49.55] Maria says: allora [13/11/2008 16.49.59] Maria says: io vivo in città [13/11/2008 16.50.08] Maria says: e quindi non conosco molto bene [13/11/2008 16.50.14] Maria says: la situazione nelle periferie [13/11/2008 16.50.17] Maria says: però penso [13/11/2008 16.50.31] Maria says: in città [13/11/2008 16.50.42] kim says: in New York [13/11/2008 16.50.50] Maria says: i nomi delle città non si traducono [13/11/2008 16.51.04] Maria says: :) [13/11/2008 16.51.30] kim says: :O

Example 3: Kimberly and Maria

[13/11/2008 16.53.28] Maria says: perchè in italia ci sono molti immigrati [13/11/2008 16.53.34] Maria says: ma non siamo abituati [13/11/2008 16.53.44] Maria says: e quindi la gente ha molta paura [13/11/2008 16.53.52] Maria says: ma sono pregiudizi

Teacher observations (Italy)

students blush, gesticulate and are very expressive, e.g. lots of smiling, even though there’s no video

students often have multiple text chats going on at the same time with their ‘in-class’ peers, often in the local dialect

students are very focused on what they are doing and are not easily distracted by the sounds and movements of their peers around them

almost all take notes on pen and paper when Skyping with their peers

Preliminary findings

Text chat is used:

to start

to resolve technical glitches with audio

to overcome misunderstandings

to check understanding

to teach one another L2

to share links

to say things they don’t want others in the room to hear

to use emoticons to express emotions like embarassment

Other online resources used:

online dictionaries, to look up words

the Web, to find answers to questions, to share information, to illustrate ideas and concepts

wiki pages, to overcome pauses and work on collaborative project

Conclusions … so far

Learners DO use the different modes of communication available (text chat whilst engaging in voice chat) in Skype, albeit in different ways.

SOME learners make use of other online resources available to them whilst chatting in Skype.

Questionnaire results indicate that most students find that using the web during intercultural exchange provides added value, but many find the multitasking involved challenging.