Exploring the Hype(r) of Languages Learning and Teaching

Exploring the Hype(r) of Languages Learning and Teaching The use of ICT for learning and teaching Languages in technology-enhanced government schools Are you tweeting this? #ASILE09 Penelope Coutas EdD Candidate Murdoch University p.coutas@murdoch.edu.au http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/pcoutas

Exploring the Hype(r) of Languages Learning and Teaching The use of ICT for learning and teaching Languages in technology-enhanced government schools A story about the use of ICTs for learning and teaching Languages in technology-enhanced government schools Work in progress: case study Two schools Three Languages teachers Their perspectives Their advice

Once upon a time... ...in a galaxy far, far away • “The most isolated capital city” • DET is one of the largest ICT organisations in Australia. The network comprises 1210 network sites with over 86,000 personal computers and over 2000 servers (Online Teaching Learning Service Website, DETWA)

The hype Real World Motivation & Engagement Digital Natives & Net Natives Collaborate Communicate Connections Student achievement

The hype & conditions for success Real World Leadership Motivation & Engagement Equipment Digital Natives & Net Natives Professional Learning Collaborate Support Communicate Time Connections Student achievement

Enabling the Hype: The 100 Schools Project

What is going on here?

How, and why, are Languages teachers using ICTs? What are their perceptions of the impact of ICTs, and what have they found to be effective?

Lilly, ICT Coordinator at Maxwell SHS gives her take on the Classroom First Strategy Once upon a time

The state of Languages Alice, Indonesian teacher at Morragangga SHS education. Once upon a time

Mixed messages Old and new technologies Once upon a time

I come in the back way. And it normally starts with, "Oh, Brie, the network's down" or "Oh, Brie, the booking page is down." Sometimes it starts with "Hi Brie, how are you today?" which is lovely. Um, and there's an ongoing joke between the Deputy, who's my line manager, and I and we see each other and we go, "Hi, how are you going? Oh, by the way, these 5 problems have occurred in the last 10 minutes." Brie, ICT Coordinator, Morragangga SHS Once upon a time

So that’s the galaxy. Let’s meet the stars.

Saras Saras referred to herself as a “beginner teacher” but had, in fact, over twenty years’ experience teaching Economics in her native Malaysia. She became an Indonesian teacher at Maxwell SHS based on her language background.

Saras Penny What about more generally in your approach to teaching Languages? How would you describe it? Saras Um, my approach has so far has been more of um, uh, like, more repetition, going through words, I like um, since it is a new language for them, I like to do more pictures, I like to show pictures, um, sometimes in, in the kids' mind, because they are coming uh from learning at a higher level, maybe the language is English and the other subjects where they do at the high language and suddenly come here and it seems like a bit babyish.

Anna Anna qualiﬁed as a specialist French and Italian teacher in 1999 and had been teaching at Maxwell SHS for six years. She called herself the “De-facto Teacher In Charge” because Languages did not have a Head of Learning Area. The lack of representation and status for the Languages learning area was a major concern for Anna.

Anna It’s embarrassing. Not being like you know conﬁdent enough to... I don't know, just, I want, I want to know more before I go in there and look like an ass in front of them... You know like sort of how they go, "Miss, you know," you know like you gotta I mean, that's ﬁne, you know, you can have a laugh, and and that's OK, you know actually I really don't care if you know, but it's it’s more like, you know, you kind of, you want to know more than what, you want to know what's going on.

Anna [This research project] made me more aware of them [ICTs] being there. It's made me more, like, think about what else could I do aside from what I'm already doing to make ICT... and it's also made me go into class and like look at the kids with the iPods and all that stuff and just like watching them. They're just fascinated. Um, they, they can sit there through a lesson and just like, you know, um, they can like be, you know, clicking and whatever, and if you're not watching, they're doing it, under desks.

Alice Alice was a product of NALSAS. She had jumped at the opportunity to add Indonesian to her teaching repertoire and found that her background in Phys Ed and French teaching were invaluable in her many roles at Morragangga SHS.

What works, according to these teachers?

Advice from Saras ICTs make learning fun. Audio-visual materials make it real (“power of being able to see”). ICT is a research tool. It is difﬁcult to manage student behaviour in computer pods. Use labs instead. Having the computers networked is very important. Get to know good websites by asking others.

Advice from Anna Boys love using computers. Languages Online is a fantastic resource. Make ICT a conscious part of your curriculum. Make the learning/teaching purpose explicit, “OK, so we’re watching this because...” Access to IT technical support is essential. Get ideas from other schools with more experience. Languages must be recognised and supported as a Learning Area.

Advice from Alice Win over your school’s technical support person/s (chocolate cake and a bottle of bourbon). Put your hand up for everything (except being in charge of ICT). Get involved. Always have a backup plan. Don’t expect it to work, but don’t let that stop you. Maximise on the audio-visual opportunities afforded by ICTs (both reception and production). Keep your pen and notepad. Add to (and remodel) your existing toolkit. Plan for tomorrow today. Be ﬂexible enough to adapt to what’s going on today. Challenge your learners. Multi-level and multi-task. “Why are we doing this?” “No, you tell me.” Learn by doing.

Did they all live happily ever after?

What is the moral to this story?

Choose your own adventure?

“Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.” Inigo Montoya The Princess Bride

No simple cause-effect relationship.

Instead of viewing technology as the sole player, we need to adopt perspectives that take technology, teaching (pedagogy) and what is being taught (curriculum/content) into consideration. (Zhao, 2002; Mishra & Koehler, 2008)

http://www.tpack.org

Stay tuned. That’s the sequel.

Terima kasih! Are you tweeting this? #ASILE09 Penelope Coutas EdD Candidate Murdoch University p.coutas@murdoch.edu.au http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/pcoutas

Image credits Where credits are not given, the images are my own. • Slide 1 Twitter logo: http://www.twitter.com • Slide 3 Map of WA: http://maps.google.com • Slide 8 & 9 The Age newspaper: http://www.theage.com.au • Slide 9 School fronts: http://maps.google.com

Exploring the Hype(r) of Languages Learning and Teaching

by Penelope Coutas on Jul 31, 2009

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