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Similar to Language Symposium 2012: Social Media for Language Learning Outside the Classroom
Language Symposium 2012: Social Media for Language Learning Outside the Classroom
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- 2. 2 some things toconsider •Ease of Use •Cost •Security
- 3. 3 When did westart? • Fall 2011 Semester
- 4. 4 Who are ourMembers? • instructors • students in our programs • former students • study abroad students • members of the community
- 5. 5 Facebook Presented by Yingfei Chen UW-Milwaukee’s Chinese Program http://www.facebook.com/groups/166255906783640/
- 6. 6 Facebook: some Facts &Stats Presented by Yingfei Chen UW-Milwaukee’s Chinese Program
- 7. 7 Questions: Teacher-dominated orStudent-dominated group? What are the topics? What do students “like”? What kind of language(s) do students use?
- 8. 8 Student-dominated group • TotalPost: 247 - current student: 116 - instructors: 90 (among which 51 posts are Chinese Program announcement)
- 9. 9 Topics of thePosts • Language - Language Learning • Culture - Question and Answer - Music sharing - Others - Video sharing - Picture sharing • Chinese Program - Travel experience sharing - Announcement - Question and answer - Chinese Club Activities - Other resources - Photos sharing - Question and answer
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- 11. 11 Topics of thePosts • Language - Language Learning • Culture - Question and Answer - Music sharing - Others - Video sharing - Picture sharing • Chinese Program - Travel experience sharing - Announcement - Question and answer - Chinese Club Activities - Other resources - Photos sharing - Question and answer
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- 13. 13 Topics of thePosts • Language - Language Learning • Culture - Question and Answer - Music sharing - Others - Video sharing - Picture sharing • Chinese Program - Travel experience sharing - Announcement - Question and answer - Chinese Club Activities - Other resources - Photos sharing - Question and answer
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- 15. 15 What do students“Like”? Total „Like‟ : 520 Language: 109 Chinese program: 171 Culture: 240 Language Chinese Program Culture
- 16. 16 Language Use inDifferent Topics
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- 18. 18 Over what time are students most active: No. of Time Percentage posts T1: before 10:00 AM 45 18.22% TOTAL POST: 247 T2: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM 36 14.57% T3: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM 37 14.98% T4: 4:00PM - 8:00 PM 57 23.08% T5: 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM 72 29.15% T5: 8:00PM – 12:00 AM Before 10:00 8:00-12:00 AM 10:00-1:00 PM 4:00-8:00 PM 1:00-4:00 PM
- 19. 19 What we suggestfor Instructors •Post culture- related topics •Effectively use target language in posts (for announcements, add English translation) •Start posts during students’ most active time period
- 20. 20 Conclusion FB is agreat platform for students to learn language outside the classroom •Engaging students to learn during their free time with fun •Motivating culture and language learning
- 21. 21 Ning Presentedby Laurel Schenkoske UW-Milwaukee’s German Program http://uwmgerman.ning.com/
- 22. 22 Ning: some Facts &Stats Presented by Laurel Schenkoske UW-Milwaukee’s German Program http://uwmgerman.ning.com/
- 23. 23 Research Question Does makinguse of the Ning site obligatory for class grades increase voluntary use?
- 24. 24 Comparison of 2groups • Class Ningers (graded class discussions) • 102 & 204 • Class non-Ningers (never obligated to visit other than for initial sign-up) • 101 & 203
- 25. 25 Comparison of 2groups How often did the two groups voluntarily visit the site? never 1-2 times 3-10 times Class Ningers 21% 51% 28% Class non- 69% 25% 6% Ningers
- 26. 26 Comparison of 2groups
- 27. 27 Comparison of 2groups Correlation: Those who had to go to Ning for class assignments also voluntarily visited the site more frequently.
- 28. 28 General Benefits of DiscussionForum •Students respond to questions and issues outside of the classroom. •They react to their classmates’ posts. •Shy, passive students can easily engage. •There is time to consult resources, and reflect on vocabulary and syntax.
- 29. 29 Benefit’s of NingDiscussions over D2L Ning D2L • Resembles Social • Looks “schooly” Networking sites • Each section is limited to • Allows students to discuss its own page across sections • you only see other • Visibility of threads: threads if you open them. displayed all on one page
- 30. 30 General Conclusions We foundthat: 1.Posting some assignments may be a good way to get students involved, as it seemed to motivate them to use the site in their free time (as shown by Ning). 2.This additional use of Social Media, in turn, motivates them to use their L2 more creatively (as shown by Facebook). 3.Involvement is necessary from the instructors for this to be successful across sections and classes.
- 31. 31 Xiexie and Danke! Any questions? Laurel Schenkoske radomsk6@uwm.edu Yingfei Chen yingfei@uwm.edu
Editor's Notes
- #2 Traditional classes generally consist of 4 or 5 50-minute sessions per week, if that. Students need more exposure to the language. Social media is an effective platform for students to use their new L2 outside the classroom.
- #3 With ads is free; “Mini” is $20/year; “Plus” is $240/year. Educators K-higher ed can get a free “Mini” account – which allows up to 150 membersWe use “Ning Plus” – up to 10,000 members (we have 225), more space, some more customization, otherwise very similar – can do the same things
- #5 Facebook: “Ask to join group” from your own FB accountNing: We send invitations to everyone in the class at the beginning of the Semester
- #6 This is my FB page
- #8 Study questions
- #9 Student-dominated group
- #10 We posted about these kinds of topics
- #11 Example of the topic “Language”
- #12 We posted about these kinds of topics
- #13 Example of Chinese Program “Announcement”
- #14 We posted about these kinds of topics
- #15 Example of a “Culture” posting
- #18 Tendency in language use
- #20 To keep students motivated in learning TL.Use more TL in posts. Students tend to use TL if the post itself is in TL.Try to create prompt language use: chat, discussion, etc.
- #22 Here I’ll go directly to the site and show them around, what the different tabs are for, the chat feature, and our discussion forums.
- #23 Last semester I conducted a study on the 1st- – 4th-semester German students in our Program. All were required to be registered with the Ning, but only half were actually required to use it for class.
- #24 In other words, does making them go there make them want to go there more?
- #25 The “Ningers” (2nd- & 4th-semester) were required to post discussions. The “Non-Ningers” (1st & 3rd) never used it for any assignments
- #26 Here you can see that the Ningers (those required to use the site) visited more voluntarily. – wrote on each others’ walls, watched videos, etc9 sections 20 students each – this is statistically significant
- #29 I split them into 2 groups – 1 to use Ning to post their class discussions (assignments) and 1 to use D2L (a course management site). Their assignments have been mostly in Discussion Postings, though I encourage them to use the other features, too.
- #30 Those that use Ning tend to write more than those using D2L
- #32 Wait for them to pose questons