The session I observed was designed to prepare trainees for Assignment 3 on the CELTA course. For this assignment trainees need to conduct a needs analysis for one of their students. They also need to suggest materials for the learner based on their findings. The 750-1000 word report is divided into 4 sections:
A brief description of the student’s age, level, experience, motivations, and participation.
Two strengths and two areas to improve on in relation to skills and systems.
Two specific suggestions to aid development of identified weaknesses.
Five student errors in context from an interview and one suggested activity to correct one of the errors.
Trainees need to demonstrate awareness on how their chosen student’s background, experience, and learning style affect their learning. They also need to: identify language/skills needs; use terminology related to language systems and skills; select appropriate material; provide rationale for activities; select and reference material.
Needs analysis
The session began with a learner styles quiz to help trainees identify their learning styles. Although there is little evidence for learning styles, it provides useful classification/belief to ensure a variety of activities in class. The three styles explored were Visual, Auditory, and Kinaesthetic (VAK).
After discussing the need to cater for a range of learning styles, trainees brainstormed other important information about their students that might be useful in providing instruction. Here are the ideas they came up with.
Preparing interviews
At this point the trainees were divided into four groups and each given a different area to focus on: Learning background; Motivation; Problems with English; Learning Style. Each group brainstormed questions for student interviews for their area then rotated three times to share ideas.
My reflection
This was a useful session to prepare for Assignment 3 and help trainees see beyond the lesson plan to the individuals they are teaching. It will be interesting to see how the trainees deal with this task and how it affects their future lessons on the course. My reaction to the use of learning styles made me think about how I might change this session. On the one hand, rules of thumb are very useful for different stages of development and I still use VAK and multiple intelligences in my stage plans/procedures. On the other hand, the ‘truth’ might be more interesting and inspiring for the trainees. First of all though, I need to reflect on what the alternatives might be… (For another post).
Here is an interesting video on the dangers of believing in learning styles by Robert Bjork (2015).
References
VAK image
Retrieved on 18/2/18 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/joandragonfly/34372257313
We are now, more or less, halfway through the first module of the MA, which is basically a week off. So, I thought I’d take the opportunity to put a post together with links to all the posts so far. This is to organise my thoughts and for anyone who wants to to dip in and out of areas that interest them.
Preparing for the course
Before we started the course I read a couple of introductory books on the subject of digital technologies in education. Here is my initial introduction on why I am writing this blog and the first book I read about the roles computers can take.
When I was reading this book I felt as if I was reading it from three different perspectives. The first was the student about to start a distance learning course who was looking for a study guide. The second was the music enthusiast who had worked in a recording studio, a record shop and regularly composed music, (Here’s a link to my latest album). And yes, I’m still attached to the idea of the album. The third was the English teacher looking for ways to enhance the world of English language teaching.
This is the first of two blogs on ‘The Digital Scholar’ by Martin Weller. The first will focus on the pedagogy of abundance. (This struck a chord with the musician in me;) The second will draw out practical advice for blogs. (Blogging is part of the first module in the MA in digital technologies for language teaching).
A lesson from the music industry
‘The Digital Scholar’ (Weller, M. Bloomsbury Plc 2011) looks at the effect digital technologies are having specifically on higher education. However, Weller suggests that there are valuable lessons to be learnt from recent upheavals in other sectors, such as the music, film and publishing industries. He argues that the failure of the music industry to adapt to change was partly due to an outdated business model based on ‘scarcity (i.e., Music and talent was only available from limited sources and difficult to copy and share). With the advent of mp3 files and peer2peer networks we were thrust into an ‘economy of abundance’, which the music industry failed to capitalise on initially, (Weller, M. 2011). Weller suggests that a similar change is now happening in education, and universities and educational providers will need to adopt a ‘pedagogy of abundance’ if they intend to remain relevant in today’s digital age.
Pedagogy of abundance
Weller outlines the underlying features that a pedagogy of abundance will need to take into consideration.
content is free
content is abundant
content is not only in the form of text
sharing content is easy
learning is social
connections between individuals are weak
organisation is cheap
generative system based on unpredictability and freedom
Another concept that I found very interesting was granularity and the distinction between form and function. Again Weller uses changes in the music industry to get his point across mentioning the preference for individual tracks over albums. His suggestion is that the physical form music was sold in (i.e. the record or CD) was just a convenient and temporary package. This meant that artists were obliged to bundle ten songs together. However, we didn’t need the physical CD, just the music, and maybe only one or two tracks. Weller makes further examples with Newspapers and articles, books and ideas. Without being held back by physical form, intellectual content can be unpacked into its basic units. Weller refers to this phenomenon as ‘granularity’ where blogs and short videos are used to spread ideas rather than books and films, (Weller, M. 2011). Is the same true for education?
Do we need schools and universities or just knowledge?
And does this affect language learning to the same degree as other more content based subjects?
References
‘The Digital Scholar’ (Weller, M. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2011)
I’m an English teacher at the British Council in Naples and I’m about to start an online course at the University of Nottingham in digital technologies for language teaching. I’ve decided to try and keep a record of my experience here, to help me with my studies and provoke discussion on some of the ideas that come up.
This part of my blog will mainly focus on the fifteen or so books I’d like to get through over the summer. However, I expect I’ll probably only read about four or five… This is also a chance for me to try out WordPress as a blogging platform. I’m not aware of any blogging etiquette, so I’ll just make it up as I go along. That being said, please don’t hesitate to contact me if I’m doing anything particularly strange.
Reading
I’ll start by commenting on an old book I’ve just finished reading called Language, Learners and Computers by John Higgins (Longman,1988). Here’s a link to his homepage John Higgins
I thought I’d start with an old book to see how things had changed, but to my surprise it’s still very relevant and thought provoking! I will only focus on a few themes from the book which I have divided into three sections. Roles, the computer as servant and ZORK.
Longman 1988
Roles
Current computer use in education seems to be mainly about fostering communication and building networks between learners with learning platforms like Moodle and Edmodo. This is great news for advocates of the communicative approach to language teaching who can take advantage of the affordances of recent technological devices and the internet. It also creates a multitude of opportunities for authentic communication beyond the confines of the classroom.
On the other hand, this book (Language, Learners and Computers) starts out by exploring the idea of computers substituting human teachers in their various roles. Higgins makes a distinction between the human teacher as ‘magister'(master) and ‘pedagogue'(slave), or the teacher with authority and control versus the teacher as a facilitator or assistant. However, he does point out that there is a lot of crossover between these roles and teachers need to change roles within lessons. Higgins then goes on to discuss how well computers (in the 80s) could perform these roles.(Higgins,J 1988)
The computer as ‘magister’ is good at presenting language, giving examples and questioning students without losing patience. This often falls inline with learner expectations and can be an appropriate approach with lower levels. The computer as ‘pedagogue’ serves as a provider of information on request, a translator or a scribe.(Higgins,J 1988) This sounds strikingly similar to the role search engines like Google play in our lives in the present day.
So, at this point a few questions come to my mind…
What other roles can computers play today?
Can computers be more effective than human teachers in some circumstances?
And if so, in what areas will computers one day replace humans in education?
The the computer as servant
I especially relate to the way Higgins describes formal education as magistral with learners in a passive role, only needing to answer questions. On the other hand, he argues that the use of computers requires a shift in attitude from the learner, inviting them to experiment and take a more active role.(Higgins,J 1988) This reminded me of a great video on YouTube from BBC Two in 1989 by Douglas Adams entitled ‘Hyperland’. Here’s a link Hyperland
In this video Adams makes the distinction between the passive TV viewer and the potentially active ‘Hyperland’ user. This video was made well before the internet became a part of our everyday lives but it is still quite accurate. What’s interesting is that the computer interface in this video is portrayed as a servant, very similar to the ‘pedagogue’ idea.
As education becomes more and more computer based, learners will be obliged to develop their ability to ask the right questions of their ‘servants’. They will also be under pressure to critically analyse the seemingly endless amount of information that they receive in return. Learners will therefore need to take on a more active and autonomous role while educators will need to equip students with a new digital skill-set for language learning.
What is this digital skill-set for language learning?
ZORK
Higgins goes on to discuss whether computers can effectively replace textbooks and classroom readers for developing reading skills. Without going into too much detail the part I found most interesting focused on ‘dynamic story-telling’ or text adventures. The great thing about these types of interactive stories is that they can make reading exciting and motivating through the use of gamification. (Higgins,J 1988)
One of the text adventures mentioned in this book is ZORK, written around 1977 by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling. I have particularly fond memories of this adventure because I studied it at primary school in the 80s. After trying to the complete the adventure (without success) we took part in a project to make an interactive representation of the adventure in the assembly hall. Participants would enter the space and navigate the hall through a web of nodes. At each node there would be a child who presented a choice or problem solving task. The aim of the activity was to get from one side of the hall to the other. I think I can pretty much trace my love for reading back to this project as I remember soon after digging an adventure story out from the school library. the school and the library have long since been knocked down and turned into luxury apartments but ZORK is now available as a downloadable app and as a web adventure. Check it out. ZORK.
So, just a couple more questions.
If this text adventure was created way back in 1977, what kinds of interactive text adventures exist today?
Would language learners still find these types of text adventure motivating?
Final quote
As a final point I’d just like to quote Higgins on his view of the potential success of the computer as a learning aid.
“The answer depends not on the nature of the machine but on how people decide to use it. We can swamp computers with exposition and exercises, using them to carry an outdated and discredited form of teaching, or we can use their power to extend and satisfy our own natural inquisitiveness and desire to communicate.”(Higgins,J 1988)
References
Books
‘Language, learners and Computers’ by Higgins, J. Published by Longman, 1988.
Videos
‘Hyperland’ written and performed by Douglas Adams, directed by Max Whitby, broadcast on BBC Two in 1990.
Digital EFL 