Computer-Mediated Communication

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Computer-Mediated Communication

• How is it actually being used in the classroom?
• Randall Sadler

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Why is this important?

• Some might argue that an increased use of CMC
  might lead to greater communicative competence,
  thus avoiding things like this..
• Clearly, a respectable hotel!
• But what about people who WANT to leave their
  values in the car?????

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CALL versus CMC

• CALL ? self-contained, programmed applications
  (e.g., tutorials, drill, simulations,
  instructional games, standardized tests, such as
  TOEFL, TSE) e.g. Rosetta Stone
• CMC ? a different kind of CALL
• computers connected in local or global networks
• human-to-human communication is the focus (KW1)
• computer as tutor? computer as tool (Crook, 1994)

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Why use CMC?

• Experiential Social Learning (Dewey, 1916),
  (Kilpatrick , 1918)
• Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1934)
• Constructivist Theory (Piaget, 1967)
• Interaction Hypothesis (Long Robinson,1998)
• Negotiation Model (Doughty, 2000)

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Also...

• extends interaction possibilities beyond
  classroom walls time constraints and the usual
  limited type of interlocutors of classroom pair
  and group work (Belcher,99)
• Allows learners to engage in playful
  interaction (Belz Reinhardt, 2004)
• enhances opportunities and motivation for
  authentic interaction and meaning negotiation
  (Kern, 1995)

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And dont forget

• reduces anxiety and produces more talk
  (Fanderclai, 1995 Harris, 1995 Kern, 1992
  Reid, 1994, Smith 2003)
• improves linguistic proficiency and increases
  self-confidence (Beauvois Eledge, 1996 Gebhard
  Nagamine, 2005).
• Simulations... allow students to be immersed
  and actively involved in an environment that is
  not otherwise accessible (González-Lloret, 2003,
  citing 3 others)

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CMC is.

• Cutting edge technology
• New
• Groundbreaking
• will change the world.
• OF THE 1970s!
• (yes, I made up the quotesbut Im sure somebody
  said that!)

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• PLATO Notes, 1973, one of the 1st online message
  boards.
• By 1976, included
• Personal Notes (e-mail),
• Talkomatic (chat rooms),
• Term-Talk (instant messaging),
• monitor mode (remote screen sharing)
• and emoticons.

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• Online (interterminal) games70s 80s,
• Empire (multiplayer Star Trek game),
• Airfight (just like Microsoft Flight
  Simulator),
• dnd and Rogue. Moria, Dry Gulch.
• Avatar (one of the first MUDs).

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The point is

• This is NOT new technology.
• It has matured for decades,
• has great potential,
• butare teachers really using it?

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Research Questions to put it simply

• What CMC tools are teachers using at home?
• What CMC tools are they using in their teaching?
• How are they having their students use CMC for
  language learning?

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Data Collection

• Stratified Sample of TESOL membership
• Survey mailed to 400 current members
• 50 U.S.
• 50 International
• Data collection ongoing..and ongoing

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Results Respondents (N95)
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International Participants
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Age (mean32.8, Median40, mode37)
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Males vs. Females A breakdown
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Highest Degree Earned
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Years of Teaching ExperienceMean12.3
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Current Teaching Leveltotal 142??
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Computer Access

• Home
• Computer Equipment
• Internet Access
• Work
• Computer Equipment
• Internet Access

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Home computers
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Home Internet
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Self Ratings Home Tech (by )
I pay a hefty monthly fee to have a high speed
internet connection. Where I live, the only high
speed choice is through cable. No competition
stinks! (US) In Cameroon only the rich can
afford home internet. However those facilities
are found in business places and we do use them.
A few city schools have multimedia centers with
these facilities.
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Office Computers (total 95)
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Office Internet
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Ratings Office Tech (by )

• We've recently been given 'tablets and wireless
  connection (UK)
• Teachers do not have offices but a staffroom for
  all where we can have a break between classes so
  that room is not designed for any kind of work.
  There is however a multimedia room, with 20
  computers but no internet connection. The
  material is used to initiate students to
  computers. Most of the times, there are about 3
  or 4 on the same computer. Our school principal
  is the only one to access to the internet
  connection. (Mali)
• Many sites are blocked because they are web chat.
  Would love to have access to whole internet (US)

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CMC Use

1. Teacher Personal Use
2. Teacher use for Teaching
3. How teachers have their students use CMC

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Teacher Personal Use ()

  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???
Word processing 72 23 4 1 0 0
Surf Net 91 6 2 1 0 0
Research 66 29 4 1 0 0
E-mail 95 3 1 0 0 0
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Teacher Classroom Use ()
  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ?
Word processing 59 27 8 2 4 0
PowerPoint 12 19 34 23 14 0
Surf Net 47 31 12 7 3 0
Research 40 30 12 6 3 0
E-mail 54 23 11 8 4 0
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Teacher Classroom Use ()
  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???
Word processing 59 ?13 27 8 2 4 0
PowerPoint 12 19 34 23 14 0
Surf Net 47 ?44 31 12 7 3 0
Research 40 ?26 30 12 6 3 0
E-mail 54 ?43 23 11 8 4 0
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Personal Use part 2 ()
Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???
Text Chat 27 17 12 25 19 0
Audio Chat 12 20 10 22 32 3
Video Chat 9 9 11 23 44 4
Forums 5 16 26 28 25 1
MOOs, etc. 0 1 1 7 38 52
Blogs 10 10 17 15 41 6
Wikis 14 24 20 19 19 3
Soc Networking 14 12 18 19 30 8
Vitual Worlds 3 1 7 7 55 27
Use in a lang class 21 30 12 22 14 0
Use to improve L2 21 20 25 17 16 0
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Classroom Use, part 2 ()
  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???
Text Chat 3 7 10 17 60 2
Audio Chat 2 2 7 16 69 30
Video Chat 1 2 8 10 75 3
Forums 2 6 17 25 46 3
MOOs, etc. 0 1 4 5 44 46
Blogs 1 6 13 12 62 6
Wikis 8 20 17 13 38 4
Soc Networking 1 3 5 12 72 7
Virtual Worlds 0 2 1 12 68 17
Use in a lang class 28 32 16 8 16 0
Use to improve L2 16 23 16 18 27 0
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Teacher Classroom Use, part 2

• There ARE some positives!
• Some students would contact me in the
  facebookand I think this is a good way for them
  to practice writing messages. (Taiwan)
• I use it mainly for research in the classroom.
  (US)
• I plan to use blogs in the future. (Italy)
• the internet is indispensible to me in teaching.
  (US)
• The use of some of these (text chat, audio chat,
  forums) is typical only in my graduate classes,
  in which we use virtual classrooms like wiziq.
  This takes place once a year (1 out of 3 terms).
  During the term, the frequency of use has a
  weekly basis. (Venezuela)

  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ??
Text Chat 3 7 10 17 60 ?41 2
Audio Chat 2 2 7 16 69 ?37 30
Video Chat 1 2 8 10 75 ?31 3
Forums 2 6 17 25 46 ?21 3
MOOs, etc. 0 1 4 5 44 ?3 46
Blogs 1 6 13 12 62 ?21 6
Wikis 8 20 17 13 38 ?19 4
Soc Networking 1 3 5 12 72 ?42 7
Virtual Worlds 0 2 1 12 68 ?13 17
Use in a lang class 28 32 16 8 16 ?2 0
Use to improve L2 16 23 16 18 27 ?11 0
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Teacher Classroom Use, part 2

• And some negatives as well
• sometimes , we run our of computer because of
  constant beakdowns or lack of electricity or
  viruses because somme sutdents in opening their
  inboxes bring viruses (Mali)
• Where we work, we are not supposed to e-mail
  students. (Peru)
• I would love for them to chat, but it is not
  possible on our system. (US)
• we are only starting using computer technologies
  for teaching in our country and there is very few
  computers and computer labsand the connections
  are very poor and the universities have no money
  to pay for different Internet programms
  (Ukraine)
• When more technoloies are applied, I have to
  memorize a lot of usage process. Sometimes it is
  a challenge to me! (?)

  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ??
Text Chat 3 7 10 17 60 ?41 2
Audio Chat 2 2 7 16 69 ?37 30
Video Chat 1 2 8 10 75 ?31 3
Forums 2 6 17 25 46 ?21 3
MOOs, etc. 0 1 4 5 44 ?3 46
Blogs 1 6 13 12 62 ?21 6
Wikis 8 20 17 13 38 ?19 4
Soc Networking 1 3 5 12 72 ?42 7
Virtual Worlds 0 2 1 12 68 ?13 17
Use in a lang class 28 32 16 8 16 ?2 0
Use to improve L2 16 23 16 18 27 ?11 0
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How Ts ask Students to use ()
  Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???
Word processing 21 39 22 7 11 0
PowerPoint 3 12 31 26 28 0
Surf Net 17 31 35 10 7 0
Research 17 32 31 15 5 0
E-mail 23 29 27 9 12 0
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How Ts ask Students to use ()

• Some of these things are DEFINATELY against our
  county policy for saftey reasons!
• I ask my students to use the Internet at home and
  then we discauu what they read or watched or
  studeid in class
• We don't allow audio, video and text chat because
  it slows down our system too much.
• We have forums on Moodle and use them a lot. I
  also set up a wiki for an international exchange.
• I have students in some classes use blogs and
  wikis daily for projects that might continue for
  several weeks, but we also go for periods of
  weeks not using them at all.
• My students do many of these, but not for
  language learning.

Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never ???
Text Chat 7 5 10 17 61 0
Audio Chat 4 7 8 12 69 0
Video Chat 4 2 7 15 72 0
Forums 4 10 8 18 56 5
MOOs, etc. 1 0 5 6 48 40
Blogs 4 8 7 16 58 7
Wikis 5 12 22 16 41 7
Soc Networking 6 2 5 11 70 6
Vitual Worlds 1 5 2 10 67 15
Use in a lang class 21 33 21 14 10 1
Use to improve L2 20 23 21 21 10 5
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But what about traditional CALL?

• And what exactly ARE they using?
• DynEd
• Proprietary program, Efekta TOEFL Tense Buster
  Cambridge Exam prep other UK based programs
• eslstation.net
• Connected Speech
• BABLEFISH
• Transparent language
• Hot Potatoes Exercises
• specally on biology programms related to medical
  grounds
• Let's Do Business
• English DisYahooligans read.think.write.org
• Edusoft, Connected Speech
• English Discoveries Focus on Grammar

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So, what does this mean???
How important a role does CALL play in your class this year? How important a role does CALL play in your class this year? How important a role does CALL play in your class this year? How important a role does CALL play in your class this year? How important a role does CALL play in your class this year?
Extremely very important somewhat not
5 16 21 15 44

• In short, the teachers who participated in this
  survey generally place very low importance on
  either CALL or CMC in their classrooms
• After all, on average 74 of them rarely or
  never have their students use CMC for language
  learning!
• Or do they value it after all?

How important a role does CMC play in your class this year? How important a role does CMC play in your class this year? How important a role does CMC play in your class this year? How important a role does CMC play in your class this year? How important a role does CMC play in your class this year?
Extremely very important somewhat not
10 18 19 17 36
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Conclusions

• Tools with clear practical benefits (e.g. Wikis)
  are being used.
• In many locations economic challenges are
  preventing the use of CMC.
• However, in other nations CMC use is still
  problematic due to technical restrictions

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Thanks!!!rsadler_at_illinois.edu