We are what we share
This is a quote form the 'We Think' animation video, in the Web 2.0 safari page.
All the information I saw there got me thinking very hard, and honestly, despite all the info I had on CALL, CMC, etc, and all I heard from people who already use these tools for teaching, and all I read about Web 2.0, it was this short animation video that made me agree that we can't do much without online interaction.
Somewhere in one of the several places of interaction we are using in this course, I mentioned that I was skeptical about these tools. My questioning had nothing to do with whether I think online line interaction is a valid, pertinent or useful tool. Carol Chapelle, among others, wrote entire books prasing the virtues of the web. No, no, the web is great, blogs are great, AIM and MSN are great. My problem relates more with using these tools and making them actual class materials.
While in the US the last couple of years, I had the chance to participate in an online colallaborative task-based project involving learners in 5 different countries. They interacted through a discussion forum just like the ones we have. At first, the students were tremendously excited, even slightly maniacal, posting insanely info about themselves, their homes, their culture. Then the task started. What a difference: posting rates slowly atrated to go down, down, and at the end I was surprised to see that a few tasks were in fact accomplished and final prodicts were presented.
Now how did they do that? My hypotheses - they exchaged emails or MSM contacts, and performed the tasks via other more friendly virtual environments.Either that or the task ended up being performed by one poor soul whose teacher was pushier than the others', or whose grades depended on it. We in the research group did not find evidence to suggest which hypothesis was correct, we just hoped for the for the first one.
The point of this story is to explain why I got disappointed with the whole CALL thing.
However, yesterday I watched the video, and my perspective started to change. Web communication is a generous thing. We give, we don't sell; we get, we don't by. It is also democratic. We post and pray that someone will read and respond. We can't force it, push it, grade it. At least not yet.
For now, here's how I want his to work for me: we create the means; the learners try it. If they like it, they'll come back for more. No great expectations, just the will to become a better, more resourceful teacher.
