Panel 4: The tools: which seem most appropriate for intercultural exchanges? Do different tools lead to different types of interactions?

Please post here any comment/question/insight/which you want to share

Aloha Sarah -    I really enjoyed this presentation. As you could see from the audience via Skype, it was well-received. Sarah, in reference to page 5 of your handout (Padova-Dickinson 2006-2009) and the various Web 2.0 technologies used in the course(s), I was curious how assessment or attention to student learning outcomes may have been managed in the course(s) taught.   - Guy

Hello everyone,

The beauty of Skype is that you can participate from far away, the downside is that there's no opportunity for discussion, chatting and questions and answers. Therefore, please use this space to ask me questions and hopefully we can engage in an interesting discussion about the tools we can use for these exchanges!

As I said in my talk, we use Skype for the synchronous oral communication in order to develop oral and aural skills. In addition to this our platform is a wiki. The wiki is hosted by pbworks at http://interculturewiki.pbworks.com/ and there you can see the various exchanges we have carried out including the one that is about to start next week. The wiki has always been open but this semester we have closed it as many of the discussions will focus on the mafia which, unfortunately, is a very sensitive topic in Italy. Therefore, if you visit the wiki and would like to see it, simply click on the "Request Access" button and send me an email indicating you were present at the Cultura conference - and I will 'grant' you access.

The only question I did get was how students use Skype. They have 10 weekly sessions lasting 1 hour and, theoretically, do half an hour in Italian and half an hour in English. The Skype sessions are based on topics the teachers determine before the exchange (all of this can be seen in the Fall 2008 and Fall 2009 pages on the wiki). In order to prepare our students for their sessions, we have them write questions on the topic to be discussed. Then, following the synchronous discussion, students make an entry in their learner diaries (again in the wiki) about what they have learned about culture and language and in class we analyze the questions written by their peers in L2 to 'uncover' the L1 behind the mistakes in L2. In other words, while the synchronous sessions focus on fluency, meaning and communication, back in the classroom we focus on language and cultural learning.

Again, I'm so sorry I can't be there and hope to hear from some of the participants on this forum!

Buon lavoro e buonanotte dall'Italia,

Sarah

Dear Guy,

You were faster than me ;-) and thanks for participating in the forum. Here's your question:

"Sarah, in reference to page 5 of your handout (Padova-Dickinson 2006-2009) and the various Web 2.0 technologies used in the course(s), I was curious how assessment or attention to student learning outcomes may have been managed in the course(s) taught."

I intentionally did NOT deal with the issue of assessment as it is indeed so very complex. So, the question is, what do you assess when you are asking your students to communicate in another language with students from another culture using technology: language, intercultural communicative competence, ability to use online tools? one? two? all three? and how? In the end, unfortunately, we feel that in an institutional context if it's assessed, students take it seriously; therefore, if we want them to take it seriously, we have to assess it.

These have been our choices, though I have no 'proof' they are the right ones. We have a very complex assessment system. We consider:

- linguistic accuracy of the collaborative project;

- participation in the exchange and collaborative project;

- self-assessment;

- peer-assessment;

- 'insight' and 'reflection' in the learner diaries (although I cannot assess how insightful students are, I can assess whether or not they sat down, thought about and wrote about what happened during a synchronous exchange.

That's more or less it. No easy task indeed. More than happy to continue the conversation and am certainly open to new ideas or solutions!!!

Best,

Sarah

Thank you, Sarah, for replying so swiftly! Even though our lives are now heavily technology-mediated, I am still amazed that such an exchange as we just had (our presentation via Skype, followed by this follow-up) is possible across such distance! I now have better idea about how the Skype in-class sessions work. I loved your formulation "we analyze the questions written by their peers in L2 to 'uncover' the L1 behind the mistakes in L2." That way, you are working back and forth between the languages... great.

Dear Stephen,

I know - when I think just over a decade ago my husband and I (me in the States, he in Italy) were still sending letters across the Atlantic and now... The potential for language and cultural learning is enormous and that's what motivates me to do these exchanges. In other words, our students today have opportunities I certainly did not have back in the beginning of the nineties and it would be a shame not to exploit them.

With regards to your comment, it is wonderful having them write in L2 - the things they discover are not only worthwhile, but also a lot of fun as the mistakes are quite humorous and lead to lots of reflection :-)

Ok, I am off to bed now. You all enjoy the rest of your day and I WILL be back here tomorrow to participate.

I'm so very sorry I couldn't be there with you...

Aloha,

Sarah

Mahalo, Sarah. I hope to pick up the thread with more detailed comments. For now, please just let me thank you for your thoughtful follow-ups. - Guy

Hello everyone,

I see this forum has had several views, but not so many comments. I am more than happy to engage in discussions with everyone 'out there' as I think we all have a lot to learn from one another. My experiences are limited to my context and it's always a good idea to share experiences, success and failures so that we practitioners are not always re-inventing the wheel every time we embark on a new exchange.

I have signed up to the feed for this forum (see the little orange icon next to the 'views' at the top of this forum) so that I can be notified any time someone contributes. I would suggest anyone interested in exchanging ideas do the same. The benefit of feeds, one of the tools ;-) , is that you don't have to come here to see if people have written, but rather just check your feed reader (Bloglines, Google Reader, Sage if you use Mozilla, etc.) to see what websites you are subscribed to have new info or comments.

Please be in touch!

Sarah

Hi everyone.

Sarah kindly agreed to have her Conference hand-out posted in this forum. So here it is!