CA10.1- Putting knowledge into practice

So, explain to other English teachers:

- What are wikis?
- How can wikis be used in teaching English as a foreign language?
- What the teachers would need to do technically?
----------- to set one up
----------- to keep it working


What are wikis?
"Wikis are collaborative Web-based sites with "open editing." That is, the information on a wiki can be edited by any and all users. Once users visit wikis,they can read and, if they wish, edit or change the text by using a Web-browser to re-write, re-organize, or update the structure and content of the site. In wikis, readers are writers, and readers and writers jointly form a community of collaboration. Wikis can best be seen in action through the very popular Wikipedia [http://www.wikipedia.org/] and Wiktionary [http://wiktionary.org/]." (Ferris and Wilder, 2006, pp 2-3). If you haven't seen/experienced a wiki I suggest you take a look at Wikipedia before going on.

So, generally speaking, anyone can enter text onto a wiki page, edit any text, or create new pages and new hyperlinks. However, as you'll be using the wiki for class, you will probably want your wiki to have certain restrictions. You can make yourself the administrator/moderator/chief editor and "lock" certain pages that you want to be always visible and free from changes/edits. You can also specify and control who has access to the wiki. You can give all students in a class unique passwords so that additions and changes can be tracked. This can encourage students as they have (a kind of) proven ownership of their work. Or you could give the same password to all the students, but then you can't track changes by student. This may help encourage proactivity in the Chinese classroom with less outgoing students who may not participate for fear of making a mistake and being seen to lose face. However, this option also leaves more room for vandalism.

Wikis are simple to use because if you know how to use Word you can use a wiki. Students may need to learn a few more simple things, but the wiki itself will explain them and they can practice them straightaway without fear of ruining the wiki because another important point is that wikis are easily reversible. With this I mean that wikis automatically keep a history of changes so that things can easily be put back the way they were. This encourages bolder editing as any mistakes/changes of mind can be rectified straightaway or months later. It also helps discourage vandalism.

In case anyone asks, the word "wiki" was "coined by programmer Ward Cunningham (1949- ), from Hawaiian wiki-wiki ‘quick-quick.’" (Apple, 2009)

How can wikis be used in teaching English as a foreign language in China?
Obviously, as wikis are text based they lend themselves more readily to the skills of reading and writing. However, listening and speaking skills can be directly enhanced as wiki pages can have podcasts or videocasts embedded into them which students could listen to and watch, or even produce. Another important aspect is the sense of community collaboration/community learning that the wiki foments. Conversational English students could be assigned written wiki projects to complete together that they can later comment on/discuss (orally) in class. Thus the wiki would help provide a real reason to use English, while its asynchronous, online nature would tackle the typical excuse students use that they could never find time to get together to collaborate.

A wiki can encourage peer teaching/learning/support in that one student's text can be edited/corrected by other students. However, in a Chinese context this aspect of wikis needs to be carefully considered before being used - and I'm not even sure that many Chinese students would (initially) publicly want to correct other students for fear of shaming them. But I think that the idea of collective-ownership of work with all contributors being able to unilaterally edit fellow students' work can be a valuable life-experience for many Chinese students. Chinese students nowadays may suffer from "little-emperor syndrome", a direct consequence of the one-child policy. This condition manifests itself in arrogance, ego-centricity, and general anti-social behaviours - none of which are traits that western companies generally look for in their employees. This is a concern, because more than half of my students at this university state that they wish to work for a western company. So the lessons in teamwork, group goal over personal gain and initiative/proactivity can be far reaching. Though, for any lessons to be learnt, the students need to take an active interest in their contributions and what happens to them, which is something not always easy to achieve in a conversational English class taught by a foreigner in China. But as Clay Shirky observes: "A wiki in the hands of a healthy community works. A wiki in the hands of an indifferent community fails" (quoted in Lamb, 2004).

Archives of constantly updated information, relevant to the students and subject, can be created. Once a supportive environment has been established, students can share their knowledge and find out how teaching helps learning (or at least how organising/reflecting on one's thoughts helps deeper understanding).

Of course, the class wiki can lead to inter-class wikis if other English teachers are happy with the idea. I have no idea how inter-school or inter-country wikis would be viewed by students or school administration.

Separate areas of the wiki (or separate wikis) could be set up for certain students to collaborate on in private for debate or presentation projects for example.


What the teachers would need to do technically? - to set one up - to keep it working
When thinking about choosing a wiki, there "is no unified set of software characteristics that are shared by all wikis. The dozens of prominent wiki engines freely available for download on the Internet vary in approaches, programming languages, and architectures. Technical quirks of wiki systems, indicative of the often anarchic programming communities that have developed them, need to be considered before choosing a system" (Lamb, 2004).

Of course it goes without saying that the wiki should be set up and maintained at no financial cost (to you or the school). This means you need to set up a free wiki that can be password protected.

Working at a university in China means that certain western considerations may not be necessarily applicable. In the west, one might be well advised to first seek administrative approval and learn what the policy is on posting student information (names, photos, etc) on the internet is, and perhaps parent permission should also be sought (teachersfirst, 2009).

However, in China, two things advise against troubling school administration with such considerations. One is that the average foreign English teacher is merely tolerated (as a legal requirement for the teaching of English) and not actually expected or encouraged to go to great lengths to improve his/her students' level of English. Actively pointing out how teaching may be improved could be badly received as it could be understood as a criticism of current teaching methods. In order to save face the administration may resort to actively ignoring any requests to change teaching methodology. Absence of response may also be designed to save face for the foreign teacher as, in Chinese eyes, having their request denied would make the teacher lose face. Another complication would be that the school administration may agree to implement the use of wikis but actually do nothing about it. This again may be designed to save face for the teacher, and in Chinese eyes may not be considered misleading, a trick or deceitful in any way.

Another reason not to trouble school administration is that personal information doesn't seem to be as highly protected in China. A foreigner will find that without permission their personal details are passed on to 3rd parties if asked for and companies never heard of will send him/her letters, emails, sms and call at any time of the day or night. I would simply advise the teacher to set up a wiki that is password protected for viewing and editing. As for parental permission, I think parents may not understand why permission is being asked. Parents will agree to their son/daughter using a wiki provided you claim it's good for their child, and the child passes their oral English exams - which in China very rarely doesn't happen. It will be up to the teacher to try to make sure the student actually deserves their pass mark and makes the most of their wiki experience.

If school administration hears about the wiki, and takes an interest in it, you can give them a password that allows them to view the wiki. If they actually view the wiki and do see anything they don't like - which would probably be open, moderate to severe criticism of the school, China or its policies - then you could be fired, the police informed of your actions, you could be detained and then deported. If you're unsure of what you shouldn't discuss with students (and in many cases, teachers) then do an internet search.

Try to involve students in creating the editing policies/rules for the wiki. The greater their involvement in creating the wiki environment, the more likely they will follow those rules and participate in general. See http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikistep1.cfm for some ideas for polices.

Perhaps try to use the wiki as a shared English environment that students (don't have in real-life but) can experience, and refer to in discussions in class. However, the teacher should be cautious when intervening in the construction of this environment as to " truly empower students within collaborative or coconstructed activities requires the teacher to relinquish some degree of control over those activities. The instructor’s role shifts to that of establishing contexts or setting up problems to engage students. In a wiki, the instructor may set the stage or initiate interactions, but the medium works most effectively when students can assert meaningful autonomy over the process. It’s not that authority can’t be imposed on a wiki, but doing so undermines the effectiveness of the tool" (Lamb, 2004).


References
Apple Inc., (2005-2007) Apple Dictionary Version 1.0.2 (Accessed 11 January 2009).

Ferris, S. and Wilder, H. (2006) ‘Uses and potentials of wikis in the classroom’, Innovate, vol. 2, no. 5. [Online], Available from: http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?
view=article&id=258 (Accessed 11 January 2009).

Lamb, B. (2004) ‘Wide open space: wikis, ready or not’, Educause Review, vol. 39, no. 5
(September/October), pp. 36–48. [Online], Available from:
http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0452.asp (Accessed 11 January 2009).

TeachersFirst (2006-2008) 'Index' http://www.teachersfirst.com/index.cfm

Reflection for blog at 06-01-09

Right, things are getting serious now; if I want to leave 2 weeks for the ECA I need to finish units 8, 9 and 10 this week.

I'm amazed, with so little time left till the end of the course, that the tutors still haven't made a meaningful return to the forums.

I've read some other people's contributions (from the forums and their shared blogs) which have helped calm my nerves and given me some ideas (Emma, Colleen, Jim, Nigel S, Keely, Karen).

Let's see if I can post this to my blog today. I've had access problems again lately. Now I can usually view the blog but I can't edit the posts (I wanted to add tags to the posts that don't have them, which is about 90%), I wanted to change the name of the blog from "Metacog-what??!!) to something more formal/boring like "H808 blog". As I write this I'm still waiting for the blog to open. This morning I woke up thinking that I should perhaps move to a blog that actually allows me to use it 24/7. Some 3 years ago I blogged for about half a year. The experience was very positive as access was 24/7 and the blogs themselves had much greater functionality/"customisability". There was a definite sense of community that was enhanced by the blogs - not impeded by them.

It would be very nice if I got my TMA02 results back. I'd like to see the comments well before I have to write for the ECA. But Alan gave me an extension and my TMA02 was finally handed in on 26th Dec (coz of a couple of days of formatting problems).

Well, after 20 mins the blog still isn't opening. I started a blog for my students on Blogger so I know that it's accessible here in China. I'll open one for H808 now. This is very disappointing. Not at all what I expected when I started this course.

Ok, I've set up my new blog. It's at http://jmartel-h808-blog.blogspot.com/ . But I can't move posts over because I can't access my OU blog!!!!!!!!!! I've tried using Safari, Firefox and IE on a Mac, and IE7, Firefox and Safari using XP. At least my blog is showing no favouritism...Ah, I spoke too soon, a few minutes later IE7 on XP opened my blog - with errors, however the main text is visible. Then I tried to add a post and it's now loading interminably. Ok, time to forget moving the blog. I'll do that when I can.

Reflections on my strengths and weaknesses as an elearning practitioner

10 Oct 2008, 14:20

Edited by Jose Martel Penate, 10 Oct 2008, 14:24

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Well, I'm not an elearning practitioner.


But let me trudge on anyway...


Strengths:

NONE - I have everything to learn
ALL - I will learn everything from my grounding in professionalism gained from H808

Weaknesses:

I have everything to learn



Notes written as I prepared the PDP grid:

Yourself compared with other "teachers"(?). Or should I compare myself with (what I perceive to be the abilities of) the other students?
Might it be better to compare myself with where I should be when I'm an elearning professional?
I may as well compare myself to an ideal standard.
I suppose I should be comparing myself to elearning professionals - the ideal elearning professional.

*************************

I have had big problems doing this grid. I think it's because I have no (clear) frame of reference.
I'm doing this course (and the rest of the MAODE) because I hope it will be useful for me in the future.
But I'm not sure what exactly I will learn on this course, and I'm not sure what exactly I will need to know to be an elearning professional.
I also assume that I will learn as I go along. Of course knowing is better than assuming.
I have no-one to compare myself with - my fellow students are words on a screen, and my colleagues are happy ambling along.

CA2.3 Reflection and learning-FIRST DRAFT

3 Oct 2008, 16:44

Edited by Jose Martel Penate, 4 Oct 2008, 00:59

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The following has turned out to be a very brief, personal impression - together with hearsay - of what I perceive as the present general state of conversational-English teaching in China, education in China and Chinese students. I am certain there are many foreign teachers in China who would have very different things to say:

As many of you will already know, I work as an oral English teacher at a university in Shanghai. This is the beginning of my 3rd academic year in China.

When I first arrived here I had high hopes of making a difference and of developing my teaching practice. However, a crude reality for many foreign oral English teachers in China is that they are employed by schools as the foreign-passport holder that helps ensure parents will pay higher school fees. The foreign teacher's job is to be the English expert for classes once a week. Ostensibly, this 90 minute class, 16 times a semester, will redress years of teacher-centred, grammar-translation English lessons and even more years of systematic obliteration of students' self-confidence, individuality and creativity. In practice however, course leaders and the school administration will probably have little or no interest in the foreign teacher's activities in class, provided s/he actually does turn up for class; does not offend China's honour; or bore the students too much. The teacher may be asked back for a second term if the students actually enjoy the class. Students' enjoyment of class may involve playing games; listening to amusing anecdotes or popular music; watching DVDs, being allowed to talk in Chinese, do other course work, play with their mobile phones, sleep, or skip class - every class. Despite this apparent lack of oral english learning or practice, students typically do not fail oral English exams; once school fees have been paid, parents can expect certain returns on their money.

But, even within this climate, there are those Western teachers who do try to improve their students' level of English. A problem they find though, is that Western methods often don't translate well. Student-centred lessons with task based and communicative activities that foster self-confidence, individuality and creativity regularly fail in China and Asia. New foreign teachers can often be heard to complain about the "unwillingness" of their students to participate in class or to even answer the simplest of questions. Why? Students are taught to conform not stand out, and the Chinese have an acute sense of "saving face"; students prefer to say nothing in class than to risk embarrassment by making a mistake. Other factors are that the teacher is seen as the expert that will tell students what they should know; students are passive "sponges" in a learning environment that is largely memoristic in nature (students here do have amazing powers of recall). Students on the whole have little to no sense of ownership of their learning; little initiative, and (seemingly) little desire to reflect on their learning, personal development or life. I would guess that the average 20 year old Chinese student has the mental age of a 14 year old British student. English is taught as 4 unconnected subjects: reading, writing, listening, and speaking (oral/conversation). Typically, only speaking class has a foreign teacher (who may or may not be a native-level English speaker, qualified, proficient, or conscientious). The other classes have a Chinese teacher who will probably give the class in Chinese. The focus of (Chinese) teacher and students is on learning (just enough) to pass the exams. Little, if any, attention is paid to effective communicative ability in English. Students who are good at speaking English are generally those who have a personal interest in the language. I think many Chinese English teachers see the need for a change in methodology/policy, but change seems to be very slow and implemented from the top down. Those with power to decide and effect changes at schools may not be the most suited for the job (of implementing effective educational reform). Those with the power are (Communist) Party members who are often/usually aged, with Party agenda to promote and protect and perhaps no knowledge or understanding of, or concern for, the educational issues at stake.

How does all that fit in with what I'm learning on this course? How can I possibly change my students' learning behaviours?! And how could I try to encourage a cohort of slightly above average Shanghainese students to use an eportfolio system when only 2 weeks ago I gave up trying to get them to even use email? These students/classes are actually the best I have had here though. Students do not sleep in class, many are eager and willing to participate/learn, most bring pen and paper to class, the class sizes are small (about 20 students, not 60), each of my classrooms is large enough with furniture that can be moved; a pc I can use, with internet connection, projector, dvd player,...But the 90 minutes of class a week is all the English practice most students will get, despite a general consensus that English speaking skills are an important factor influencing a student's future employability.

Well, I'd better go to sleep so that tomorrow I can write a more relevant attempt at the CA2.3 Reflection and learning.

Sorry I didn't participate in the drivers template (@20th Sep08)

29 Sep 2008, 05:11

Edited by Jose Martel Penate, 29 Sep 2008, 05:39

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From: José Martel Penate 20th Sep 2008
Subject: Sorry I didn't participate in the drivers template
To: H808 08I Alans Group


Hi group,

Sorry I didn't get here in time to help with the activity, but I can see that there's been some excellent collaboration and you seem to be making some ground rules. You seem a sensible and efficient group so I'm sure I'll agree with any rules you decide, but if I don't I reserve the right to offer alternatives and then abide by the group's decision.

Kim, I did notice (too late) that you suggested that I include some reference to China. While I appreciate the attempt to inculde me in the activity, I don't feel that my personal experiences and impressions over the last 2 years are enough to allow me to speak with any kind of authority about the Chinese education system. Yes, I have my views, that may or may not be shared by other foriegners here, but that still doesn't mean I have any real idea that is a true reflection of what the authorities are thinking or planning. That said, every Chinese teacher I have spoken with on the subject has agreed that the education system needs to be overhauled, but none seem optimistic that that will happen any time soon. And your average Chinese teacher doesn't want to disrupt the status quo. They NEED their pay at the end of the month, there is no welfare state and the pensions are not great. A wage earner can be supporting their spouse, child, parents and two sets of grand parents. Chinese teachers just keep their heads down and hope that their course leaders and school (Communist) Party leaders find no fault with them. I've heard it said that a major obstacle to reform in the Chinese education system is that those with the the power to make reforms or decide policy are Party leaders not educators.

So, anyway, I hope I'll be of more use in the next group activity.

Jose