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EXTENDING THE SCOPE OF TELE-COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS

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Language Learning & Technologyhttp://llt.msu.edu/vol7num3/towndrow/September 2003, Volume 7, Number 3pp. 160-163Copyright © 2003, ISSN 1094-3501160EXTENDING THE SCOPE OF TELE-COLLABORATIVE PROJECTSA commentary inspired by Jean W. LeLoup & Robert Ponterio's ''Tele-Collaborative Projects:Monsters.com?'' (Language Learning & Technology, Volume 7, Number 2)Phillip A. TowndrowNational Institute of Education, SingaporeAt its best, the Web provides a stimulating source of language teaching ideas. Indeed, no sooner had Ifinished reading LeLoup and Ponterio's article, I was browsing Jane Scalpen's home page and thinking ofways in which tele-collaborative projects like her Dessinez-moi un Monstre! (Draw me a Monster!) canbe extended through the use of cooperative and collaborative language learning methods. There are tworeasons for doing this. First, given a stronger theoretical and practical foundation, language learningoutcomes can be more easily set and monitored. Second, from a sound pedagogical base, it is hoped thateven greater language learning value can be extracted from the Information and CommunicationsTechnology (ICT) used.To recall, Dessinez-moi un Monstre! is a class-based, interdisciplinary project that is designed to exploitthe Internet as a medium of interaction. Following the registration of students as participants in theproject, descriptions and drawings of a monster are prepared and sent to the project coordinator.Subsequently, the written texts are redistributed to other project participants who are tasked to draw themonster in question from the description provided. Scope is also provided for learners to writedescriptions based on original drawings. The project ends with the participants comparing their textsand/or drawings with the creators' originals posted on specially prepared Web pages.EVALUATIONStudents' work on Scalpen's Web site provides evidence of imagination and active participation.Dessinez-moi un Monstre! comes across as a fun project that extends the boundaries of the physicalclassroom by providing a technology-based platform for language practice. However, I am inclined to callprojects of this nature "simple" because they are restricted largely to the exchange and sharing ofinformation. I do not mean to criticise these interactions. Rather, my intention is to show how even morecan be done to motivate students and give prominence to the language learning aspects of tele-collaborative work.EXTENDING THE SCOPE OF SIMPLE TELE-COLLABORATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNINGPROJECTSThe possibilities for extending the scope of simple tele-collaborative projects are grouped below undercooperative and collaborative learning methods. My suggestions build on the Dessinez-moi un Monstre!guidelines but they could equally apply to other topic areas and contexts. Assuming that participants arenot restricted to producing individual work, my ideas involve them working in small groups.Cooperative Learning MethodsCooperative learning methods, as originally conceived by Slavin (1983), provide ways for students notonly to be responsible for their own learning but also for that of their groupmates by working towards theachievement of group goals. Kohonen (1992) explains with respect to cooperative language learning that,since all members … share a common goal, they are motivated to work together for mutualbenefit in order to maximize their own and each other's learning. This creates a positiveinterdependence among the learners: they perceive that they can reach their goals best whenothers in the same learning group also do as well as possible. (pp. 33-34)Phillip A. TowndrowExtending the Scope of Telecollaborative Projects…Language Learning & Technology161In order to maximize the learning potential of Dessinez-moi un Monstre!, it is necessary to "top and tail"the various activities. This is done by placing them within a larger scheme or unit of work. For instance,prior to the Internet-based practice, classroom language input could involve students building their activevocabulary store of body parts, physical attributes, and so forth. Other preparatory sessions could focus onthe organization and distinctive grammar of descriptions. For example, consider the order of adjectivesand the use of the simple present tense to refer to a state of being as in the sentence: "My monster has big,red eyes." Once completed, these sessions could provide a meaningful context for the language practicedin the project. They also provide a basis for the evaluation and assessment of the language used in follow-up stages.The following cooperative language learning scenario involves students from two classes in differentgeographical locations being assigned to work in groups (e.g., two students from one class, three fromanother). Individual group members are made responsible for developing different aspects of the writtendescription. One possibility is• Student A -- physical appearance• Student B -- character• Student C -- habitat• Student D -- diet• Student E -- pastimesOnce the individual inputs are ready, they can be shared on an electronic discussion board. The group'snext task on the discussion board is to negotiate the linking of the various parts, edit, and agree on thefinal text. Finally, they produce a drawing of the monster that depicts the five separate aspects listedabove. At this point, group interdependence is assured because the drawing cannot be produced properlywithout the students' reciprocal effort. The next stage of the project involves the exchange of texts withother groups in the two classes. Following this, pictures are drawn from the descriptions provided.Clearly, the second group's drawing cannot be expected to be a facsimile of the first, but the originalgroup's written work can be deemed successful if the second drawing includes accurate representations ofthe monster's appearance, character, habitat, diet, and pastimes.Collaborative Learning MethodsAlthough cooperative and collaborative learning methods may appear similar (Bruffee, 1999),collaborative effort places emphasis on "open[ing] up the minds of members of a collaborative team toeach other and to the possibilities that lie beyond the reach of any of the individuals" (Mason, 1970, p.112). Thus, students in collaborative language classrooms are concerned with creating sharedunderstandings. This is only possible when individual group member's inputs combine to produceknowledge that could not have been produced by


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