Post on 13-Apr-2017
FUTA
Voice to the Voiceless?: Exploring African Digital-Immigrant Students’ Reactions to Moodle Resources
Peter A Aborisade, FUT Akure
FUTA
OVERVIEWPower Relations & Voice
Digital Natives Vs Digital Immigrants
Context & Background to the Study
Moodle Configuration & Settings
Resources
Forums
Wiki
Results & Moving on
FUTA
POWER RELATIONS & VOICE
Economic & Political power divisions between North & South reflected earlier in literacy rates, industrial & information revolutions reflect in ICTs access & benefits: between states, regions, socio-economic groups
Traditional Education reflects similar power distinction between Teacher & Student
Students’ voices are largely mute: their views unsought, their preferences unaccounted for
FUTA
POWER RELATIONS & VOICE
Traditional Education Learning/knowledge is
habit formation (behavioural)
Learning is acquiring information/knowledge
Trust & follow teacher/authority for good information (Mike
Wesch) Memorisation is
essential to knowledge acquisition
C21st Education Learner-centred
curriculum Creating engaging
learning environments Creating platforms for
participation & meaningful connections
Learning is doing Integrating learning
technologies
FUTA
DIGITAL DIVIDE‘The so-called digital divide is
actually several gaps in one.’ (Kofi Annan):
Technology divideInfrastructure divideLiteracy divideContent divideSkills divide
FUTA
DIGITAL NATIVES OR IMMIGRANTS?
Digital Natives … today are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet.
As Digital Immigrants learn … to adapt to their environment, they always retain, to some degree, their "accent,"… (Marc Prensky, 2001)
FUTA
CONTEXT: NIGERIA
No Digital Natives here, all (Teachers & Students) are Immigrants with heavy accents @ varying ZPD levels (Aborisade, 2009)
ICT infrastructure in Nigeria is fragile; government direction is uncertain (no ICT in Education policy)
Nigeria plays no role and has no part in Information Age & unlikely to build a Knowledge Economy in 1st half of C21st.
FUTA
BACKGROUNDESL-EAP modules:Large class situation: 3000+ & 5
Teachers (Coleman, 1989);Setting inadequacies: class, time-
tabling, no. of teachers vis-à-vis students
EAP necessity: EST; lack of student motivation
Low teacher & student ICT access, ability; but high interest
FUTA provision: Intranet, cybercafés, tickets
FUTA
BACKGROUND: Classroom context
Growing enrolment
Few teachers
Fewer facilities
Inadequate resources
FUTA
BACKGROUND: ELT TheoryCLT: process-product, problem-solution
(Dudley-Evans, 1984; Hopkins, 1988; Bloor and St John,1988; Hyland and Hyland, 1992)
Socio-cultural, constructivist: learning in social context (Vygotsky, 1978)
Technology as tool (Beatty, 2003; Dudeney & Hockly, 2007)
FUTA
BACKGROUND: ICT-support Theory
Teaching-Learning: from behaviorism to constructivism (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2001)
Development of VLEs enabling new opportunities to personalize learning is a milestone (Barajas and Owen, 2000)
ICT-supported courses: engage students; provide opportunity for accelerated learning; develop independent learning skills (Boulton, 2009)
Computer-based technologies can be “powerful pedagogical tools … [as] extensions of human capabilities and contexts for social interactions” supporting learning (ANRC,1999: 218)
FUTA
THE PROJECTCreate a new learning environment
adopting Blended Learning (F2F & Online)
Use the Moodle as collaborative learning tool & platform to support & stimulate learning; engagement
Encourage students to make effective use of ICT in academic work
Provide meaningful activities that enable student-student support; foster autonomy and collaboration
Platform to give students a voice and encourage interaction
FUTA
MOODLE CONFIGURATION & SETTINGS
2008/2009: Open source pbwiki (http://futagns.pbwiki.com). It changed to proprietary (pbworks)!
2009/2010: Open source Moodle (www.futaelearning.com)
1 teacher + 1 Student + 1 Software technologist on ‘trial and error’ configuration
Setting includes: Resources (Notes & manuals), Forums (news & discussion boards), Wiki (group work pages) & Assignments.
FUTA
RESOURCES
FUTA
RESOURCES
FUTA
RESOURCES
FUTA
FORUMS
FUTA
WIKI
FUTA
RESULTSTable 1: FORUMS
Forum Description Discussions Subscribed News Forum General News &
Announcements 8 Yes
GNS 102 Forum
GNS 102 Forum 1479 Yes
Table 2: GNS 102 - Activity Report
Activity Views Last Access News Forum 1476 Sunday, 12 Sept
2010 GNS 102 Wiki 5117 Sunday, 12 Sept
2010 GNS 102 Forum 12600 Sunday, 12 Sept
2010 Signal Words & Phrases
1040 Sunday, 12 Sept 2010
Computed from logs Monday, 24 August – Sunday 12 September 2010
FUTA
RESULTS
FUTA
RESULTS
FUTA
MOVING ON
Blended Learning Group (BLG)
Volunteer Students ICT champions
Blended Learning Unit in offing
Internal faculty training by BLG for
uptake
Need technical training (Technologists
& Faculty)