Reaching a Bigger Pond: Tools and Technology for Forming Community
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Reaching a Bigger Pond: tools and technologies for forming community Community Engagement Showcase Cairns, Nov 6 th , 2007
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Transcript of Reaching a Bigger Pond: Tools and Technology for Forming Community
Reaching a Bigger Pond:
tools and technologies for forming community
Community Engagement Showcase Cairns, Nov 6th, 2007
Community in the 21st Century
http://flickr.com/photos/7447470@N06/1345266896/
INTERNET = COMMUNITYThe task is to carve out your own bit of it for your community.
Learning in the 21st Century
“ I have seen predictions that a student doing a 3 yr course by 2012 will experience the situation where most of the knowledge they have gained in yr one will be completely out of date by the time they finish yr 3.”“…the only sustainable approach by VET will be to find the learning and teaching strategies which will ensure that people embrace attitudes and behaviours anchored in lifelong learning.”“It is becoming …an imperative for industry to have staff who are lifelong learners and highly ICT literate.”
Greg Black, CEO, education.au (Campus Review 16/10/07)
Internet and Community- what happens?
You connect less with some of the people around you in your daily lifeYou connect with people you already know via a different medium (online)You connect with people you would otherwise have had no contact with
Online Community – what’s the appeal?
You connect less with some of the people around you in your daily life!You connect with people you already know via a different medium (online). (You get to know people differently)
You connect with people you would otherwise have had no contact with
Online Community – what’s the appeal?
You can connect with multiple people with similar interests at the same time (many to many communication.) (Group discussion)
Some simply prefer communicating online
Backdrop: Social Networking Sites
MySpace, Facebook (75% of yr 11/12 students in Australia have a MySpace site)Flickr (photo sharing)YouTube (video sharing)etc
Today:
The Webhead Community
Voice on the web
What tools do you need?
Image courtesy of mosmanlibrary
http://www.stevespianoservice.com/hammer%20tools.jpg
Types of Community
Face to face group starts to communicate online (eg AFS)Group meets online and decides to meet f2f (Twitter in WA)Group meets online and longs for f2f contact!
Developing Online Community
The Webheads Experience
Where do Webheads fit?
Face to faceCommunity
IT
CommunityIT Individuals
ITCommunity+
WEBHEADS
=
+
The Palace
Webheads - origin
Vance’s class were online after mine We decided to unite the classesObvious signs that the group wanted to stay togetherVance proposed that we call ourselves WEBHEADS
Who are the Webheads?
“an experiment in world friendship through online language learning”
300 + members
Where are the Webheads?
in approximately 50 countries
Webheads Today
In 2007, the Webheads community is alive and well (weekly meeting, daily communication, many gather each year at the international TESOL convention in March, Elizabeth and partner visited me here last summer….)
How/why has this community survived?
Webheads Drivers
Initially, the vision and enthusiasm of one person – the leader, and no #1 cat herder (Vance Stevens)Later, the vision and enthusiasm of several key membersCommon causes:– ESL/EFL/language teaching and learning– International friendship– Interest in exploring technology
RefocusingChanges in membershipThe wow factor
Webheads Drivers
Ongoing personal gain; “What I receive is worthwhile; what I give is valued”Synchronous meetings (always 2 per wk – a ‘student meeting’, and a ‘teachers meeting)
Synchronous Meetings
Tapped In:– Weekly regular event (Tapped In)– Instant Messengers, Virtual Classrooms
> voice interaction; webcams
Drivers: Regular Events
Dafne (Caracas)
Aiden (Taiwan)
Conferences/Workshops/Social
WEBHEADS WEBSITE(S) – the Artefacts
Collective and individual spaces (pages, blogs, wikis)Photos (people, colleges, places of work, family) Writings on individual pagesResources found and/or created by the communityAll of this can be shared via the Web
The role of technology in sustaining this community
Enables communication across place and timeAffords several modes of communication (email, discussion boards, Instant Messaging, blogs, wikis, voice tools, webcams, virtual classrooms, websites, parallel universes, micro-blogging)The email listserv is the lifeblood
Cornerstones: Technology -
Enables regular group and one on one communicationsBrings together people who otherwise would be unknown to each otherAffords multiple channels of communicationProvides for individual and collective needsProvides shared public and permanent record for all to seeAllows everyone to contribute to this shared record
The Role of Voice
ImmediacyMore personal contact
TOOLS:Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Virtual Classrooms
NEW PRACTICES PROJECTS
Beyond Text (2005)http://btresource.flexiblelearning.net.au/index.html
Media on the Move (2006)http://mediaonthemove.flexiblelearning.net.au/
http://btresource.flexiblelearning.net.au/index.html
http://mediaonthemove.flexiblelearning.net.au/
TARGET GROUPS
English as Second or Other Language Learners (ESOL)Low level literacyThose with little recent formal learning experienceThose with poor keyboard skillsThose who prefer an auditory style of learning
Global Conclusions
Saves times for students, but NOT for teachersFor types of learners targeted it definitely results in greater participation, and increased levels of satisfactionAllows teachers and students to know each other differently (changes the dynamic between teachers and learners) Allows for individual monitoring/feedback/encouragement in ways not hitherto possible
ISSUES:
Public v Private Space– many feel strange posting audio (‘talking to a
computer’) in public spaces– Many do not have private access to computers
Record Keeping
ISSUES:
Voice allows for complex tone (compared to uniform tone of written text)
Complex v Uniform Tone
Using voice in online and elearning environments has been slowly but surely creeping into the educational landscape for several years now. Pioneers of online voice technologies were using them as early as 1997, but the proliferation of the range of available tools and the increase in the speed of Internet connections has made it possible for any teacher with a simple microphone to easily augment their teaching methodologies with online voice tools.
Asynch
Synch
Oral Written
DialogicMinimalistic
Reflective; combination
of dialogic and monologic
Most structured form
ofcommunication
COMMUNICATION AXIS
New Practices Voice Tools Workshop Resources
Try the links and resources at http://npworkshops.wikispaces.com/
Free Tools for Spoken Conversations
Chinswing– example (advanced EFL listening)
Vaestro
VoiceThread– Voice Thread example – another example
Virtual Classrooms(Web Conferencing)
Big BucksElluminate (free 3 person vroom @ http://elluminate.com/vroom/)(Or free inside EdNA Groups)
Very affordable:iVocalize (http://ivocalize.com/)Discover-e (Australian) http://www.compued.com.au/discovere/
FreeWiziq – new, but seems good http://www.wiziq.com/Vet Virtual – Framework initiative; still unstable; worth watching http://vetvirtual.external.utas.edu.au/default.aspx?page=32
Which tools for your community?
Very difficult to get consensus
Try one for each purpose (eg Flickr for photos)
Potential to splinter the community
http://flickr.com/photos/chrisjohnbeckett/212777879/
Which tools?
Home Base (portal)– Communication Channels– Collaborative Workspaces– Artefact Storage– Resources– Promoting Events
What would my community look like?
Other possible complementary tools:
Frappr MapsTwitterGoogle EarthMobile Phones (audio/moblogging)Net to SMS (SMSpup (free), TelstraSurvey Tools (Zoomerang, Survey Monkey)Google AlertsNetvibes
Google Earth
Survey Tools Eg ZoomerangSurvey Monkey
More at http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/mfo/zoom/results.htm
Community Home(s)
EdNA Groups (Moodle)Own Moodle ($1000/yr approx)
Google or Yahoo GroupsFacebook; MySpaceProtopage (eg http://www.protopage.com/elearning07)Netvibes(Second Life?)
Second Life
Community Roles (Wenger)
The inspirational leadership provided by thought leaders and recognized experts The day-to-day leadership provided by those who organize activities The classificatory leadership provided by those who collect and organize information in order to document practices The interpersonal leadership provided by those who weave the community's social fabric
Community Roles (Wenger)
The boundary leadership provided by those who connect the community to other communities The institutional leadership provided by those who maintain links with other organizational constituencies, in particular the official hierarchy The cutting-edge leadership provided by those who shepherd "out-of-the-box" initiatives.
Domain. Community. Practice.
Domain: This is the participants’ common ground – their understanding of the common issues and use of a common ‘language’.
Community: This is the socialising, collegiate, relationship element between the participants.
Practice: This is the processes by which participants learn by sharing skills and information, and accumulate and disseminate knowledge.
(from Marlene Manto)
Joining the Webheads
Send an email to
Annual 6 wk seminar over the Australian summer (as part of annual TESOL convention)
The Internet is….
“not about dot coms, online malls…. It’s not about routers, servers, browsers.…In fact, the Internet isn’t even about technology. It’s about us. The collective us.”
COMMONSPACE: Beyond Virtual Community: Surman & Wershler-Henry; 2001
Can you build relationships... …online?
Can you build social capital …online?
Can community develop… …online?
YES!!
THE BIG QUESTIONS……
