Group items tagged

An article by Julie Meloni, published on the Chronicle of Higher Education's (now defunct) "ProfHacker" blog. Meloni offers a quick overview of the distinction between synchronous and asynchronous communication, and suggests ways to make use of both in the classroom.

Unfortunately, this article has been removed. But I like Jennifer's comment: "Just because a tool is new and shiny doesn't mean it will help your students. Careful planning and a sound pedagogical rationale will, though."

From a post in the ACTFL distance learning SIG: "It is a free tool. Class Kick allows you to add interactive elements to synchronous lessons. You can monitor and see student activity in real time. You can also use it to communicate with individual students in real time." - Angela

"More writing courses than ever are being taught online, and effective online writing instruction requires teachers to communicate deliberately and clearly in order to have productive relationships with their students. In The Online Writing Conference: A Guide for Teachers and Tutors, former chair of the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction Beth L. Hewett articulates the how and why of one-to-one online writing conference pedagogy. Complete with an instructor's study guide and informed by the principles set forth in the CCCC Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for OWI, her updated text provides examples and transcripts of synchronous and asynchronous instructor-student interaction, targeted lessons, and conferencing action plans that help instructors hone their pedagogical practice, from formatting comments to showing regard for students."

Abstract: This case study is based on an investigation into the use that a group of language learners made of Livemocha.com, a Social Networking Site through which language exchange is enabled via social media applications. The learners created profiles in the website and proceeded to interact with speakers of their target languages, reporting back on their experiences over a 10-week period. As communication between language partners can take place through several different channels, and can be asynchronous or synchronous, written or spoken, it was considered that the preferences of learners with different personality types (as indicated by responses to a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator questionnaire) might be accommodated. Several studies have suggested that the anxiety that some language learners feel when communicating in L2, especially when speaking, is reduced in online environments. Under the premise that a reduction in anxiety may lead to an increased "willingness to communicate" (MacIntyre et al., 1998), the principal objective of this project was to examine the type and frequency of online interactions that the participants engaged in with other speakers of their target languages in the Livemocha language learning community.

I got into Blending Learning in order to understand Synchronous tools.

This video clearly explains how to evaluate and give feedback about online collaborative group work.

It bothers me that they still talk about not having someone to talk with...  I really would like to see more of these online courses as cohort modeled courses and have synchronous voiced/video conversations as part of the curriculum.  Or if not a cohort, with other online voiced alternatives for practice.  

I went straight to the "New Challenges" section- good stuff here to help US with this course and to help watch out for these issues when we start doing these things with our students!

I have just glanced at the information here and plan to come back to explore some of the activities. I wonder if the conversations become disjointed and become difficult to follow?

Nice, quick overview of the difference between the two styles of online learning

compare formats for distance learning

Published Winter 2007 in the Journal of Interactive Online Learning

Appropriate for our synchronous week! See what advice they give.

Very interesting, Mira. I would have thought the synchronous chats would have won hands down. A good reminder to offer students options. Thanks for sharing this!

This empirical study indicates the positive effect on synchronous communication between students in Japan who learn English and students in US who learn Japanese, using Skype.

"Abstract Currently, language educators experience difficulties in facilitating oral practice effectively in the foreign language classroom. Regularly, they face introverted and passive learners who fail to embrace speaking opportunities (Poza, 2011), or simply do not find the time to promote speaking practice in the classroom (Meddings & Thornbury, 2009). In this light, many asynchronous computer mediated communication (ACMC) technologies have emerged to confront this situation. However, central research studies do not seem to acknowledge ACMC as viable in accommodating oral development but, rather, frequently attribute this merit to synchronous CMC (Levy & Stockwell, 2006; Kervin & Derewianka, 2011). By employing a mixed-methods approach, this small-scale case study examines, firstly, the extent to which ACMC speaking practices are suitable for language learners' speaking development. Secondly, and by extension, it investigates the salient characteristics of the ACMC tool myBrainshark, that makes it appropriate for fostering linguistic growth. The data is obtained from post-beginner Spanish language learners by means of an online questionnaire and an online structured stimulated recall. The findings show, on the one hand, that ACMC oral practices can be beneficial in developing speaking aspects in lower-proficiency language learners and, on the other hand, that myBrainshark has characteristics that can potentially promote linguistic development. Finally, this paper calls for experimental research on the improvement of oral competency in post-beginner and higher-proficiency learners."