SOLEs Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Education and educational goals have changed over time in response to different political ideologies, the changing needs of society and the availability of new resources and technology. Yet this response, particularly in the past few... more

Education and educational goals have changed over time in response to different political ideologies, the changing needs of society and the availability of new resources and technology. Yet this response, particularly in the past few decades, has lagged far behind the possibilities afforded by technology and is out of sync with the world beyond traditional school walls. The need to develop new and more responsive models of education is now urgent.

Abstract: Over the past decades educational technology (EdTech) has made many inroads in foreign language education. Yet the potential its proponents enthusiastically tout is usually at variance with the actual nuanced, complex and... more

Abstract: Over the past decades educational technology (EdTech) has made many inroads in foreign language education. Yet the potential its proponents enthusiastically tout is usually at variance with the actual nuanced, complex and compounded social and pedagogical realities. This was potently obvious in the reaction that followed the plenary talk given at last year’s annual conference of the International Associations of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language by Professor Sugata Mitra, advocate of ‘Schools in the Cloud’: ‘self-organised learning environments’ (SOLEs) where children in small groups cluster around Internet-connected computers to find answers to cross-curricular questions, with the virtual support of volunteer grandmotherly mediators. This paper contributes to the current debate by addressing both the lessons that foreign language pedagogy take away from the lecture and the approach in general, and the crucial reasons why educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders should be cautious in its adoption. While the concept of school learning may have to undergo another overhaul, EdTech and SOLEs are not a silver bullet or panacea for second/foreign language teaching problems.

• E-mediators were generally upbeat about their participation in the ‘Skype Grannies project with 91% agreeing or strongly agreeing that they enjoy the Skype sessions and Eighty-eight percent agreeing or strongly agreeing that Skype... more

• E-mediators were generally upbeat about their participation in the ‘Skype Grannies project with 91% agreeing or strongly agreeing that they enjoy the Skype sessions and Eighty-eight percent agreeing or strongly agreeing that Skype sessions were stimulating and thought provoking.
• Concerns were raised by some e-mediators that students didn’t have a sufficient grasp of the English language and felt that this would make it difficult for them to fully appreciate exchanges between themselves and the e-mediators. Some e-mediators felt that Indian students are very polite and smile a lot and that this may give e-mediators the impression that they actually understood what was being said or done.
• While e-mediators, especially with teaching backgrounds, tended to plan for sessions the level of planning appears to decline rapidly after the first session. Teachers become aware that future sessions probably won’t go as they planned. If students fail to turn up or a different group attends the session any planning is wasted. It appears that as a result of uncertainty about ‘where Skype sessions may go’ e-mediators develop a body of resources that is ready to hand. A number of E-mediators mentioned falling back onto talk about their homes, families and the area they lived in as a result of finding themselves ‘on the spot’ or ‘in the spotlight’. There is a sense of e-mediators and students negotiating a direction for the sessions through recourse to what might be called ‘common ground’ issues such as family, home, etc.
• We only have self-reports about Skype sessions and no observations or recordings to verify what happened during sessions. However, e-mediators reported that sessions were, in some cases, the result of negotiations between themselves and students.
• The evolution and development of Skype sessions is made difficult by: students not turning up to sessions or getting different students for every session. It is difficult to step beyond ‘introductory phases’ of relationships into deeper levels when there are different groups of students for each session. Those e-mediators who had regular contact with the same groups of students appear to be more satisfied with Skype sessions than those with different groups.
• E-mediators reported that it was sometimes difficult to communicate in the broadest possible sense of the word e.g. in terms of body language but also in terms of showing students sections or images out of books. E-mediators mentioned having to hold books up to the webcam in order to show students an image or poem in the book.
• E-mediators reported no contact with teaching staff at the India end other than brief glimpses of teachers sitting in the background. E-mediators would like more contact and involvement with teaching staff.
• E-mediators feel that having a ‘mediator’ or other adult at the India end would be helpful in making things go more smoothly. A number of e-mediators mentioned the presence of a technician at the India end helped in terms of dealing with technical problems but was also helpful in facilitating sessions where, for instance, there was misunderstanding due to language difficulties.