Next Steps for Phase 2
Technology and Collaborative Learning
Going into Phase 1, I envisioned a student-centered classroom of learners connecting with with learners” (Richardson, 2012). The activities that I planned were designed to investigate how using technology for collaborative learning purposes would affect my students’ sense of community, levels of engagement, my role as the teacher and my students’ learning outcomes, and finally my students’ attitudes towards learning a foreign language. Through my needs assessment, I learned which tech-tools would best help my students for collaborative learning purposes, and then I began researching a variety of articles and journals for effective language teaching practices and use of technology in a foreign language classroom.
Based on my students’ need for more opportunities to apply what they are learning to a real-life application/context, the data I have collected through my teacher observations, my student feedback, and my literature review (in terms of the positive effects that collaborative learning via technology has on my students in relation to the questions that are driving my research), my students would further benefit from more opportunities to work collaboratively and use technology to apply their understanding to real-life applications.
With respect to my students’ learning outcomes, through the data I collected by scoring my students’ work against my rubric, I found that the quality of my students’ writing and speaking had improved; i.e., my students’ average scores on grammar, required structures, vocabulary usage, pronunciation, volume, and fluency was above 85%, which was 5% higher on average than their scores from before we began our collaborative project. These findings strengthen my interest in providing further opportunities for my students to work collaboratively, use technology for learning purposes, and apply what they are learning to real-life contexts as I begin to design my action plan for Phase 2. This is in line with Beauvois's findings in that students who are allowed to connect and collaborate with other language learners via technology tend to use more complex sentence structures and display more fluidity in conversation (Stepp-Greany, 2002).
Phase 1 Findings in Connection to Next Steps for Phase 2
Based on my Phase-1 teacher observations, student feedback, and according to what I have learned from Stepp-Greany, I have found that allowing my students to use technology while working collaboratively has helped students “learn faster . . . write more creatively” , enhance their sense of classroom community and their levels of engagement (2002). Interestingly, however, I have also found that my students’ attitudes towards learning Spanish did not necessarily change; instead, they experienced a positive change in attitude towards learning in general. While this finding has implications for educators at large, I would still like to further research during Phase 2 how else I might be able to help my students experience a positive change in attitude towards learning Spanish.
Community and Attitudes
Taken with what I have learned in my literature review with respect to enhancing language students’ sense of community as well as helping my students feel “empowered, less isolated” and “less afraid to contact others” by allowing them to connect through technology and collaborative projects (Stepp-Greany, 2002), I would like to continue encouraging my students to work collaboratively by providing them with further opportunities to connect and learn in this way.
As I have learned through my literature review as well as through analyzing my teacher observations and reflections, and my students’ commentary and feedback, I have found that the concept of “connecting” and “sharing” with each other has come up as a recurring theme towards building classroom community and shifting students’ attitudes towards learning in general. According to Dornyei, this is in line with collaborative learning principles, which are “not so much dependent on the actual target of learning (i.e., master of Language 2) as on more basic components of the learning process, such as the relationships and interactions among learners” 1997). My students felt more “connected” to me as my role as their teacher shifted from "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side" (Weinstein, 2007), particularly because they could approach me with their questions via technology. They also felt more “connected” to their group-mates because they worked collaboratively to come up with great ideas and a great presentation; and they felt more “connected” to each other as a class because each group had the opportunity to share their final product with the entire class.
There is something special about “sharing” ideas, questions, and a final product with others. It is the “sharing” that seems to help them feel “connected” to each other. And this connection seems to have had a positive impact on their attitude towards learning.
According to Mantle-Bromely, the personal experiences that foreign language students have shared with native speakers of the language and culture being studied can have a significant effect on their language-related attitudes (1995). Furthermore, Mantle-Bromely found that foreign language students who associate positive experiences with native speakers of the language and culture being studied tend to have more positive attitudes towards that language and culture (1995). In an e-mail exchange project between foreign-language students and native-speaking students of the foreign language, Beauvois found that participants experienced a positive change in attitude towards the language, felt more culturally aware, and finally felt an increased sense of motivation to learn more about the language and culture (Stepp-Greany, 2002).
Questions
As I reflect on these particular findings from Phase 1 along with what I have learned from the findings of Mantely-Bromely and Beauvois, I find myself wondering what would happen to my students’ attitudes towards learning a foreign language if I allowed them to share their work via technology with foreign peers or even native Spanish speaking peers? Would this sharing help them feel more connected to learning a foreign language? Would it help them feel more connected to Spanish? And would this connection help them experience a positive change of attitude towards learning Spanish?
These wonderings have led me to focus on the following question:
In addition to my students sharing their work with native Spanish-speaking peers, I will also give them an opportunity to share their work with different groups of our class by peer editing each other’s rough drafts. This will be in line with what I have learned from Stepp-Greany in terms of adding a layer of community to allow my students to "connect and share" what they have learned with each other for community-building purposes (2002).
Data collection tools
My data collection tools will remain the same as those from Phase 1.
Timeline for Phase Two
May 27: Introduce project / Create groups
Jun 06: Students share presentations
Jun 09: Student Feedback Forms
Jun 10 - 20: Collect data, reflect on data
Jun 21 - 26: Complete Analysis and Write-up of Data
Going into Phase 1, I envisioned a student-centered classroom of learners connecting with with learners” (Richardson, 2012). The activities that I planned were designed to investigate how using technology for collaborative learning purposes would affect my students’ sense of community, levels of engagement, my role as the teacher and my students’ learning outcomes, and finally my students’ attitudes towards learning a foreign language. Through my needs assessment, I learned which tech-tools would best help my students for collaborative learning purposes, and then I began researching a variety of articles and journals for effective language teaching practices and use of technology in a foreign language classroom.
Based on my students’ need for more opportunities to apply what they are learning to a real-life application/context, the data I have collected through my teacher observations, my student feedback, and my literature review (in terms of the positive effects that collaborative learning via technology has on my students in relation to the questions that are driving my research), my students would further benefit from more opportunities to work collaboratively and use technology to apply their understanding to real-life applications.
With respect to my students’ learning outcomes, through the data I collected by scoring my students’ work against my rubric, I found that the quality of my students’ writing and speaking had improved; i.e., my students’ average scores on grammar, required structures, vocabulary usage, pronunciation, volume, and fluency was above 85%, which was 5% higher on average than their scores from before we began our collaborative project. These findings strengthen my interest in providing further opportunities for my students to work collaboratively, use technology for learning purposes, and apply what they are learning to real-life contexts as I begin to design my action plan for Phase 2. This is in line with Beauvois's findings in that students who are allowed to connect and collaborate with other language learners via technology tend to use more complex sentence structures and display more fluidity in conversation (Stepp-Greany, 2002).
Phase 1 Findings in Connection to Next Steps for Phase 2
Based on my Phase-1 teacher observations, student feedback, and according to what I have learned from Stepp-Greany, I have found that allowing my students to use technology while working collaboratively has helped students “learn faster . . . write more creatively” , enhance their sense of classroom community and their levels of engagement (2002). Interestingly, however, I have also found that my students’ attitudes towards learning Spanish did not necessarily change; instead, they experienced a positive change in attitude towards learning in general. While this finding has implications for educators at large, I would still like to further research during Phase 2 how else I might be able to help my students experience a positive change in attitude towards learning Spanish.
Community and Attitudes
Taken with what I have learned in my literature review with respect to enhancing language students’ sense of community as well as helping my students feel “empowered, less isolated” and “less afraid to contact others” by allowing them to connect through technology and collaborative projects (Stepp-Greany, 2002), I would like to continue encouraging my students to work collaboratively by providing them with further opportunities to connect and learn in this way.
As I have learned through my literature review as well as through analyzing my teacher observations and reflections, and my students’ commentary and feedback, I have found that the concept of “connecting” and “sharing” with each other has come up as a recurring theme towards building classroom community and shifting students’ attitudes towards learning in general. According to Dornyei, this is in line with collaborative learning principles, which are “not so much dependent on the actual target of learning (i.e., master of Language 2) as on more basic components of the learning process, such as the relationships and interactions among learners” 1997). My students felt more “connected” to me as my role as their teacher shifted from "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side" (Weinstein, 2007), particularly because they could approach me with their questions via technology. They also felt more “connected” to their group-mates because they worked collaboratively to come up with great ideas and a great presentation; and they felt more “connected” to each other as a class because each group had the opportunity to share their final product with the entire class.
There is something special about “sharing” ideas, questions, and a final product with others. It is the “sharing” that seems to help them feel “connected” to each other. And this connection seems to have had a positive impact on their attitude towards learning.
According to Mantle-Bromely, the personal experiences that foreign language students have shared with native speakers of the language and culture being studied can have a significant effect on their language-related attitudes (1995). Furthermore, Mantle-Bromely found that foreign language students who associate positive experiences with native speakers of the language and culture being studied tend to have more positive attitudes towards that language and culture (1995). In an e-mail exchange project between foreign-language students and native-speaking students of the foreign language, Beauvois found that participants experienced a positive change in attitude towards the language, felt more culturally aware, and finally felt an increased sense of motivation to learn more about the language and culture (Stepp-Greany, 2002).
Questions
As I reflect on these particular findings from Phase 1 along with what I have learned from the findings of Mantely-Bromely and Beauvois, I find myself wondering what would happen to my students’ attitudes towards learning a foreign language if I allowed them to share their work via technology with foreign peers or even native Spanish speaking peers? Would this sharing help them feel more connected to learning a foreign language? Would it help them feel more connected to Spanish? And would this connection help them experience a positive change of attitude towards learning Spanish?
These wonderings have led me to focus on the following question:
- How will sharing and connecting with an audience of Spanish-speaking students affect my students’ attitudes towards learning a foreign language?
In addition to my students sharing their work with native Spanish-speaking peers, I will also give them an opportunity to share their work with different groups of our class by peer editing each other’s rough drafts. This will be in line with what I have learned from Stepp-Greany in terms of adding a layer of community to allow my students to "connect and share" what they have learned with each other for community-building purposes (2002).
Data collection tools
My data collection tools will remain the same as those from Phase 1.
Timeline for Phase Two
May 27: Introduce project / Create groups
Jun 06: Students share presentations
Jun 09: Student Feedback Forms
Jun 10 - 20: Collect data, reflect on data
Jun 21 - 26: Complete Analysis and Write-up of Data