1. Flexible pedagogies for
disruptive technologies
Dr Debra Hoven
School of Cultural and Language Studies in Education
Queensland University of Technology
d.hoven@qut.edu.au
CALICO Symposium, Hawaii 2006
Riding the wave

2. Riding the wave …

3. of disruptive technologies …
• What are disruptive technologies & how did
they get this name?
(Christensen vs Dvorak – 2004)
“… defined as a low-performance, less
expensive technology that enters a heated-
up scene where the established technology
is outpacing people’s ability to adapt to it.
The new technology gains a foothold,
continues to improve, and then bumps the
older, once-better technology into oblivion.”

4. cf … educational contexts)
• Social/human affordances and uses of
new technologies …
Technology that disrupts the traditional
rules/norms of classes e.g.
Mobile phones
IM
Chat rooms
• How flexible can we be?
• What can we be flexible about?

5. 10 insights from distance language
teaching (Henrichsen, 2001)
1. Different ICT options each have their own
strengths (& weaknesses)
2. Sophisticated ICT not necessarily better esp. in
isolated areas/developing countries
3. Regardless of technology, solid instructional
design & effective teaching methods are crucial
4. DE involves teaching & learning in new/ modified
roles
5. Teachers work as members of instructional/
technical team

6. 10 insights from distance teaching
(Henrichsen, 2001) cont’d …
6. Importance & difficulty of creating &
maintaining active, interactive learning
7. Importance of building a sense of
community & overcoming isolation
8. Design flexibility is crucial
9. Evaluating students and program success
is challenging
10. Reducing attrition also a challenge

7. Critical features in online/flexible
language teaching & learning
• Communication (1-1, 1-many)
• Social interaction
• Meaningful exchange of information
• Modelling of, & appropriating
good/appropriate language
• Getting and remaining on-task
• Sense of community
• … and appreciation of learners’ IDs &
preferences

8. Evolving Pedagogical Approach
to a conception that is:
• Intentional
• Flexible
• Active
• Contextualised/Situated
• Experiential
• Learner-shaped

9. Based on an emerging meld of:
• Constructivism (cognitive & mediated)
• Sociocultural approaches (socially
constructed in context)
• Task-based approaches
• Ecological approaches (affordances)
• Problem-solving approaches
• Collaborative learning approaches
• CSCL/WMCL

10. Finding the features of a
pedagogy to maximise
opportunities offered by
(continuously evolving and
emerging) communications
technologies

11. Which way to fly?

12. Learning environments &
changing roles
• Learners (especially younger ones) are
as comfortable if not more so than
teachers with the newer
(communications) technologies (Felix,
2001)
• learners who communicate more
frequently also use a wider range of
media (Haythornthwaite,1999)
• Learners prefer 1-1 over 1-many CMC
interactions (Söntgens,1999)

13. Learning environments &
changing roles 2
• Social relationships are necessary before
and in order for information sharing to take
place (Haythornthwaite, 1999;
Söntgens,1999; Appel & Gilabert, 2002)
• After some familiarity and practice within an
audio-enhanced CMC environment,
learners appreciate the opportunity for real-
time discussion of written and e-mail
communication tasks (Kötter et al. 1999)

14. Modes of flexibility – a
continuum
• Teacher/institution-defined course &
materials
– Hybrid of on-line & hard copy
– Hybrid of f2f & on-line
– Fully on-line
• Teacher/institution-defined tasks based on
range of teacher/institution-defined online
resources
• Semi (guided)-exploratory – using on-line
materials with teacher/institution-defined
limitations or instructions & criteria

15. Modes of flexibility – a continuum
2
• Collaborative & self- /group-managed
– Under guidance of a teacher
– Learner-teacher developed curriculum
– Collectively constructed tasks
– Collectively constructed evaluation
– Collectively agreed deadlines
• Exploratory/autonomous/learner-shaped
– With or without teacher guidance
– With or without formal enrolment

16. For language learning
• Introducing the human element …
• Audio/video technologies now provide
learners with opportunity to practise,
interact, achieve a sense of community
while
• Providing additional channels of
communicating and
• Working collaboratively with learners in
other times and locations

17. And the social element:
• Research shows that learners:
– use specific technologies for specific
purposes
– that learners resist or become confused by
register cross-over (e.g. social to
educational contexts/purposes)
– & use whatever means they are
comfortable with to communicate

19. Some models …
Kanuka & Anderson Radical pedagogy
(1999)
Blythe (2001) User-centred design
paradigm
Maor (2004) Pedagogy-technology
bridge – pushing the
comfort zone
Anderson (2005) Learning-centred design
Farmer (2005) Reflective, individualized
new knowledge
environments
Mellow (2005) mLearning for digital
Cochrane (2005) natives

20. Complemented by …
Larsen- Chaos/Complexity Science &
Freeman (1997) SLA
Kirschbaum Complex Systems
(2002) - self-organization
- non-linearity
- order/chaos dynamic
- emergent properties

21. The forest
…
& the trees
&
something
else …

22. The course
• Context
– MEd: 2-years teaching experience
– Balance of local & international students
– Elective
– 8 students + 2 visiting scholars (6 countries)
• Reasons for change
– Pedagogic
• Content
• Skills
• Processes
• Reflection
– Pragmatic
• Constraints

23. Course structure - blended
Physical Pedagogical Assessment
• 2 all-day • free-form Task 1: Blog, wiki,
workshops (1st live, • learner-shaped chat, e-portfolio,
SCMC tutorial) • responsive discussion forum
• 1 hr drop-in COMMUNICATION
• only constraint:
sessions weekly Task 2: Webquest
assessment items
(f2f, IM or chat) by end of semester Task 3: create
• 1 additional online module of
optional w’shp (f2f tasks
or virtual)

24. Class Wiki
http://collaborate.ci.qut.edu.au/techllwiki/index.php/
Main_Page
Class member blogs
http://LifeNtheUniverse.blogspot.com
http://sascha-blog.blogspot.com/
http://yuhsu.blogspot.com/
http://kazucorner.blogspot.com/
http://owenlangdale.blogspot.com/
http://robeebajar.blogspot.com/
http://hncyliyu.blogspot.com
http://nontravelblog.blogspot.com/

25. The study
• Pre-course questionnaire:
– Biographical information
– Computer experience
– Computer competence
– Computer skills
– Computer confidence
– Learning styles
– Learning strategies
– Course expectations

26. The study
Pre-course Focus Student artifacts
Qre groups Blogs
-Biographical Problem- Wiki pages
info based Webquests
-Computer skills Scenarios Discussion forums
-Computer Small-group Instructional CALL
competence Videoed projects
-Computer Transcribed Chat room logs
confidence
-Learning styles

27. Pre-course questionnaire 1
• All students had learnt at least one
other L2
• 75% (6) rated themselves as average
overall computer competence: 25% (2)
rated themselves as above average
• 1 had used blogs before
• None had used computers to create
their own webpages
• None had used computers to create
their own web-based lessons

28. Pre-course questionnaire 2
• All acknowledged average to high
confidence in:
– most common computer applications and
skills
– Using Help functions
– Using email
– Sending attachments
– Surfing the Internet

29. Pre-course questionnaire 3
• All (but 1) acknowledged no to average
confidence in:
– Designing webpages
– Creating a webpage
– Recording sound on computer

30. Pre-course questionnaire 4
• All acknowledged no to average confidence
in:
– Recording & editing video
– Adding sound or video to webpages
– Creating on-line learning activities

31. Comments about using
computers to help learn a
language:
• Quite interesting: audio & visual possibilities
• No experience, excellent way for learners to control
their own learning – don’t know much
• Quite comfortable
• Excited – but how to avoid the glitches??
• Good for individual preparation prior to immersion
• Good for private study but prefer f2f
• Requires autonomy which doesn’t suit my learning
style
• Don’t feel comfortable using blogs, discussion
forums etc – too permanent

32. Overall impressions
• Saw computers mainly as instructional
CALL
• Wary of CMC
• Wary of web presence
• Learning style data not analysed yet,
but half claimed to:
– Be not good autonomous learners
– Be not good in isolated environments
– Need f2f contact for learning

33. Focus group questions
• Problem-based scenarios
• Discussion/advice questions
– What suggestions can you give this student?
– What do you see as being this student’s
problems in this unit?
– What can they do now to complete this unit?
– How would suggest they tackled things
differently if they could start again?
– If you could have given this student some advice
before they enrolled in this unit, what would you
say?

34. Focus groups
- friendly, quiet young man
Scenario 1: Han
- taught in a couple of Asian countries -
good at English
- worries that his proficiency not good
enough to get the job he wants
-uses his mobile phone to send text
messages and make calls
-keeps in touch with his family back
home using chat and his webcam
- enrolled in 618 because he felt
comfortable using the technology and
that good university jobs require
technology experience
-having trouble finishing his 618
assignments
- not sure how to adapt the technology
to teaching purposes

35. Focus groups
- enthusiastic man in his late-20s
Scenario 2: Josh
-taught in a few different countries
-wants to get high-paying job in
education
-feels confident he has the teaching
experience
-realises communication and job-
seeking technology can also probably
be used to teach
-wants his piece of paper
-taking a full workload
-2 part-time jobs to pay for fees and
living expenses
-started out well and feels confident
-slipping behind though “helping out”
others

36. Focus groups
- young woman from traditional
Scenario 3: Shinta educational background
-came straight from an 18-month job in
a private English school where she
taught discrete-skill classes using a set
textbook and materials
-never participated in planning or
organising classes
-enrolled in this program to help her
get promotional positions
-having trouble working out what to do
and is falling behind
-worried that she is running out of time
to learn the skills and even to get the
work done
-other subjects are very demanding
and have strict deadlines

37. Focus groups
-quite a bit older than many of the
Scenario 4: Jeni other participants
-taught mainly in poorly resourced
migrant education programs in
Australia
-taught in a couple of Asian countries
-some broad experiences of different
cultures and teaching conditions
-about time she tackled this
“technology thing” to use the sorts of
tools that her children and some of her
students are quite familiar with
-earlier in the semester advised
younger students about time
management and planning
-Now struggling with technical skills
-panics and loses confidence

38. Focus group directions
• Confidence through doing
• Need prior preparation with computing skills
• Need more structure & deadlines
• Take advantage of peer mentoring
opportunities (communities of practice)
• Take advantage of multiple opportunities for
mutual support (affordances)
• Need constant practice to improve:
– Computing skills
– Study skills
– Time-management skills
– Prioritising tasks

43. External Environment
Networks
Communication
Teachers Learners
Exploration Collaboration
Physical Soft
resources resources
Instructional CALL

44. Flexible pedagogies for
disruptive technologies
Dr Debra Hoven
School of Cultural and Language Studies in Education
Queensland University of Technology
d.hoven@qut.edu.au
CALICO Symposium, Hawaii 2006