LEARNER EXPERIENCE OF CMCL

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1.      Learner participation

      Early studies (e.g. Kern, 1995; Beauvois, 1998) showed that student participation in synchronous written conferencing was comparable to that in oral class discussion, resulting in more turns and more language produced.

Enhancing learner contributions

Computer-assisted class discussion (CACD) provides learners with the opportunity to generate and initiate different kinds of discourse, which in turn enhances their ability to express a greater variety of functionsin different contextsas well as to play a greater role in managing the discourse, e.g. they feel freer to address questions to anyone or everyone in the class, to query the teacher form time to time, to suggest new topics or steer the discussion towards things they are interested in, to request more information or confirmation of something said by someone else, or to express thoughts or opinions that have not been explicitly solicited. (Chun, 1994: 18)

2.      Anxiety

      We have found Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow experience useful for understanding anxiety. A flow experience happens when participants are totally absorbed in an activity and forget everything around them. Csikszentmihalyi (1990) identifies a challenging activity that requires skills, clear goals and feedback, and a sense of control as preconditions that make such absorption possible.

      Van Lier focuses on the first precondition and relates it to anxiety.

Conditions for flow experience

Preconditions for this state of flow are a perfect balance between available skills and challenges. Anxiety results from insufficient skills or insufficient challenges. (van Lier, 1996: 106).

3.      Motivation, learner control and autonomy

      Motivation is the result of the interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic factors, between exploration and interest on the one hand, and external rewards on the other hand (Dörnyei, 1994, 2001a).

On the other hand, as Furstenberg (1997), Warschauer (1997), Tella (1999), Paramskis (1999) and O’Dowd (2006b) show, intrinsic motivation can be increased in CMCL by allowing learners to:

·         write for a real audience (email exchanges or publishing work on the internet);

• develop useful technical skills;
• communicate with distant partners;
• work collaboratively;
• create projects that reflect their own interests;
• participate in authentic exchanges with peers and/or native speakers.

Autonomy

The fact that this new paradigm [of online education] offers considerable choice and autonomy to the learner is irrelevant if the learner is not able to make informed choices about his/her learning requirements and to work independently of authority figures. (Mason and Kaye, 1989: 25).

4.      Presence and identity

      We mentioned above that at one level anxiety can be linked to learners’ sense of aloneness, contextual deprivation and anonymity in online environments. Allowing language learners to be situated in what Hutchby (2001: 1) calls an ‘abstract form of co-presence’ with others may thus not be sufficient to create an atmosphere conducive to interaction between participants.

Misunderstandings and conversational management in written conferences

[C]ontextualizing cues normally available in spoken discourse have been limited by the written discourse processes required. Furthermore, given the implicit nature of language… the possibility for misunderstanding is greater and therefore the work required for ‘conversational management’ to mitigate this is even higher in this new environment. First meetings, early presentations of self, negotiations of learning community norms, and responses to contributors all have the potential for greater misunderstanding, all therefore become more significant and require greater effort to manage.… A whole new communication process has to be learned. It is not simply a process of shifting from speaking and listening to reading and writing. (Mann, 2004: 213).

 

Reference:

Lamy, Marie-Noelle and Hampel, Regine. 2007. Online Communication in Language Learning and Teaching : Learners Experience. Australia: Palgrave macmillan

TEACHING ONLINE THROUGH COLLABORATION, TASK-BASED AND PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING

 

1.      Cooperation and Collaboration

Cooperative or collaborative language learning is linked with the notion of the teacher as facilitator and the autonomy of the learner (Macaro, 1997: 134; Richards and Rodgers, 2001: 192–201).

Accordingto Oxford’s comparison, collaborative learning implies that students are in control of the learning to a greater degree than when they engage in cooperative learning. However, the concept of collaborative learning is also used more loosely: A definition of collaborative learning is when learners are encouraged to achieve common learning goals by working together rather than with the teacher and when they demonstrate that they value and respect each other’s language input.

Then, the teacher’s role becomes one of facilitating these goals. (Macaro, 1997: 134). Panitz (2001) lists the benefits of collaborative learning:

Academic benefits

• Promoting critical thinking skills
• Involving students actively in the learning process
• Improved classroom results  
• Modelling appropriate student problem-solving techniques
• Personalising large lectures
• Motivating students in specific curriculum.

Social benefits

• Developing a social support system for students
• Building diversity understanding among students and staff 
• Establishing a positive atmosphere for modelling and practising cooperation
• Developing learning communities.

Psychological benefits                                                   

• Increasing students’ self-esteem 
• Reducing anxiety  
• Developing positive attitudes towards teachers.

2.      Task-Based Learning

            Task-based learning is a concept which has had a significant impact on language learning and teaching. While there are many different definitions of task (see Johnson, 2003), our focus is on communicative tasks, whose features were initially identified on the basis of the interaction hypothesis (Pica, Kanagy and Falodun, 1993) for face-to-face language learning.

Task features :

• Information exchange required. 
• Two-way information gap.
• Closed outcome.
• Non-familiar task.
• Human/ethical topic.
• Narrative discourse (vs. description/expository writing).
• Context-free, involving detailed information.

Psycholinguistic definition of task :

•  Meaning is primary;
• There is some communication problem to solve;
• There is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities;
• Task completion has some priority;
• The assessment of the task is in terms of outcome.

Sociocollaborative tasks in CMCL

• Provide ample opportunities for differing perspectives and opinions, for controversy, disagreement, resolution, and consensus building;
•  Motivate active participation and interaction by having no one single answer or process to employ in accomplishing them;
• Offer some form of problem-solving (something for which computers are particularly well suited);
• Designate roles for individual learners and teams to take on as they engage in these processes, helping situate learners within a community of participants; and include a motivated awareness of the forms and functions of language used.

3.      Problem-Based Learning

A further way of fostering collaboration and possibly empowering learners is through problem-based learning (PBL), which Oliver (2000) describes as characterised by a constructivist framework, one that ‘encourages active construction of knowledge through personal inquiry, the use of problems to form disequilibrium and subsequent accommodating inquiry, as well as social negotiation and work with peers’ (2000: 6).

Technology can provide a context for problem-based language learning (Tella, 1999: 114). Virtual worlds, for example, can offer rich, multimodal environments for engaging in more complex PBL tasks; written CMC affords a more reflective approach to discussions and can thus help students critically to analyse a set problem.

What computer-mediated PBL settings seem to provide are opportunities for this sort of extended, reflective commentary. These are opportunities that emerge due largely to the fact that the medium involved allows a single speaker/writer to hold the floor for as long as he/she likes and by the fact that one is not under the time constraints that characterize face-to-face verbal interaction. In other words, some crucial new properties of social communication – and presumably mental processes as well – have arisen with the use of this new form of mediation.

Reference:

Lamy, Marie-Noelle and Hampel, Regine. 2007. Online Communication in Language Learning and Teaching : Teaching online throught collaboration, task-based and problem-based learning. Australia: Palgrave macmillan

                                                                

The Role of Technology in the World of Education

In modern times like now, humans are very dependent on technology. This makes technology a basic need for everyone. From parents to young people, experts to ordinary people also use technology in various aspects of life. Today's technology has developed rapidly.

Unlike the past, Technology is very influential in aspects of human life and plays a role in the life of the wider community, especially the role of technology in education. In education itself, technology now has its own role in the teaching and learning process.

The results of technology have long been used in education. The invention of paper, printing machines, radio, films, TV, computers and others was used for education. Basically these tools are not made specifically for educational purposes, but the tools turned out to be able to be used in the world of education.

The development of information technology that is increasingly rapid in the current era of globalization can not be avoided anymore influence on the world of education. The global demand demands the world of education to always and constantly adjust technological developments to efforts in improving the quality of education, especially adjusting the use of information and communication technology for the world of education, especially in the learning process.

According to H. Hamzah B. Uno and Hj. Nina Lamatenggo, (2011, 61) in Budiman (2017). Said that the education trends in Indonesia in the future are as follows:

1. Development of open education with distance learning mode (distance learing). Then to carry out open and distance education needs to be included as the main strategy;

2.Shareng shared resources between educational / training institutions in a library network and other educational instruments (teachers, laboratories) change function to become a source of information rather than just a bookshelf;

3. The use of interactive information technology devices, such as multimedia CD-ROMs in education, has gradually replaced television and video. With the development of technology and information in the world of education, at that time it was possible to hold distance learning by using internet media to connect between students and lecturers, see student grades online, check finances, view lecture schedules, send assignment files given lecturers and so on.

The change in demands is what makes the world of education require innovation and creativity in the learning process because many people propose in education, especially learning, but very few people talk about problem solving solutions about the learning and teaching processes that are in accordance with the global demands of the 21st century today.

DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY NOW

The development of technology today is very sophisticated and rapid. This can be proven by the many innovations of this era, both simple and horrendous to the world. technology has existed since ancient times, namely ancient Roman times. The development of technology is developing drastically and continues to evolve until now which is increasingly sophisticated and global.

The development of technology is increasingly advanced, in the past cellphones were only used for telephone and SMS to just ask for news, now mobile phones can not only call and sms, but in this time it can also be a sophisticated mini computer, it can be a TV with a smartphone too.

Indonesia is one of the developing countries in the world with a considerable influence of technology as consumers of other countries' technology. In order for Indonesia to become a developed country and not a developing country again, the level of technological development in Indonesia must be increased more than before.

Nowadays technology is the main role for the Community with the aim of building the nation. Internet for example, on the Internet there are various kinds of broad and clear knowledge all of which are on the Internet, but in Indonesia at this time the internet still does not know the actual use of the Internet, in Indonesia for example some of Internet users only use it only for socializing or ngexsis through the Internet, so that it is praised sophisticated, it is because of social networking sites that are increasingly in demand by Indonesian people, both children and adults.

The internet has a positive impact which is, among others, unlimited information and knowledge for students, for business for entrepreneurs, as entertainment for those who are stressed out because of work or tasks that accumulate such as playing online games, as an efficient means of communication, as a necessity emergency and others.

Besides the positive impacts above, the Internet can also be a negative impact on the community, for example everyone becomes dependent on the Internet which makes one lazy to think, besides that there are adult sites that have not taken action from the government to block these sites, not to mention the impact another is cybercrime, a crime that occurs in cyberspace. However, according to each of you, want to be used for positive or negative.


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