two cards for a moodle interface- apr. 2016

ÁineFurlong,WIT,May2015updatedApril2016. [email protected]

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Twoorthreecardsforlearning:AMoodleinterfacefor21stcenturypedagogies

ÁineFurlong–WaterfordInstituteofTechnology,April2016.

WhydevelopaninterfaceforMoodle?

MyacademicbackgroundisSecondLanguageAcquisition(SLA).Overtheyears,Ihavecometorealisethatthisexperiencehasinformednotjustmystudents’languagelearningprocessesandtheteachingdecisionsIhavemade,butalsolearningingeneral;Ibelievethisextendstotheworldoflearningonline–notethewordorderinthelastsentence:‘learning’comesfirst,before‘online’.Insecondlanguagelearningandteaching,oneofthemainconcernsistotransformthelanguagelearnerintoalanguageuser(CommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages,2001);incontrastandinthedigitalspace,themainfocusisontheuseranduserexperience.Here,theterminologyconnotesconsumerism,i.e.consumableanddisposablecommoditieswhilesituationsofaddictionmayalsobeevoked;suchconnotationsdonotsuggestpositiveandtransformativelearningexperiences.Consequently,myprincipalinterest,here,istoreflectonhowtheonlineusermaybetransformedintoalearner.Theprocessisintuitiveandphenomenologicalandhasledmetochooseatwo-cardapproachforthedisplayofandengagementinmyMoodlepages.

Whytwocards?Because…

Figure1.Twocards


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1. Thecardsaresymmetrictools;theideaofsymmetryisimportantbecause,as

Oviatt(2013)pointsout,bilateraland3Dcongruentsymmetry,inevolutionaryterms,contributedto‘greaterstructuralintegrityanddurability’whileextendingthepossibilitieswithmorepowerandprecisionintheactionstakenbyourancestors(p.15).Hereisanillustrationofsuchtools:

Figure2.Handaxewith3Dcongruentsymmetry

Andbelow…thesametoolwithaddedcomponentsprovidingmultimodality

enabledbysymmetry(Figure3.):

Figure3.ASwisspenknife

Symmetryalsomakesvisualperceptioneasier.Initially,thetwoMoodlecardswereintuitivelyconceivedwithsymmetry,balance,integrity,congruence,efficiencyanddurabilityinmind.However,additionalreasonsforthisdesignareprovidedbelow.2.Therearetwowaysofacquiringknowledge:Acquisition–whatwelearninformally,outsidetheclassroom;and


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Learning–whatwelearnformally,throughinstruction.Thisdistinctioniswellestablishedinsecondlanguageacquisitiontheories(Krashen,1981).However,itisrelevanttotheacquisitionofknowledgeingeneralgivenourstudents’growingrelianceonexternalsourcestosupporttheirlearningandthis,inthecontextofaknowledge-basedsociety.Thechallengeforus,educators,istofindwaysofreconcilingtheformalandtheinformal,acquisitionandlearning,inmeaningfulways.Thetwocardsrepresentanattemptatthisreconciliationandrequirealotmorework!3.Thetwocardswillalwayshaveanin-betweenspace.Thisspaceispotentiallycreative(seeHomiK.Bhabha,1994)becauseitcreatestheopportunityfordialogueandmovementbetweenthetwocards.Dialoguecanemergefromavarietyofscenariossuchasanalysis(space)andmemory(time)–spaceandtimearethetwopre-existingdimensionsoutofwhichhumancognitionemerges-,compare-and-contrast,then-and-now,before-and-after,face-to-faceinstructionandonlineactivity,theoryandapplications,lecturesandlabwork.Themovementisfromlefttorightandrighttoleft,withminimalverticaleyemovement.Tosummarisesofar,thefoundationsofthetwocardsrestonsymmetryandencourageadialogicalapproachtolearning.Thecardscontainavarietyoffeaturessuchasimages,text,amaximumof3(or4)linksandreflectivequestions,thepurposeofwhichwillbeexplainedasweprogressthroughtherationale.Eachcardbecomesateachinginstrument/toolinitselfandcanbeusedinclassorcanbefurtherdevelopedforlearningonlineorinclass.


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Whyimages?Because…

Figure4.ImagesforthetwocardsPhotosaccountfor93%ofthemostengagingpostsonFacebook.Photosget53%morelikes,104%morecommentsand84%moreclick-throughsonFacebook.OnTwitter,150%moreretweets(Corkery,2015).IntheMoodlecontext,imagesmaytriggerquestions,commentsormaybeusedasicebreakersandmarkers.Ipreferimagesthatmakepeoplethink,smile,wonder,imagesthatextendtheviewer’smind.Theseimagesarenotillustrations;instead,theybecomethetriggerformoretalk…inFrenchofcourse.IwillgladlyrespondtoanyqueriesregardingtheseimagesinFrenchand/orinEnglish(J).


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Whykeywords?Because…

Figure5.Keywordsforthetwocards

Here,keywords(motsclés)appearintheirliteralsense:theyshouldbeseenaskeysthatopendoors(notnecessarilyimportantwordsrelatedtothetopicinquestion);thisiswhytheyarelinkedtoavarietyofactivities,websites,documents,tools,etc.enablingamultimodalapproachwhereasensorialapproachtolearningispromoted;forexample,awebtoolsuchasBlendspaceprovidesaccesstomultiplewebsites,toolsandpromotesmultiplemodesoflearning.SimilarlyVygotsky’sprincipleofmediationcomprisespsychologicaltoolsortheembodimentoflearning–gestures,language,signsystems,mnemonictechniquesanddecision-makingsystems-aswellasinterpersonalcommunication,i.e.sociallymeaningfulactivity.Hereisanexampleofhowmediatedcontentviaonekeyword/linktoBlendspacerevealsitselfasamultimodallearningexperiencebasedonanewsiteminFrance:

Figure6.Multimodallearningstimuli

Figure6.displayssixtiles.Thefirsttile(1)isalinktoTedEd,adidacticisedversionoftheTVreport(visualandaudiostimuli);Tiles2-4containtheoriginaltextofthe


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newsitemintheformofjigsawpuzzleswhichcanbecompletedonline(spatialawareness,hand-eyecoordinationandmemoryofthetextseeninthepreviousactivity);Tile6givesstudentsaccesstoPuzzlemakerwheretheirowncrosswordpuzzlescanbecreatedbyre-usinganddefiningnewlylearnedwordstoultimatelychallengetheirpeers(analysis,memory,visualstimulus,interpersonalcommunication).Thethreekeywordsorlinksmayalsobeusedforadditionalpurposes,asdisplayedinFigure5..First,thediary:beautifulmistakes…Thisagaincomesfromsecondlanguageacquisitionstudiesreportingthatwheremostlearningisdoneiswheremostmistakesaremade(Dalton-Puffer,2009).Aclassdiarywheremistakesarerecordedandexplained,aswellascorrected,providesstudentsandlecturerswithvaluableinsightsintolearningprocesses.Forthestudent,thismeansawarenessandbetterunderstanding;forthelecturerthisrepresentsusefuldataforbetterteachingand/orresearch.Anadditionalthought,thistimefromphilosophy(Halpin,ClarkandWheeler,2014)evokesthe‘extendedmindhypothesis’,whichpositsthat‘cognitiveprocessesarenotalwaysconfinedwithintheboundariesofskinandskull’(p.24).Writingisagoodillustrationofthishypothesisaspenandpaperbecome‘constitutiveofthinking’.Theprocessisdescribedas‘technology-mediatedcognitiveempowerment’(Smart,2014,pp.123-4).So,thisiswhathappenswithpenandpaper;imaginewhatcouldhappenwithtechnologyaswecommitmoreandmoretocomputersandmobiletechnology.The‘beautifulmistakes’diaryisanapplicationofthe‘extendedmindhypothesis’ascognitivechoicesmadebystudentsbecometransparent,insightfulandtransformative,thankstowritingandtechnology.Additionalapplicationsofthishypothesiscouldbeintheformofaweeklyclassdiaryoranewsletterreportingonwhathasbeenlearned,inthestudents’ownwords.The‘extendedmindhypothesis’isevolvingintoanotherconcept,thatof‘collectiveintelligence’,becausetheacquisitionandlearningofknowledgeiscollectivelyscaffolded.The‘askforhelp’forumandtheclassglossaryaretwoadditionalexamplesofcollectiveintelligenceatwork(Figure5).P.S.:thesameglossaryappearsseveraltimesinvarioussectionsoftheMoodlepagetoaddnewknowledgetoolderknowledge,onanon-goingbasis.


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Whythreequestions?Because…

Oncemore,thishastodowiththe‘extendedmindhypothesis’.Thequestionsnotonlyserveasconversationtopicsbutcanalsobeusedforrevisioninoroutsideclass,beforeanexam.Theyaredeliberatelybroadtoenablestudentstointegratepriorknowledgeaswellaswhattheyhaveformallyandinformallylearned.Theycanalsoactasconnectorsbetweenothermodulestakenbythestudents.Inotherwords,theyaredesignedtoovercomethefragmentationofoureducationalenvironment.Thefragmentationissueisalsoaddressedinthecardbelow.Thiscardwillappearinallmymodulesandisentitled‘Lesaviez-vous?’/(Didyouknow…)

Figure7.

Thecontentwillvaryaccordingtothemodulebutitwillalwaysaimtoplacethemoduleintoawidercontextortolinkittootherdisciplines,ifrelevant.Here,thesethirdyearbusinessstudentsaregoingonanErasmusprogrammethefollowingsemester,sotheydiscoverresearchfindingsindicatingthatlivingabroadmakesyoumorecreative(scientificallyprovenJ);therefore,intheireyes,theirstudyabroadexperiencemaygainaddedvalue.TheyarealsogivenaccesstoarelevantwebsiteusedbystudentsinFranceandareintroducedtoareflectiononcreativitythroughtheworkofRobertDoisneau.


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Whythreecardsnow?Because…

Figure8.Threecardsforcategories:‘Outilsdetravail’(Toolsofthetrade)

TheresourcesinlanguagesareinfiniteandmakeforverypoordisplayonmyoldMoodlepage.Alonglistofstuff,ofno-things!Thethree-carddisplaydoesnotappearinanyofthesections.Instead,studentscanaccessthedisplaybyclickingontherelevantlinkintherelevantcards.Usersarenevermorethanoneclickawayandarenotoverwhelmedbythelonglist.Thethree-carddisplayhelpstocategorisetheresourcesclearlyandtobemoreselective.NotethatthewebsiteURLforeachresourceisnotmasked.Thisisintentionalasittargetstheviewer’sperceptionandshowstheseresourcesasactual(technological)tools.ThreecardsarealsousefulforseparatefociononethemewithinonesectionofthemoduleasillustratedinFigure9.below.Theexampleistakenfromanothermodule.However,notethatthethreefociareconsideredtogetherinaforum-liketool(Padlet–Figure10.)tobuildonboththe‘extendedmindhypothesis’andthe‘collectiveintelligence’.


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Figure9.Onetheme,threeseparatefociandaforumbelowthethreecards(one

link).

Figure10.AnexampleofthePadletforumtopromotetheextendedmindhypothesisandthecollectiveintelligence(onetheme,threeseparatefoci)

PadletinFigure10.enablesstudentstopostthoughts,images,filmsandaudiomaterialtoexchangeandconstructknowledgeonaparticulartheme.Toconclude,thisworkisonlythebeginning…muchremainstobedonetobetterunderstandthephenomenonoflearningonline.Ibelievethatmultimodalityinlearningisalsoapplicabletotheresearchof21stcenturypedagogiestoincludedisciplinessuchasphilosophy,graphicdesign,anthropology,education,secondlanguageacquisition,psychology,literacystudies,computersciencesandmore.


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Finally,thankyouforconsideringafew,ifnotallofthesepoints,shouldyoudecidetousethistemplateforlearningandteachingonline;thankyoualsoforaddingmoreinsightstothetemplate,ifyouwishtodoso.Justletusknow,sothatthecollectiveintelligenceofWaterfordInstituteofTechnologycontinuestogrow.TheauthorwishestothankEamonndeLeastar,LauraWidger,ConorO’Neilland

CathalO’Riordánfortheirextendedandcollectiveinsights.References:BhabhaHomiK.(1994)Thelocationofculture.London:Routledge.Corkery,C.(2015)13Easy-to-UseToolsforCreatingKillerVisualContent.Availableat:http://www.verticalresponse.com/blog/13-easy-to-use-tools-for-creating-killer-visual-content(Accessed:12May2015).CommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages(2001).Cambridge,UK:CUP.Dalton-Puffer,C.2009.‘CommunicativecompetenceandtheCLILlesson’,inRuizdeZarobe,Y.andJimenezCatalan,R.(Eds.)ContentandLanguageIntegratedLearning:EvidencefromResearchinEurope.Clevedon:MultilingualMatters,pp.197-214.Halpin,H.,Clark,A.andWheeler,M.(2014)‘PhilosophyoftheWeb:Representation,enaction,collectiveintelligence’inHalpin,H.andMonnin,A.(eds)Philosophicalengineering,TowardaphilosophyoftheWeb.Chichester:Wiley-Blackwell,pp.21-30.Krashen,S.D.(1981)Secondlanguageacquisitionandsecondlanguagelearning.Oxford:PergamonPress.Oviatt,S.(2013)TheDesignoffutureeducationalinterfaces.New-York:Routledge.Smart,P.R.(2014)‘Theweb-extendedmind’,inHalpin,H.andMonnin,A.(eds)Philosophicalengineering,TowardaphilosophyoftheWeb.Chichester:Wiley-Blackwell,pp.116-33.Vygotsky,L.(2002)Thoughtandlanguage(A.Kozulin,ed.).Cambridge,MA.:MITPress.

two cards for a moodle interface- apr. 2016

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