Nudge your students and peers
Source: Tilly Harrison meeting room /CAL , University of Warwick
From Krashen to Webinars
The idea of input suggested by Krashen (1981, 1982, 1985) has been one of L2 pillars and since then has been reviewed and enhanced. One of the notable modifications has been Swain hypothesis (1985) which offers a triangle of input, interaction and output. While the input is the language learners are exposed to, the output is what they produce with that language. Students need to demonstrate how much they have learned by writing or speaking, but it is not always the case and sometimes we need to do something to help them produce that output. From this starting point came the idea of the "pushed output" (McDonough & Mackey 2006). To force students talk, normal speech criteria are applied such as repetition, giving incomplete sentences or hints and recycling to name a few. The tool I'm talking about in this blog supports this notion as we will see.
About Blackboard Collaborative
It's a Webinar and Video Conference online platform. All you need to do is to type your name and join the session, but you must have a link of the room first. It's a great online tool for teacher training, which is very common and useful because teachers are loaded with work and sometimes trainers live in another country. It is really practical and reduces the cost of hosting and travelling with a time bonus. It also allows document sharing such as PowerPoint slides and also a live video of your screen if you want to share files on you PC, applications and websites. My recent experiences with Blackboard Collaborative were giving feedback to two mentees and a presentation to my peers. The video below shows a part of the presentation.
I don't want to go further with teacher training, instead I'd like to share some thoughts of using it and similar online conferencing applications. First, it can be used to encourage students to speak. You can arrange fixed times when all students login and individuals or groups make short presentations on different topics. It has exactly the same effect as traditional presentations in addition to other advantages. For example, students will be more comfortable in their homes and their output will be more, especially the shy ones. They will also do pretty well if you give them the option to switch off their videos and just talk or use slides while talking so that everybody follow.
Another useful speaking activity is role-playing. Assign roles to students, a reporter and two guests, a phone call, etc. These activities work differently on online bases while other classmates listen and add some ideas in the chat or just listen to their peers speaking then comment or ask questions at the end. I sometimes coach some students for debating competitions, by using this technology we can meet anytime and I can simply oppose their position during the online meeting, this will also allow me to push them to think of what to say, with the flexibility to meet in the evenings during competitions instead of the phone calls I used to have and the time spent repeating the same thing to every single one of the three students. What's more? all sessions can be recorded and used for documentation or reflection purposes.
Easy as falling off a log
If you are a participant, you only need to type your name and click on Join Session. You will see the screen below.
The icons at the bottom are used by both participants and moderators. Here's a bit of detail about each of them (from left to right).
1. My Settings: to adjust microphone and camera settings.2. Share Audio: to allow sound from your own mic.
3. Share Video: to allow live video from you webcam.
4. Put hand up: to draw attention to the speaker if you want to ask, comment or interrupt.
5. Open Chat: to send written messages, reply to a question or share a link.
6. The arrow on the top: to leave session.
For moderators only:
7. The last icon on the right-hand bottom: to permit participant to use any or all of the features above / to record the session.
8. The + sign on the top: to share a blank white board, a file or your PC screen.Some restrictions to avoid
Apparently, participants will need a good Wi-Fi to use Blackboard Collaborate effectively, otherwise they will see a hazy image or no image at all and can experience some sound cut offs. This can also happen with good connection if multiple users have their webcams on. A good trick for this problem is to ask participants to switch off their videos. A good microphone is also required for presenters and they should be in a quiet place, nobody likes hearing a barking dog or a slamming door while learning. One more thing to mention, Blackboard Collaborative is restricted to specific users and this limits your audience but all the features are more or less available on other similar and free software.
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