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Multiliteracies for Collaborative Learning Environments

Event Cycle 3

Monday, Sept 19 to 21, 2005
Theoreticaly framework: How multiliteracies apply to collaborative learning environments

Theoretical Framework for Multiliteracies

Read: Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age George Siemens.http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm
Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. These theories, however, were developed in a time when learning was not impacted through technology. Over the last twenty years, technology has reorganized how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn. Learning needs and theories that describe learning principles and processes, should be reflective of underlying social environments.

Find out about the New London Group, in the context of multiliteracies, through the following article and others you can locate on the Internet.

• For example this article online by the folks who conceived the term 'multiliteracies':
  Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis. Putting 'Multiliteracies' to the Test. Retrieved September 23, 2004 from: http://www.alea.edu.au/multilit.htm.

Here's a very interesting document, itself a model of many multiliteracies (in its navigation scheme, and content visualization, for example):
Johanna Ahtikari and Sanna Eronen. (2004). On a journey towards web literacy - The electronic learning space Netro. A dissertation submitted at the University of JYVÄSKYLÄ Department of Languages. Retrieved September 23, 2004 from: http://kielikompassi.jyu.fi/resurssikartta/netro/gradu/index.shtml.

Unsworth, Len. 2001. Teaching Multiliteracies across the curriculum http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335206042.pdf

An aside: Constructivism vs. Constructionism

Please look these two terms up in Internet searches. Identify sites that help you understand the difference between the two, report your findings in your blogs, and discuss them in the forum set up for that purpose. Which construct do you think is most applicable to a discussion of multiliteracy? Which to collaborative learning? Why?

Here is one paper making the social constructionist/constructivist distinction:
Donna E. Alvermann. (forthcoming). Multiliteracies and Self-Questioning in the Service of Science Learning. Chapter to appear in a book edited by Wendy Saul, titled Crossing Borders, to be published by the International Reading Association. Retrieved September 23, 2004 from: http://www.coe.uga.edu/reading/faculty/alvermann/multilit.pdf

How multiliteracies apply to collaborative learning environments

The reason that this is the topic of our current event cycle (collaboration tools) is that the most appropriate of these tools should be our mainstay from now till the end of the course. That is we should gain some quick familiarity with use of synchronous tools so that we can use them to interract and collaborate with each other to recap sessions. We can also schedule chats at times more convenient to you if Sunday noon GMT is not a good time. It will be difficult to negotiate times, but let's get started. Would anyone like to nominate an additional weekly chat time so that we can include more of you in this type of interaction?

• Please view and listen to the presentation by Robin Good: Synchronous Collaboration Tools for the Academic World at e/merge2004 Blended Learning and Collaborative Technologies Conference June 15, 2004: http://www.voxwire.com/kolabora/emerge/ . This is a presentation using Macromedia Breeze, which we saw demo'd at our synchronous chat event, Sept 18, 2005
• After viewing, please contribute your insights to the discussion of how multiliteracies might apply to collaborative learning.

How multiliteracies might be applied to collaborative learning environments

The capabilities of these LMS systems are getting more interesting by the day. Webheads (http://www.webheads.info) have experiemented a bit with Groove, which is a shared space for synchronous work online. We are also using Talking Communities voice chat through entities such as http://www.study.com and http://www.alado.net/webheads, and Elluminate which is available via http://www.learningtimes.net at http://www.tinyurl.com/y3eh, both provided free of charge to Webheads. These are all mentioned in the talk by Robin Good.

• I have a web page on LMS and other authoring tools at http://www.vancestevens.com/authorng.htm
• You can see some of the tools we use here: http://sites.hsprofessional.com/vstevens/files/efi/software.htm
• I've described a bit of how other Webheads have done that using these tools here: http://cwp60.berkeley.edu:16080/TESL-EJ/ej28/int.html
• Michael Coghlan is a great proponent of what is, we think, key to online collaboration, and that is voice. Voice is more powerful than video (look at radio, ever been surprised at seeing a picture of your favorite announcer? Disappointed perhaps? Different from what you imagined?). Video and still imagery make nice complements to voice, but what embodies the other person in a communicative sense is that voice. View and Listen to: Sat Sept 25th 2004 at GMT 5.00 am, Keynote by Michael Coghlan: Finding Your Voice on the Internet - changing the language, building community, and reducing diversity http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes?go=549431 (direct link http://tinyurl.com/aml2v)

We can practice voice here. One decent client on the PC side is Talking Communities, used in http://www.alado.net/webheads. If you have a PC you can go to that url at any time and check it out (get a friend to meet you there). But we need a cross platform client in our dealings here. What works well, for voice, cross platform, is the Elluminate tool at http://www.learningtimes.org. This is what Michael has been using in his presentations and those of you who were present know that it is a remarkable tool. It is also being provided free, for a limited time (semi permanently we hope) to Webheads.

The catch is twofold. You have to register at LearningTimes (free, quick, and easy). Secondly, you have to download the client to your computer. This can take longer than expected. So before trying to make your appointment to meet someone online, be sure you have registered and done the download beforehand. The download should be a one timer. After the inititial installation it goes pretty quickly.

Bee found a chat room in Sept 2004 where we were able to push voice and web cams more or less (we could all either see or hear each other, though only Bee was able to be both seen and heard. If the chatroom is still here (it IS, found on Sept 19, 2005!) we can try it: http://www.uvault.com/demo/s_room6chat/index.html - and it looked like this:

Events ...

• Check http://www.vancestevens.com/online_events.htm for activities at this time

©opyright 2005 by Vance Stevens