Real Engagement, Real Enrichment, Real Experience: Technology-facilitated Authentic Groupwork Projects
1 like34 views
This document describes a project using technology-facilitated authentic group work to teach linguistics students. Students worked in groups on a real-world project to create a website promoting linguistics using Google tools like Google Sites, Docs, and Hangouts. This allowed for collaboration across groups. The project gave students independence, developed skills like project management, and resulted in a useful end product for an external audience. Both students and academics found the approach very effective for motivating students by giving them ownership and experience with an authentic task.
Real Engagement, Real Enrichment, Real Experience: Technology-facilitated Authentic Groupwork Projects
- 1. Real Engagement, Real Enrichment, Real Experience: Technology-facilitated Authentic Groupwork Projects. Gary C. Wood School of English University of Sheffield g.c.wood@sheffield.ac.uk | @GC_Wood Sarah Horrigan Learning Technology Team University of Derby s.horrigan@derby.ac.uk | @sarahhorrigan SEDA Spring Conference 2014 1
- 2. 2SEDA Spring Conference 2014 Introduction… Employability skills Teamwork & Collaboration Negative evaluation (Thorley & Gregory 1994) Focus on content over skills.
- 3. 3SEDA Spring Conference 2014 The issue… Learning by Doing Scaffolding and support is required Key problems: Time and place Different standards/expectations Motivation.
- 4. 4SEDA Spring Conference 2014 Solutions… Teach students skills! Employer involvement (Jamieson et al 2012) Authentic learning through a real world project – a more practical alternative?
- 5. What we did… SEDA Spring Conference 2014 5
- 6. 6SEDA Spring Conference 2014 Lack of understanding of what linguistics is Need to equip students with digital literacy skills Groupwork problems. Real- world problems…
- 7. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 7 Assessment through a real project Promote linguistics to prospective students What we did…
- 8. Overall Winner SEDA Spring Conference 2014 8
- 9. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 9 How we did it…
- 10. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 10 Google Sites: Page-level permissions Integrated features (YouTube, soundclips, and others). How we did it…
- 11. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 11 Project Management: Google Docs Google+ Hangouts How we did it…
- 12. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 12 Launch Event & Evaluation: Google Docs Forms How we did it…
- 13. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 13 Authentic learning Consider real stakeholders Work to real deadlines Challenged with project management
- 14. 14SEDA Spring Conference 2014 Embedded enterprise Students demonstrated a wide range of enterprise skills ambition creativity tenacity initiative making connections confidence teamwork innovationleadership adaptability negotiation owning actions problem-solving self-beliefstrategic thinking networking risk-taking
- 15. 15SEDA Spring Conference 2014 Increased student control = creativity & high motivation Doing a real project = enthusiasm from the students Groupwork is trouble-free – Google facilitates Collaboration within and between groups. Some benefits…
- 16. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 16 Continuous feedback and assessment Students develop key skills for degree and employability End product is genuinely useful to its audience Apps are integrated and don’t need teaching. Some benefits…
- 17. 17SEDA Spring Conference 2014 Academic’s view… Very effective solution: Technology facilitated real-world project Motivated students (Fazey & Fazey et al 2001) Creative freedom increased students’ perceived control Google Tools increased perceived competence for the task Enhanced potential for autonomous learning
- 18. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 18 What the students think…
- 19. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 19 Wikipedia like – enhancement/expansion by future students: New topics in linguistics Expansion of accessibly-presented research Community to engage audience and provide interaction. The future…
- 20. awesome trust freedomopportunity SEDA Spring Conference 2014 20 students with , ,& them, and they’ll show you how they can be. Empower tools A final thought…
- 21. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 21 How might you use Google Sites? Who would your audience be? Your turn…!
- 22. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 22 Work in small groups (3-5) Think of an area of your teaching in which you could use Google Sites Create a page on the session site to share your ideas Google username and password provided Edit page with your group number Be creative – images, videos, etc. Some ideas are already available on the site if you need inspiration! Your turn…!
- 23. SEDA Spring Conference 2014 23 Review & Questions…