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l' Writeboard: CollaborativeScaffoldlngTOWardsOnllneLanguageLearnlngHarryHARRIS
ABSTRACT
Scaffolding,orprovidinglearnerswithincreasinglymoresophisticated feedbackandmodelsastheygainskillsandknowledge,islegitimate pedagogicalpractice.However,scaffoldingdoesnothavetobelimitedto thestudent-teacherrelationship.Itcanalsooccurinthatofstudent-student,withpeerslearningiromeachotherastheycooperateinthe learningprocess.Inrecognitionofthegeneralacceptanceoftheneedto integratecomputertechnologyintotheclassroomandoftheappreciation ofitsimportanceinthedevelopmentoflearnerautonomy,itisargued thatWriteboardcanserveasanarenainwhichEFL/ESLstudentscan collaboratewitheachotherandtheirteachers,resultinginlinguisticand cognitivegrowih.HanyHARRIS ~;~1 iL~)~~t~,,'~~~tLf*'-7~-~/~'y~.~~.7~~~~7~~~O)~:~i)V~,~,,+~~L~iZ:C (;~~~~i~)~~~~/tf).t~E:*~~;~~C~:}~~j~Ef~i~~~=~I~~~,,'~~~~i~~Cf~~~).~~~~. ";~~~~~~)~~~~/~"}~~~~~1"~~~~~~~*~fC~)~~~~~~~L~~~;~.~f}~f~~~~.
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~)~)~~~)~)7~~7i~~~~EFL/ESL-~~~~i'~~~~~~~C~~~~~~~~)f~~J.d~h'. ~14~i~~~~~~~~)~~'~~i'~',~~~~~:~~E*f.~k.~~~);~r~L}~-~f"~l'~~~)~'~-._.-'~~L~~~~~)~'-'-'~;~~1{~~~!~J~ ="* ',~" ~:{~~;~,~*,~~;~:f~;~).I.Introduction
Ithasbecomeatruismthateducatorsinthepositiontodosoneedto encouragetheirstudentstoimprovetheircomputerskillsinorderto helpthempreparefortheemploymentchallengesofthe2Istcentury. Thisneedisequallyclearinfieldsaslessobviouslyrelatedas,say, medicine,agronomy,and,ofcourse,education.Moreover,manyhave cornetoseeitasself-evidentthattheseskillsserveasimportant heuristicaidsinthelearningprocessitselfinacademicsettings(or, surely,evenoutsideofthem).Learnerswithminimalcomputerliteracy can,ofcourse,almostinstantaneouslyobtaininformationfromthe Internet.Aswell,withtheindependencethatcomputeractivitiesbffer them,studentscandevelopintoautonomouslearners,certainlyagoal towardswhichtheyshouldbeencouragedifwecanagree,atleastWriteboard:CollaborativeSc~ffoldlngTowardsOnlineLanguageLearning ideally,thatapnmemrssronmeducationisthenurturingof,as Thanasoulas(2002)anticipatorilyandambitiouslypointsout,"self-sufficientlearnersandcitizenscapableofevaluatingeverysingle
situationtheyfindthemselvesinanddrawingthelineatany
inconsistenciesorshortcomingsininstitutionsandsocietyatlarge" (p.11). Duetotheacknowledgedeconornic,social,andculturalbenefitsthatimprovingcomputerliteracycanprovide,ithasbeenargued,
consequently,that,inacademiccontexts,"studentsofanyageneedto besupportedinacquiringinformationprocessingskillsasweintegrate thistechnologyintoourschools"(Dodge,1998).Onemoreexpansive waytoconceptualizethisapproachwithineducationitselfisscaffolding, "coachingormodeling,[that]supportsstudentsastheydevelopnew skillsorlearnnewconcepts...[afterwhich]...thesupportisremoved" (Starr,2000).Foreducatorsworkingwithnovicecomputerusers,this meansofcoursethatthesestudentsmayinitiallyneedattentive assistanceuntiltheybecomemoreskilledwithcomputertechnologyand thereforemoreindependentintheiruseofit,thisprimaryattention beingabandonedasmorechallengingtasksareerected. Inlanguageacquisition,thetermscaffoldingisequallyapplicable,and EFL/ESL(andotherSLA)studentsneedcoachingandmodelingintheir language-1earningendeavors,asmostsuccessfullearnersdointheirs. Theyneed,inotherwords,guidancethatwillhelpthemimprovetheir languageskillsaswellasalternativeexamples,fromdifferentsources,of Englishusagethattheycanemulateor,perhaps,opttoreject. Additionally,theyneedaccesstothetechnologythatcansupplementHanyHARRIS theirin-classexperience,anideathat,asweshallsee,hasthesupport ofmanylanguageprofessionals.ForCALLeducators,whoarealready
dedicatedtothisandworkingwiththeirstudentsonline,oneeasy-
access,user-friendly,hi•gh-potential,freetoolthatcanassistinlanguage-acquisitionscaffoldingisWriteboard,aforuminwhichthesestudents canworkwithandlearnfromtheirteachersaswellastheirpeers, exchangingjournalentriesanddoingothercollaborativeworkon assignedprojects,developingtheskillstheyneedtobecomeautonomous learnersastheyareincreasinglyinvitedintolinguisticandcognitive growih.II.WhyWriteboard?
"Writeboardsaresharable,web-basedtextdocumentsthatletyousave everyedit,rollbacktoanyversion,andeasilycomparechanges" (Writeboard).Writeboardsareafreeonlineforurnwithwhich "instructorswillhave24-houronlineaccesstostudententries,allowing foreasierconfirmationthatworkisbeingdone...[and]...[eliminating] ...theissuesoflost,damaged,orundelivered...[work]"(Harris,2007, p.110). Equallyimportant,writeboardsareamediuminwhichteachersaswell aspeerscan,throughtheircontributions,providethescaffoldingthat languagelearnersneed.Withinthissharedwrittenmedium,which should"leadtoamoredynamicgroupawarenessandexchangeofideas" (Spack&Sadow,1983,p.580),contributorscansupporteachother, "[1atching]ontodifferentnewpoints,makingsenseofnewideasintheir ownwaysandcontributingthatunderstandingtothesharedknowledgeWriteboard:CollaborativeScaffoldingTowardsOnlineLanguageLearnlng ofthegroup"(Cole,Raffier,Rogan,andSchleicher,1998,p.561).In effect,writeboardsareatechnologicalanswerto"thestudent-student relationshipthattypicallyremainsuntappedinsideandoutsideofthe classroom"(ibid.,p.558)aswellasatechnologicalcomplementtothe traditionalpre-existingin-classteacher-studentrelationship. Thereis,unsurprisingly,atheoreticalframeworkthatsupportstheneed foranunderstandingoftherelationshipsmentionedaboveaswellasthe cultivationoftheirpotential.Incontrast(or,arguably,inaddition)to Piaget'sbiology-basedexplanationforcognitivedevelopment,thatweare geneticallyprogrammedtogain"moreknowledgeoftheworldandmore sophisticatedexploratoryskills"Ieadingto"adaptation,"or"learning" (Boeree,2006),Vygotskyprovidesuswithasocialmodelofcognitive development,maintainingthat"it...[is]...dependentonsocial interactionandthatsociallearningactuallyleadstocognitive development"(Vygotsky,1978:citedinRiddle,1999,p.1).Vygotsky callsthistheZoneofProximalDevelopment,explaining "'[thatitis]thedistancebetweentheactualdevelopmentlevelas determinedthroughproblemsolvingunderadultguidanceorin collaborationwithmorecapablepeers.'Inotherwords,astudent canperformataskunderadultguidanceorwithpeercollaboration thatcouldnotbeachievedalone ...[bridging]thatgapbetween whatisknownandwhatcanbeknown[with]learning[occurring]" (ibid.). Insimplerterms,thismeansthatweconstructanunderstandingof realitythroughsocialinteraction,Iearningandgrowingcognitivelywith
HarryHARRIS theassistanceofothers,something,itisarguedhere,thatcanbedone onlineaswellasoff.Putevenmoresimply,welearnfromeachother.
However,tocontinuethethreadofourargument,research
overwhelminglyaffirmsthepedagogicalvalueofonlinelanguage-1earning activities.Inafairlyexhaustivestudydonein2000-2004onthe effectivenessofCALL,Felix(2005)concludes"thatwearebeginningto seeenoughdatainCALLthatsuggestpositiveeffectsonvocabulary development,readingandwriting"...addingthat"thereisalsoa substantialbodyofdatathatindicatesthatstudentperceptionsofCALL areonthewholepositiveprovidedtechnologiesarestableandwell supported"(p.12).InaMiddleEasterncontext,SadoA1-Jarf(2005) arguesthat"useofonlinemstructronasasupplementtoin-class mstructionprovedtobeapowerfultoolforimprovingstudents' achievementingrammar"(p.179)whereas,inaSpanish-1anguage acquisitioncontext,Frigaard(2002)maintainsthatlabworkwithher Spanishstudentsisbeneficial(p.18). Aswecansee,then,thereismultipleandvariedsupportoflanguage-learneruseofcomputer-relatedtechnology.Withcollaborativeonline languagelearning,thereisequalsupportdecidedlyechoingtheideasof Vygotsky.Leh(1999),forexample,afterafollow-upstudyofthe pedagogicalvalueofe-mailexchangesbetweenU.S.andMexicancollege students,resolvesthat"e-mail(CMOisbeneficialforlearningand communication"andpointsouttheparticipantsconcludethat"CMC... shouldbeintegratedintoforeignlanguageinstruction."InanAsian context,Chen(2005)recommendscomputercommunication"toincrease exposureanduseofthetargetlanguagebothinsideandoutsideoftheWriteboard:CollaborativeScaffoldingTowardsOnllneLanguageLearnlng classroom"(p.168),suggestingthat "theintegrationofComputer-MediatedCommunication(CMOinto EFLIearningcanincreasebothinput(exposure)andoutput(use) ofthetargetlanguagethatisneededforlearnerstopromoteboth therrlingursticandpragmaticCompetence"(p.168),promotingthe developmentof"learmngmotivationlearnerautonomy,social equalityandidentity"(p.169). Further,inaperhapsmoreobliqueechoofVygotsky,Riddle(op.cit.) remmdsusthat"Computertechnologyisaculturaltoolthatstudents canusetomediateandinternalizetheirlearning"(p.3)whereasHansen (2001),insupportofthistool,reportsthather"studentsweremore willingtoself-discloseintheonlineenvironmentthanintheface-to-face interactionofatraditionalclassroom,"intunewithPower's(2003) incisivereminderthat"itisfarbettertoendorsepluralisticteaching strategiesandtechniqueswhichallowforgreaterdiversityandchoice notjustforindividuallearners." Moreconcretely,asforspecifictoolsandsitesforEFLIearnersin particular,Campbell(2OO4)recommendstheweblogLiveJournal, suggestingitasanotherlanguage-1earningapproachinadditionto "keypals,tandemlanguageexchanges,chat,messageboards,and discussionforums"and,initssupport,explainingthat"Assoonasthey [EFLstudents]leavetheclassroom,theyre-enteraworldfullof speakersoftheirownfirstlanguage,Ieavingthemwithlittleopportunity tousewhatthey'velearned."Furthermore,forcollaborativeonlinework ingeneral,notnecessarilymeantforlanguagelearnersbutcertainly
HanyHARRIS adaptabletotheirneeds,Neumann(2006)providesaprovisionallistof mostlyfreetools,including,amongothers,Writeboard,atwhichweshall nowtakealook.
EI.HowToUseWriteboardforanEFL/ESLClass
Writeboardis,torepeat,aneasy-access,user-friendly,freetooltouse forcollaborativework.(Youcanupgrade,however,forafee.)Tocreate awriteboard,firstopenthelinkhttp://~~v.writeboard.com/.Whenyou fillouttheinformationrequiredtocreateoneandclickonCreatethe Writeboard,youwillbesentane-mailmessageinformingyouthata newwriteboardhasbeencreatedandprovidingyouthelinktoaccessthewriteboard,ifandwhenyoushouldcloseit,aswellasthe
passwordthatyouhaveassignedit.Youwillalsoreceive,immediately, onyourcomputerscreen,acongratulatory,emptywriteboard,onwhich youcanwriteinstructionsforstudents. Thiswritersofarhasusedwriteboardswithoverwhelmingsuccessina basicwritingcourseandsomeinadvancedspeakingcourses,the coursesdeterminingwhatisdonewiththewriteboards.Withthebasic writingcourse,inwhichstudentsarepairedupandaskedtoexchange journalentries,instructionsareprovidedontheemptywriteboards, explainingtostudentshowtoproceed.Studentsareaskedtoclickon theblueAddacommentprornptonthebottomleftofthescreenand remindedtoignoretheredEditthispagepromptonthetopleft.(They arealsotoldaboutthisduringaclasssession.)Whenthesewritten directionsareposted,thewriteboardcreatorthenclicksontheSavethis writeboardprompt,immediatelyuponwhichthewriteboardwillbesaved,Writeboard:CollaboratlveScaifloldingTowardsOnlineLanguageLeamlng
leavingthenewversiononthecomputerscreen,fromwhichthe
instructorcaninvitestudentstocollaboratebyclickingontheblue Invitepeoplepromptintheupperrightcornerofthewriteboardand writingstudente-mailaddressesintheinvitationboxthatwillappear. (Studentsshouldsendthesetotheirinstructorinadvance.)Afterthis, thewriteboardcreatorsimplyclickstheSendinvitationprompt,and studentswillreceiveanotificationintheire-mailinboxesthatanew writeboardhasbeencreatedforthem,alongwiththename,URL,and passwordforthewriteboard. Forcollaborativeworkotherthanwithjournalentryexchanges,the setupprocessissimilartothatabove,exceptstudentsareaskedto clickontheredEditthispagepromptinthetopleftcorneroftheir writeboard,aftercompletingpostedassignmentsonwhichtheywill cooperatewithothers.Studentsareencouraged,ofcourse,tousethe Addacommentpromptiftheywanttocommunicatewitheachother abouttheircontributions.Thiswriter,forexample,hasleftdebatetopics onwriteboardsandaskedstudentstoworktogethertoprovideProand Conarguments;hehasgivenEnglishproverbsandaskedstudentsto coauthorexplanationsofthemandexamplesinwhichtheycanbeused; andhehas,withlesssuccessfulresults,Ieftriddlesonwriteboards, askingstudentstofillinwhattheythinkaretheanswers.Other suggestionsforuseoftheeditingpromptincludeaskingstudentsto correcttextscontaininggrammar,punctuation,andothermistakes,to coauthorparagraphsorshortessays,andtoplanatriporotherevent together.Certainlythereareotherass.ignmentpossibilitiesthatwill cometomindinthefuture.HarryHARRIS Forjournalexchangepurposes,theAddacommentfunctionissufficient asneitherstudentcollaborators,northeinstructor,needtocorrect journalentries.Aswithtraditionalnotebook-stylejournals,ithasbeen arguedthatthepurposeofhavinglanguagestudentsdothisactivityis toprovidethemwith"amediummwhichstudentshavetheopportunity toworkonquantitywriting,reinforcmglanguageskills"(Hamsop cit.).Itshouldbeaddedthat,asSpack&Sadowpointout,"Ungraded, uncorrectedjournalscanprovidbanon-threateningwayforstudentsto expressthemselvesinwrittenEnglish."allowingthem"togenerate ideasandtosharethem...[with]teachers...[beconung]partrcrpantsm thewritingprocess"(op.cit.,p.575).Inshort,studentcollaboratorsas wellastheinstructorcanusetheAddacommentfunctiontodojust that:tocommentonjournalentries,offeringaccord(1agree.That'sa goodidea.),disagreement(That'sinteresting,butIthinkyoushould considerthefollowingideas:...),andprompts(Whydon'tyoutalkabout yourvacationplans?)tohelpdirectthefocusofsuccessiveentries. Forothercollaborativeactivitiesinwhichtheinstructorwantsstudent collaboratorstoediteachother'swork,withorwithoutinstructor contributions,theEditthispagefunctionisideal,asdiscussedabove. Withthisfunction,students,andtheinstructor,cansavetheirwork, automaticallycreatingdifferentversions,whichwillbeindicatedbysmall
numberedboxestotherightofthewriteboardpage.Ofgreat
importanceinthisteamworkeffort,anytwooftheseversionscanbe comparedbycheckingtheirtokenboxesandclickingontheCompare prompt,ofgreatutilityforthosewhoneedtoknowwhatchangeshave beenmadeinsuccessivestagesofaparticularwriteboard.Forthis purpose,textframedingreenrepresentsadditionsinasubsequentWriteboard:CollaborativeScaffoldingTowardsOnlineLanguageLearning versionwhiletextwithalinestruckthroughitindicatestextthathas beenremovedfromthepreviousone. Offinalmentionistheorganizationofyourwriteboardswhenyouhave agreatnumberofthem,as,forexample,inalargewritingclassin whichyouhavepairedupstudentsforjournalwork.Oneoptionisto payafeeandupgradetheservicethatthesponsorBackpackprovides, allowingyoutoorganizeyourwriteboardswiththeirsoftware.Another choice,forwhichthiswriterhasopted,istoaddthesetoyourFavorites box,where,ifyouhavetitledthemWriteboard1,2,etc.,youcan arrangetheminavisiblelocation,forexampleatthebottomof Favorites.StillanotherpossibilityistocreateaWorddocumentlisting thenamesofyourwriteboardswiththeirURLSandsavingthison,for example,yourdesktop.Whateveryourchoice,itisimportantforyouto haveeasy,organizedaccesstoyourwriteboardssothatyoucankeep trackofstudetltworkandrespondwhenyouthinkitisnecessaryand appropriate.
IV.ConcludingRemarks
Thereistheoreticalbackingoftheideathatcognitivegrowihand learningareintertwinedwithsocialrelationships,thatwelearnfromour peers,ourseniors,andothers.Thereisalsosupportoftheideaforthe needofeducatorstoscaffoldthelearningexperience,guidinglearnersto anidealultimateautonomysothattheycanbetterevaluatethefuture circumstancesinwhichtheywillfindthemselvesandtheeventswhich theywillencounterintheirlives.Moderntechnologyoffersanobvious tooltohelpworktowardsthatend,thecomputer.HarryHARRIS Congruently,forourpurposes,muchcurrentresearchstressesthe significancetoEFL/ESLeducationofonlineinstructionandpeer collaborationandsupportsanacknowledgementoftheexistenceof differentlearningstylesandtheneedforfurtherarenastonurturethis diversity,arenasinwhichlearnerscancontributetothecognitiveand linguisticgrowthoftheirpeers. IthasbeensuggestedinthispaperthatWriteboardcanprovideforums whereEFL/ESLinstructorscanengagetheirstudentsinjournaland otheractivities,providingthescaffoldingthatcanencouragethemto growandlearntomakethediscerningchoicesthatmanyofusthink areimportantforenrichedsocialandculturallives.Ithasalsobeen arguedthatwriteboardsareappropriatetheatersinwhichlanguage learnerscaninteractwithself-satisfactionwiththeirpeers,growing linguisticallyandcognitively.Thiswritercertainlyintendstocontinueto usewriteboardsinhisclassesanddefinitelyencouragesothereducators toexperimentlikewisewiththisfertilemedium.
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