MERLOT International Conference 2006 Facilitating Japanese language learning through innovative online activities developed collaboratively Kazue Masuyama & Andrea Shea California State University at Sacramento Presentation Agenda 1.To describe the collaborative development and implementation of technologies into Japanese language classes 2.To showcase interactive online activities 3.To show students’ responses 4.To share what we learned working together My journey of learning and using technology…. Summer 2002 I need help! Sure, how can I help you? Summer 2002 We came up with an idea. WebCT as a Teaching & Learning Hub! Foreign Language Lab Usagi-Chan’s Genki Resource Web Page www.csus.edu/indiv/s/sheaa/projects/genki WebCT Home Page Handouts Course Syllabus Schedules Streaming Audio Important Announcements WebCT Discussion Board Quizzes, Exercises, Surveys Grade Postings E-mail Learning Games PowerPoint Presentations (1) Interactive online daily schedule Click here! WebCT Japanese 1 Homepage Content Module Table of Contents Interactive Online Syllabus (2) Posting PowerPoint presentation, notes, and handouts PowerPoint Slides PDF Print Version of PowerPoint Slides (3) Online audio files using voices of native speakers of Japanese (4) Online quizzes & exercises Example: Online Quizzes & Exercises How did we collaborate for quizzes? Faculty needed to have an easy way to create WebCT quiz and exercise questions Online specialist created a PHP program that used a MySQL database to create questions This allows faculty to create interactive online quizzes and exercises easily Questions generated by PHP program Type Kanji # Questions 300 Vocabulary 1000 Verbs 3600 Total 4900 (5) Student Homepages in Japanese Student Homepage (First year) Showcasing their own work in Japanese Reading other students’ homepages as a part of classroom activities Developing their webpage over the course in Japanese Student Homepages (6) Online research & discussion on Japanese culture Discussion Board A place to share the information on Japan-related events Cultural Learning Site Pop-culture & entertainment Festivals & Food Customs & manners Geography Folklore & mythology Doing online research on Japanese culture Students’ Task Search Word(s) Web page address Information Importance and relevancy to their lives A question for an exam in a multiple-choice or true-false format, with the correct answer indicated Online culture quiz Actual student posting (7) Web-based exercises for newly introduced vocabulary & verb conjugation Vocabulary Flashcards Vocabulary Flashcards (8) Lesson-by-lesson kanji sheet with strokeorder movies & PDF worksheets and flashcards Kanji (Writing) Online Exercise QuickTime Movie Kanji Exercises - cont. PDF Kanji Flashcards PDF Kanji Worksheet Detailed examples of collaboration Drag-n-drop game e-portfolio A detailed example of collaboration Hiragana & Katakana (Japanese characters) drag-n-drop games Note: These games are available through the MERLOT resource page Hiragana Japanese writing system Hiragana: 46 Japanese syllables (characters) Students must recognize these characters in the first 2 weeks A typical approach to teach hiragana in classroom using flash cards Pros • • • • Hands-on Fun Ice-breaker Students’ full attention Cons • Preparation • Time consuming activity • Individual differences Designing a new approach Online specialist saw potential for an equivalent online activity designed the game based on a simple French drag-n-drop exercise Game evolution Simple French Drag-n-Drop Version 1 Drag-n-drop characters Timer keeps track of current game We didn’t know if anyone was playing the game Version 2 Scores are logged to a database Students are not typing in their real names, difficult for instructor to monitor Multiple names of the same students. Discouraging for others. Latest Version Student enters student ID Welcomed by first name Shows best time so far Latest version Click here! Hiragana Challenge Click here! Hiragana Challenge Enter student ID Timer Time to Beat Another example of collaboration e-portfolio WebCT 6 - Student homepages no longer available Masters’ project Third year Japanese class Name, major, email, resume, etc. Self-introduction in Japanese Philosophy: “Everybody is unique” Future goal “I want to live in Korea” & “I want to study in Japan” Enter student Username and Password Steps to create e-portfolio Click here to edit the caption of the picture Enter caption text in box e-Portfolio: pros and cons Pros • • • • Easy to use Accessible by others Multilingual Free Cons • Limited capability • Limited improvement What did students think about use of technology in their learning? Participants 185 college students who enrolled in the first year Japanese language course from Fall 2002 to Spring 2005 Data collection Anonymous online survey In-class non-anonymous survey Interviews Research questions Did students perceive a technologyenhanced class as useful? What activities do they perceive to be the most and least beneficial to their learning? 2002-2005 Survey results Strongly Disagree/strongly No basis of agree/ agree disagree (%) Judgment (%) 1. Online quizzes and exercises 91.9 5.4 2.7 2. Online handouts 89.7 2.2 8.1 3. Online syllabus 88.6 3.8 7.6 4. Learning game 87.4 3.8 8.8 5. Mail 87 3.8 9.2 6. Streaming audio files 83.2 7.0 9.7 7. Discussion B oard 82.2 8.6 9.2 8. Diva©e program 80.5 3.2 16.2 9. Online grade book 78.4 9.7 11.9 N=185 Let’s listen to what the students have to say about class activities? What did we learn by working collaboratively? Design/developing product Piloting Instructor Consultant Assessing Collaboration Student Improving/implementing Andrea’s amount of help Kazue’s level of skills and knowledge using technology 2002 2003 2004 2005 Future? Increase in faculty’s technology skills allows online specialist to work on more advanced tasks Increase in online specialist’s knowledge of content allows faculty to work on more advanced projects collaboratively Example: Kanji website for Advanced Placement Japanese program: current project Kazue Masuyama: kmasuyama@csus.edu Andrea Shea: ashea@csus.edu