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Using the iPod as a collaborative language learning tool

Final Research Proposal and Literature Review

Donna Forward University of British Columbia ETEC 500 65D Dr. Janet McCracken April 11th, 2012

#1 Introduction As a non cell phone user, I am very intrigued by the obsession that my students (and many teachers) have, to be constantly near their phones in class. Unfortunately I always have the impression that they are texting friends or wanting to access Face book. However, I would like to change my attitude to a positive light to see how my students can use handheld technology to their advantage and improve their overall comprehension of the language being taught in class. At the same time I would like to look at whether handheld devices are isolating students from each other or whether they can still learn collaboratively while enhancing their language skills. Since I am a French Immersion teacher, when I refer to language learning, I will think of my French students for my own sake but will refer to language learning in general in this review. I will be reviewing the literature in six research articles and will analyze the views on handheld devices and how they are integrated into collaborative language learning. First I will provide a summary of the literature and at the same time, I will analyze and critique the selected articles. Next I will present a synthesis and discuss any messages or themes that are evident after comparing the articles. Finally I will conclude with any specific areas of focus that arise and any further research questions. A. Statement of the topic In the past, getting students to speak French comfortably and proficiently in Immersion classes has been a challenge of mine since I began teaching 20 years ago. Therefore, my rationale for my research is to encourage students to improve their oral and listening language skills by using iPods in class while working collaboratively with other French speakers. This quantitative study will examine the effectiveness of integrating these devices into French Immersion classes and explore the possibilities that this technology can contribute to language

learning, especially when students record their own voices and share these recordings with others. B. Review of the literature Summary - Analysis Critique The first article by (Chinnery, 2006), EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning, presents a series of different studies, starting in 2003, conducted in foreign languages classes which incorporated cell phone use into the lessons. Research was done from Norwegian teachers presenting web-based grammar lessons to their students, to Turkish students recording their speech samples on the digital voice recorders of their handhelds. The ultimate goal of these observations was to present wireless devices as instructional tools to enhance language learning. Chinnery presents a history of cell phone use in classrooms and mentions that one of the first mobile phone programs was used at Stanford University where Spanish was taught by using e-mail and voice. He argues that through SMS (Short Message Service), handhelds allow students to practice vocabulary, work on memorization, take multiple choice quizzes, translate phrases, create simple animations and converse with live, native tutors. However, Chinnery concluded that these devices are only effective if they are partnered with the well, planned out practice of second language pedagogy. This paper was probably one of the best for my research proposal because it was linked directly to the use of handhelds in foreign language classrooms. Next, the article written by (Dieterle & Dede 2005), Building University Faculty and Student Capacity to Use Wireless Handheld Devices for Learning, discusses research done at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Eight different courses were examined during the 2003-2004 & 2004-2005 school years, varying from Math to Teacher Pedagogy. An important

point of the research showed that WHDs (Wireless Handheld Devices) were very useful tools that enhanced thinking. After receiving a brief history and a lesson on how to use the devices, graduate students were given tasks to perform on their WHDs. Discussions and interviews were held afterwards to talk about the different strengths of using the technology within their course work. The data on this qualitative study was gathered from transcripts and field notes. Some results of the study showed that the graduate students who used the devices in field work found that their portability and capabilities to gather, share and aggregate information was excellent. The main conclusion was that in order to incorporate this technology into the classroom, teachers would need to be educated through professional development about the proper uses and ways of integrating the WHDs into their lessons. Chinnery also stressed that teacher accompany their use with strong pedagogy. The third paper by (Patten, Sanchz & Tanguey2006), Designing collaborative, constructionist and contextual applications for handheld devices, portrays a framework which analyzes the applications for handheld computers. Three categories of the framework that relate directly to handhelds are: data collection, location aware and collaborative. In data collection, students can access relevant information and record it at the same time. With location aware, sensors or positioning systems allow the device and the learner to interact with each other. Finally, collaborative encourages the sharing of knowledge amongst students. These categories are suitable for learning when they are accompanied by collaborative, contextual and constructionist theories for learning. Another argument of this article is that these wireless devices will be useful learning tools in the classroom as long as they are used with sound, educational pedagogy. Another very useful article for my review is Unlocking the learning value of wireless

mobile devices (Roschelle, 2003). The author supports the use of WILDs (Wireless Internet Learning Devices) in classrooms but emphasizes that most importantly their use must meet pedagogical requirements. Through his research, Roschelle has determined that with each new generation of learning technology, there are issues that need to be untangled in order to unlock their learning value. He also claims that the computer (handheld or otherwise) has three roles. The first is a tutor, that is predominantly in control of the student. Next is the tutee where the student takes controls and programs the computer. The last role of a computer according to Roschelle is as a tool. Here the computer is the mediating object that is neither in control of the student nor is it the thing to be controlled. Teachers and groups of students are active participants when the computer is used as a tool. In Roschelles view, the latter is where wireless mobile technology falls. He concludes that pedagogically rich applications need to be available if wireless devices are going to have a big impact on learning. In the study Palm Education Pioneers Program: Final Evaluation by (Vahey & Crawford 2002), data was collected on a group of 102 innovative, teachers, involved in the PEP (Palm Education Pioneer) program. The study, conducted in 2001-2002 shows that 90 % of the teachers felt that handhelds were a good instructional too and that they would continue to use them in the future. Also, elementary school teachers seemed to be more positive in their response to the use of the devices and Science and writing classes found this technology most effective. Furthermore, PEP teachers emphasize that students who use these Palm computers, take responsibility for their own learning. Even though this article was a report on the PEP program and contained a lot of detailed information and data on the results of the study, I found it very user-friendly to read. It also supports my research proposal since it not only stresses the importance of the use of handhelds for inquiry learning but for student collaboration.

The final article is A constructivist mobile learning environment supported by a wireless handheld network by (Zurita & Nussbaum, 2004). The main argument here is that constructivist learning environments need to be incorporated into pedagogical practice. The main theme of constructivist learning is to build on what the students already know. This study on first graders, discusses handhelds that are interconnected and that create space that supports constructivism and collaboration and at the same time lead to the creating of new knowledge. What I liked about this paper was the collaborative component since that is one of my main focuses for my proposal, along with the importance of learning language through handheld devices. A flaw I find in this research is that the studies conducted on the grade one students were a bit vague. Even though they claim to have created a constructivist learning environment that was supported by the use of wireless devices, I feel that the methodology was hard to decipher. Furthermore, I am focusing on high school students and therefore, it is hard to relate to first graders.

Synthesis of the literature - Pedagogy Though these articles vary in their support of using handhelds as a tool in collaborative language learning, I felt that there were many recurring trends. The most popular being the need for strong pedagogy to accompany the use of the devices in class. According to (Chinnery, 2006), teachers need to stay away from pedagogy that is driven by technology and should make sure that schools dont invest money on technology that hasnt been proven. In other words, the use of technology in schools needs to be directed by considerations to the pedagogy and not by financial gain. (Roschelle 2003). In addition, a need for educationally appropriate solutions is vital instead of creating complex applications. (Patten et al, 2006). These devices are effective tools in language instruction but a well thought out application of second language pedagogy is

important. For example, many administrative applications have very little educational value when it comes to pedagogy philosophy. They deal mostly with personal organizers, information storage and time management concepts. These applications dont facilitate learning or engage the students to develop a topic. (Patten et al, 2006). It is important to add that many software applications which are educationally appropriate are built on the principles of contextual, collaboration and the constructivist theory (Patten et al, 2006). I feel that this theory leads us perfectly into the next common trend of these articles, which is collaboration. Synthesis of the literature Collaboration Through analyzing these six research articles for my literature review, I believe that this theme of collaboration is one of the most important to support my proposal. Since I have concerned about students being isolated if they are to work in class with iPods, most of the authors have somewhat comforted me with their views on collaborative learning in marriage with using wireless devices. As Roschelle, Teasley and Vygotsky (as cited in Patten et al, 2006) would say, learning is inherently an activity that is social and collaborative. This concept, according to Dede and Sprague (as cited in Zurita & Nussbaum, 2004) supports interactive learning, improving cognitive skills (ordering, evaluating and synthesizing) and boosting student motivation. Vygotsky (as cited by Patten et al, 2006) wrote that in the social constructivism theory, children gain knowledge based on individual participation that each group member chips in. This is supported by the use of Handhelds which provides the opportunity for each child to own a share of the information in order to accomplish education activity goals (Zurita & Nussbaum, 2004 ). Students can therefore test answers, make decisions, create questions and even negotiate. By being active, cooperative learners, students develop their social skills,

teamwork on shared goals, similar values and self esteem Mandryk et al. & and Clements & Michaels (as cited by Zurita and Nussbaum, 2004). (Vahey and Crawford, 2002) who did research on the PEP Program, claim that teachers who are familiar with the constructivist way of teaching will more than likely incorporate internet related technology into their lessons. This is obviously a theory that I will need to adapt if I want to collaboratively introduce handhelds into my language classes . Conclusion of the literature After examining these six research articles, I am confident that integrating handheld devices into my French Immersion classroom will help my students to improve their language learning and at the same time work collaboratively with others. Even though I realize that teenagers having their own wireless devices in class could be a distraction, I see now that I can apply this technology to my teaching and create some positive outcomes. One of the main points that I need to take into consideration is to make sure that I have strong pedagogy to accompany my lessons involving handhelds and to be sure that my choices of software applications are educationally appropriate. It would also be beneficial for me to do some future research on constructivist principles in order to integrate collaborative activities into my teaching so that my students will be able to reap the benefits of working together while using their iPods. C. Statement of the hypothesis Students who use iPods to record their spoken French and collaboratively exchange their recordings with other French speakers, will ultimately, improve their oral and listening skills. #2 Method A. Participants The sample group of participants for this study will be selected by using Cluster

Sampling from a population of approximately 200 French Immersion students from four different Secondary Schools in the Cariboo-Chilcotin school district. In order for each school to be represented equally, the French Immersion classes from the individual schools will have their class name placed into a hat and one sample class from each school will be randomly selected to participate in the study. Most French Immersion classes average about 20 students, so it would be safe to say that approximately 80 students would partake in the research. Also, approximately 75% of the students enrolled in French Immersion in the District are English speaking, mother tongue Caucasian females. Since males are the minority, I will need to make sure that when I am testing the students, I make note of the gender differences when it comes to evaluating oral and listening progress. A few of the students are First Nations Shuswap and are also fluent in English. Others are German speaking immigrant Caucasians whose English is also strong. Finally, there is a small handful of Punjabi students who have been speaking English since kindergarten. B. Instruments The Likert Scale will be used to measure the students attitudes on how they perceive the effectiveness of using an iPod touch while working collaboratively with others when learning the French language. This scale will also measure how the students feel about themselves and whether they are confident in using an iPod touch to improve their oral and listening French skills. Of course the questionnaire will be in French with choices like the following:

Pas du tout d'accord Pas d'accord Ni en dsaccord ni d'accord D'accord

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Tout fait d'accord Along with using the Likert scale, I would like to creative my own test in order to

measure the students listening and oral progress. I will do a pre-test recording and listening of each student, then 2 mid-study recordings and listenings and finally a post-test recording and listening. After examining the many recordings, I will examine the students abilities to: Improve their fluidity of spoken French Demonstrate confidence in speaking French Apply richer vocabulary Build their motivation in wanting to speak French more often Interpret expressions from native speakers as well as other French Immersion students Create return recorded messages that dissect the original recording Develop and select innovative ideas to build on future recorded conversations

C. Design The basic goal of this qualitative research study is see if the students spoken and listening French improves over a given period while they are recording their part of a conversation that, reciprocally, they will share with other French speakers. Each sample class of students will receive a class set of iPod touches that will be donated to the schools at the end of the study. Each iPod is equipped with a built in microphone and has the ability to record voice audio. In addition, the students must be allowed access to wireless internet. Each student will also be given a set of earphones. Hopefully by the end of the study, the students skills in oral and listening French will have improved significantly and they will want to continue to collaboratively use iPod touches to enhance their language learning. D. Procedure

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First I will need to approach some of my technology savvy colleagues who are also familiar with ethics and the unique features involved in cyberspace research, to ask them to review my proposal. Then I will contact the principals of the four schools and send them an official letter outlining the goals and educational value of my proposed research. I will need to explain that Iam looking for one class per school and that I will use random selection to choose the classes. I will then meet with the teachers, principals, students and parents and hand out a form explaining my study and make sure that I receive informed consent from the subjects and responsible authorities (parents). It is crucial that I receive permission to work with and record their sons and daughters. In addition I need to obtain permission to access the students personal e-mail addresses. Confidentially of the recordings will also be an important item on the agenda. Students must send their recordings, as well as recordings of others that they will receive, to no one else but myself. The ethical problems of sending recordings out into cyberspace could be an issue, even if the students are using fictive name. I will then distribute the iPod touches to each student, recording the serial numbers and stressing that they must be returned in proper running condition at the end of the study. I will need to make sure that I discuss the proper use of the handhelds and that any unethical use will result in the dismissal from the study. Weekly, the students will record spoken messages (on given themes that I will e-mail to them) which will be sent, via me, to other students who are not in their own class. To protect identity, the students will record their own voice without giving out personal details. They will then e-mail their recordings to me directly from their iPod touch. I will then send selected recordings of various students to French Immersion students in the other schools. Their messages will also be sent to six, native, French speakers in Switzerland and in Canada, who have volunteered to participate in my study. The students and these volunteers will

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listen to recordings of others and will create recordings that respond to the original messages. This way everyone, will remain anonymous and will have the opportunity to respond to native speakers in addition to their French Immersion counterparts. Since all recordings will be channeled through me, I can make sure that students are on the right path. I will need to coordinate the incoming and outgoing e-mails and make sure that all of the students have the opportunity to work with the native speakers. I will also need to keep sending new, interesting themes each week. My goal is to increase the complexity and length of these themes once the students are feeling more comfortable. For example, I could propose such subjects as What are some of the key things that you would need to think about if you were to attend a year of high school in France. My main challenge as the middle person would be to make sure that everyone lets me know what their fictive name is and that when they send their recording file as an attachment, that there is a note in the e-mail telling me who the e-mail is destined for. Near the end of the study I will need to survey the students on their attitudes on how they perceive the effectiveness of using an iPod touch while working collaboratively with others when learning the French language. Some of the survey questions could be: E.g. Do you agree that by having a recorded conversation with an anonymous person makes expressing yourself in French an easier task? E.g. Did you find that having time to listen to someone elses recording gave you the opportunity to reflect and gather your thoughts in order to develop a more interesting, higher level of French in your recorded response? A final debriefing with each of the four participating classes will be performed. I will present my findings, show them any graphs or conclusions that I have found and will send them a copy of my final report. I will reiterate the fact that all of their recordings will remain

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confidential and that they should delete any recordings that are not their own. #3 Data Analysis Upon completion of the survey, I will use the Likert scale to calculate the results of the attitudes towards iPod use. I think that the best way to present my findings of my own instrument is to put them in a bar graph entitled Students listening and oral progress in French using different colours for the various sub headings such as Improved fluidity, Confidence, Richer vocabulary, etc. I must begin with some numbers in my head to assist with writing this down. For example, slight progress might be 5 points and incredible progress might be worth 25 points. That way I would have these numbers in my head so when I listened to the recordings, I could write a number down for each student in each sub heading. To begin with, I could have one bar graph per student but I could then create one bar graph per sub heading and place all of the results of each student on the graph to see if there are any similarities and patterns. I could then return to my point system and find the averages amongst the 80 participants. Finally I will determine what conclusions can be drawn from my data. #4 Time Schedule The entire project should take about 6 - 8 months from beginning to finish. I would need time to meet with the principals, teachers, students and parents to present my proposal and receive their informed consent. This alone could take about a month by the time I travel back and forth between the 4 schools in our district. The actual study will run for 3 months, allowing participants to send at least one voice message and receive another per week. This would allow 12 opportunities to create messages and 12 to practice listening, analyzing and building on what others have sent. Much time will be allotted for putting the data together, however, the 4 test periods along the way will demand that I listen to the recordings and write down improvements

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etc., so at the end, I shouldnt need to listen to the first recordings, only the last set. The survey will need to be distributed during the 3rd month of the students study and time will be needed to enter the data into the computer for the Likert attitude scale. My own charts at the end will take the most time to compile since I will need to enter 4 tests for all 80 participants. It will depend if I do one large chart with all of the findings or if I break down the charts into sub headings.Hopefully the final report could be sent off no later than 8 months from the start of the study. However, realistically, I could estimate an entire 10 month school year for completion. #5 Budget I would need to purchase an individual users license for the Likert scale which is approximately $120. Also, 80 Apple iPod touches 4th generation at $200 ($16,000.00) each, plus earphones $10.00 ($800) and protective cases $20.00 ($1, 600). The total is $18, 520.00. Adding a bit for gas and smaller expenses, I would need around $20,000.00 to complete this study. I could look into the French Immersion budget, district equipment and supply budgets.

References

Chinnery, G.M. (2006). EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning. Language Learning & Technology Volume 10, Number 1 pp. 9-16,. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/vol10num1/emerging/

Dieterle, E., & Dede, C. (2006). Building university faculty and student capacity to use wireless handheld devices for learning. In M. van t Hooft & K. Swan (Eds.), Ubiquitous computing in education: Invisible technology, visible impact (pp. 303328). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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Patten, B., Snchez, I.A., & Tangney, B. (2006). Designing collaborative, constructionist and contextual applications for handheld devices. Computers & Education, 46 294308.

Roschelle, J. (2003). Unlocking the learning value of wireless mobile devices. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 19(3), 260-272.

Vahey, P., & Crawford, V. (2002). Palm Education Pioneers Program:Final Evaluation Report. SRI International. Retrieved from http://www.palmgrants.sri.com/PEP_Final_ Report.pdf

Zurita, G., & Nussbaum, M. (2004). A constructivist mobile learning environment supported by a wireless handheld network. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 20, pp235 243.