Málfríður - 15.03.2007, Blaðsíða 28

8 MÁLFRÍÐUR
3.3.1.3 The Chatroom
For distance students, the use of purely asynchrono­
us tools of collaboration and exchange (wiki and
forum) is not adequate. An important element of the
course is the free synchronous statement of views
and opinions – the use of language “on the fly” to
express one’s ideas. I have therefore encouraged
distance students to make use of the Chatroom tool
in Moodle. This allows groups of students to meet
“live” and text chat together (in the style of Internet
Relay Chat or IRC). Synchronous discussions in the
chatroom are archived for the teacher to review and
use of the chatroom counts towards the student’s
participation in the course. In fact, my concern has
continually been the detachment of distance stud­
ents from the onsite student body – I therefore asked
for an onsite volunteer to act as an onsite anchor
for the distance students. This student attends class
and then meets the distance students online to
discuss the course materials in the chatroom. This
has proved to be a useful supplement to the forum,
although it is only used by the distance students and
their onsite anchor.
3.3.1.4 The Glossary
Vocabulary represents an important aspect of this
course in a number of ways: sensitivity to the choice
of particular lexical items rather than alternatives
is a key to understanding many of the interpretive
effects in particular texts; an awareness of the cult­
ural context of vocabulary and idiom use is import­
ant in a similar way; and knowledge of analytical
vocabulary is essential to students’ being able to
express their ideas clearly and coherently. One imp­
ortant role of the teacher in this course is providing
relevant analytical vocabulary, drawing attention
to interesting uses of vocabulary in the texts and
explaining important cultural background to certain
expressions. Information on vocabulary choice and
use is therefore a central resource for students in the
course.
Part of the evaluation of the course therefore
involves use of the glossary tool in Moodle. This
allows students to add words and phrases to a
communal glossary along with a definition of the
expression. Students are expected to contribute at
least 15 items to the glossary over the course of the
semester and they are expected to explain, in the
definition, why they found that item of vocabulary
worth listing. All students can see the entries of
other students; students are allowed to enter iden­
tical items of vocabulary but their definition and
explanation of relevance must be distinct. This also
allows students to compare definitions and consider
the relevance and usefulness of different entries.
Once again, the use of this resource ties naturally to
the use of the wiki and the forum; and like them it
provides a useful resource for the preparation of the
analytical written assignment.
3.3.2 Moodle and Covcell - Problems and Solutions
The discussion so far should make it clear why
Moodle was chosen as a basis for development:
it already provides a rich environment for collab­
orative activities, grounded in constructivist and
cohort­oriented approaches to learning. However,
these tools are also limited in certain ways which
constrain collaborative opportunities. The Covcell
Project is developing a range of tools to address
these restrictions. Some of them will be tested within
this Media English course towards the end of the
Spring semester 2007; others will become available
over the summer. Full information on the tools being
developed can be found by clicking on the “Tools”
link on http://www.covcell.org. In this article I will
review some of the main tools and the problems
which they address.
3.3.2.1 User Presence and Chat
3.3.2.1.1 Limits on the Forum, the Chatroom and the
Messenger
The Forum is an asynchronous tool and as already
discussed above, one important aspect of an envi­
ronment allowing socially constructivist and cohort­
oriented learning is the ability of students to interact
dynamically in the activity of solving problems and
developing understanding. This is the aim addres­
sed by the Chatroom tool. However, the Chatroom
tool is a fixed activity in Moodle. This means that it
is entered as a link on the main course page just like
any other resource (e.g. a document or quiz or wiki).
Clicking the link takes the student to the entry page
for the Chatroom, specifying when the Chatroom is
active/available and what its purpose is. The entry
page provides a link to the chat window itself; by
clicking this, the student opens the chat window and
joins any other students who are in the chatroom.
Multiple students can be in a chatroom at one time.
The properties of the chatroom (when it is open,
what it is for, whether the chat itself is logged and
archived etc) are all fixed by the teacher. This means
that chat can never be spontaneous – the only way
of seeing who is in the chatroom is to enter it first.
To enter the chatroom, one must leave the resource
one is already reviewing (e.g. a wiki) and find one´s
way to the chatroom entry page. The Chatroom tool