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If you enter the term 'webheads' into Google (at this time of writing), you can 'feel lucky' and be directed to one of the portals for the Webheads communities of practice mentioned in this article, or if you choose to look at the listings, you'll see that the first two are the portals for the Webheads in Action and Writing for Webheads communities referred to below. Also, the term Webheads has been glossed in its present context in Wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webheads. Such references suggest that Webheads is becoming well known among educators interested in increasing their knowledge of instructional technology, and additionally, Webheads community members have been propagating other groups based more or less on the Webheads model, such as Becoming a Webhead, Real English Online and Academic Writing, also discussed here. This article elaborates on these developments and discusses how some of the tools making possible community cohesion online are used by those involved in the Webheads movement. - Vance Stevens, Editor, On the InternetTOOLS FOR ONLINE COLLABORATION
Elizabeth Hanson-Smith, California State University, Sacramento
ContentsIntroductionForming Yahoo! Groups Using Web-based Extensions in a Blended Environment Blogging Synchronous Tools Student Webpages and Presentations Proposed Future Projects: The Value of Community References IntroductionFor the past few years, the authors have been members of a very active community of practice (CoP; see Wenger, 1998, and Wenger, 2004) called Webheads in Action (Stevens, 2004). This group of technology-using language teachers comprise primarily teachers and IT specialists involved in EFL/ESL, but several who are also teachers of French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and other languages. They communicate through an electronic list and meet regularly online in text, voice, and video chats. Over the years, members have also collaborated in teaching projects, online presentations, land-based workshops, and blended activities. (For examples of just a few of such collaborations, see Coghlan & Stevens, 2000; First Tutor/Mentor Leadership Conference, 2004; Hanson-Smith, González, & Zeinstejer, 2004; Stevens, et al., 2003; Stevens, et al., 2004; Yeh, González, & MŸhren, 2003; inter alia). Webheads delight in meeting face-to-face as well as on the Internet (see Almeida d'Éça, 2004b, for pictorial documentation). [-1-]Forming Yahoo! GroupsThe emphasis in Webheads has always been on free tools. Since teachers around the world do not often have access to elaborate and expensive course management systems such as WebCT or Blackboard, one of our preferred venues has always been Yahoo! Groups (YahooGroup), which is free to users and compatible with any browser. YahooGroups offers a remarkable variety of tools for community building, such as: an electronic mailing list, archives for photos, links, and documents; a polling feature; and a database that may be used as a wiki to edit documents collaboratively. (The YahooGroups chat feature was not deemed sufficiently cross-platform, and Yahoo! Messenger or Tapped In is used instead.) YahooGroups is so easy to use that members of the Webheads often create new groups for specific and limited purposes, for example, as a locus for discussion leading up to a presentation at the TESOL Convention in Long Beach this past spring. Participants were able to introduce themselves, get acquainted through a Webpage with their pictures and introductions, and begin using the e-list for questions related to their specific needs and goals for the workshop (see Stevens, 2004).When Elizabeth Hanson-Smith converted a HyperCard-based program, Constructing the Paragraph, into Hot Potatoes exercises, she started a Yahoo! Group so that teachers could bring their classes to the group to use the files. The Academic Writing group (2004) was thus a natural result of experiences with the Webhead teachers, communications about their students' needs, and realizing the potential of a free resource. (See Figure 1).
As is typical of the "multiplier effect" in a good collaborative community, once the Academic Writing YahooGroup opened, other Webheads began to see additional potential in this venue. Buthaina Al Othman and a third teacher, Aiden Yeh in Taiwan, began to use other elements of the YahooGroup for their courses, where they stored links to course syllabi and additional assignments (see Al Othman, 2004d, for the English for Science 162 syllabus). Students could go to the site, find the syllabus and assignments, and complete the exercises all in one place (see Figure 2 & Figure 3). Soon other Webheads, including teachers from Brazil and France, in anticipation of using the course with their own students, began looking in on the group and contributing new resources (see Figure 2, the Links page). [-2-]
Al Othman started another YahooGroup as a "home base" for her course so that students would have their own electronic list and a place to store shared links and Webpages (see KU Students' Online Community of Practice, 2004). YahooGroups has proven itself to be one of the most useful of the free online tools for creating and sustaining a collaborative community of practice. It allows teachers not just to talk about teaching and learning, but also to put those ideas into practice.
Using Web-based Extensions in a Blended EnvironmentAlthough Al Othman met her students regularly in their classroom, she felt that as science students they should become familiar with the tools and resources available on the Internet. These would be essential in their future careers to perform research, work collaboratively with colleagues (both at home and around the globe), and publish their results in a professional manner using appropriate technologies. Thus, a blended environment (online and face-to-face) was integral to the course, and students quickly became accustomed to a virtually paperless class environment. In addition, Webpages provide a means to fully document the progress of individual students, student teams, and the class as a whole, as well as the instructor's goals and difficulties along the way. (See Al Othman, 2003a, and Figure 4 for an explanation of the problems and objectives in English for Science, EfS.) [-3-]
The subject for English 162 was contemporary problems in science, and in the Spring 2004 semester, the student groups studied the ecology of Kuwait itself. Combining content, writing, and critical thinking, the course emphasized the importance of social as well as pedagogical goals (see Figure 4). The participation of the Kuwaiti National Association of Volunteers for the Protection of Environment lent additional authenticity to the entire project. Other free tools for asynchronous communication were used on occasion:
BloggingJournals are often used in academic writing courses in order to help students brainstorm, freewrite, and develop a personal voice or style unfettered by grammatical correctness or a concern for structure. (Many of us no doubt can still recall the backbreaking work of carrying student notebooks home to read.) Blogs are online journals which allow students (and teachers) access at home or in the lab. Teachers do not have to lug around notebooks to read them, and they can comment directly on the blog page, as can classmates, depending on the access that is permitted. Students in Al Othman's English for Science classes created their own blogs, some uploading pictures related to their project or of themselves as they personalized their online journals, and used them to create outlines, brainstorm, and make research notes, and write down their thoughts as they occurred. Later, elements could be extracted from the blogs and polished as the students wrote their research papers. Al Othman also created a Webpage where students could link to each other's blogs as they worked in teams on their final collaborative contributions, and receive a grade for their efforts (Al Othman, 2004c; Figure 6).
Synchronous ToolsIt should be noted that part of the course consisted of learning how to make oral presentations face-to-face online using visual aids such as a whiteboard and Microsoft™ PowerPoint slide shows. Live chat, particularly with voice and Webcam, is especially important to the professional community (as exemplified in the conference where this paper was originally presented). Students in the English for Science courses were able to receive help from their instructor directly by using chat facilities as they worked through assignments (see Figure 6). The use of voice chat and Webcams requires considerable additional preparation, though not additional technical expertise, and it is hoped that these will be used more frequently in subsequent course offerings as a means to prepare students for presentations at, for example, international conferences.Synchronous tools used in the English for Science courses:
Student Webpages and PresentationsEach team in EfS 162 chose a different topic in a related area, The Ecology of Kuwait, and contributed a section to the longer final paper based on individual students' shorter (5-paragraph) papers with researched references. Teams were also asked to each create a Webpage (see Figure 7) , and a Microsoft™ PowerPoint slide show (see Figure 8) to accompany an oral presentation in class. Again, one goal was to practice the kinds of activities they might be expected to engage in throughout their professional careers.
Proposed Future Projects: The Value of CommunityThe Kuwait project has been an encouraging beginning to a new approach to teaching English by creating a collaborative community among students in this country. The use of innovative technologies is a bonus for students in the sciences. Future projects hope to have students from around the globe read and comment on each other's papers and blogs. The experiment with constructivist pedagogical principles and new Internet communication tools has been supported by the community of teachers that composes the Webheads in Action, including arrangements for students to engage in live chat with visiting guests from the Webheads community and with students from other classes sharing the resources at the Academic Writing YahooGroup as they work on similar projects (see Yeh, González, & MŸhren, 2004, for an example of Webhead-to-student communication). This type of collaboration would give students a sense of what the future holds for them, because increasingly the professional community, especially in the sciences, is employing Internet communication tools to share their work both locally and globally. The practice with text, voice, and video will be valuable for students in their careers, not just for online conferences, but also for those occasions when they would give presentations at conferences to colleagues from around the world. Collaborations with students in countries already representing Taiwan, Brazil, France, and Belarus will give Kuwait's future scientists entry into the global community.The Webheads group has already been the subject of PhD dissertations, numerous papers, workshops, and conference presentations. Several aspects distinguish this group from a simple electronic list or professional association's discussion board:
REFERENCESAbdulrahman, A., Al-Kandary, M., Moufeed, A., & Al-Najadah, M. (2004). Marine Life in Kuwait: Present and Future Expectation. [Microsoft™ PowerPoint presentation]. Available at http://www.geocities.com/abdulrahman_efs/marine_life_q8.ppt.Academic Writing Yahoo! Group. (2004). Owner: E. Hanson-Smith. Available at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/academic_writing. Al Othman, B. (2003a). EfS 162 Section 4 2004 Final Project Main Objectives. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://alothman-b.tripod.com/162_projobjectives_s2004.htm. Al Othman, B. (2003b). Voice-video Lesson (3). Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://alothman-b.tripod.com/culture_vinny.htm. Al Othman, B. (2004a). 162 Section 4 KU Students' Forum. Available at http://pub3.bravenet.com/forum/193871153. Al Othman, B. (2004b, June 2). A 162/4 On-line Session Webcasted Live from Computer Lab # 2, at Khaldiyah Campus, Kuwait University. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://alothman-b.tripod.com/162s4_vclass_aladowia31004.htm. [-8-] Al Othman, B. (2004c, April 30). Meet My English for Science 162/s4 Students and See their Blogs. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://alothman-b.tripod.com/162_blogs_studentfeb04.htm. Al Othman, B. (2004d, May 28). Welcome to 162/4 On-Line Workshop: 10-Week Syllabus & Calendar (February 24 - May 12, 2004). Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://alothman-b.tripod.com/162student_workshop.htm. Alado.com. [Computer software]. Available at http://www.alado.com/. Almeida d'Éça, T. (2004a, August 18). Index of "Webheads in Action" Web Pages and Related Sites. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://www.malhatlantica.pt/teresadeca/webheads/wia-index.htm. Almeida d'Éça, T. (2004b, August 11). Index of "Webheads in Action" Web Pages and Related Sites: Webheads Meet Face-to-Face. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://www.malhatlantica.pt/teresadeca/webheads/wia-index2.htm#Meet. Almeida d'Éça, T., González, D., Jordano, M., & Nyrop, S. (2004). Becoming a Webhead: EVOnline 2004 Session, January 26 - March 6. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://www.geocities.com/bawebhead/. Blackboard [Computer software]. Available at http://www.blackboard.com/. Blood, R. (2000, September 7). Weblogs: A history and perspective. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html. Bravenet [Computer software]. Available at http://www.bravenet.com/. Coghlan, M. & Stevens, V. (2000). An online learning community: The students’ perspective. Paper presented at the Fifth Annual Teaching in the Community Colleges Online Conference, 12-14 April 2000. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://www.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/TCC2000.htm. Ebeltoft, N. & Nyrop, S. (2001). Cooperative cultures in sociotechnical communities. Paedagogisk Tidssdrift, 4(2001), Retrieved April 4, 2005 from http://home19.inet.tele.dk/susnyrop/helpful.html. The First Tutor/Mentor Leadership Conference: A New Webheads' Cooperative & Collaborative Learning Experience! [Webpage describing Webheads' participation by B. Al Othman]. (May 14-19, 2004). Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://alothman-b.tripod.com/tutormentor_econf04_webheads.htm. Groupboard [Computer software]. Available at http://www.groupboard.com/. Hanson-Smith, E. (USA), with González, D. (Spain), & Zeinstejer, R. (Argentina). (2004, July 22). Chat log for the TI Summer Festival Webheads Session: Reflection through experience and experiment with the Webheads. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://www.geocities.com/ehansonsmi/festival/chatlog.html. Hanson-Smith, E. (2004). Video Online. Essential Teacher [forthcoming, Winter 2004]. HyperCard [Computer software]. (1997). Cupertino, CA: Apple Computer. [No longer supported.] Hot Potatoes for Macintosh (Version 5.3.6) [Computer software]. (2003). Victoria, Canada: Half-baked Software. Available from http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/halfbaked/. Johnson, C. M. (2003). Establishing an online community of practice for instructors of English as a Foreign Language. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://www.scis.nova.edu/~johnschr/. KU Students' Online Community of Practice. (2004). Owner: B. Al Othman. Available at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/162s4_students_workingonline/.
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