NETEACH Nook
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A spacious classroom with a comfortable, lived-in feeling to it. Someone has
put up at least one nice decoration: a world map with brightly colored push
pins showing where NETEACHers have connected from. So far, there are pins in
Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, Greece, UK, Brazil, Israel, Canada, France,
Germany, and all over the US.
You see Teacher's Desk, Big Table, Bulletin Board, Beanbags, Fireside
Bearskin, Kitchen Table, and Wading Pool.
You see Dasha, Colega, Frizzy, Chrissy [Guest], Lesley, Mehitabel, and Gregor
standing about.
You see LCD Panel.
Obvious exits: out
Chrissy [Guest] says, "Forgive me that I still have the raw telnet. I will
keep silent most of the time."
George_P [Guest] slides in, ready to NETwork.
Frizzy [to Lesley]: "I don't think we've met before, have we?"
Gregor greets George, his RL colleague.
Lesley will probably keep quiet most of the time too.
Colega waves.
Gregor will poke Lesley in the ribs if she's TOO quiet.
Lesley [to Frizzy]: I don't know. I'm in the UK at the Open University
Frizzy notes that she, Gregor, Colega and Mehi will probably NOT keep silent.
;)
Colega giggles silently.
Lesley will scream if Gregor does that.
Frizzy laughs out loud.
Gregor hugs Colega. "Cool! Glad to see you!"
Mehitabel says, "I can't stay too long."
Dasha says, "what a crowd!"
Colega hugs Gregor.
Colega says, "Happy to be here."
Frizzy nudges Gregor. "Shall we get started?"
Frizzy is at work, and may have to duck out every now and then.
Chrissy [Guest] [to Lesley]: "Hi, Lesley. I am in London now.
Gregor nods.
Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to NETEACH-L's MOO discussion sessions!
(with much appreciation to schMOOze University
and its fine players, programmers, and wizards!)
Please note! Our sessions are always logged.
By participating, you give permission to Greg Younger to allow
access to the transcripts for research purposes at his discretion.
Before using any part of our logs for research or publication, please
obtain the permission of Greg Younger at youngerg@colorado.edu
For a transcript, please see our web page:
http://spot.colorado.edu/~youngerg/netmoo.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gregor counts ten and places the next slide on.
Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** INTRODUCTIONS ***
You are of course welcome to remain anonymous, but at this time
we invite all of you who wish to do so to identify yourselves by
your name and affiliation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mehitabel is Julie Falsetti from Hunter College, New York City.
Gregor is Greg Younger, at the Econ. Institute in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
tiff [Guest] has arrived.
Colega is Lonnie Turbee of Syracuse University and MundoHispano
Chrissy [Guest] is a research student in Institute of Education, U. of London,
in London, not in Canada. :)
Godzilla has arrived.
tiff [Guest] waves hello
Dasha is Diane Frangie at Wayne State in Detroit, Michigan
George_P [Guest] is George Peknik at the EI, in the same room right now as
Gregor
Lesley is Lesley Shield from the Open University in the UK
Gregor says, "Hi, tiff... are you here for the neteach teachers' discussion
session?"
tiff [Guest] says, "Yes, I am with Lonnie in Syracuse."
Gregor [to Godzilla]: We're all introducing ourselves here.
Orly has arrived.
Frizzy is Karla Frizler, Instructional Designer for City College of San
Francisco.
Gregor [to tiff [Guest]]: Great, welcome!
Godzilla is Larry Davies in Nagoya, Japan.
tiff [Guest] says, "thank you gregor"
Gregor invites Orly to introduce 'itself' (no gender set yet! ;o)
Frizzy hopes Godzilla doesn't squish anyone.
Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***Remote Possibilities: Issues for Distance ESL***
While it seems clear that a lot more learning and teaching is moving
online, there are numerous institutional, administrative, and pedagogical
issues to be settled well before diving into it headlong. Which aspects
of ESL instruction are currently possible via the 'Net? How must our
traditional pedagogical theories be adapted to these new media? What are
some approaches to the administration of online courses? What are the most
important marketing issues?.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Godzilla [to Frizzy]: I usually tiptoe
Orly says, "Hello"
Frizzy says, "Interesting (and timely) topic, Gregor."
Gregor says, "We had a fine discussion session last week... I have been out of
town and haven't had a chance to post the log to the website yet..."
Orly says, "I am an Eng teacher and and now study technological Ed"
Frizzy [to Orly]: "Where in the world are you?"
Gregor says, "Thanks Friz. Y'all can take a look at the blackboard to see what
types of issues we looked at last week. Type: LOOK BLACK (or just l black)"
==================== BLACKBOARD ===========================
1) I think that interactivity is achieved if you use a variety of media.
2) Questions of Access and Advantages of Net over Tradtional delivery come to
mind.
3) for example email for journals, chat for office periods, video for direct
instruction....
4) What does it take to achieve interactivity?
5) My biggest problem so far is to get more colleagues involved to put hands
on, 'cause I don't want to do all allone, and after all they're supposed to
use this stuff later...
6) It is sometimes difficult to establish a relationship with "distance"
students.
7) interactivity is mainly dependent on task organisation.. grouping students
to collaborate together - synch or asynch
8) Access for some often means lack of access for others.
9) my fear is that not all students have equal access
10) Not all class activities work well online.
11) distance education is not only regulated to online classes.
12) So maybe one question is "What activities work better online than off?
13) what are the criteria we ould use for "work better"?
14) In Brazil distance education is a unique chance to get quality courses to
less privileged regions
===========================================================
Colega says, "Wow... so many things to be said about all of that, Gregor. I'm
thinking about some large background idea first..."
Gregor [to Colega]: How would you see us focusing this discussion, Co?
Orly says, "I am from Israel , Frizzy, I read your thesis and that's how I
learnt about Schmooze"
Colega says, "... like the huge (here it comes!) paradigm shift that the
Internet is forcing us into (some of us going willingly)."
Frizzy [to Orly]: "Wow, that's great! Glad you're here."
George_P [Guest] says, "In terms of skills, it makes sense to me to
concentrate in writing and grammar at this 'low-tech' point, where we can not
expect the studenta t the other end to have all of the bells and whistles.""
Colega says, "Before we talk about particulars, I'm seeing people having
challenges with the shift in centers of power."
Colega says, "Teachers and administrators are not necessarily happy about
learners taking control of their learning."
Orly [to Frizzy]: your thesis inspired me to learn more about moos and i am
thinking of writing mine on the subject
Frizzy says, "Also, I think there is a myth among teachers that distance
learning = dissemination of information, and not necessarily conducting
communicative, interactive courses online."
Godzilla [to Colega]: Maybe better to strike the necessarily there??
Gregor [to Colega]: It seems to me that in some ways, the paradigm has indeed
shifted, but at the same time, there is power and authority... someone pays
for access, someone puts the content up, etc.
Mehitabel is not unhappy about the shift of power.
Colega says, "That's the old paradigm... information goes from a source into
learners' heads."
Gregor [to Colega]: Would you mind talking a little about the new paradigm?
Colega says, "But who ultimately pays for online education? The learner."
Colega blushes and giggles.
Gregor . o O ( That's what we're hoping! ;o) )
Colega says, "If the learner is going to pay, but at last have all the choices
that the Internet provides..."
Lesley [to Colega]: Can you clarify whether you mean the development or
delivery costs?
Colega says, "... those providing less-than-excellent education will find much
stiffer competition."
Colega says, "In the end, it's both... development and delivery. "
Gregor says, "There's still that sense of "provider," though. I don't think we can
lose that, regardless of other aspects."
Colega says, "At this time, many are getting their delivery costs covered in
tuition."
Colega says, "Clearly. But the providers will be competing on a global level."
Gregor says, "Anyone else have thoughts about this? It seems to have a direct
relation to all the other topics we're looking at here."
Gregor says, "It clearly affects the pedagogy of online courses, the
administration of those courses, etc."
Frizzy thinks one of the paradigm shift is also in the realm of Technology
Services at educational institutions. "Many of these departments have
traditionally focused on administrative technology issues, and now technology
is in demand on the instructional side."
Mehitabel excuses herself.
Mehitabel goes home.
Gregor waves to mehi... too late.
Dasha says, "These are all very fine points, but what about the basic access
problems? Not all places have easy access."
Dasha's lab is still not networked to anything but a couple printers.
Lesley thinks we may be talking about different types of institution - we have
no students on campus
Colega says, "Who is going to pay for better access?"
Gregor nods to Frizzy. "We (and the students) are giving our institutions
plenty of headaches!"
Colega remembers that Lesley is with Open University.
Gregor thinks it is ultimately the clients who will pay.
Colega [to Gregor]: Good for you!
Colega says, "If the client is paying, the client will be darned sure to
exercise the right to choose."
Frizzy says, "I think we could discuss access, etc, forever, but what about
looking at different TYPES of distance education, and defining what it is
we're talking about in the first place?"
Gregor says, "In our considerations of distance ed, that is one of the first
questions we're asking. Who is the target?"
Lesley apologises, but could she just check what we mean by access - cos that
relates to who the customer is.
Colega says, "Those who are underserved by traditional educational
institutions, to start with."
Frizzy says, "Students who can't get to a physical campus because of
disabilities, family responsibilities, etc."
Gregor says, "Well, clearly the clients have to have access, sine qua non."
Colega [to Frizzy]: or simple distance from a campus worth going to.
Gregor says, "Students who can't afford to study "abroad" (meaning HERE)."
Frizzy nods to Colega.
George_P [Guest] says, "One target is the students whose need are not getting
addressed locally, by local schools,. Also the home-bound,handicapped,
elderly, and infirm. Corporations with 'in-house' needs for customized
content.""
Colega [to Lesley]: What kind of computer you have, what kind of connection to
the Internet, what applications your computer can handle and your ISP will
allow you to use, what kind of phone service you have, how expensive it is
for you to use any of these things, etc.
Colega nods to George.
Lesley [to Colega]: Ok. That's one of the things that's holding us back.
Frizzy grins.
Colega says, "MundoHispano is successful because it's still just text-based...
so the native speakers from other countries with less sophisticated access
can still use it."
Frizzy says, "I'm sure we all have some degree of access issues."
Dasha nods.
Puzzled has arrived.
Gregor says, "JUst a quick show of hands... who are y'all teaching? I'm teaching
international grad students and business professionals. I think that
refugees, immigrants, kids, etc. are a whole nother field to talk about."
Frizzy agrees with Colega. "right, it's all about making the best use of what
you have, while trying to improve access."
Puzzled says, "Hi all"
Gregor greets Puzzled.
Frizzy teaches teachers how to use technology in their classes (of course,
their students have very minimal access :P).
George_P [Guest] says, "One aspect of distance ed that fascinates me is the
ability to customize courses; also I have found in my teaching at EFI
(on-line_ that I have been able to individualize more than I normally can in
a classroom-based class.""
Aldo has arrived.
Aldo says, "Hello everyone."
Colega le da a Aldo un abrazo fuerte.
Frizzy welcomes Aldo and Puzzled.
Gregor welcomes Aldo. "Aldo and Puzzled, why don't you introduce yourselves
briefly?"
Colega waves to Puzzled.
Aldo hugs Colega.
Puzzled waves
Aldo says, "I'm Aldo. I'm an English teacher in Lima, Peru."
Puzzled Puzzled teaches pre university students in Greece.
Chrissy [Guest] says, "Hi, Aldo, and Puzzled."
Gregor says, "Maybe someone would argue with this, but let me put it out there
anyway. At this point, the client base for distance ed is necessarily NOT a
democratic group... it's for the privileged now. Am I mistaken?"
Colega says, "Great world-wide connections here!"
Gregor NODS loudly at Colega. "A real diverse group here!"
Colega can't argue with that.
Frizzy feels multicultural all of a sudden.
Lesley disagrees with Gregor - certainly the students we have are not
necessarily privileged
Colega says, "yes, only those who are fortunate enough to have access."
Godzilla says, "I have to agree with Gregor, and the evidence seems to show
that the internet is still about 90%in North America..."
Gregor [to Lesley]: Oh, good! Please tell us about it!
Colega [to Lesley]: But they're in the right country to get access, even if
they're not privileged.
Frizzy says, "Gregor, I think you have a good point. I also think that's one
of the reasons that distance ed is also still conducted via television quite
a bit, and not via computers."
Gregor nods to Frizzy.
Lesley says, "Ok, first of all, for information about the ou can I suggest you
look at http://www.open.ac.uk - that explains things much better than I
could."
Colega says, "But what the heck, somebody has to be first, and I think that
people who have the vision to develop distance ed generally would like to see
it eventually available to all."
George_P [Guest] says, "Is anyone now teaching language on-line? Is anyone
using facilities other than email and web site? How is it going?""
Gregor makes a note. "But just quickly... who are your students?"
Colega [to Lesley]: The Open University concept is actually quite old, isn't
it?
Aldo says, "I've heard about the Merlin project in the UK."
Gregor likes the way Colega put that.
Godzilla says, "My students are also at EFI with George_p. I also teach
university EFL courses in Japan."
Frizzy [to George_P [Guest]]: "I tried teaching an EFL writing course
completely online (summer 95), and let me tell you, it was a LOT of work, but
VERY rewarding. I used e-mail (discussion list), MOO and WWW.
Lesley says, "Well, I don't teach (I'm here under false pretences), but the OU
students are often from non-traditional backgrounds"
Puzzled also teaches at EFI.
Lesley says, "They tend to be "mature"."
Lesley says, "to Colega "The OU was set up around 25 or 26 years ago."
Colega also develops online courses at Syracuse Language Systems.
Lesley says, "Oops, sorry, new computer, different keyboard!"
Godzilla is insane to be up at 3:30 am and is going to sleep.
Dasha teaches in a preacademic university program, grads and undergrads
needing 550 on the TEOFL
Frizzy [to Godzilla]: "Thanks for joining us! Sleep well."
Lesley wishes Godzilla goodnight
Gregor says, "George said earlier that it seems that reading/writing are best
served by these media. Does anyone here have anything going with other
senses? Any listening or pronunciation courses in the works?"
George_P [Guest] says, "Is anyone using audio or video?""
Aldo [to Godzilla]: Sleep well.
Godzilla says, "I wish I could stay to see this entire discussion through. All
of these issues are starting to come up here in Japan, but there has been
little though put into it..."
Godzilla says, "sorry, thought..."
Colega says, "Pronunciation is a part of our course. Learners send audio
files to the teacher."
Gregor says, "Night, Godzilla."
Frizzy [to Godzilla]: "check the NETEACH Web site for this transcript, to see
what you miss. :)"
Lesley says, "We currently offer French and German, with Spanish from 1999.
It's exciting because we're facing all the challenges of teaching languages
at a distance"
Gregor was about to say that too, Friz. ;o)
Godzilla nods to Frizzy.
Godzilla waves.
Lesley has disconnected.
Colega waves to Godzilla
Godzilla has disconnected.
Gregor [to Colega]: Do they send wav files via the net?
Frizzy says, "Notes that Lesley punctuated "... challenges of teaching
languages at a distance..." by being disconnected abruptly!"
Frizzy . o O ( Oops! )
Colega says, "Believe it or not, I'm not exactly sure what format they're
using. I'm not in that part of it."
Lesley has connected.
Gregor [to Colega]: But that's the general idea... they send audio files
electronically?
Colega says, "Yes."
Lesley is fighting with the lag monster. A second please.
tiff [Guest] waves goodbye
Colega says, "Teacher listens to it, comments, sends it back to student, all
via the net."
Colega waves to tiff.
Gregor welcomes Lesley back. "Challenges, you say? :o)"
tiff [Guest] says, "thanks for letting me join. It's been interesting!"
Aldo [to tiff [Guest]]: Bye.
tiff [Guest] has disconnected.
Gregor [to tiff]: Thanks for coming!
Colega [to Lesley]: How do you handle the audio part?
Gregor [to Colega]: Wow, that's impressive.
Lesley [to Frizzy]: It's probably an omen
Frizzy grins.
Gregor chuckles.
George_P [Guest] says, "An interesting distance ed resource that you may want
to look at in Learning Space by lotus. It offers a feature that integrates
student cooperative activities, and has some nice class management and
multimedia features. It was recently released. You can preview it at the
Lotus site.""
Orly has disconnected.
Lesley says, "Well, things like access, staff development etc etc"
Colega takes note of what George said.
Lesley . o O ( How come the system has such a frightful lag!? )
Gregor [to George_P [Guest]]: Wouldn't that require that all your clients have
the same software? Or is that a problem... is that perhaps one of the techno.
requirements of successful DL?
Lesley says, "And also whether to have standalone electronic courses, or mixed
media or what"
Lesley says, "is going to try another client - that sometimes cures lag..."
George_P [Guest] [to Gregor]: "yes, unfortunately they all would have to have
it. "
Colega says, "That whole issue is problematic in language learning because you
have to assume that your learners and native speakers are connecting
globally, not just from the US, Europe and Japan."
Frizzy says, "Another issue is compensation for teachers. If distance ed
allows you to have 100 students in a writing class, is that a good thing? Do
you get paid more? etc etc"
Lesley apologises in advance if she disappears forever
Lesley has disconnected.
Colega [to Frizzy]: You work 40 hours a week and get paid handsomely, I would
hope!
Lesley has connected.
Frizzy smirks. "yeah right"
Colega says, "And you facilitate the acquisition/construction of knowledge
rather than deliver it."
Gregor says, "I just bought ToolBook, which now has a utility that converts your
'books' into HTML and JAVA. It seems to me that the Web is the standard that
will work more internationally, despite its limitations."
Colega says, "which brings us back to the power issues. You cannot be the
sage on the stage and survive in a networked course."
Puzzled is also learning Toolbook at the moment. Yuk.
Frizzy says, "Very true! I work with teachers all the time who can't get used
to not being the expert in the classroom."
Frizzy personally finds it rather liberating.
Colega says, "Oh man... it's just such a radical change for them to think of
students as people who can think."
Aldo has to go have lunch.
Frizzy cracks up!
Lesley says, "That's particularly true of ESP teachers, I think."
Colega says, "I mean it! It drives me crazy."
Colega [to Aldo]: Bon apetit!
Lesley enjoys learning from learners
Gregor [to Aldo]: Thanks for coming!
Frizzy [to Colega]: "I know. We are a rare breed of teachers who view
teaching & learning as an exchange.
George_P [Guest] says, "May I bring up pedgogy (minor details). Question: How
does it change whenteaching via email and other a synchronous media?""
Colega says, "the funny thing is, it's the younger learners who are teaching
the teachers about the technology."
Colega [to Frizzy]: Excellent point.
Colega [to George_P [Guest]]: The learners take over!
Lesley says, "True, but it's also much older learners too, in my experience"
Frizzy . o O ( God forbid! )
Aldo waves at Colega, Gregor, Lesley, George_P and friends.
Colega [to George_P [Guest]]: They need a goal (which hopefully they have
formed along the lines of the course goals) and they need a task to
complete... but they have to do it for their own reasons, and pretty much in
their own way.
Lesley says, "There's an increasing demand for online education from learners
now"
Frizzy says, "I think there are different issues here . . ."
Aldo says, "Great discussion. I'll keep in touch to see when you get together.
Bye."
Colega says, "bye, Aldo!"
Gregor says, "I have to repeat, the teachers or programmers or whoever are STILL
the ones putting up content. The students are still sending their audio files
or essays or whatever to the teacher for evaluation and remediation. Someone
is still an expert with knowledge or ability to sell."
Aldo abraza a Colega desde la calurosa ciudad de Lima.
Frizzy says, "Completely online courses, and courses with an online component
(as a supplement to the traditional classroom)."
Colega sonrie a Aldo.
Aldo has disconnected.
Gregor says, "Students aren't going to pay for the privilege of taking over. I
think they WANT direction, they want a sage."
Colega [to Gregor]: Yes, that is all true. But if the element of student
input is not taken in as a part of the course, they'll find other things to
do with their time and money because they are no longer so limited.
Colega says, "There has to be a balance."
Puzzled says, "I find the lack of immediate feedback a problem. Like if I do
something dumb in class I find out really quick, but through the web etc it
doesn't happen like that."
Colega says, "They have to know that they're going to come out of the course
with something solid, but getting to the goals of the course has to include
their personal goals."
Gregor [to Colega]: I agree with you there. Ad that's what George said a
minute ago; we can customize (or let students do it for us!)
Frizzy [to Puzzled]: "That's why IMHO MOO is such a powerful teaching tool.
It allows for immediate feedback.
Colega [to Puzzled]: That's where synchronous communication comes in, for
those who like the immediate thing.
Frizzy grins at colega.
George_P [Guest] [to Colega]: "Yes, but I feel that many students, especially
from places like the MiddlE east, the sub-continent, developing countries,
even Japan, need a great deal of 'mentoring' or 'learner training'. I regard
those areas a aper of pedagogy and the new role od the teacher in dist ed. I
don't think the many, perhaps the majority of students, will be able to
become autonomous learners BECAUSE of the technology."
Colega [to Puzzled]: but many students benefit from asynchronicity... gives
them time to think, to compose, and to come out looking good.
Gregor grrins at the Bobsey Twins of Cyberia.
Puzzled says, "But my DL students don't seem keen on using a MOO."
Frizzy says, "I think what we're getting at is that an online course needs to
have several components/tools in order to be effective for all types of
learners. The Web alone, or e-mail alone. or MOO alone will not always be
effective."
Lesley says, "There's soem research on risk-taking strategies - students who
don't like taking risks prefer asynchronous communication. MOO-ing is high
risk, so it doesn't suit all learners."
Colega says, "Nope. You need a complete palette, and expect that some will
take to some parts more than others."
Frizzy [to Lesley]: "Very well put."
Lesley blushes
Colega says, "Well, traveling to a different country is *really* high-risk,
yet parents send their kids abroad all the time..."
Colega says, "... and then wonder why all the problems."
Colega says, "At least on MOO they can practice risk-taking."
Gregor says, "Is this learner-autonomy thing an American stereotype that doesn't
cut it in most of the world?"
Colega [to Gregor]: Excellent point.
Frizzy says, "When I conducted an online course, I felt e-mail and MOO were
the most effective, and putting distance students on the Web really changed
the dynamic of the class . . . They stopped interacting with each other, and
began interacting with information instead. I think it depends on your and
your students' goals."
Lesley says, "No, we've been working towards it for years."
Gregor [to Frizzy]: That's something interesting to ponder.
George_P [Guest] says, "Good point, Frizzy.""
Gregor says, "Like my friend Colega would say, BALANCE. :o)"
Lesley says, "Certainly there's a great danger in doing what I've seen done in
many cases - that's letting students loose on the web with no guidance. But
thre's no reason why they can't be set a task - like a groupwork thing to
produce something together from individual activities"
Frizzy [to Gregor]: "It's challenged me to think about how to use the Web
interactively, but I've come to the conclusion that having students CREATE a
Web page together is the most interactive use of the Web.
Colega ponders.
Frizzy says, "I'll have to try more stuff next time I have a group of
students."
Frizzy is always trying to learn herself.
Lesley would like to hear what happens
George_P [Guest] says, "I have to go to a real space called a classroom. If I
were teaching on-line, I could stay for a while and hang out. Good-bye,
everyone. Thank you, and best wishes.""
George_P [Guest] has disconnected.
Colega says, "Is interaction the most effective way to learn something?
Interacting with others who don't necessarily know much about the subject?"
Colega plays devil's advocate.
Frizzy grins.
Gregor says, "Teaching language certainly is different from teaching, say,
microeconomics, and maybe even more so in the DL context. Hmmm...."
Gregor ponders too.
Frizzy [to Gregor]: "That's it! . . .
Frizzy says, "I think Gregor just hit on what we're getting at . . . That
teaching a *language* online is different than teaching content subjects, so
teaching language doesn't fit the traditional DL mold."
Gregor eeyews the DL mold.
Frizzy laughs.
Colega wonders...
Gregor gigglers.
Colega says, "Language teaching is all about communication... heh heh...
interactively!"
Lesley agrees it's difficult to teach languages at a distance, but it's
possible
Colega says, "I mean, that's what communication *is.*"
Colega says, "the more interactive, the more effective in the production area,
anyway."
Frizzy says, "I think what DL can afford language students, particularly via
the Internet, is authentic motivation for communication."
Gregor says, "I read an article last year, I think in Wired, that talked about the
death of the information age and the beginning of the digital communication
age."
Colega says, "Reception, that can be done with less interactivity, yet..."
Colega says, "... putting reception and production together, I would think,
would be the most effective way to get it to *stick*."
Colega nods to Frizzy.
Gregor says, "So besides reading and writing, do you all think that the oral/aural
skills will have to wait a bit to be handled interactively in the DL context?"
Colega widens her eyes at what Gregor said about the beginning of the digital
communication age.
Lesley says, "Anybody done anything with RealAudio or Internet Telephony?"
Colega [to Gregor]: give it a couple months. ;-)
Gregor grins wryly.
Colega says, "In the developed countries, it's moving very fast."
Frizzy decides to shut up finally. "I need to get back to work now."
Lesley [to Gregor]: You can do it very successfully with telephone
conferencing - low tech I know, but it works
Colega cries.
Gregor looks around. "Who's left, anyway?"
Colega says, "Frizzy! So nice to see you?"
Frizzy hugs everyone, even her new friends.
Frizzy says, "Bye!"
Colega says, "so nice to see YOU!!!"
The cosmic goddess places Frizzy upon a cloud with a silver lining and wooshes
her back to real life.
Frizzy has disconnected.
Gregor hugs Frizzy, glad she made it.
Gregor [to Lesley]: Good point. I think that a key is that we have to mix our
media, mix our ways and means of doing all of this.
Colega says, "it's going to take time for all the wonderful internet
applications to filter down to a good number of learners."
Colega says, "but it's coming, and there's no stopping it."
Gregor says, "The ToolBook folks talk about hybrid technology, where you put rich
media (sound, video) on a CD which intereacts with something more dynamic,
less static, on the net..."
Colega says, "I read something about 50% of all US citizens having a computer
by 2000. Or something like that."
Puzzled says, "And the rest of us???"
Colega says, "That's for the year 2001."
Lesley says, "Some of our students don't even have VCRs..."
Colega says, "It's moving so fast, and getting so inexpensive."
Gregor [to Puzzled]: As Colega said earlier, someone has to start it.
Puzzled nods at Lesley
Colega says, "Just wait until the cable companies get their fiberoptic act
together and blow the phone companies out of the internet waters."
Colega says, "How long did it take for *everyone* to have a TV?"
Lesley says, "And those with computers could have anything from an Amiga
through to a P133. It looks as though the base model is probably 486 at the
moment"
Colega says, "fifty years or so?"
Lesley says, "Some people don't have TV"
Colega says, "when prices drop, we'll see this move faster."
Colega doesn't have a TV.
Colega grins.
Dasha [to Lesley]: my ex-cash-register is a 386
Lesley [to Dasha]: Quite
Colega [to Lesley]: That's true, but at least here in the US, more people have
TV's than have phones.
Lesley doesn't know the per capita ratio in the UK
Gregor sees that time is about up for our discussion.
Colega says, "It's going to take time, but there will be a time when most
schools in the developed countries will have multimedia internet access for
students.... and further down the road, most homes will have it."
Gregor says, "Folks, this has been one of the best sessions yet! Thank you all for
participating today! (tonight!)"
Puzzled says, "But consider a DL class with students spread all over. In
bulgaria you pay per Kb + connection +phone. Rela audio is a ways off I
think."
Lesley agrees that schools will have it, certainly, but for DL students the
picture could be different
Chrissy [Guest] says, "Thank you, Gregor, and Thanks for everyone."
Colega says, "Nice meeting everyone!"
Gregor [to Lesley]: Yes and no.. the students we're targeting here, for
example, are business people in highly developed asian countries.
Lesley has enjoyed the discussion and has learnt a lot.
Dasha says, "bye, and thanks."
Dasha goes home.
Colega guesses that much of this will percolate down, but certainly not to
everywhere.
Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
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