A Pan-Pacific Collaborative English Language Teaching Project
Journal of Tokyo International University, School of Business and Commerce
No. 56, Sept. 20, 1997
I. Introduction
III. "Hands Across the Water" 1996
A. Phase I
1. General Overview of Activities
a. Initial Plan
B. Phase II
1. General Overview of Activities
a. Initial Plan
C. Positive Outcomes and Difficulties of the Joint Class
2. Difficulties
a. Phase I
b. Phase II
3. Suggestions for Similar Projects
IV. "Hands Across the Water" 1997 Plans
V. Conclusions
This paper describes a collaborative project between an English language class in Japan and one in the United States. The institutions involved were Tokyo International University (TIU), located in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan, and its branch campus, Tokyo International University of America (TIUA) in Salem, Oregon, USA. This project attempted to create an interactive learning environment via the World Wide Web, in which Japanese students collaborated to construct an online exchange of cultural and linguistic information.
The authors hope that the project analyzed below can serve as a useful resource to other educators wishing to try similar collaborative teaching projects. We have found that having a joint class, and utilizing Internet resources to run the class, provides additional stimulation for students to study English.
This paper describes a collaborative project between an English language class in Japan and one in the United States. The institutions involved were Tokyo International University (TIU), located in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan, and its branch campus, Tokyo International University of America (TIUA) in Salem, Oregon, USA. This project attempted to create an interactive learning environment via the World Wide Web, in which Japanese students collaborated to construct an online exchange of cultural and linguistic information.
The authors hope that the project analyzed below can serve as a useful reference to other educators wishing to try similar collaborative teaching projects. We have found that having a joint class, and utilizing Internet resources to run the class, provides additional stimulation for students to study English.
A. TIU and the Freshman Tutorial
What is now called TIU was founded in 1965 by Taizo Kaneko, who became the first president. In the same year, a sister school tie was formed with Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, USA. Pres. Kaneko placed a high priority on international exchange for his students, and so every year since 1965 TIU students have gone to Salem for study in a variety of programs. Even with the passing of Pres. Kaneko, and even though there is no English major at TIU, the university continues to deem the study of English to be an important adjunct to the majors TIU does offer to help broaden the world view of its students.
TIU is divided into four schools totaling eight departments. The university also offers masters and Ph.D programs. The school year at TIU, as is so for all schools in Japan, begins in April and ends in March. Most courses are held once a week for 90 minutes. Though there is a semester system, the majority of courses are two-semesters in length.
The TIU Freshman Tutorial is a weekly 90-minute class designed more to help integrate freshmen into university life than to strictly impart knowledge. A Tutorial professor serves as the designated personal and academic advisor of his/her tutorial students.
In 1989, TIU established TIU of America in Salem through cooperation with its sister school, Willamette University. Located next to Willamette, TIUA shares faculty and facilities with Willamette. TIUA's mission is to give TIU students a more rigorous foundation in using English for academic purposes than can be obtained in Japan at TIU. Nearly 100 students at a time join the February to December program in recent years. The program, which previously was designed for TIU sophomores, has begun shifting in 1997 to also include some TIU juniors.
The 11-month TIUA program is divided into Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters. The Spring semester runs 14 weeks from February to May. The seven-week Summer semester is held from May to July. Finally, the Fall semester extends from September to December.
During TIUA's Spring semester, students are engaged in intensive English studies emphasizing reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Building upon these learned skills, students during the Summer and Fall semesters can attend their choice of American Studies courses by Willamette or other professors. These courses are designed to be of college level, but with the cultural and language needs of the TIUA Japanese students taken into account. TIUA faculty offer Applied English classes in conjunction with each American Studies course taught. These Applied English classes are planned to help give students a more thorough understanding of the special college lectures.
Students with sufficient English ability are permitted to join freshman or sophomore level Willamette lectures during the Fall semester.
C. "Hands Across the Water" TIU/TIUA Joint Project
The joint TIU/TIUA project was named "Hands Across the Water." This naming symbolizes the authors' goal of bridging a large distance, the Pacific Ocean that separated us, through the use of Internet resources. These resources were utilized for collaborating on a variety of language learning activities.
The joint project had two phases. Phase I was a trial run of the collaborative course, and Phase II built upon what was learned during Phase I to create a better course. Duell's Freshman Tutorial students took part in both phases of the joint class. However, differences in the curriculum and academic years of TIU and TIUA led to different groups of Gregory's TIUA students being involved in Phases I and II. Duell's TIU Freshman Tutorial class worked with Gregory's TIUA Seminar class for Phase I, and with an Applied English class taught by Gregory for Phase II.
This project attempted to accomplish the following goals:
1. To provide a model for collaborative courses involving TIU and TIUA faculty and students;
2. To provide students participating in the project the opportunity to more fully refine their English language skills by transforming the traditional teacher/student dichotomy and empowering students to learn through mentoring;
3. To explore and showcase the various ways technology, more specifically the World Wide Web, can be used to create an interactive language learning environment that makes possible international collaboration and which provides teachers and students with powerful tools for discovery and self-expression.
A literature search was conducted by Duell after the completion of the "Hands Across the Water" joint course. The experience of the experimental joint course allowed better focus on what literature was appropriate to review for the purpose of instituting improvements for future such projects. The literature reviewed below will also help give the reader perspective into what occurred during the joint course.
Conducting a class via the Internet involving students and teachers in two or more locations is still a relatively new undertaking. This is a form of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). (1) CMC is a modern form of distance education that substitutes computers and the Internet for correspondence education, educational television, and other intermediaries between teachers and learners that have gradually been introduced over the years. (2) CMC involving the Internet allows for a great amount of leeway in how much interaction can take place between teachers and students, and between students themselves. This allows more options in how a course can be planned. Earlier distance education techniques based on such media as correspondence education or educational television concentrated more heavily on transferring knowledge from teacher to student, and did not easily allow contact between students.
Ellsworth discusses the necessity of breaking down the CMC classroom learning process into four steps in order to avoid overwhelming students with the technology and software required.
Level 1 (Why are we doing this?) involves clarifying to students what the goals of the course are to be, and why it is important to learn the use of new technology to accomplish those goals.
Level 2 (Learning the technology) involves teaching students the use of new technology and software by breaking down the process into easily understandable steps.
Level 3 (Mastering the tools) involves making sure both teacher and students are proficient in the use of the new technology and software in order to be able to meaningfully use it to accomplish a course's goals.
Level 4 (Applying what has been learned for problem solving) involves finally using the new technology and software in pursuit of the course's goals. (3)
Ellsworth warns that a poorly planned course can result in the inability to properly use the new technology and software to the point that it overwhelms teacher and student, preventing the accomplishment of a course's goals.
To this end, Ellsworth emphasizes that:
1. A teacher must maintain control of the course to ensure pre-stated goals are being accomplished.
2. A teacher must be on the alert to prevent use of new technology and software from becoming the main point of the course, or preventing it from diluting pre-stated course goals.
3. A teacher needs proper technical backup assistance to deal with unexpected hardware and software problems. (4)
Ellsworth concludes that CMC resources have the ability to help a teacher plan a course full of variety in order to maintain student interest, and better accomplish course goals. Utilizing CMC resources, a course can offer students collaborative learning experience tying students together no matter how far apart they are physically, opportunities to search worldwide Internet sites for information, self-paced learning exercises, discussion with distant students via e-mail, and so on. (5)
Hamilton and Miller explore the current trend of universities to offer an increasing number of courses, and degrees, via the Internet. (6) One of the benefits touted is that working people can pursue higher degrees, while continuing their jobs, even though the university they are taking courses from may be located a great distance away. Should this trend continue, Ellsworth's concern that proper care be taken to train teachers and students in use of the required technology and software to utilize Internet resources in class may perhaps gradually become a moot point. Whereas now a teacher wanting to offer an Internet-based course most likely must first train him/herself and students in the use of these tools, as more such courses are offered, computer and Internet skills once learned can be utilized with less additional effort for use in taking other Internet-based courses.
There is also pessimism about the role of computers or the Internet in enhancing the educational environment. Stoll writes, "... much of what comes across the computer screen is a surrogate for experience. It's living through an electronic extension of the nervous system - many sensations are dulled, a few amplified. Impoverished proxies take the place of real events." He argues that it is better to provide direct experiences to students as much as possible, rather than relying on substitutes via computer. (7)
Stoll also suggests it is a fiction that the text-based environment of e-mail and Web pages is creating a Renaissance in reading and writing, that it will encourage a literate environment with well-thought out ideas. His experience is to the contrary, that the Internet has brought a preponderance of poorly-organized, poorly thought out self-expression. (8)
Stoll is less than encouraging about the value of spending time to learn computer and network skills to engage in educational exercises that could be done with simpler technology. (9)
Baran gives a number of examples of distance learning networks involving various degrees of sophistication, and kinds of equipment. On the one hand, he emphasizes the cost problem of universally introducing such systems. However, he points out that when learning opportunities are otherwise not readily available in one area, it warrants trying to set up such distance learning opportunities. (10)
In the case of TIU and TIUA, networked computers are already in place, so for distance learning to take place between these two institutions, there is no additional major cost, and such learning can be initiated provided that students and faculty are suitably trained. As for the necessity of distance learning for TIU and TIUA, perhaps the needs of TIU are greater in the area of English language learning since TIU is in a Japanese environment, and there are relatively few English materials at hand with fewer opportunities available for English interaction than at TIUA. Networked computers at TIU allow a wide range of English language resources to be brought directly into the classroom.
However, so much information is available in such a disorganized fashion that students can be quickly overwhelmed, so overwhelmed they may miss locating valuable information sites. Hafner discusses how software servants are being developed to help bring order to this information disarray. (11) More than having language students depend only upon these software servants, it is important for teachers to instruct students in how to meaningfully navigate through the Internet sea of information using a variety of search techniques.
Kahle discusses the importance of archiving Internet information. (12) In the excitement of using the Internet to provide information, important sources are being lost as authors continuously revise or abandon previous information pages. Educators involved in joint class projects would also do well to think early on how to archive student Web materials before they are lost. Such archives can also document the evolution of a professor's course.
Stefik deals with the importance of information security on the Internet using "trusted systems," or terminals, printers and other equipment set up to accept documents with different levels of security. (13) In the case of student generated work during a joint class, no sales of material to the public are likely to be anticipated. However, it would be ideal to protect student work from pilfering by the public at large, for use in unwarranted ways. Educators may even opt for devising ways to prevent people unrelated to the joint project from viewing project materials online by using a password or other technique. (14)
Branscomb does not directly write about education, but discusses some legal issues relating to the Internet. Educators building projects using the Internet would do well to consider two points Branscomb raises. Due to the open nature of the Internet, users need to be aware that any information placed on it becomes accessible to all. Once general Web users access our information, there is little we can do to control how those users make use of our information. Branscomb points out that there are data collection services that harvest the Web for names, contact information, and any other pertinent information that may be sold to advertisers or others. An educator should be aware that this can happen when advising students what sorts of information should or should not be placed online, and explaining to them the reasons for such considerations. Branscomb also touches upon copyright issues related to Web information saying that online technology has been changing so quickly that there are still many legal gray areas in how Web information may be legally used. Educators and students should perhaps assume the possibility of unauthorized use occurring of online text, photos, and so on of course projects, taking that into account when planning Web content. (15)
Kay, in writing about computers, the Web, and the impact of these on education, cautions that there has always been a tendency to confuse the medium with the message. Saying that the Web is the greatest medium yet known, Kay asks educators to first implant a love of learning and an enthusiasm to express ideas in the minds of students, or the high technology will do no more than numb young minds. Educators need to introduce computers and the Web to students as a valuable tool for extending learning possibilities, not making computer use an end in itself. Kay explains that the Web is especially powerful for helping students, motivated by a well-designed project, to collaborate with far flung classrooms pooling information and sharing ideas. A particular example he gives is of scattered student groups observing local weather conditions, and combining these together to understand larger weather patterns. (16)
Glosserman echoes Kay's concern on how educators may best use "technology in the classroom to get the most out of young minds." On the positive side, he mentions that the National Information Infrastructure Initiative, proposed by United States President Bill Clinton's administration, estimates "that computer-aided instruction could result in 30 percent more learning in 40 percent less time and at 30 percent less cost." However Glosserman seems doubtful about how easy it will be for educators to effectively use computers to enhance their students' learning. He quotes Alan Kay's pessimistic view that "schools have not learned enough about the new technology and media to make the important distinctions between formal but meaningless activities with computers and networks, and the fluencies needed for real 21st-century thinking." (17)
Gates is rather optimistic about how quickly networked computers will appear in classrooms, and about how soon teachers will be able to adequately use this medium for effective education. Moreover, he does emphasize that the main key to effectively reaching students is having good teachers, that high technology should be there to make a good teacher's work more effective. (18)
Similar to Gates, Wallis emphasizes the importance of well-trained motivated teachers to carry on meaningful education with students. Also like Gates, Wallis touts the benefits of computers, well-designed software, and networks highly benefiting students if orchestrated by a good teacher. (19)
III. "Hands Across the Water" 1996
The offering of the "Hands Across the Water" collaborative course brought new challenges to Duell, Gregory, and their students. This was Duell's first experience engaging in any form of team-teaching, a concept more familiar to Gregory due to the cooperative teaching involved in TIUA's program. The course was also challenging to our students since they were required to master various computer and software skills before being able to accomplish the course's various goals. The technology issue was especially challenging for Duell's students since they began the course after freshly entering TIU from high school. Gregory's students had learned some computer skills during their freshman year at TIU, and had advanced those skills during the two months or so before the collaborative course began. (20)
The TIU sophomores involved in the project, who were studying intensive English in the US at TIUA, had more advanced English skills than the freshmen studying in Japan at TIU. They had previously completed English courses at TIU during their freshman year, and had been intensively studying English at TIUA for more than two months before the collaborative course's start. These TIUA sophomores corrected TIU freshman English compositions via e-mail, and created interactive language learning activities, and other materials. These items, with student photos, and other joint class-related materials were posted on a joint Web page.
The TIUA sophomores' key role was to serve as English language mentors, and provide relevant cultural and linguistic information to the TIU freshmen. Through being language mentors, these TIUA students could focus on language learning from a new perspective.
TIU students were especially occupied with learning necessary computer and software skills, but used the English language to accomplish tasks that were meaningful and relevant to them, rather than focusing on linguistic form alone. Their primary role in the joint course was to learn to create the various English materials which were then taken up by TIUA sophomores for correction and critiquing.
The initially stated goals of Phase I were divided into four parts, the first three of which were:
Description:
Both TIU and TIUA students post pictures of themselves and self-introductions on the joint project Web page. TIUA students send feedback via e-mail to the TIU students regarding TIU students' self-introductions, making suggestions as to grammar and structure. Using this feedback, TIU students republish their introductions.
Objective:
This activity allows both sets of students to get acquainted with each other and to provide an opportunity for language learning through feedback and peer editing.
Description:
TIU students compose and send questions to TIUA students about life at TIUA, Willamette University, or Salem. TIUA students respond to these inquiries by creating reading texts with accompanying interactive language learning exercises that will be posted to the project Web Page. TIU students access the Web page and complete the exercises, sending their answers to TIUA students for evaluation. TIUA students, in turn, evaluate the responses and provide feedback on the Web page or via e-mail.
Objective:
These activities enhance language learning by putting learners in the role of teachers. In addition, it provides authentic and relevant texts with interactive exercises and direct feedback.
Description:
Though TIUA students have more advanced English ability than TIU students, they are removed from the Japanese environment, and therefore slowly become out of touch with current trends in Japan. This exercise is to take advantage of this Rip Van Winkle effect by forcing TIU students to become aware of what interesting matters their expatriate partners are becoming out of touch with, and requiring them to use English to quiz their partners on these matters, and later explain to their partners about these recent cultural changes.
TIU students post pictures of TIU or Kawagoe (or provide other new information from Japan) with questions for TIUA students. TIUA students answer these questions on the Web and TIU students evaluate the answers and provide any necessary feedback.
In turn, TIUA students create and post reading materials on the Web to provide appropriate background for the Fall visit of TIU students to Salem, Willamette University and TIUA. This information is to include interactive activities which are to be published on the joint-class Web site and evaluated with feedback from TIUA students.
Objective:
These activities enhance language learning by putting learners in the role of teachers. The minds of students are drawn out of the classroom, and focused upon matters that are likely to be of interest to distantly-located partners. These activities provide authentic and relevant text with interactive exercises and direct feedback.
The stated goal of the Duell Tutorial trip in September to TIUA was:
Description:
Students work together to create a travelogue chronicling the visit of TIU students to TIUA. This information is to include reading material and interactive exercises, all of which is to be posted to the joint project Web page. TIUA students are to work as mentors with the TIU students to introduce them to the culture of Willamette, TIUA, and Salem, and help them create material for the Web.
Objectives:
1. Each TIU visitor is to shadow a TIUA counterpart to experience firsthand a student's perspective of what life at TIUA and WU is like. The TIUA mentors are to be students from TIUA Prof. Wayne Gregory's seminar classes who had been in Part I of the "Hands Across the Water" Project.
2. The TIU visitors are to experience life in Salem by staying with Salem families during their visit. Students are to be placed one per family to provide an only-English environment.
3. It is hoped that freshman students participating in this trip will gain sufficient interest from this trip in TIUA and Willamette University to return as TIUA students the next year, and/or to later study at Willamette.
Various factors led to only a portion of Phase I's stated goals being accomplished. These are discussed in more detail below, but include scattered absences by TIU students affecting work with partners, TIUA partners being too occupied with required course work to spend time doing non-graded joint class work, students not having enough technical knowledge to put materials they generated onto the joint class Web site requiring their professors to do that for students on their behalf, and so on. In general, the joint course fell further and further behind schedule, except for the September trip to TIUA by Duell Tutorial students.
The making of the September trip travelogue for the joint class Web site turned out to be too involved and time consuming for either Duell's or Gregory's students to help prepare. That project was compiled by Duell. However, Duell's students' TIUA partners greatly assisted in helping Duell's students polish the manuscripts of their daily diary of TIUA trip experiences which became part of the travelogue.
Objectives:
1. Thursday, Sept. 26 - Prof. Wayne Gregory assigns each of his students to e-mail their TIU partners with a self-introduction.
2. Monday, Sept. 30 - Prof. Barry Duell assigns each of his students to e-mail their TIUA partners with a self-introduction.
3. Tuesday, Oct. 1 - Gregory assigns his TIUA students to edit the e-mail messages once they are received, and send back comments. The TIUA students are to include a request for a response from their TIU partners upon receipt of the edited e-mail messages.
4. Monday, Oct. 7 - TIU students are to have received their edited messages and should have responded to their TIUA partners by Monday, Oct. 14.
5. Monday, Oct. 14 - Part I is to be completed.
Objectives:
1. Monday, Oct. 14 - TIU students are to send questions to their TIUA partners about life in Salem and at Willamette University.
2. Tuesday, Oct. 15 - TIUA students send questions to TIU students about life in Kawagoe and Japan.
3. Thursday, Oct. 24 - By this date, TIUA students have responded by posting answers and accompanying language learning materials on the project Web page.
4. Monday, November 11 - By this date, TIU students are to have sent all requested information to TIUA students. Part II is to be completed.
Objectives:
1. Monday, November 18 (at TIU), Sunday, Nov. 17 (at TIUA) - Both classes participate in an interactive, video conference over the Internet. Students should be prepared to share their evaluation of the "Hands Across the Water" joint class.
2. Tuesday, Nov. 26 (at TIU), Monday, Nov. 25 (at TIUA) - Students write and turn in to the professors their written evaluations of the experience.
3. Tuesday, Nov. 26 - Project is to be completed.
Phase II was far more successful than Phase I for several important reasons. Duell and Gregory had accumulated experience from Phase I to be able to better plan Phase II. More importantly, the TIU and TIUA school years better meshed in Phase II for allowing both TIU and TIUA students to more fully participate in the joint class. Duell's 12 Phase II students were the same as for Phase I, so these students had gained familiarity with the joint class process. Gregory's 14 Phase II students were taking Information Science and also taking Gregory's parallel Applied English course, so they had ample opportunity to master computer skills. During Phase II, the nature of Gregory's class allowed him to require joint course work, which provided a grade incentive to keep TIUA students involved in completing the TIU-TIUA joint course projects.
Four TIUA students continued in Phase II from Phase I. Two of these were mentors for Duell freshman students during the September Duell Tutorial tour to TIUA. This helped create more familiarity between Phase II Duell and Gregory students.
Due to Gregory's Phase II students having more advanced computer skills, they were able to be far more involved in the creation of the joint course Web site. Duell's students finally mastered e-mail skills during Phase II, but were never involved in creating joint-class Web site pages.
Phase II goals were more precisely delineated, and were less ambitious than Phase I goals, so a far greater proportion of stated goals were accomplished than for Phase I.
C. Positive Outcomes and Difficulties of the Joint Class
The May visit to Duell's Freshman Tutorial by Gunnar Gundersen, TIUA Administrative Director of Academic Affairs, and joint project colleague Gregory, was a benefit to Duell's TIUA students since it gave them a strong impression of who would be involved in the joint class on the TIUA side. The Gundersen and Gregory visit to TIU was primarily for recruiting TIUA students. Similarly, a June business visit to TIU by TIUA Business Manager Ryuji Torihara led to Torihara's speaking to the Duell Tutorial student group planning a September visit to TIUA. This helped prepare the students for what to expect concerning TIUA life and life with an American host family.
Duell and Gregory concur that the administrative encouragement of TIUA's Gundersen had a very positive benefit for enabling the joint class to proceed smoothly.
Duell and Gregory found each other compatible and mutually inspiring, necessities for successfully conducting our joint project. We each gained new insight into each other's English teaching environments. This allowed us to better understand the process of our students' language studies involving a four-year learning process on two campuses, TIU and TIUA.
TIU students have been able to have access to out-of-class, living-English experiences by interacting with their TIUA counterparts and professor. TIUA students have served as eyes and ears to gather overseas information.
TIUA students being sophomores have been able to play a mentor role to the Duell Tutorial freshman students due to TIUA students being older and having more advanced English skills resulting from their studies in the USA.
The September Duell Tutorial trip to TIUA, during which Duell's TIU students were paired with TIUA students, provided a chance to finally meet TIUA counterparts first hand. TIU students gained much accompanying their partners to class. The trip promoted TIU/TIUA student/faculty communication, and introduced TIU students to the TIUA program. However, regretfully, no 1996 Duell Tutorial students passed the screening for acceptance into the 1997 TIUA program.
TIU students have gained some proficiency in using computers and the Internet as a direct result of the joint class.
The Nov. 18, 1996, Video Conference and Open Class was beneficial not only because TIU/TIUA partners could "meet" for the first time via video conferencing, but also because interested TIU/TIUA faculty could meet each other, and observe the joint project in action to help them decide for themselves about starting their own exchanges.
Duell and Gregory, though separated by the Pacific Ocean, were able to maintain frequent contact via e-mail and Internet video conferences. During Phase II we began instituting weekly e-mail reports concerning the progress of our students in following the Phase II schedule. This frequent, regular communication helped iron out problems before they became impediments to our class, and helped insure our joint class goals would be accomplished in a timely way.
E-mail and video conferences proved to be effective for keeping Duell and Gregory in contact without added telecommunications expenditures since TIU and TIUA already had the necessary Internet-connected computers in place. The same facilities also had the unplanned benefit of helping Duell and Gregory keep in closer contact with their TIUA and TIU colleagues respectively.
TIU's new computer facilities, upgraded for classroom use and faculty research, were completed in April 1996 in time for the start of "Hands Across the Water." Due to this expansion, Duell was able, like Gregory, to have an office Internet connection which vastly facilitated the carrying out of the joint project. TIUA's classroom computer facilities were upgraded by summer 1996. With these TIU/TIUA facilities in place, very little additional expense was involved in conducting the joint project class.
This project ended up giving Duell incentive to try some very different approaches to English teaching than he had previously attempted during 22 years of teaching at TIU.
Some difficulties of Phase I and II of the joint class have been touched upon above. Additional detail is given below.
TIU's first semester overlapped parts of TIUA's Spring and Summer semesters during Phase I. While Duell's Freshman Tutorial was meeting 90 minutes per week, the TIUA Spring and Summer Gregory Seminar class was meeting four hours per week. Due to the heavy TIUA class load, there was insufficient time for the TIUA Seminar class to devote to carrying out all the Phase I plans. A further complication was that TIU's school year begins about two months after TIUA's year starts. With TIU's Freshman Tutorial students being new to university life, and unfamiliar with computer use, they were ill-prepared for taking part in Phase I of the collaborative project, especially because they did not have sufficient time to learn necessary computer skills needed for use during that phase.
TIU's second semester overlapped fairly well with TIUA's Fall semester for carrying out Phase II. However, similar to Phase I, the amount of classroom contact time with students was much lower at TIU than at TIUA. While Duell's Freshman Tutorial was meeting 90 minutes per week, the TIUA Fall Gregory Applied English class was meeting three hours per week, and also for an additional three hours per week in the associated Information Science class. By the Fall semester, Duell's TIU Freshman Tutorial students were finally able to manage minimal computer skills, but continued to lag behind Gregory's TIUA students.
The assigning of TIU and TIUA students to work in pairs can be problematic when one member of the pair is late in completing his/her part of an assignment. Activities were all designed to build on the work of the partners, so when a partner on one side of the Pacific Ocean did not complete his/her activity, it caused a delay for the other partner on the other side of the ocean. Since class time was used to work with students on doing their joint project activities, occasionally there would be a student or two who could not work on the same project as the others in the class because their partners had not yet done their part of the work.
The level of technological expertise needed for both faculty and students is high. With improved software options, some of the Web page creation can be handled much easier. However, the professor involved does need to have some basic understanding of how e-mail and the Web works and have a great personal desire to work with that kind of technology. Furthermore, if students are not going to do their own Web page creation, the faculty member (or an assistant) will have to have the time and skill to do so.
Limited Internet bandwidth restricted how projects placed on the "Hands Across the Water" joint Web page could be utilized in the classroom. As of May 1997, TIU's Internet connection bandwidth, or the maximum speed at which data can be transferred, was 128,000 bits per second. TIUA's Internet connection bandwidth is ten times greater. Since TIU has hundreds of Internet-connected computers which its roughly 8,000 students use, the TIU connection congests far more easily than TIUA's connection where about 100 students use two dozen or so Internet-connected computers.
The TIU Internet environment results in such lengthy time delays for in-class computers to download, or retrieve, Internet data from TIUA's server that Duell settled on creating a mirror site on TIU's server computer for all TIUA joint project Web material. Since TIU's internal bandwidth is about 100 times that of its link to the Internet, viewing and using TIUA joint project files in class became feasible with the introduction of the mirror site at TIU.
On the contrary, Gregory's students did not have difficulty downloading joint project files from TIU's server, so there was little necessity for creating a mirror site of TIU joint project files at TIUA.
Mirroring TIUA joint project files on TIU's server proved to be tedious for at least two reasons. First, because the servers TIU and TIUA use are different, the way files need to be labeled is slightly different. Therefore, Duell had to manually rename TIUA files before TIU's server could properly use them.
Another mirror site difficulty was the use of absolute as opposed to relative links in TIUA files. A link is an Internet address that tells the location of a file a viewer wants to peruse. A relative link directs the viewer to a file located relative to where the currently viewed file is. So if a relative link is in a TIUA server file, the viewer is directed to a file in the TIUA server. If these files are then moved to TIU's server, relative links direct the viewer to mirror files within TIU's server. However, if TIUA files contain absolute links, they continue to direct the viewer to files in TIUA's server even when copies of all relevant TIUA files have been copied to TIU's server. To make TIUA generated files usable for the TIU server, it was necessary for Duell to manually convert all links to relative links.
While the "Hands Across the Water" joint English teaching project between TIU and TIUA classes has demonstrated the feasibility of future such Internet-based projects, TIU colleagues have questioned the necessity of two key features of "Hands Across the Water." Areas of concern are:
1. The need for using Internet-connected computers to conduct such a project, and
2. The feasibility of finding a suitable overseas partner for carrying out the project.
Examination of these concerns can provide suggestions for conducting future joint projects or Internet-related classes.
A concern related to the use of Internet-connected computers for conducting "Hands Across the Water" is whether such high-technology equipment is necessary. Questions that have been asked include: "Couldn't the same results have been realized by mailing documents and photos between the two far-flung classes?" or "If speed was a premium, couldn't such items have been FAXed back and forth?"
The FAX approach has been successfully tried. A professor at TIU during Fall 1996 had students write compositions on a specific theme. These were FAXed to a cooperating class of students in the United States where the essays were critiqued, and the results FAXed back. This technique worked just as well as posting compositions on a joint-class homepage, or sending compositions and corrections back and forth by e-mail. Computers were not used on either side of the ocean for this exchange as both Japanese and American students hand wrote their compositions and comments.
An advantage of the FAX approach is the ease with which the exchange of classwork can be carried out. The only special knowledge a teacher needs is how to use a FAX machine.
A disadvantage of the FAX approach is that it is more difficult to leave a permanent record of classwork exchange available for students and colleagues to view as a reference resource. This disadvantage can be partially overcome by copying the work, and stapling it together for distribution to interested parties.
Faculty wishing to have an international class exchange will need to carefully consider the level of technology to use for the exchange. Needing to be taken into account are the equipment each educator has available in the classroom or office for the exchange, the time needed for the faculty involved to learn how to use the technology chosen, and likewise the time needed to teach necessary skills to students for conducting such exchange. Unfortunately, it is not easy to correctly estimate teacher or student learning time.
In any case, faculty involved in such a joint course need to clearly plan for how to teach students necessary computer skills in order to maximize the amount of materials students can prepare themselves, and minimize what faculty must do instead of students due to students having insufficient computer skills.
Also needing consideration is what kind of permanent record, if any, the cooperating faculty wish to leave. A homepage on the Internet is a way to provide an impressive record of classwork, depending on the skill of faculty and students when constructing such a page, which would then be accessible by students and colleagues anywhere in the world. However, to view such a homepage requires the proper equipment and basic Internet access expertise (21).
A class homepage can create possible problems such as Internet users making unauthorized use of student materials, or using any contact information provided on the page to make undesired contact with students.
On the whole, a class homepage allows a class to publish materials without any printing cost, and to distribute them via the Internet without any mailing fee. This makes it especially convenient and cost effective for students participating in a joint course to share data with partners in a distant location.
A question has arisen at TIU concerning the benefit of having an overseas partner. With access to the Internet, one can tap into resources from all over the globe. Eliminating the partner option does simplify coordination of a class, one of the difficulties touched upon above concerning implementation of the "Hands Across the Water" project. Without an overseas partner, one need not be concerned about differences in the academic year, level of technical expertise or commitment of one's partner, the speed of progress of the students in the partner class in completing each phase of a project, and so on.
On the other hand, should one choose to search for a partner, what options are available? Perhaps the first place to look for TIU English teachers would be TIU's branch campus in the United States, TIU of America. Another possibility would be joining with faculty at Willamette University, TIU's sister school. However, for some years TIU and Willamette have promoted the concept of joint research between their TIU and Willamette faculty, but few projects have yet resulted from this effort.
With TIU faculty largely unused to team teaching even with colleagues in Japan, the idea of having a joint class with an overseas colleague can be especially daunting. As of May 1997, it remains yet to be seen whether further joint English classes, in addition to "Hands Across the Water," will be actualized by TIU faculty.
IV. "Hands Across the Water" 1997 Plans
Completely new groups of students will be involved in the 1997 joint class, both at TIU and at TIUA, giving the authors the opportunity to repeat successful features of the 1996 joint class. Duell and Gregory are continuing to evaluate the 1996 project in order to launch a similar but improved 1997 project.
Learning from the 1996 joint class, 1997 joint class activities will only be held in the Fall, a time during both TIU and TIUA school years most conducive to realizing such a project. Time before that will be devoted on both campuses to training joint class participants in how to type, and teaching necessary computer skills to allow student participation in creating joint class Web site materials.
A valuable result of the literature search described above, is understanding that students need better understanding of the basic reasons for engaging in a joint project. Computer technology cannot be allowed to take the fore in instructor or student minds. That technology is to be used, however, as an important tool for accomplishing course purposes.
A key course purpose is likely to again emphasize the mentoring role of TIUA sophomores in helping the younger TIU freshmen who have less English fluency. As the Duell Freshman Tutorial tour to TIUA in September is to be this year's project's first event, TIU/TIUA student pair bonding is to first take place in person before depending on the Internet for communication. Having students directly meet their overseas partners before a joint project begins cannot help but more deeply involve students in the project.
To help avoid delay problems in the project schedule caused by pair partners being absent or not doing their share of the work, Duell and Gregory are considering small groups as an alternative. Two or more Duell students would be joined with a similar number of Gregory students. This arrangement is more likely to keep the joint class moving on schedule, but activities will have to be slightly rearranged, and the method of grading adjusted.
Duell freshmen will gain a better understanding while at TIUA of the valuable perspective TIUA sophomores are able to share with TIU freshmen by being stationed in an English-speaking environment. Having Duell students act as questioners, and Gregory students act as reporters about the niche of America they are in is likely to be another key aspect of the joint course.
In Spring 1997, RealAudio servers were installed at both TIU and TIUA. It is hoped this technology will facilitate placing recordings of student speeches on the Web as a teaching material. With Progressive Networks, Inc., upgrading its RealAudio server software this year to also serve video, Duell and Gregory are considering how best to include video images in the joint project Web page.
At the time of this writing in May 1997, the authors are still evolving Fall 1997 joint class plans.
A critical reader may ask, "Can't the same goals as accomplished during the "Hands Across the Water" project be more easily accomplished with low-technology means?"
One may also ask whether the joint class accomplishments were justified by the steep learning curve necessary not only for a professor to learn the required high technology skills, but also to teach these skills to students. Not only the difficulty, but also the large time input essential for learning and teaching these skills may be questioned. It would be tempting to engage in a more traditional form of distance learning utilizing simpler technology.
Duell and Gregory feel that the introduction of computer and Internet skills into our English classes helped stimulate students to better learn English. These basic skills will hopefully serve students well in the future for similar courses, and help increase students' salability when they later search for employment.
In addition to the technology being stimulating for students and being useful for organizing class work in a presentable fashion for exhibiting on the Internet and elsewhere, the act of communicating with students in a far-removed location helped motivate students to learn English better than in a traditional classroom setting. Technology was useful for helping bring the English-speaking world into the classroom and demonstrating to students practical uses for their language training.
Notes
1) Jill H. Ellsworth, Education on the Internet, A Hands-On Book of Ideas, Resources, Projects, and Advice, Sams Publishing, Indianapolis, 1994, pp. 375 94.
6) Kendall Hamilton and Susan Miller, "Internet U - No Ivy, No Walls, No Keg Parties," Newsweek, March 17, 1997, p. 14.
7) Clifford Stoll, Silicon Snake Oil, Second Thoughts on the Information Highway, Doubleday, New York, 1995, pp. 116-53.
10) Nicholas Baran, Inside the Information Superhighway Revolution, Coriolis Group Books, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1995, pp. 147-64.
11) Katie Hafner, "Have Your Agent Call My Agent," Newsweek, February 27, 1995, pp. 48-49.
12) Brewster Kahle, "Preserving the Internet," Scientific American, March 1997, pp. 72-73.
13) Mark Stefik, "Trusted Systems," Scientific American, March 1997, pp. 68-71.
14) An example of joint class projects that use a password to keep away outsiders is "AT&T Jens Virtual Classroom on the Net Program" located at the Internet address:
15) Anne W. Branscomb, "Common Law for the Electronic Frontier," Scientific American, September 1991, pp. 112-16.
16) Alan C. Kay, "Computers, Networks, and Education," Scientific American, September 1991, pp. 100-107.
17) Brad Glosserman, "Making the grade," The Japan Times, Jan. 8, 1997.
18) Bill Gates, The Road Ahead, Viking, New York, 1995, pp. 184-90.
19) Claudia Wallis, "The Learning Revolution," Time, Special Issue, May 1995, pp. 41-43.
20) The hardware and software used for the "Hands Across the Water" joint project varied somewhat between TIU and TIUA.
At TIU, the main hardware utilized were Power Macintosh 7200's for student use, a Power Macintosh 8500 for Duell's use, a Casio QV-10 digital camera, an Apple PlainTalk microphone, and the Apple digital video camera included in QuickTime Conferencing Kit. The main software used by TIU students was Netscape Navigator for Web browsing and Eudora for e-mailing. Duell also used PageMill and SimpleText for creating Web pages, Color It! and GraphicConverter for converting digital photos to GIF or JPEG format, Fetch for sending completed Web pages to TIU's server, and CU-SeeMe for video conferencing with Gregory or between Duell's and Gregory's students.
TIUA used Power Macintosh 7200's for students and Gregory, an Apple QuickTake for digital photos, Apple PlainTalk microphones, and the Apple digital video camera included in QuickTime Conferencing Kit. The main software used at TIUA was SimpleText for Gregory and students to make Web pages, NetWare for transferring completed Web pages to TIUA's server, and CU-SeeMe for video conferencing with Duell or between Gregory's and Duell's students.
21) The "Hands Across The Water" 1996 homepage is best viewed at:
if in Japan, and at:
http://www.tiua.edu/American_Studies/Fall_96_Classes/Joint_Project/start.html
if in the Americas.
Baran, Nicholas, Inside the Information Superhighway Revolution, Coriolis Group Books, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1995.
Branscomb, Anne W., "Common Law for the Electronic Frontier," Scientific American, September 1991.
Ellsworth, Jill H., Education on the Internet, A Hands-On Book of Ideas, Resources, Projects, and Advice, Sams Publishing, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1994.
Gates, Bill, The Road Ahead, Viking, New York, 1995.
Glosserman, Brad, "Making the grade," The Japan Times, Jan. 8, 1997.
Hafner, Katie, "Have Your Agent Call My Agent," Newsweek, February 27, 1995.
Hamilton, Kendall, and Susan Miller, "Internet U - No Ivy, No Walls, No Keg Parties," Newsweek, March 17, 1997.
Kahle, Brewster, "Preserving the Internet," Scientific American, March 1997.
Kay, Alan C., "Computers, Networks, and Education," Scientific American, September 1991.
Stefik, Mark, "Trusted Systems," Scientific American, March 1997.
Stoll, Clifford, Silicon Snake Oil, Second Thoughts on the Information Highway, Doubleday, New York, 1995.
Wallis, Claudia, "The Learning Revolution," Time, Special Issue, May 1995.
Copyright 1997 - Barry Duell and Wayne Gregory.
Prepared by Barry Duell. Last changed: February 7, 1998.