Contents:
Introduction
Phase I (April - June 1996)
Phase II (September - November 1996)
Open Class (November 18, 1996)
Positive outcomes of the joint project
Difficulties that had to be overcome
"Hands Across the Water" 1997
"Hands Across the Water" was a joint class held between Tokyo International University (TIU) and its branch campus in the USA, TIU of America (TIUA). The classes involved were TIUA Prof. Wayne Gregory's Information Science/Applied English Class and Prof. Barry Duell's Freshman Tutorial Class at TIU. From April to November 1996, Gregory and Duell's students conducted joint exercises together under the project name, "Hands Across the Water."
The Internet was a vital link for carrying out this project. Internet features that were utilized (and some of the software that was used) were email (Eudora), the World Wide Web (Netscape Navigator), and video-conferencing (CU-SeeMe). Video conferencing was done between the classes only once, though Gregory and Duell frequently used that medium, and especially email, for joint class consultation. Student partners communicated via email, and the joint class homepage was used to post joint class materials.
Phase I (April - June 1996)
During this phase, students from Professor Duell's Freshman Tutorial
were paired with students from two seminar sections at TIUA, each of which
had twelve students for a total of twenty four. One of the difficulties
with this arrangement was trying to fit joint activities into the rather
demanding seminar schedule we were expected to meet. During the Spring semester
at TIUA, seminar groups meet regularly and must spend a great deal of time
developing research skills for completing a paper in English. With only
an hour a week, it was very difficult to include joint activities with TIU
students as part of our seminar curriculum. As a result, the level and quality
of activities we attempted were less than desired.
However, both Professor Duell's students and mine benefitted from the September
Duell Tutorial Tour to TIUA. My students were involved as hosts and were
able to assume their role as language and culture mentors during the time
the TIU students were here. This idea of mentoring was part of the original
concept for this project as a way to strengthen the learning experience
of the TIUA students. This visit went very smoothly and I think we can build
on it to better emphasize the mentor role in the future.
Phase II (September - November 1996)
With Phase II, we tried to connect the joint project to a particular TIUA class. Part of the rationale for this was the notion that with more class contact hours it would be easier for me to build in joint activities to the regular class schedule. We found that this worked much better. Professor Duell's tutorial was paired with one section of an Applied English class I was doing with a focus on using the Internet for language learning. This particular topic worked well for our joint project because I could very easily include Web and e-mail joint activities as a natural part of our course content. Because the TIUA class consisted of sixteen students, some of the "pairs" of TIU/TIUA students were actually small groups of three. The activities seemed to work well, although there was always the problem of getting students to "cc:" their messages to Professor Duell and myself so that we could monitor their progress. In the future, it will work better to utilize the joint project Web page for posting all communication between students (at least that which is part of the official project). There was also a problem when one student did not complete an assignment in a timely manner, leaving the other student or pair of students waiting for something to respond to.
The Open Class held on Sunday night, November 17 from approximately 8:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. The students at TIUA were joined by two other interested TIUA professors (Gunnar Gundersen and Julie Varga) who were able to participate in the exchange as well as observing. TIUA students decided unanimously to meet for class on Sunday night because of their interest in participating in an Internet video-conference. This was done in lieu of a regular class meeting on the following Tuesday. The class schedule is as follows:
| 8:00-8:30 PM | Explanation of the joint class, and demonstration of the use of the joint class' homepage. |
| 8:30-9:15 PM | Video-conference during which TIU and TIUA students gave brief evaluations of the joint project. TIUA students asked TIU students questions. Observing professors were invited to participate in the video-conference. |
| 9:15-9:30 PM | Closing statements/questions. |
The audio reception on the TIUA side was moderate, but clear enough to understand.
However, our video reception was mostly a freeze frame with some intermittent
motion. Nonetheless, the TIUA students were enthusiastic in their participation
and in their evaluation of the experience. In fact, by a wide margin, most
of the students cited this internet videoconference as one of the highlights
of the project, despite the technical inadequacies.
Positive outcomes of the joint project
I would concur with Professor
Duell that one of the things that made this a positive and successful
experience was the amiable and cooperative nature of the interaction between
Professor Duell and myself. I found it very enjoyable to work with someone
as cooperative, insightful and diligent as Professor Duell. I was also fortunate
to have the enthusiastic support of TIUA's Executive Director of Academic
Affairs, Gunnar Gundersen, which was crucial to my ability to have a positive
experience with this project.
Secondly, I would agree that the interaction between the TIU and TIUA students
was very valuable and gave the TIUA students the opportunity to gain confidence
as English language users as they assumed the roles of mentors with their
TIU counterparts. However, in the future I think more could be done to emphasize
and facilitate this role.
Thirdly, the September Duell
Tutorial trip to TIUA, during which Duell's TIU students were paired
with TIUA students, added a nice personal touch to the project, as did the
internet videoconference. A by-product of this event was the interaction
between TIU and TIUA English professors and their chance to observe Web
technology at work in an English learning situation.
Finally, the increased proficiency in use of the Internet, in particular
e-mail and the Web (including the opportunity to create Web pages) was a
plus for the TIUA students.
Difficulties that had to be overcome
First of all, we found that trying to conduct the project throughout
the entire calendar year was problematic because TIU and TIUA's academic
calendars are different. Additionally, the kind of class schedule TIUA has
in the Spring and Summer made it difficult to find an appropriate group
to link to. It worked much better as a Fall semester joint project. In future
projects, this will give TIU professors 9who meet less often with their
students) a chance to help students develop necessary technology and English
language skills that will be necessary for successful participation in the
Fall semester.
Secondly, working in pairs can be problematic when one member of the
pair is late in completing his/her part of the assignments. The activities
were all designed to build on the work of the partners so when one did not
complete his/hers, it would cause a delay for the other. Since I used class
time to work with students on doing their joint project activities, I would
occasionally have 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.
Thirdly, the level of technological expertise needed for both faculty
and TIUA 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.
Finally, The CU-SeeMe video conferencing software was less than satisfactory due to poor video quality and undependable audio reception. However, since this software was not a fundamental part of the project, the disadvantages were far outweighed by the advantages of having a live interaction between the students and faculty members.
Gregory and Duell currently have plans underway to undertake a 1997 "Hands Across the Water" project.
Thank you for reading this "Hands Across the Water" evaluation
Please let me know about your Internet for Education successes.
Please send comments, suggestions, or questions to Wayne Gregory
Prepared by Wayne Gregory. Last changed: Jan. 21, 1997.