Wicked Problem Project - Part B

In thinking about my Wicked Problem Project, I find it easiest to begin with the PC portion of the model, the pedagogical choices and the content.  As stated in Part A of the project, I described my desire to use vodcasts to have students have authentic language exchanges via the web.  I’d prefer to have students share conversations with students from a different country and I mentioned that I’d like to hook-up with students or a class at a technical college in a Spanish-speaking country.  I used to live in Costa Rica and studied at a sustainable agricultural college ( I did a dual major- Spanish, Agriscience) and tutored English as a volunteer.  The English instructor is still teaching at the college and I figured she would be a first contact in networking.  Costa Rican Spanish is quite clear and the time-zone difference isn’t  a huge issue.  At the same time, I’d like my students to have some ownership of the project, and if they have the option of finding a speaking-partner then they would be more likely to stick with it.  I have decided to use the Costa Rica connection as a back-up.  Also, since there are so many Spanish-speaker’s in Michigan (and the US) I would also accept vodcast conversations that are more local.  This vodcast activity is replacing a face-to-face activity where my students meet a native speaker and basically report back to me (honor system!) that they have had a conversation.  Pedagogically, I would like to incorporate more of the course content into the project by giving students talking points that I’d like them to discuss, much like we do for journals (which are going to become blogs by the way!).  For instance, in Conversational Spanish 101, students learn how to introduce themselves, say where they are from, ask how the other person is, describe their state of being (good, bad, so-so) etc.  This is much simpler language than chapter 4 which provides grammar and vocabulary that enables students to describe their work or school schedules, or another chapter where they learn to describe and discuss their friends and families.  So basically, the PC knowledge will be based on the progression of the course.  Using vodcasts for each chapter, I’d like to incorporate several more conversations per semester so students get the authentic language experience more often as a practice activity rather than as a final course summary activity.  I can’t wait to see how this goes!  

The TC, technology-content, knowledge needed by students needs to be at a level that allows them to focus on the assignment, not the technology.  They will be so nervous anyway, that having to worry about troubleshooting technology errors and issues will be harmful.  Also, the institution I work for might provide tech support, but the Spanish-speaking user’s will not have access to these services.  Thus, the technology has to support the activity as smoothly as possible.  I am currently learning towards using Skype for this project.  I have used Skype to chat, but never with video chatting and I have never recorded anything.  Skype is free and so many people use it that perhaps it is big enough and established enough to have better support.  One other positive is that I think having the option to both write and speak might be helpful in the conversation.  It is common and perfectly legitimate for people practicing conversations to ask someone to write down the word they are saying as they might not be able to hear the word clearly due to pronunciation, etc.  In a face-to-face setting, people just jot words down on paper.  Having the chat along with the video would enable these channels of communication to exist, synchronously.  Students can listen, respond, read lips and body language, and share new vocabulary/double check with written language.  The extra-benefit of doing this activity digitally is that students can go back and review the conversation to practice listening.  Not only that, they can SEE and HEAR their progress which is such an inspiration!  

The TP, technology-pedagogy, I am trying to enable with this project is to provide authentic language exchanges without the burden of a delay.  After experiencing a lot of trouble using WebHuddle, I am really evaluating the technology tools I’d like to use for this project.  I plan to contact the Lansing Community College tech support to see if they support any free videoconferencing software.  This way, the videoconferencing could be real time and more authentic than shared screencasts which provide accessibility, but also the burden of a delay in language use.  The shared screen-casts would be a last resort.  I am really seeking to replace a face-to-face conversation that puts my students in the Spanish “survival” hot seat.  I’ll do my best to reassure them that they can pause and will encourage them to just do their best!  Adults have such a hard time making mistakes sometimes which is one of the reasons young children are said to pick up second languages more easily.