I was asked to be the lead discussant in this session of UPOU's Faculty Congress on Aug 4. It's July 31 and I still am not sure what they want me to share exactly:
Session 2 – Engaging Learners in a Virtual Classroom
A lead discussant and panel of reactors will open the session, which focuses on good practices and critical reflections on pedagogical designs and practices for fostering active, deep, and participatory learning online. Participants will then discuss the session topics in more detail in concurrent group discussions. Some questions that the panelists and Congress participants might address are:
How do we effectively build a community of inquiry online?
How do we manage transactional distance in an online learning environment?
How do we balance learner independence as well as learner collaboration and dialogue?
How do we develop learning to learn and higher order thinking skills?
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thoughts on WizIQ
After reasoning with myself and making minor changes to my research proposal for this study on Teaching Presence at WizIQ, I finally find myself enjoying the videos of 3 teachers at WizIQ, namely Nellie, Namrata and George. I am simply amazed with what I witnessed in their classes. What I see are three teachers, with different teaching styles in running their classes but all with a common goal-- they are bent to help their students learn English. In each class you get to immerse in a learning culture unique in itself... like watching 3 TV shows with 3 different plots and cast of characters, and the sound of world Englishes as learners find ways to communicate and understand each other. I have the benefit of learning crossculturally from all these online interactions in the virtual classroom. This is just speaking about 3 classes I've seen so far and imagine all other classes which have been going on right inside WizIQ!!! It finally dawned on me what WizIQ meant with its tagline: "anyone can teach, anyone can learn". What surfaces on my screen however, is more to the advantage of the adult learner. It is precisely because in a learning community such as WizIQ a learner gets to choose from a wide array of classes and teaching styles which will work for them--depending on what they need, who they want to be with and when, and most importantly, what suits them best. It's a diverse learning experience at this online learning platform compared to what is possibly happening in other higher education institutions where adult learners have not much choice when it comes to their teachers and their classmates, in return for a piece of paper they call a diploma. At WizIQ teachers and learners from all continents, willingly come together because they want to experience teaching and learning in a way which fits them...pure and simple as that. The platform lends itself naturally to individualized and collaborative learning, in a small class or a bigger one, and participation in a conference is still made possible. Who would have known that education can be this way for most of us who choose to learn online.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Feedback from the Research and Publications Committee re WizIQ paper
I had to simply check on my thoughts and feelings (which I sometimes find hard to separate). I received feedback re my research proposal, which goes this way:
1) How are you going to identify the exemplary teachers? Define “exemplary”.
2) There are too many research designs: case study, content analysis, conversation analysis. The one year alloted time for the research grant may not be enough to cover all. Hence, just concentrate on one research design. For example, a case study of a UPOU teacher, then analyze.
3) Suggested Title: Teaching Presence at WizIQ: A Case Study of UPOU Teachers
Item # 1) I find as an acceptable feedback. But to #2 and #3, I intend to respond:
2) on having "too many research designs"
I did specify only 1 research design which is: case study. Content analysis and conversation analysis on the other hand are not my research design, but methods of gathering and analyzing data. As follows are reasons for the choice of methods:
a) The WizIQ platform uses multimodal features and therefore generate types of data which can be examined through content analysis. Data to be analyzed made available through the lecture/powerpoint material in the class which the teacher uses.
b) Conversation analysis is a method to analyze data made available through the conversations recorded in the chatbox among students and teachers, as well as communications produced by teachers and learners as recorded in audio and video. This specifically answers the second research question which focuses on: 2) How is teaching presence constructed in synchronous live classes?
3) on changing my research to the panel's suggested title:
In my proposal, I stated this: “.... this study opens an opportunity for teacher educators from higher education to engage prospective learners in studies of this nature to include the viewing of recorded virtual live classes as a means to develop technique, strategy and reflection in online teaching via synchronous learning environments. Hence this study hopes to inform the practice of effective teaching and preparation of pre-service teachers who may get into online teaching in current and future alternative learning systems.”
The choices of research I do (and have done in the past) has to be primarily meaningful to myself and my practice. As teacher educator, I would like to learn from expert teachers at WizIQ so that I can effectively run live synchronous classes with my student teachers at EDUC 280 and future BES students, thereby modelling ways of online teaching and facilitation for AES and IDT majors. At the same time, I will be able to curate the recorded classes at WizIQ which I can use as resources for “online class observations”. Findings from this study therefore aim to inform teacher education.
Hence the researcher sees the need to focus on exemplary teachers who have been using the synchronous platform for a good number of years, with public classes made available for research. The current UPOU faculty member who have classes, and usage data available at WizIQ is I. Other faculty members, on the other hand, who have used the platform are Prof AL Francis Librero and Prof Roberto Figueroa, registered WizIQ teachers with no recorded classes, nor visible student following and student feedback/ recommendations in their public profiles. And since the nature of my study focuses on exemplary teachers, doing one based on your suggestion completely changes the purposes of my investigation. In addition, since my choice of field is in the area of language teaching/ education, these fellow faculty members are not my best sources of data as they teach courses which are not related to education. However, in the future, I do plan to do an autoethnography of my journey as teacher educator/lifelong learner at WizIQ later on—a case study of myself as novice teacher evolving into an expert one in synchronous live classes or even blended learning environments. Other future ideas include co writing to look into exemplary teachers, effective teaching and comparative studies looking into other subject areas such as Science, Geography and Math to inform prospective practitioners of Virtual Hish Schools in the Philippines.
I know, I take things to heart. My impulsive reactions shall die down in the end. It's just that I have managed to do my prior research/publications on my own, without even applying for the Research Grant. I decided to try because: 1) I wanted funds to cover for WizIQ membership while doing the study and while using this for my classes, which supposedly a university like mine should cover, 2) I wanted to get additional funds for MACbook or any reliable laptop so I can have a decent and durable laptop which I need for me to be able to do my work at my unive, again, an equipment which my unive should provide in the first place,(again for teaching&research) or 3) use the funds for future WizIQ user conference/ research dissemination which I hope to attend in order to learn and network with fellow educators without having to necessarily present(for my learning to become better at teaching).
Now Aleta, perhaps be rational about this. Simply take the emotion away, and think in the shoes of your panel screening your research for a prospective grant from the University. As your Dean have implied, "What has UPOU have to gain from your research?" I need to surface that.
Reasoning with myself:
UPOU's major investment are its teachers. Any form of research in pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake will funnel into the teaching practice at the classroom level. That I sooo know. But the panel may be using a different thinking hat so get over this and revise your proposal as this is the only way for your brains to move on and get the work done!!! Slay that Dragon in your brain!!!
Google Plus remember this girl:
You are here to test yourself more than anything: To what extent can you sustain your attention to this research alongside other things you need to do in your life? If you hurdle this, chances are, you will pursue your Phd. If not, carve a different path.
1) How are you going to identify the exemplary teachers? Define “exemplary”.
2) There are too many research designs: case study, content analysis, conversation analysis. The one year alloted time for the research grant may not be enough to cover all. Hence, just concentrate on one research design. For example, a case study of a UPOU teacher, then analyze.
3) Suggested Title: Teaching Presence at WizIQ: A Case Study of UPOU Teachers
Item # 1) I find as an acceptable feedback. But to #2 and #3, I intend to respond:
2) on having "too many research designs"
I did specify only 1 research design which is: case study. Content analysis and conversation analysis on the other hand are not my research design, but methods of gathering and analyzing data. As follows are reasons for the choice of methods:
a) The WizIQ platform uses multimodal features and therefore generate types of data which can be examined through content analysis. Data to be analyzed made available through the lecture/powerpoint material in the class which the teacher uses.
b) Conversation analysis is a method to analyze data made available through the conversations recorded in the chatbox among students and teachers, as well as communications produced by teachers and learners as recorded in audio and video. This specifically answers the second research question which focuses on: 2) How is teaching presence constructed in synchronous live classes?
3) on changing my research to the panel's suggested title:
In my proposal, I stated this: “.... this study opens an opportunity for teacher educators from higher education to engage prospective learners in studies of this nature to include the viewing of recorded virtual live classes as a means to develop technique, strategy and reflection in online teaching via synchronous learning environments. Hence this study hopes to inform the practice of effective teaching and preparation of pre-service teachers who may get into online teaching in current and future alternative learning systems.”
The choices of research I do (and have done in the past) has to be primarily meaningful to myself and my practice. As teacher educator, I would like to learn from expert teachers at WizIQ so that I can effectively run live synchronous classes with my student teachers at EDUC 280 and future BES students, thereby modelling ways of online teaching and facilitation for AES and IDT majors. At the same time, I will be able to curate the recorded classes at WizIQ which I can use as resources for “online class observations”. Findings from this study therefore aim to inform teacher education.
Hence the researcher sees the need to focus on exemplary teachers who have been using the synchronous platform for a good number of years, with public classes made available for research. The current UPOU faculty member who have classes, and usage data available at WizIQ is I. Other faculty members, on the other hand, who have used the platform are Prof AL Francis Librero and Prof Roberto Figueroa, registered WizIQ teachers with no recorded classes, nor visible student following and student feedback/ recommendations in their public profiles. And since the nature of my study focuses on exemplary teachers, doing one based on your suggestion completely changes the purposes of my investigation. In addition, since my choice of field is in the area of language teaching/ education, these fellow faculty members are not my best sources of data as they teach courses which are not related to education. However, in the future, I do plan to do an autoethnography of my journey as teacher educator/lifelong learner at WizIQ later on—a case study of myself as novice teacher evolving into an expert one in synchronous live classes or even blended learning environments. Other future ideas include co writing to look into exemplary teachers, effective teaching and comparative studies looking into other subject areas such as Science, Geography and Math to inform prospective practitioners of Virtual Hish Schools in the Philippines.
I know, I take things to heart. My impulsive reactions shall die down in the end. It's just that I have managed to do my prior research/publications on my own, without even applying for the Research Grant. I decided to try because: 1) I wanted funds to cover for WizIQ membership while doing the study and while using this for my classes, which supposedly a university like mine should cover, 2) I wanted to get additional funds for MACbook or any reliable laptop so I can have a decent and durable laptop which I need for me to be able to do my work at my unive, again, an equipment which my unive should provide in the first place,(again for teaching&research) or 3) use the funds for future WizIQ user conference/ research dissemination which I hope to attend in order to learn and network with fellow educators without having to necessarily present(for my learning to become better at teaching).
Now Aleta, perhaps be rational about this. Simply take the emotion away, and think in the shoes of your panel screening your research for a prospective grant from the University. As your Dean have implied, "What has UPOU have to gain from your research?" I need to surface that.
Reasoning with myself:
UPOU's major investment are its teachers. Any form of research in pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake will funnel into the teaching practice at the classroom level. That I sooo know. But the panel may be using a different thinking hat so get over this and revise your proposal as this is the only way for your brains to move on and get the work done!!! Slay that Dragon in your brain!!!
Google Plus remember this girl:
You are here to test yourself more than anything: To what extent can you sustain your attention to this research alongside other things you need to do in your life? If you hurdle this, chances are, you will pursue your Phd. If not, carve a different path.
Monday, July 18, 2011
LITCON IDAC ASIA 2011....:)
Dear J. Aleta R. Villanueva,
We are pleased to inform you that the abstract you submitted on 'Teaching Presence of Exemplary ESL Teachers at WizIQ' has been accepted by our reviewers. Congratulations.
Please find attached our Letter of Acceptance. Kindly fill the registration form [form attached ] and return it to us [litcon2011@gmail.com] at your earliest convenience for processing.
If you wish to take up the package registration [conference fees + 3 nights' accommodation inclusive of 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 3 morning and afternoon teas plus conference dinner], do let us know. The package registration rate is as follows:
Early Bird [before 15 July 2011] - USD400.00
After 15 July 2011- USD500.00
If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Looking forward to having you at our Conference.
Regards,
Toh Chwee Hiang
School of Languages, Literacies and Translation
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Tel: 04-6534125
Fax: 04-6532277
http://www.sollat.usm.my
PStay Green! Don't print this e-mail unless really necessary. Thank you.
2011 Asian Literacy Conference
in conjunction with
7th LITCON and 4th ILLC
"Language and Literacy in the Local and Global Contexts:
Success Stories and Unfolding Narratives"
11 - 13 October 2011
Berjaya Georgetown Hotel, Penang, Malaysia
For more info, please contact:
Tel : 604-6533145/6534181/019-7771292
Email : litcon2011@gmail.com / ambiga@usm.my
We are pleased to inform you that the abstract you submitted on 'Teaching Presence of Exemplary ESL Teachers at WizIQ' has been accepted by our reviewers. Congratulations.
Please find attached our Letter of Acceptance. Kindly fill the registration form [form attached ] and return it to us [litcon2011@gmail.com] at your earliest convenience for processing.
If you wish to take up the package registration [conference fees + 3 nights' accommodation inclusive of 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 3 morning and afternoon teas plus conference dinner], do let us know. The package registration rate is as follows:
Early Bird [before 15 July 2011] - USD400.00
After 15 July 2011- USD500.00
If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Looking forward to having you at our Conference.
Regards,
Toh Chwee Hiang
School of Languages, Literacies and Translation
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Tel: 04-6534125
Fax: 04-6532277
http://www.sollat.usm.my
PStay Green! Don't print this e-mail unless really necessary. Thank you.
2011 Asian Literacy Conference
in conjunction with
7th LITCON and 4th ILLC
"Language and Literacy in the Local and Global Contexts:
Success Stories and Unfolding Narratives"
11 - 13 October 2011
Berjaya Georgetown Hotel, Penang, Malaysia
For more info, please contact:
Tel : 604-6533145/6534181/019-7771292
Email : litcon2011@gmail.com / ambiga@usm.my
Saturday, July 9, 2011
GloCALL Acceptance :))
Dear J. Aleta R. Villanueva,
We are pleased to inform you that your paper entitled "Teaching Presence of Exemplary ESL Teachers at WizIQ" has been accepted to the 5th International Conference of the Globalization and Localization in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (GLoCALL), to be held in Century Park Hotel and De La Salle University, Manila, on 27-29 October 2011.
Notes:
1. All accepted presenters are required to confirm their attendance by replying to this email not later than 30 July 2011. Registration details will then be sent to you.
2. You are kindly asked to make final changes to your abstracts or bionotes by 15 August 2011. The updated version will appear in the conference program as is.
3. Each individual session is 35-minute long (25 minutes for the presentation and 10 minutes for Q&As). Time guidelines will be strictly observed. You will be notified once the presentation schedule becomes available.
4. We also encourage you to reserve accommodations at the conference hotel (Century Park Hotel Manila) early in order to ensure receiving the discounted hotel rate. You can download the hotel booking form from this site: http://glocall.org/course/view.php?id=66 and send to madsy@centurypark.com.ph.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you in the conference!
Sincerely,
Shirley
--
Dr. Shirley N. Dita
Conference Co-Chair/Program Chair
GLoCALL 2011
De La Salle University
Manila, The Philippines
http://www.glocall.org/
We are pleased to inform you that your paper entitled "Teaching Presence of Exemplary ESL Teachers at WizIQ" has been accepted to the 5th International Conference of the Globalization and Localization in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (GLoCALL), to be held in Century Park Hotel and De La Salle University, Manila, on 27-29 October 2011.
Notes:
1. All accepted presenters are required to confirm their attendance by replying to this email not later than 30 July 2011. Registration details will then be sent to you.
2. You are kindly asked to make final changes to your abstracts or bionotes by 15 August 2011. The updated version will appear in the conference program as is.
3. Each individual session is 35-minute long (25 minutes for the presentation and 10 minutes for Q&As). Time guidelines will be strictly observed. You will be notified once the presentation schedule becomes available.
4. We also encourage you to reserve accommodations at the conference hotel (Century Park Hotel Manila) early in order to ensure receiving the discounted hotel rate. You can download the hotel booking form from this site: http://glocall.org/course/view.php?id=66 and send to madsy@centurypark.com.ph.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you in the conference!
Sincerely,
Shirley
--
Dr. Shirley N. Dita
Conference Co-Chair/Program Chair
GLoCALL 2011
De La Salle University
Manila, The Philippines
http://www.glocall.org/
AAOU Abstract Acceptance :)
Paper#: 110 Title: Teaching Presence of Selected Exemplary Teachers at WizIQ
Dear J. Aleta Villanueva,
Re: 25th AAOU Annual Conference: Acceptance of Paper for Oral Presentation
We are pleased to inform you that your abstract has been accepted for Oral presentation at the 25th AAOU Annual Conference, Penang, Malaysia. We can confirm that you have been allocated a time slot for oral presentation. However, this slot may be re-allocated to other authors unless you complete the registration process on or before the 15th of August 2011. Should this happen, your paper will be re-allocated for presentation as a Poster.
You may proceed to submit your camera ready paper in .doc/.docx formats to the “Article Submission System”. Please note that the deadline for submission of camera ready papers is 31st July 2011. Papers submitted after this deadline may not be included in the conference proceedings and will not be considered for the Young Innovator Award (YIA) or the Best Paper Award (BPA).
If you have any queries regarding the registration process kindly e-mail the 25th AAOU Secretariat at aaou2011@wou.edu.my . Please pay special attention to the “Instructions to Authors” section below.
Instructions to Authors:
1. The camera ready papers should be in .doc/.docx formats only.
2. Use the “Paper ID” of your submission to name the .doc/.docx file (e.g. 342.doc or 342.docx). The “Paper ID” is mentioned at the top of this e-mail.
3. You will be completely responsible for the quality of your paper as there will be no editorial process taking place once you have submitted the camera ready paper. You will also be completely responsible for the clearance of any copyrights for your paper.
4. Please adhere to the best practices for preparing a camera ready paper. The paper should be written in English only. Both British style and American style are accepted as long as you are consistent throughout. Ensure that you do page numbering, spell check and grammar check prior to uploading the camera ready paper. Once uploaded, you will not be able to edit your submission.
5. Kindly use the following links to submit your camera ready papers and registrations. Your camera ready paper must be submitted via the “Article Submission System”. Manual submissions will not be entertained unless you are unable to access the “Article Submission System” online due to country restrictions. In such cases you may e-mail your camera ready paper, adhering to the points mentioned above, to ishansa@wou.edu.my to be submitted manually onto the system.
Instructions for the preparation of papers: http://www.aaou.net/aaou2011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=6
Article Submission System: http://www.aaou.net/aaou2011/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=24
Important Dates: http://www.aaou.net/aaou2011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=4
Registration and Fees: http://www.aaou.net/aaou2011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=10
We look forward to your presentations during the conference.
Kind regards
25th AAOU Secretariat.
Dear J. Aleta Villanueva,
Re: 25th AAOU Annual Conference: Acceptance of Paper for Oral Presentation
We are pleased to inform you that your abstract has been accepted for Oral presentation at the 25th AAOU Annual Conference, Penang, Malaysia. We can confirm that you have been allocated a time slot for oral presentation. However, this slot may be re-allocated to other authors unless you complete the registration process on or before the 15th of August 2011. Should this happen, your paper will be re-allocated for presentation as a Poster.
You may proceed to submit your camera ready paper in .doc/.docx formats to the “Article Submission System”. Please note that the deadline for submission of camera ready papers is 31st July 2011. Papers submitted after this deadline may not be included in the conference proceedings and will not be considered for the Young Innovator Award (YIA) or the Best Paper Award (BPA).
If you have any queries regarding the registration process kindly e-mail the 25th AAOU Secretariat at aaou2011@wou.edu.my . Please pay special attention to the “Instructions to Authors” section below.
Instructions to Authors:
1. The camera ready papers should be in .doc/.docx formats only.
2. Use the “Paper ID” of your submission to name the .doc/.docx file (e.g. 342.doc or 342.docx). The “Paper ID” is mentioned at the top of this e-mail.
3. You will be completely responsible for the quality of your paper as there will be no editorial process taking place once you have submitted the camera ready paper. You will also be completely responsible for the clearance of any copyrights for your paper.
4. Please adhere to the best practices for preparing a camera ready paper. The paper should be written in English only. Both British style and American style are accepted as long as you are consistent throughout. Ensure that you do page numbering, spell check and grammar check prior to uploading the camera ready paper. Once uploaded, you will not be able to edit your submission.
5. Kindly use the following links to submit your camera ready papers and registrations. Your camera ready paper must be submitted via the “Article Submission System”. Manual submissions will not be entertained unless you are unable to access the “Article Submission System” online due to country restrictions. In such cases you may e-mail your camera ready paper, adhering to the points mentioned above, to ishansa@wou.edu.my to be submitted manually onto the system.
Instructions for the preparation of papers: http://www.aaou.net/aaou2011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=6
Article Submission System: http://www.aaou.net/aaou2011/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=24
Important Dates: http://www.aaou.net/aaou2011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=4
Registration and Fees: http://www.aaou.net/aaou2011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=10
We look forward to your presentations during the conference.
Kind regards
25th AAOU Secretariat.
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