I've been very quiet for the first two weeks trying to absorb all the different blog comments and insights and ways of looking at teaching online. So far, it seems that I'm the only participant who does not have the luxury of teaching online with ease because of the Great Firewall of China.
Apologies if I didn't see your post and you are in a similar position as me. Please let me know if you are. (Hi to all the colleagues from my organisation who are also here - I know who you are :)
So, here in China, you have to look at online teaching in a totally different way. The obvious question is: "Why bother if it is a problem?" For me, the answer is simple: How else would you reach all those students whose lives are immensely enriched by being able to speak good English? In China this means better jobs (or simply just a job to start off with), better salary, better quality of life.
So, what are the technological problems we experience?
1. Internet access is not guaranteed. That means no easy access to Facebook, YouTube, Diigo, Google, many blogs, an infinite array of websites that educators in North America and elsewhere take for granted.
2. So, what decisions do you need to make with regard to technology. Yes, I can access (sometimes, if all the satellites are in the right position and the Great Firewall of China has not found that specific one yet to block) most sites through my excellent VPN, but my Chinese students cannot.
3. Hmmmmm... another can of worms - do I allow my Chinese-speaking English language learners to work collaborative on their equivalent of Facebook and other social media sites? Because if I do, they will most certainly not do it in English, unless they are advanced or upper advanced students. Dilemma..
4. I could, of course, use unsafe, unstable and 3rd rate sites that mushroom all over the Internet on a daily basis, but do I want the rest of the world to see my lessons, track my students, copy my hard work, steal my students, etc. etc. Or do I simply just work with the few good sites I can access, like Edublogs (sometimes), Vimeo (most of the time), Moodle, and others and stay out the mainstream of new and interesting developments?
We also have cultural problems - many!
1. Losing face: how to train your Chinese students that they can only learn through their mistakes?
2. You don't learn a language by listening to a person speak it and learning the rules by rote.
3. You cannot progress without participating in group work - a no-no to a large degree still in China as parents only want their children to listen to the native speakers "otherwise they pick up mistakes from their classmates if they speak in groups."
4. How do you get your Chinese students to participate in a class where no-one will answer the teacher when a question is asked - and you cannot walk up to them and cajole them along with humor, etc. like you can do in brick-and-mortar classroom.
5. How do you help young learners whose parents believe the old Confusian method of learning?
Right, this post is getting far too long! Looking forward to some interesting conversation about the above as we move towards planning our first lessons!
I enjoyed your post greatly. I forget how lucky we are in the western world with our freedom to access so much over the Internet. The cultural problems are also interesting. I have worked with Chinese students who have come to New Zealand to finish their studies. I have found it difficult when they wouldn't answer questions, wouldn't give opinions and preferred to not integrate with Kiwi students to practice their English. It is hard work to overcome these issues here so it must be incredibly hard to overcome them in their home country.
ReplyDeleteThe best of luck
Thanks so much for sharing—very interesting post. And an important reminder for those of us who are tempted to believe that “the world is flat”--end of story.
ReplyDeleteI was especially interested in the cultural issues you raise. In my classes at UC San Diego, often more than 50% of my students are ESL, including many from China and also other cultural backgrounds with some similar attitudes toward/difficulties with class participation. I just finished reading an article Lisa Lane posted about how many groups of people can be disadvantaged by a requirement of using legal names online, and I wonder if the use of a pseudonym could help to address the face-saving issue? Just a passing thought, don't know if it would work or just complicate matters. But I look forward to reading about any solutions you come up with!
There are some great challenges there!
ReplyDeleteI think in the western world we also have issues with learning from mistakes or "failure." Much progress to be made there in many places I imagine.
You said, "Do I want the rest of the world to see my lessons, track my students, copy my hard work, steal my students, etc. etc"
How about, "What value is there in sharing my lessons with others?"
The copy the work and stealing the work are other issues, but you do get to decide what you share and what you don't.
Great work!