Sharing the project

The following is the presentation I have prepared in order to present the findings of the research project developed:

Online Video-making Tasks to Motivate Autonomy

View more presentations from Jorge Zea Gonzalez.

Concluding

After the long process, of this Action Research project, I have come up with the following conclusion,

Online video-making tasks increased fourth graders motivation for the following autonomous learning behaviors: Choosing different aspects of the learning process, cooperating with the learning process of peers, self-assessing the progress of learning, defining clear learning goals, and organizing the student’s own learning process. Along the side of the online video-making tasks the following motivational strategies were used: allowing learners real choices about their learning process, handing over functions to the learners for cooperative work, and the teacher adopting the role of a facilitator.

Animoto, Xtranormal and MashFace

MashFace

MashFace is an interesting tool that gives entertainment for students while learning. It is a website that enables the user to add video segments into a photograph. This means that the learners can add their voice and mouth to a picture of any character. In order to use this web program the user requires a web-cam and a microphone. Finally, it interacts with YouTube in order to share the mashes with people that not necessarily have an account in MashFace.

Xtranormal

Xtranormal is an online program allows making animated videos by typing a script and choosing character and scenario options. It is basically used for monologues or conversations. It guides in a clear way the manner that the user is supposed to create the movies. Also, it gives many options that allow learners to be creative; they can create characters and settings, change the position of the cameras, and change the voices. This program allows you to upload videos to YouTube. There is information from different blogs that have spoken about the utilities of this website in the classroom, such as Peachey (2008). He states that this site can offer many possibilities for students to exercise different activities of language use. The researcher has also used this website for small scale projects and has found that Xtranormal motivates students to do written tasks.

Animoto

Animoto is an online video-making site that allows learners to create picture and sound videos. The purpose of this program is to create presentations that mix pictures with sound. It can be used to create stories or presentations about different topics. This is a friendly using site and very secure, because it only allows the user to see its videos, however you can also share the videos you create with YouTube. One of the great aspects of Animoto is that it has a special site for animations. In this website: http://education.animoto.com/ there are examples on how teachers have been using this online program in and outside the classroom. Swiatek (2008) remarks the use of this site for children; he states that it is a great way for our “digital age” students to produce and share knowledge.

The ideas behind this project

The following constructs were the basis of this project:

Autonomy in the field of language learning

Wu (2008) states that teachers should cultivate a kind of learner that can continue a Life Long Learning process independently.

Brown (2007, p. 377) states that autonomy is the “individual effort and action through which learners initiate learning, strategic action, problem solving, and the generation of linguistic input”.

Autonomous learning behaviors

Different authors have drawn a set of behaviors that define an autonomous learner (Benson, 2001; Brown, 2007; Dörnyei, 2006; Harmer, 2007):

· An autonomous learner chooses different aspects of the learning process (materials, activities, topics, assignments, etc.).

· An autonomous learner cooperates with the learning process of peers.

· An autonomous learner self-assesses the progress of learning.

· An autonomous learner defines clear learning goals.

· An autonomous learner organizes his/her learning process.

From Dörnyei’s (2006) point of view there are certain strategies that the teacher can adopt to motivate autonomous learning behavior:

• Allow learners real choices about as many aspects of the learning process as possible.
• Hand over functions to the learners for cooperative work.
• Adopt the role of a facilitator.

Online video-making tasks

For the present study, I have decided to use online video-making tasks to motivate young learners for autonomous behavior. The reason for choosing this tool is because learners need opportunities to use technology as a part of their personal development. According to Beatty (2003) children are able to handle technology in ways that amaze their teachers; following Beatty’s view, teachers must allow technology to be a part of the classroom and use it as a way to motivate children towards autonomy.

Reminder of the Research Question

To analyze the data I had to take into account the following research question:

How will the Design of online video-making tasks increase fourth graders’ motivation for autonomous learning behaviour?

I kept in mind the following objectives:

General objective.

To increase fourth grader motivation for an autonomous learning behavior by using online video-making tasks.

Specific objectives.

· To teach students how to create online videos.

· To foster students’ autonomous learning behavior by applying motivational strategies.

Survey Data Analysis

In order to organize this data, Norton (2009) presents a strategy called Thematic Analysis. This strategy is used to analyze qualitative information through a set of five steps. The surveys of this project present a different type of information because its analysis must be done using a quantitative perspective. In order to interpret this information Norton (2009) presents a strategy called Frequency Counts, which is a simple method of descriptive statistics useful to display results in a summarized form. The Data analysis of the surveys (pre and Post) were done using only the answers that demonstrated a drastic change of opinion. The following were the answers that demonstrated this:

1. I look for materials to learn in better way things that I consider difficult.

5. I learn better when I choose the topics of my tasks.

7. I learn better when my classmates help me.

8. I give suggestions to my classmates about how they can improve a task.

9. I enjoy learning from my classmates.

12. After I finish a task I do not correct it unless my teacher tells me to.

13. After I finish a task I think about how to improve it.

14. I check my tasks before I hand them in.

16. When I start a task I know what my learning goal is.

17. I know what the goals of this school period are for my subjects.

18. I usually achieve my goals.

20. I understand the goals that my teachers set for me.

25. I set specific goals before I look for information.
· Motivation for decision making in tasks.

With this information and the other data analysis I got the following Themes that guided the findings of this research project:

· Cooperation among peers.

· Self-assessment of the learning process.

· Recognizing and achieving learning goals.

· Organizing the learning process.

Sharing the projects with the class

In order to do share the project we did with the community, we created a space where the students showed the videos, they were very excited to do this. I talked to a teacher from the school, and she agreed to invite her students to see this presentation. The students were very pleased with the results, and the development of the videos was enjoyed by everyone. Here are some pictures of this experience.