I went to seminar at lunchtime today, about CloudBank, a JISC project looking to provide a mobile app for language learners (international students in the UK) to crowd source their own vocabulary.
An interesting project - but what got my attention was the presenters observation that when designing the app they had very much thought of an up-steam model - users wanting to contribute as the primary activity, but when in user testing, they discovered most people wanted downstream - to search and browse the content already there.
The following discussion was about whether it was felt students would actually contribute enough content to make this viable. A wise observation from one of the audience was that they won't contribute "unless it's entertainment, or unless it's assessed". This tallies with what I've found from my own experience, and is the reason I think my Never Ending Uni Quiz game works well - it adds the entertainment element to something not intrinsically entertaining.
The model of language learners submitting their own definitions for unfamiliar words also concerned me. Several examples of existing resources were discussed, and it's clear there is a real role for the 'expert'. Particularly when we're talking about language learners in a university - there are experts in that environment - and it's a shame not to use them.
Speaking of experts, I also want to apologise for an earlier post of the future of the VLE where I ponder on what the role of the tutor will be if we move to a Social Networking Model for supporting face-to-face teaching. I do still wonder what the role of the tutor will be in terms of contributions to collaborative discussions, but I know the importance of the tutor as a subject expert. That should not be overlooked.
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