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Revisiting
McLuhan's Thesis
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The
Medium is the Message
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In 1994
the English Department in the College of Arts at Sultan Qaboos
University in the Sultanate of Oman took possession of a new language
laboratory. This facility consists of several sectors--a classroom
facility, a self-access center, a technician's room, a sound room,
a desktop publishing center, and a phonetics laboratory. A research
component (phonetics laboratory, sound room, etc.) supports the
teaching component (classroom and self-access facilities); e.g.,
students may record their voices in the sound room for analysis
in the phonetics laboratory so model tapes can be produced for
the classroom or self-access facility. This language laboratory
is at the cutting edge of technology and is likely to remain so
until a full virtual-reality system is available. The facility
is multimedia featuring various combinations of audio/ video input
and output; and it is interactive, in the sense that the system
provides feedback for all student input.
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Input devices include VCR's,
audio tapes, television via satellite (20 channels), CD-I's (Compact
Disc Interactive), laser disc players, computer software, scanners,
cameras, mainframe, e-mail and Internet connectivity, a stack
of eight CD-ROM readers accessible to the network, and individual
CD-ROM readers connected to color LCD panels. The laboratory was
designed by Auditek in Finland and was installed by a local trading
company in Oman. One may envisage the facility as consisting of
several levels with some degree of interconnectedness among them.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the
various features of the lab (the medium) influence the language teaching tasks and hence
the goals of those tasks (the message).
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Prisma and the audio system
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The core of this facility is a traditional audio
language laboratory. Such audio laboratories have been around for over forty years and
have undergone many levels of testing and refinement. In this Auditek lab, the student
tapes have all been isolated in a separate, controlled compartment to protect them from
the students and the desert environment. Also in this lab, the teacher has a choice of two
tape players which can be used for model tapes.
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In the traditional audio laboratory, essentially
two types of tasks could be done: The student could both read and listen to a text at the
same time. In a sense, this activity could be described as multimedia. The student could
also listen to a model of speech, then record his own voice, and compare the differences.
In this sense, the activity could be described as interactive.
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In the present Auditek system, the teacher
controls the students via a computer running a software called Prisma . This
software uses windows and icons but apparently is not written in Windows --a subtle
distinction which may have implications for compatibility. The software allows the teacher
to arrange the class into any grouping which might be desired. Individual students are
identified with icons, and a student can be added to a group simply by clicking the icon.
Each group can then be linked to a particular input device. This grouping facility allows
the teacher or an individual student to act as a source or model for a particular group
(which may of course include the whole class). It also permits a limited number of
students to form a discussion group and allows two students to engage in a
"telephone" conversation within the structure of the lab.
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This capability extends the resources of the
traditional language lab and enhances the potential of an ordinary classroom through the
structured nature of the interaction. For example, students in opposite corners of the
classroom may telephone each other; or a good student can serve as a model for a weak
student without disrupting the rest of the class. In other words, the language-teaching
potential of the grouping facility can be realized if the teacher understands the
materials s/he is trying to convey and those needs of each member of the class who would
benefit from some highly-structured grouping.
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Another feature of Prisma is the testing
system. In the Auditek facility, the testing system is usually linked to the camera, which
serves much the same function as an overhead projector. The teacher places a sheet of
questions under the camera, and this sheet is distributed to all student monitors. The
questions are of the multiple choice or true/false format. All students answer the
questions together and are allowed a specific time for each question, as designated by the
teacher. The testing format pre-empts the student audio control unit as an answering
device.
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The Prisma testing system almost
instantly calculates the grade for each student as well as the mean, standard deviation,
and skew for the test as a whole. It is also able to do a complete item analysis. The
system thus provides almost instantaneous evaluation of the validity of the test itself as
well as the performance of each student. The ready availability of such a capability
raises the prospect that teachers may be held responsible for devising testing instruments
which meet some specified level of reliability.
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While the students are taking a test on the Prisma
system, they cannot access the computer as a computer, since the screen is taken over by
the video distribution system coming from the camera, and the station is dominated by the
use of the audio control panel. This means that the system is subject to the limitations
of the physical equipmentthe camera itself and the video distribution network. In
addition, the video distribution wiring is very vulnerable to electrical interference,
which may cause the students' screens to waver or change color.
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If Prisma itself were written in Windows
, then tests could be entered into the computer, and students could take the tests using
two windows or a split screen, one for the test and one for the answer sheet. The answers
could be identified with a mouse. The camera could be linked to a scanning or reading
device which would allow the test to be directly entered into the computer. The test could
then be connected or interfaced to the present Auditek testing system, with its
advantageous features. In this way the testing system could be used for self-testing, and
students could proceed through a test at their own pace if the teacher allowed them to do
so. Since what a teacher can test has an influence on what he can teach, the physical
constraints of the testing system need to be taken into account from the moment the
teacher starts to plan his lesson.
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Proxy is not a normal part of Prisma ,
nor was it ordered by the Department. It was provided as an extra option by the vendor. Proxy
is a Windows -based network software which allows one station on a network to take
complete control of another station. This powerful, sophisticated system allows the
teacher not only to scan or monitor but to take control of a student computer. The
teaching implications for any task involving the computer itself--including but not
limited to learning how to use a computer--care obvious.
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Since Proxy is a Windows -based
system while Prisma is not, the two systems are not directly compatible. Hence it
is necessary to exit one in order to go into the other. But since both have similar
functions as classroom control systems, it is frequently inconvenient to leave one in
order to enter the other. The teacher can only use Proxy as a classroom control
system if most or all of the members of the class are performing tasks which must be
monitored by that system.
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There is another feature of Proxy which
deserves attention. In the existing configuration, only the teacher can control student
positions. However, it is possible to imagine a situation in which the class is divided
into two groups, one more advanced than the other. Each person in the more advanced group
is tutoring a person in the less advanced group. In this case, students should have
viewing or control rights over other student positions. With viewing rights, the tutor can
see what the weaker student is doing and advise him through the telephone system. With
complete rights, the tutor can take control of the other student's position. The assigning
of such rights in Proxy must be done by someone who has supervisory-level access
into the network; and the teacher normally does not have such rights. A teacher planning
such a lesson should work out the details with the Network Supervisor. The availability of
Proxy suggests that teachers should give serious consideration to lesson formats
which would exploit this potential.
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The CD-ROM stack and other disc storage devices
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This multimedia laboratory
has a stack of eight CD-ROM readers. At present, two discs are
installed- Microsoft Toolbook and a Multimedia Encyclopedia
. When all eight readers are full, the system has a potential
capability of a million and a half pages of A-4 script--all available
to every student position at the click of a mouse. This stack
transforms the language laboratory into an information system,
providing almost instant access to the equivalent of a small or
medium-sized library. Additional discs can, of course, be added
or changed at any time. In Microsoft Toolbook , searches
can be conducted with amazing speed. The availability of this
resource could prompt teachers to build their lessons around it.
But before teachers give in to this temptation, there are certain
considerations which should be born in mind.
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Signals from the stack are carried
to the individual student computers. These are computer signals
carried through Novell Netware . The signals must be maintained
in files which are marked by the Novell system as "shared."
However, a number of interactive language learning programs available
on CD-ROM disc contain information stored on two bands-one in
digital format for computer information and the other in analogue
for audio or video information.
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The audio and video information
is transformed into digital information by sound and video cards
inside the individual computers. This provides the interactive,
multimedia effect advertised on these discs. However, it is difficult
to carry simultaneous digital and analogue signals around a room
since they are carried in different networks. The only CD-ROM
discs which will function in a network are those which are clearly
designated as "Network Version." This includes many
discs which have information in the form of some encyclopedia,
but excludes many other discs, which have information stored in
different formats. Movies on compact disc, for example, may be
stored in analogue form and translated by the sound and video
cards at the individual PC. Unless this distinction is clearly
understood, one may think that s/he is buying something other
than what it is. CD-ROM discs that are advertised as multimedia
and interactive but not available in Netware versionscannot
be used in a laboratory unless each station has a CD-ROM reader
with individual copies of each disc or title.
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The point that applies
above to CD-ROM drives also applies to other formats advertised
as offering multimedia interactive language learning programs.
These include laser disc readers. A single laser disc may contain
three times the amount of information available on a compact disc.
With this quantity of storage, a laser disc may provide language-using
scenarios, such as a business meeting in real time. Since the
entire scene itself is stored on the disc in digital or computer
format, it can be manipulated in all sorts of ways, as by providing
simultaneous text and/or translation into other languages. The
laser discs are obviously far more satisfying to use than the
stilted figures and awkward speech available on many computer
and CD-ROM programs. But the limitation of Laser Readers is the
cost. Not only are the readers expensive, but each disc may cost
over a thousand dollars. A single language learning title for
an ordinary lab could therefore cost over thirty thousand dollars
for the discs alone.
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Another format which offers
multimedia interactive language learning programs is CD-I (compact
disc interactive, a Phillips product). This comes on a disc the
same size as a compact disc, but employs different protocol. This
provides text and graphics with which the student can interact.
For some reason, the signal from this device can be carried around
the network, but the interactive feature cannot. As far as the
computer is concerned, these appear to be shared read-only files;
and the student has an experience that might be called passive
interactivei.e. the class can watch one specific student
interacting with the program. If such a system is used for training
future teachers, they might be able to comment on the pedagogical
value of this passive viewing.
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At the present state of technology,
the various storage devices can be used effectively in a network
emphasizing pure storage and retrieval of information. However,
many multimedia interactive language learning devices or programs
do not fit very well on a network environment. One is therefore
strongly tempted to use the information storage and retrieval
capability as a language-learning vehicle, more or less by default
rather than by intention. But was information storage and retrieval
ever intended as a primary vehicle for language learning? To put
the question another way, before there were computers or language
labs, did people learn language by reading encyclopedias and dictionaries?
Perhaps some people did. But one problem with using information
storage and retrieval systems as a language-learning vehicle is
that it is very difficult to get the level of use right, given
the quantity of information potentially available. It is no small
task to find a million and a half pages of information set at
a precise non-native speaker level. It is difficult enough to
find one page set at a particular level.
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Television and video blaster
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Connected to the system are
two satellite receivers (Star and ArabSat), providing around twenty
channels of television. Star contains BBC, and ArabSat contains
CNN. From any student position there is the capability of taping
a program directly or setting the VCR to tape a program at a particular
time. However, since there is only one receiver (at the teacher's
station) students at different stations in the lab cannot watch
different programs. One receiver is required for every channel
which can be viewed at any time. Proxy , at the teacher's
station, contains the Windows capability of permitting
a window to be opened and sized. The teacher can thus watch television
in a corner of his screen while monitoring the class on the rest
of the screen, but the student cannot watch television programming
in conjunction with a word processing program. However, since
the TV signal has been translated into digital coding by the video
card, the student can capture an image from the television, store
it in a file, and retrieve it into a document. Students can thus
prepare reports on a television program that they have just watched.
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Word processing.
At present, students may produce documents using Word Perfect
or the text editing programs in either DOS or Windows (Write).
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In the English Department at Sultan Qaboos
University there are several writing courses as well as general language-skills courses
with a writing component that have designated laboratory hours. Students actually produce
documents--essays of various lengths--using the word processing facilities. This seems a
paradox since most of these students do not know how to type, and they do not have the
time to take the self-tutoring typing program called Master Type . As a result,
most students hunt and peck, but, surprisingly, they can write (compose) and print a five
paragraph essay in about two hours. It takes about half an hour for twenty students to
print their documents using the laser printer on the network.
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One tangible benefit of
using the word processor in teaching writing is that it sets a
certain standard for the appearance of work which is turned in.
With a word processor, neat appearance of student documents is
a realistic expectation.
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But there is something else.
When students rewrite a handwritten composition, they tend to
start making the same mistakes all over again. But when they make
specific corrections on a document which is on the screen in front
of them, they tend to concentrate more on the corrections. Other
features of the correction facility in word processing may facilitate
the writing process. When students write a composition, their
thinking tends to be linear. That is, one sentence follows another.
But the word processing capability of moving around blocks of
text frees students to see how sentences, phrases, or paragraphs
can fit together in new ways. Revision of a composition becomes
easier if one does not have to write out every version by hand.
Whether one is talking about mistakes in spelling or grammar or
revision of the entire composition, doing the composition on a
word processor allows the student to concentrate on the mistake
itself. And through being able to concentrate on the mistakes,
the student can perceive the production of a "perfect"
paper as an achievable goal. The "medium" in this case
is very much the "message."
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Toolbook . Since it is difficult
to find commercial material set at a suitable level for one's students, the teacher may be
forced to produce his/her own material. Authoring packages, such as Toolbook , make
this task easier. One thing which can be done with Toolbook is to take a text which
one has previously determined to be at a reasonable level for the students and enter it
into the computer. Then all the difficult vocabulary items can be identified as
"hotwords" which are converted into some italic font. Students may click these
"hotwords" with a mouse in order to find a definition of the item. One may even
have embedded levels of "hotwords." This device allows students to read the text
at their own speed and level, looking up necessary words without losing the train of
thought in the text. This device may encourage development of depth and speed of reading
without sacrificing one for the other, as is frequently done in other reading formats.
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Microconcord . This is a
concordance system produced by Oxford. A large variety of "authentic" texts has
been assembled including newspaper articles. With the Concord search facility, one
may scan these texts for particular words, which can be brought up within the context in
which they are used. This gives students a sense of the way in which the words are used in
context as well as the percentage of time particular meanings of a certain word are used.
This package serves various purposes, including providing correct models of words
frequently misused by students, as well as acquainting them with a range of usage. This
type of instrument may be more suitable for advanced students than for the lower levels.
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Novell Netware 4.01.
The system is managed by a file manager, and the various stations
are connected together by Novell Netware 4.01. This software
product has a number of features, including security, rights,
storage allocation, printing queues, etc.
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These features are set during
the configuration of the system, and it is very important that
the academic staff coordinate with the technical staff during
the process of configuring the system. Although Novell Netware
is very flexible, it has certainly not been specifically designed
for a language lab environment. Great care needs to be given to
every aspect of the configuration. For example, should operating
systems (like Windows ) and user software (like Word
Perfect ) be put on the individual work stations or should
they be put on the file server? If operating systems are put on
the individual stations, students may alter the system files in
unpredictable ways.
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What specific rights should students or teachers
have? Should students have their own ID or password, with specific rights assigned? Or
should they gain increasing rights as their skills develop? The faculty should understand
the implications of various configurations before these get locked into the system.
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The language laboratory offers different levels
of capabilities--audio, video, word processing, information retrieval, networking, etc.
Within these various levels, the system is very powerful; however, the interface between
these various levels frequently is limited. On occasion, certain language learning tasks
fall between these levels, and this is where the system is most vulnerable. If one wants
to remain within a level--such as watching television, looking up structured information,
etc., one rarely faces difficulties. However, these particular tasks may not accomplish
the language learning goals set by the teacher or the students themselves. If the system
does a particular operation very well, should one accept this and adjust the pedagogical
goals to exploit the strengths of the system, or should one concentrate one's efforts on
trying to force the system to do what pedagogically seems right?
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Richard
Loring Taylor teaches at Sultan Qaboos University where
he is also director of the multimedia laboratory. He has taught
English at the university level in the United States, Romania,
Jordan, and Yemen. |
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