E-tivity

Definition

The term E-tivity was coined by G. Salmon of Open University (England). It means "task online"; it is a framework to learn a language in a dynamic and iteractive way. This activity is based on intense interaction and reflective dialogue between a number of participants, such as learners / students and teachers, who work in a computer-mediated environment. E-tivities are text-based and led by an e-moderator (usually a teacher).

Structure

All e-tivities "are designed to engage online students in meaningful work that captures their imagination and challenges them to grow" (Salmon, 2002). All the participants cooperate in order to get used to computers and, in particular, the Internet. They follow a basic structure:

Spark: a small piece of information, a sort of "input".

Task: the moderator asks participants to do an activity online. In doing the activity, participants have to complete a task (for example, explore a website, understand how it is organised, identify its contents and then comment on it) and try to solve any problem by themselves.

Timeline: the moderator, who orchestrates the whole process, gives participants a deadline to do the activity. This timeline is useful to organize work and make sure that all participants will complete it in an equal term. The timeline should give participants a little time to complete the "respond" part before the assignment of the following e-tivity.

Respond: participants are invited to read other participants' e-tivities and comment on them whenever they have something interesting to add or disagree with some observation: constructive criticism is a key aspect of online activities. This last part plays an important part in the overall process for it fosters collaboration between participants. It is quite helpful for everyone as it gives each of the participants the possibility to improve their work method quality.

In my opinion the use of e-tivities is an innovative teaching method which has three important consequences:

   * it renders English classes more dynamic and, therefore, more stimulating;
   * it gives students the possibility to get used to the computer, in particular to social softwares;
   * it fosters team work and collaboration between students and between students and their teacher. What really counts is not only the single work of one student, but above all the way he/she interacts with the other members of the group. The final "output" is like a jigsaw puzzle made up of the "material and human contributions" given by the group as a whole.

An example

Just by clicking on this link http://bloggingenglish2.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_bloggingenglish2_archive.html you can find a good example of e-tivity. This one deals with Poadcasts.

At the beginning the moderator puts a little description of the object of the e-tivity in order to make the participants know what the topic deals with. In this case the moderator explains what podcasts are, where they are available and in what way podcasting can be used to improve the learning of a language.

In “Task” section first of all the moderator asks participants to search for podcasts that might be useful for English listening practice. Secondly, the participants have to save the three podcasts chosen in del.icio.us (see a previous e-tivity). Thirdly, the participants have to make a post in their personal blogs in which they list the urls of the podcasts they have chosen explaining the reason of the choice. Finally, they have to upload an audio message giving their impressions of the world of podcasts.

In “Respond” section the moderator asks participants to read the other students’ messages, visit at least one of the podcasts they have suggested and then write a comment to their blogs with their impressions.

In “Timeline” section the moderator gives participants the deadline to do the activity, in this case Friday, November 24 for the task and Monday, November 27 (respond) for the respond.

• See E-moderation five-stage model
• See activity
• See Bloggingenglish to look at a few examples of e-tivities

References

• Salmon, Gilly (2002), "E-tivities. The Key to Active Online Learning", London: Tayler & Francis. ISBN 0749436867
  • See also the review at elearning.surf.nl
    • Have a look at http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/cvu/brownbag/salmon/ppt/sld011.htm