1. Sydney, October 1 th Limits and potentialities for interactive classes in a multimodal and multimedia web conferencing system Sílvia Dotta, Juliana Braga, Edson Pimentel FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF ABC Centre of Computation, Mathematic and Congnition INTERA – Inteligência em Tecnologia Educacional e Recursos Acessíveis (Intteligence in Educational Technology and Acessible Resources)

2. Sydney, October 1 th Goals  To analyze the limits and potencialities of an interactive class conducted in a synchronous virtual classroom in a multimodal and multimedia web conferencing system. 2

3. Sydney, October 1 th Multimodal and Multimedia Web conferencing  It is not a videoconference  Multimodal: communication tools in the same environment, allowing multidirectional voice, text (chat) and video interactions  Multimedia: enables sharing files, applications, computer screens, whiteboard, organizing groups 3

4. Sydney, October 1 th Multimodal and Multimedia Webconferencing – Teacher´s role  Pedagogical: educational facilitator, learning mediator  Social: friendly atmosphere, interaction  Managerial: scheduling, activities, deadlines  Technical: technology transparent (user friendly) “Collective Teacher”: many people working together to conduct a virtual class 4

5. Sydney, October 1 th Framework: Activity theory - 5 principles Unit of analysis is a collective AS: Virtual Class Multivocality Historicity Contraditions = changes Expansive transformations The production of the expansive cycle of Activities Systems ( AS) results from complex relationships established historically between the elements of a AS (Daniels, 2006), in our case the Activity System “Virtual Class”. 5

6. Sydney, October 1 th Framework: Activity theory - 5 principles  The production of the expansive cycle of Activities Systems ( AS) results from complex relationships established historically between the elements of a AS, in our case the Activity System of a Interactive Virtual Class (Daniels, 2006).  1. Primary unit of analysis is a collective AS, artifact-mediated and object-oriented, seen in its network relations to other systems.  2. Multivocality: an AS assumes the presence of multiple voices, converging and diverging, whose contradictions and meanings negotiations lead to (re)signification of activity. 6

7. Sydney, October 1 th Framework: Activity theory 5 principles  3. Historicity: one can observe expansive cycles of the activity, i.e., cycles which result in the formation of a new social structure from the previous cycle.  4. Central role of contradictions as sources of change and development.  5. Possibility of expansive transformations in activity systems. 7

8. Sydney, October 1 th Activity System –Virtual Class - Context  24 synchronous virtual classes taught on a Mathematics Teaching course in UFABC during the years 2012 and 2013. 8

9. Sydney, October 1 th Activity System –Virtual Class - Context Web Conferencing System Adobe Connect Pro ® Web Conferencing System Adobe Connect Pro ®  Training teacher and tutors  Webinar x interactive class  Course of Strategies to deal with a interactive class via web conferencing  Training teacher and tutors  Webinar x interactive class  Course of Strategies to deal with a interactive class via web conferencing 9

10. Sydney, October 1 th Activity System –Virtual Class - Context  A virtual lesson in which teacher applied strategies to deal with interactive and dialogic learning  Mathematics Teaching Course  Discipline: Distance Education and Education Technology  A virtual lesson in which teacher applied strategies to deal with interactive and dialogic learning  Mathematics Teaching Course  Discipline: Distance Education and Education Technology This paper 10

11. Sydney, October 1 th Activity System –Virtual Class - Context  Students learnt concepts of Dialogical Learning and Collaborative Learning  Students engaged in a collaborative activity 11

12. Sydney, October 1 th Activity System –Virtual Class – Collaborative lesson  Organization of the classroom in groups  Each group should purpose a collaborative activity for the other classmates  Each group engaged in a collaborative activity  Each group was mediated by a tutor (pedagogical mediator) Usually a virtual class is managed by 4 or 5 people: teacher + tutors 12

13. Sydney, October 1 th INSTRUMENTS OF MEDIATION RULES DIVISION OF LABOR Virtual Learning Environment, Web conferencing, Learning objects. SUBJECT Teacher, Students, Tutors. LDB Higher Education, MEC, University, Instructional Design. COMMUNITY Mathematics Teaching Course Course Coordination, Teachers, Tutors, Students Technical management, Pedagogical activities, Train tutors – mediation. “Collective teacher” OBJECT RESULT Synchronous Virtual Class via web conferencing – collaborative learning Students engaged at the collaborative activities and are able to create collaborative activities. OTHER SYSTEMS ACTIVITY AS – VIRTUAL CLASS

14. Sydney, October 1 th Limits and potencialities  Lack of research  Synchronicity required among participants – no flexibility  Technical problems – internet access  Complexity of web conferencing systems (many applications)  New challenges to deal with the classroom  “Collective teacher” – technical and pedagogical mediators  Virtual presence >> belonging sense  Increasing interactions among students and mediators 14

15. Sydney, October 1 th Conclusions  The AS enabled students to engage in collaborative activities and empowered the tutors to mediate interactions between students and the teacher.  The conception of dialogical learning puts the educational staff (teachers, tutors and students) in symmetrical positions, reducing the teacher-student hierarchy, and increasing interactions between students.  Teachers and tutors assist, guide and foster dialogue leading students to seek and collectively build knowledge.  The dialectical relations of a work team, coordinated under a dialogical and collaborative educational perspective, produce and amplify activity systems. 15

16. Sydney, October 1 th Thank You!! silvia.dotta@ufabc.edu.br ? ? ? ?