I’ve been cramming with my research proposal for a week, gosh it’s really exhausting, especially tomorrow will be the deadline for submission. I chose a meta evaluation topic, coz I wanna know the extent of our evaluation performed by Evalapkin Pusdiklat KU; it’s like doing audits on the efficiency and effectiveness of one of our training program “Pelatihan Disain pembelajaran’, which I was the program coordinator in 2018 and 2019. We know that in a corporate university, all learning must be impactful. We have performed a post-evaluation using Kirkpatrick Level 1 – 4 in the past two years, somehow I still have a doubt whether we have done that correctly or whether FETA takes our recommendations about that specific training seriously. So, this study is mostly to fulfill my curiosity đ đ
It’s a bit hard to try a meta evaluation. I’ll be using the checklist by Daniel L. Stufflebeam, cause that seems easy to administer. According to Stufflebeam (2001), meta-evaluation is the process of delineating, obtaining, and applying descriptive information and judgmental information about an evaluation’s utility, feasibility, propriety, and accuracy and its systematic nature, competence, integrity/honesty, respectfulness, and social responsibility to guide the evaluation and publicly report its strengths and weaknesses. All I need to do is just using his meta-evaluation checklist to obtain the quantitative data for my analysis.
Well, I have prepared (translated) the tool already, but I’m not sure that the reviewer will find it a good one đ đ … gosh, it’s so hard to study something that has never been done before even in our own country. My previous study was taken from The Commonwealth Secretariat (2016) and from Turkish researchers (2019), and of course they are completely different settings and findings. I haven’t found any from Indonesia, even in the formal education context. This reminds me of my previous mentor from Temple University Japan, Larry Purdy, who said this in 2010 when I joined his class ” It’s very rare for companies and corporation to conduct level 4 Kirkpatrick evaluation or to try ROTI (return on training investment) one, cause it demands much energy, money, and time”.. I wasn’t satisfied with his answer, that the next year in 2011, I asked this same question to my facilitators from Vrjie Universiteit in Holland, Mike Cantrell and Wim Kouwenhoven. They both said that they do meta-evaluation in certain period only, for example once in 5 to 10 years, depending on the program. And the result to some extent are not shown to public, but their stakeholders and sponsors only.
See, now I believe in their words… But there’s no point to give up. BTW, my topic is actually not selected to be continued with full research, other fellow trainers who got the chance to full research. So mine is just completed for proposal seminar purpose only, I don’t need to bother with data collection and analysis. It’s sad, but kinda relieved as I still have a lot of trainings to deliver this November and December. Now, gotta shift my focus to prepare the PPTs for my upcoming class. Semangaat!!
Waduh capek habis dicurhati teman. Dia cerita jika status mantan teman (baca: musuh lama) dia yang makin congkak di sosmednya dan seakan menyindir dia yang sudah tidak satu instansi dengannya. Saya cuma ketawa aja sambil bilang ngapain juga masih ngepoin IG orang yang kamu benci, duuh milenials ada2 aja receh gini buat bahan cerita ke saya. Cuman saya saranin wis lah, unfollow dan prei dari sosmed sementara waktu. PR kamu tuh banyak: matengin diri jadi akademisi, lebih banyakin ngajar dan nulis, at least kamu harus tunjukkan jika sudah lebih bagus segala2nya dari dia. Kalau kita real expert, nggak bakal tersinggung sama cibiran orang. Kata saya ya itu…
Tapi memang bener ya fenomena dinegara kita ini, banyak orang ngaku expert hanya karena degree, sertifikasi, jabatan fungsional atau jabatan struktural … merasa standar kompetensi nasional dia sudah mentok level 9. Kalau kata mas Romi Satria Wahono itu ‘penyakit penting yang harus segera diruqyah” hahahaa setuju Mas! … padahal sudah ga pernah baca textbooks terkini, sudah males nengok2 paper dan jurnal, kalo ngajar cuma baca slide itu pun udah nggak diupdate lagi… ketika didebat malah ngamuk ga jelas … nuntut mahasiswa punya kontribusi kayak dirinya, padahal juga ga terlalu paham makna contribution to knowledge kuwi opo….owalah Nyaah…
Republik ini keras dan kejam, kamu nggak bisa nggedabrus pamer sono sini saya sudah buat paper ini itu published di sana sini terindeks Scopus lah dll tapi nggak ada manfaatnya buat instansi , atau negara ini secara nyata saudara koeh. Jadi guru atau dosen juga nggak jaminan kalau kamu itu paling pinter. Pinter itu nggak cuma di mata mahasiwa mu yang bisa kamu kontrol dengan otoritasmu, tapi apa sumbangsih nyata dari mu buat masyarakat di sekitarmu juga.
Saya sudah mulai jadi senior (meh seket rek), tapi masih merasa bego setiap kalo belajar dan nemuin hal baru. Apalagi dalam pembelajaran daring gini, ilmu saya ngajar selama 25 tahun di kelas klasikal nggak banyak terpakai jika harus pakai online learning delivery. Kalau kita merasa keminter, kok kata saya kita sudah mulai mrotholi expertise kita. Auto kritik buat saya juga, jangan cepat ge-er kalau dipuji orang. Tetap kerja keras, ambil hikmah dari setiap hal baru yang dialami, selalu refleksi, coba lagi lebih baik. Semangat berjuang saudara-saudara akoeh!! đ đ đ
Itâs the second time for me to catch the presentation of this gorgeous lady, a lecturer of Dubai Menâs College and a former TESOL President (2011-2012), Dr. Christine Coombe. Sheâs my favorite presenter of LTTE 2020 as sheâs always willing to answer any questions from her audience. On this last day session she gave a very comprehensive review on assessment of digital learning and online environment. Letâs read my summary down here.
So the agenda of her presentation was about the condition of where we are today, technology in assessment before COVID, the good and the bad of online assessment, current challenges in online assessment/CBT, the ugly and the opportunities afforded, and recommendations on moving forward.
In getting where we are today, Dr. Christine Coombe said that thereâs a rapid move to online teaching when many peole do WFH because of this pandemic. Once curricula was digitized, our assessment had to follow, and with this came issues with the cornerstones of good assessment practice (validity, reliability, practicality, washback, transparency, authenticity & security). Therefore, opportunities of moving online became apparent , and so too did the challenges.
Before the Covid-19 , computers have had a major impact on education in the past 30 years. Impact of technology on language testing has been minimal, and only ETS, the British Council and Cambridge ESOL have adopted CBT. However, there were limited number of educational institutions had embraced CBT and only few individual teachers used CBT. Paper-based tests still dominated,this was due to the recognized benefits and pitfalls of CBT.
But somehow, there are many studies talking about the good of CBT. Some of them are related to the fact of more valid and realiable tests. One study said that item and statistical analysis can help test writers identify good and weak questions (Zandvliet & Farragher, 1997). CBTs enable to etermine facility value and discrimination index, distracter analysis more easily. Also, test path data can also be used – the order in which test-takers answered questions, the time it took them to answer questions (item latency), which items they skipped and went back to, and which answers they changed (Bergstorm et al., 1994). Similarly, increased content validity – more content can actually be tested through the use of more test formats and interactive question types (Huff & Sireci, 2001). Next, reliability of marking tests increased as CBT allows for automated scoring (Parshall & Balizet, 2001) and test takers have responded favorably to the fact that CATs are usually shorter than paper-based tests (Meijer & Nering, 1999).
Other goodness of online learning a.k.a. CBT related to the validity and reliability of test, let me just enlist them here:
– Reduction in the impact that test fatigue can have on the performance (Young et al., 1996)
– Powers (2001) found that test-takers experienced less test anxiety when taking CBTs
– Test-takers like it when they receive their test results quickly (Parshall & Balizet, 2001).
– With CATs, test-takers have identified is that they do not have to answer questions that are too easy or too difficult (Dunkel, 1997; Hamilton, no date).
Dr. Coombe said that CBT were repoted more effective for test administration. Here are the studies related:
– more standardized test administration (Vispoel, 2000)
– more flexible testing administration schedules – ‘testing-on-demand’ (Roever, 2001).
– automated marking means that teachers donât have to mark tests; large numbers of tests can be marked accurately and quickly (Meijer & Nering, 1999; Pomplun et al., 2002).
– test-takers can receive their test results immediately and CATs result in shorter tests (Mason et al., 2001).
– test security can be increased when using CATs as copying is futile (Young et al., 1996).
– the test can be cheaper than Paper and Pencil tests in the long term (Pomplun et al., 2002).
Dr. Combe also put some studies showing that online assessment have positive impact on curriculum, they are:
– test items can be ‘tagged’ to provide test-takers with feedback on particular areas of strength or weakness. (Vispoel, 2000; Pomplun et al., 2002).
– CBT results can be used by teachers to individualize students’ learning
– CBT results be collated and analyzed by curriculum developers to create more relevant and targeted curriculum
There are many thing regarding the bad using online assessment. Some of them as Dr. Coombe mentioned are related to the findings of less valid and reliable tests :
– As noted by Bachman (2000: 4), âThe challenge in applying [such] technologies to language assessment will be to recognize not only the potential benefits, but also the limitations of these technologiesâ. 1/ Construct-irrelevance variance e.g. the ability to use a mouse, or the ability to use the scroll bar when reading longer texts, 2/ Reading on a computer screen involves fundamentally different processes, and hence different constructs, than reading from paper, 3/Lack of equivalence between computer-based and paper-based versions of the same test
– Other variables which may contribute to the lack of equivalence (Kobrin, (2000); Davidson (2003) include: 1/ an over-dependence on key boarding skills, 2/ different lay-out between the two tests, 3/ different graphics (font style, font size, color, clarity), 4/ the use of sound/audio tracks on a CBT, 5/ a different number of questions on the screen and on the paper copy, 6/ pop-up error messages, 7/ highlighting the question the test-taker is answering
– There are also other findings about less valid and reliability tests due to the inability of the test-taker to review the test, highlight words or phrases in a text, see all of the text and all of the questions , answer selectively, backtrack, eliminate distracters, and change answers.
– Concerning the problem with the test administration, Dr. Coombe said that Test security is a major challenge (Chapelle & Douglas, 2006). ETS (2002b) suspended the computer-based (GRE) and reintroduced the paper-based version in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea after an investigation “uncovered a number of Asian language Web Sites offering questions from live versions of the computer based GRE General Test [which] included both questions and answers illegally obtained by test takers who memorize and reconstruct questions and share them with other test takers”.
– Insufficient access to computers for large-scale implementation of computerized tests can be a problem, too (Wise & Plake, 1989). CTs, especially CATs, are very expensive to create because large item pools are needed (Meijer & Nering, 1999). Also, test items need to be replaced regularly as they become obsolete or overexposed, and the technology may fail. A paper-based version needs to be on hand for when there are technical problems. And lastly, thereâs a need to ensure equivalence between P&P and CT versions .
– Regarding the negative impact on the curriculum, Dr. Coombe mentined that shorter tests may have a harmful effect on test-takers’ study and preparation for a test. Test-takers may engage in misguided test-taking strategies or they may use “gaining strategies” . An over-reliance by teachers on the computer to analyze, interpret, and make inferences about test results (McMinn et al., 1999).
Letâs move on to the âuglyâ: the current challenges in Online/Computerized Assessment . First of, ensuring that our assessments are valid and reliable is still the major concern. Then, recognizing and accepting that instances of academic dishonesty are on the rise. Thatâs whe we urgently need to learn to design assessments and test tasks that minimize, mitigate or even eliminate cheating .
Well, cheating is not new. First instances of cheating date back to the first tests of the Chinese Civil Service thousands of years ago and carried the death penalty. And standards for citation and referencing began at the end of the 19th century with the emergence of scholarly societies (MLA, APA). At this time, scholars began researching issues related to cheating, with some early research dating back to the late 19th century and early 20th centuries . And cheating was identified as a widespread problem at college campuses in the US.
Even when exams were proctored in a face-to-face setting, students could hack into the online testing system, communicate with one another during the exam, access the internet or use external devices, access documents and apps on their laptops or devices, get someone else to take the exam in their place, and even pay essay mills/companies to do assignments for them. Davidson (2020) asks: If students cheated when we were watching them, imagine what they are doing at home! Thereâs a widespread perception that it is easier to cheat on an online test than a face-to-face one (74% believed this in a 2009 study)
The speaker also shared the commonly held beliefs (myths) about online cheating, i.e. that Online universities donât really care about cheating; itâs impossible for online instructors to identify cheating; Plagiarism checkers are easily fooled; online students are more likely to cheat; and since all online students cheat, it isnât that big of a deal. All of these myths have been debunked empirically actually.
I feel that his presentation is rather boring because Iâve heard of reflective teaching too many times when I was taking Approaches to TEFL. Itâs like nothing new for me and the way the keynote speaker discussed his ideas was so typical old school lecturer, sorry to say, but he made too many inaccuracies in his speech. And his monotonous delivery were killing me so bad along the presentation. Therefore, it was kind of anti climax getting that presentation on the last day of LTTE Conference, after very insightful and updated sharing from other keynote speakers. To be honest, his ideas are really useful for new ELT teachers, not to me an old hand trainer. Anyway, another good thing about the professorâs presentation is that itâs clearly organized and rather comprehensive, like typical campus lectures. OK letâs check out my summary.
So, the presentation attempted to answer these questions:
What is reflective practice?
Why should teachers carry out reflective practice?
What are the benefits of teachers carrying out reflective practice?
What are the consequences if teachers never carry out reflective practice?
How is refelective practice implemented?
What should teachers have in order to carry out reflective practice appropriately?
But the presentation itself doesnât really organized to answer those questions sequentially as written above, in my view. Rather itâs arranged to describe comprehensively on what is reflective teaching practice and all its aspects.
To answer the first question, Prof Nurkamto took Dewey in Loughran (1996) definition: the core of reflective practice are open-mindedness, whole-heartedness, and responsibility. So refelctive practice is defined as awareness of oneâs own teaching practice and readiness to improve it. So the next question is what to reflect? Quinn, Pultorak, Young, and McCarthty (2010) said there are five namely generic refelction (thinking about work and learners), academic reflection (thinking about content and instruction), social efficiency refelection (thinking about improving methods of instruction), developmentalist refelection (thinking about student readiness, and social reconstructionist ferelction (thinking about equity and social jusctice). Another theory that Prof. Nurkamto cited is on four levels of reflections (Lane, McMaster, Adnum, and Cavanagh, 2014): descriptive (teachers describe events they notice in the classroom), evaluative (teachers include a value judgement about what has been observed), refelective (teachers analyze what is effective of innefective about a particular lesson and why), and imaginative (teachers are able to look at classroom scenarios and make suggestions about how lessons could be taught differently and improved).
Answering the reason for carrying out reflective practice, Prof. Nurkamto emphasized on the importance of it towards teaching quality. As he quoted from Ghaye (2011), reflection enhance human insights and practices, which enable us to positively draw upon such insights to better understand our work, to amplify success, and to focus on doing more of what is valued. Furthermore, teachers who are encouraged to engage in reflective practice can gain new insight of their practice, as cited from Farrel (2015). So, reflection in action is performed during or later after teaching, when a teacher is thinking and feeling about his or her own teaching. Itâs like recalling of what they have done in teaching.
So, what are the questions in reflections? Here are what Russell mentioned (2005):
What do you see as your stength in your teaching?
What challenges do you see in your teaching?
What is the major insights you may take from your teaching?
In what deliberate ways will you try to change your teaching style?
In what specific ways could you improve the contribution of theory to practice?
There are so many forms of reflective practice. It can be a discussion with supervisor or peer, writing in diaries and journals, action research, lesson reports, teaching portfolios, group discussions, and analysing critical incidents. No matter what form it may take, a reflective practice necessitates a prerequisite for it: awareness of teaching practices and readiness to improve them. Without those two, it will be difficult to yield other attitudes: open-mindedness, whole-heartedness, and responsiblity (Mann and Walsh, 2017).
The next thing Prof. Nurkamto explained is Wallaceâs Model of reflection, as you can see down below.
In Wallaceâs model, a reflection can be used for four purposes:
Received knowledge: knowledge associated with the study of a particular field (e.g. approaches and methods in ELT)
Experiential knowledge: knowledge-in-action by practice of the field (e.g. teaching practicum)
Reflective cycle: the continuing process reflection on âreceived knowledgeâ and âexperiential knowledgeâ in the context of professional practice
Professional competence: meeting certain minimum requirement for the exercise of the profession and gaining expertise
The next model that the presenter explained was ALACT model. ALACT is actually an acronym of the steps proposed by Cartwright (2011). The steps are Action (the teacher teaches using a particular strategy); Looking back (the teacher looks back at what he/she did while teaching); Awareness of essential aspects (the teacher is aware of the important aspects in his/her teaching that require attention); Creating alternative methods (the teacher seeks alternative teaching methods that he/she believes will make his/her teaching more effective); Trying out alternative methods (the teacher carries out a trial rum of the new model proposed, and observes the result).
The next model is Kolbâs model, and Iâm so familiar with this one. Kolbâs reflective model is referred to as âexperiential learningâ. The basis for this model is teacher’s own experience, which is then reviewed, analyzed and evaluated systematically in three stages. Once this process has been undergone completely, the new experiences will form the starting point for another reflective cycle.
Concrete experience:
Teacher consciously and physically experiences a situation, which makes him/her realize the need to reflect systematically in order to learn something new or improve on existing skill and practice.
2. Reflective observation: Having written down the description of the experience, teacher reflects more deeply on what has happened in that situation. The questions to ask are: what worked? what failed? why did the situation arise? why did students and I behave the way we did?
3. Abstract conceptualization: The guiding question for this stage leads on from the questions in the reflective observation stage: what could I have done better or differently in my teaching? how can I improve? Initially, try to find different ways for dealing with the situations and think up strategies for when we experience a similar situation again. Also, this is the stage where teacher should consult colleagues and literature in order to get a better understanding and further ideas.
4. Active experimentation: This stage is now practising the newly acquired theoretical knowledge. Teacher take his/her own reflections and thoughts about improvements as well as the theories back into practice and try out the new strategies. Some of them will work, others wonât, so this is then automatically the basis for the new cycle. As the experiences within the active experimentation stage become the new âconcrete experiencesâ.
The more specific steps of Kolbâs refelective model is explained further by Prof. Nurkamto as the following:
Mapping: âWhat do I do as a teacher?â It involves observation and collection of evidence of our own teaching by ârecordingâ our own practice (video-recording and keeping a diary or journal)
Informing: âWhat did I intend?â is looking for meaning what behind our maps. We begin to search for principles that underlie our teaching and the reasons which are the basis for our theory of teaching.
Contesting: âHow did I come to be this way?â We judge our ideas and reasons we have for teaching in a particular way. There is also searching for inconsistencies or contradictions in what we do and how we think. In this phase, we may begin to dislodge the thoery of our teaching.
Appraising: âHow I might think differently?â Contesting logically leads to a search for alternative courses of action –appraising. In this phase, we begin to search principles which are consistent with our new understanding. We may ask âWhat happens with my teaching if I apply this new method? 5. Acting: âWhat and how shall I teach now?â Here we rearrange our teaching practice after mapping what we do, unearthing the reasons and assumption for these actions, subjecting these reasons to critical scrutiny, appraising alternative courses of action, and then acting.
Prof. Nurkamto also put the characteristics of a reflective model. They are:
Cyclical. Reflection and action form a continuous cyclical process.
Flexible. We can begin to reflect on practice from different starting point.
Focused. We need focus and directions to enable meaningful learning to take place.
Holistic. He model enables us to review teaching and learning comprehensively (Ghaye, 2011)
In discussing the point of teachers who never carry out reflective practice, Prof. Nurkamto said that they tend to teach mechanistically, repeating the same activities in a routine manner from day one to the next (Pang, 2020). Dewey contrasts âroutine actionâ with ârefelective actionâ (Pollard, 2002). The reason for this may be that the teacher lacks the necessary knowledge and skills for reflective practice, or simply because he/she is not willing to take the trouble to carry out reflective practice. The latter is related to his/her life philosophy as a teacher. So therefore, in order to enact reflective practice on teaching appropriately, a teacher must have a solid knowledge of ELT, such as general theories of learning, approaches and methods in ELT, structures of language lesson, and micro/meso/macro context of teaching. In this point, I have a slight disagreement with Prof Nurkamto. I consider myself a reflective teacher long before I know theories of ELT: I have the passion to teach and always think of whether I teach English skills successfully in my class. Back then I didnât even know what a reflective practice is, but I keep reflecting after my classâs over.
To me, teaching is showing and helping my students to learn how to do something. So, besides guiding them, I also have to measure whether they have gained my instructions and knowledge or not. And later on when I took Approaches to TEFL class by Dr. Santi Chairani Djonhar, my way of teaching is in line with the core principles of learning. Let me just but the principles from Sale (2015) here: Learning is enhanced when there is:
a motivational strategy
clarity of learning goals, objectives, and expectations
activation of learnerâs prior knowledge
a focus on key concept and principles
the facilitation of good thinking
variation in the methods and medium of presentation
teaching that works in accordance with memory system and processes
deliberate practice to develop expertise
a success oriented and fun psychological climate
ongoing quality feedback from formative assessment
If I reflect on my own teachings until today, I have already implemented those principles in my classes, for the sake of my love for teaching. I think my passion for teaching is the main drive for me to become a reflective teacher.
Anyway, let’s get back to Prof Nurkamto presentation then. Here is the recommendation that the presenter put on the last part of his presentation. He simply said: âFostering reflective practice requires more than telling teachers to reflect and then simply hoping for the best result. Instead, reflective practice should be taught explicitly, directly, and patientlyâ. And I agree totally for that closing remark.
This is my summary of Prof. Yilin Sun (from South Seattle College, USA) presentation on LTTE International Conference 2020. I once heard her name form Korea TESOL and I was so into her description of successful leadership project on ESP. I think she has a great background of psychology. And yes, her presentation on LTTE was relevant to teacher capacity development. In short, she explained that a teacher must add four additional skills or attibutes to his/her students, namely resilience, optimism/hope, agility and adaptability, and lastly vision for the future . And Iâm in total agreement cause those really also defines a great teacher to me as well as a real 21st century educator. Letâs see each attribute one by one now.
First, resilience. The American Psychological Association defines it as the ability and process of adapting well in the face of trauma, adversity, tragedy, threats or significant source of stress. So itâs the quality that makes a teacher âbounches backâ from difficult experiences. Prof. Yilin said that critical thinking is a resilience factor. And a resilient students has A-I characteristics, i.e. Awareness of strengths and assets, Bouncing back, Courageous and calm, Display passion-driven focus, Emotion management , Foster a sense of personal agency, Good at critical thinking/problem solving, Help others/reach out to others:You Matter, I know you can do it; Insightful and resourceful. A teacher must be able to develop this resilience to his/her learners.
The next is hope or optimism. An optimist firmly believes that outcomes in general will be positive, favorable, and desirable. The benefits of being an optimists are seeing failuru/challenges as a new start, opening up to new ideas/possibilities, staying engaged and creative, spreading good vibes (because attitude is verything), and staying healthy and be more resilient.
After resilience and hope comes agility and adaptability. These are inseparable like two sides of a coin. Agility is the ability and willingness to learn from experience, and then apply that learning to perform successfully under new situations (Wagner, 2012). Meanwhile, adaptability is the capability to embrace change. Students who are agile and adaptable are able to think critically, handle tough situations and find solutions to challenging problems, manage changes well, deliver desired results in new and challening situations, communicate well, play many roles simultanously, understand others, accept responsibility, and be versatile and flexible.
And finally is Vision for Future. A vision defines the optimal desired future situation, and it tells you what you would like to achieve over a longer time. A teacher should have a shared vision, trust, passion, and commitment for his /her student success by engaging that vision intho teaching. In this case, the teachers should be inspiring, focused, unique, forward thinking, beneficial, and aligned as well.
Too bad Prof Yilin tried to put so many things in the allotted time that in the part of stretegies for teachers she was just rushing as the remaining time given for her was just 5 minutes left. But I could note some of her suggestions that I listed as the followings:
Increasing Student Participation In Online Environment (i.e. during Zoom Synchronous Meeting)
She explained about taking whole group discussions focusing on class content and the questions can be elicited verbally or via Zoom chat. An alternate is using breakout groups to allow trudents to discuss a prompt/question by the teacher, to do online research on a given topic, to discuss a case study, or to create projects using tools such as Google Slides, mindmaps, or comics. I just realized how many varieties of tools that I can incorporate in my Zoom class actually (I only use Quizizz, Kahoot, and Youtube). Prof Yilin uses Google Forms, Poll Everywhere, Padlet, Min Mapping Tools, Comic Creators, etc for her Zoom class. I need to review my PJJ Business English class very soon then for betterment.
Creating a diamante poem to introduce resilience/optimism/hope. This strategy is so interesting. Iâll put you the printscreen of that slide here cause itâs rather hard to explain without the illustration. So first the teacher gives a conventional format to the student as the main source, and then the teacher asks the students to write or type the words that comes into their mind using that format. And then the results are written in a diamond shape and given the title âAll about Meâ. I think this one is interesting, I sure will try this for my own diamante đ
Name Tag Activity – A Dynamic Me.
Yilin used padlet to create this activity for Seattle College Faculty 2020 Summer Institute. She asked her new students to share their social media as their name tag and put them in her padlet. More or less like the pic here. So interesting, right?
Agility, Adaptability, and 7Câs Skills
In this strategy, the teacher creates situations (individually or in group setting) where students must adapt to a given problem, and also provide various tools to use to solve new problem. Then the teacher offers opportunities to create new ways of doing things. I this is a kind of PBL model to encourage students to work on solving problems, maybe with a little game will result better I think. Prof Yilin suggested some websites that promote agility and adaptability, such as www.funnygames.co.uk/agility-games.html or https://sheridancollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=717439&p=5120398
RAFT model (Role-Audience-Format-Topic)
This a strategy for communication and creativity. Maybe I will search later to know this further as I didnât get this much as she was super fast by showing he slides so quickly. She just said that RAFT is engaging, high level strategy that encourages writing across the curriculum. She said that RAFT encourages students to assume a role, consider their audience, write in a particular format, and examine a topic from a relevant perspective. Yilin gave an example of teaching Math on her slides, as you can see below. I was lucky to be able to make a quick printscreen to catch her explanation.
Think Tac Toe Model
This is the last stategy that Prof. Yilin shared. Itâs a simple way to give students alternate ways to explore key ideas, which is designed to help students think about atopic from different angles, so itâs game-like motivates students. Like playing a tic tac toe, we make a grid consisting of 9 or more boxes. It doesnât matter the choices students make, they must work with the key ideas and use the skills central to the topic. Here I put an example from Prof. Yilin. The thing is make sure that we put clear instructions in our grid, I think itâs better to use action verbs from Bloomâs taxonomy. I can just got incomplete princtscreen of her slides for the illustration, but I believe that youâll agree that the verbs in the instructions are measurable, am I right?
I was lucky to be able to catch the last two slides of Prof. Yilin presentation because those are the final remarks from her about how an educator sholud do a self assessment on her/his 21st century skills. Let me just put the pics down below. Use the questions to ourselves and evaluate your own answers.
By the ways, Prof. Yilin also suggested some books related to 21st century skills and here they are:
All in all, I was so happy to catch Prof. Yilin presentation. Although I have read many articles on 21st century education, it will be different impact if you have just heard it from a notable scholar. Now Iâm more convinced that 21st century education is about learning how to learn, and in Yilinâs examples: the key is on innovation producing education. 21st century education also makes us educators as reflective, critical, and resilient educators. So guys, as educators, letâs buidd 21st century skills to our learners close to the equity and achievement gaps for all students to succeed.
Postingan ini saya buat saat memasuki hari ke-lima rangkaian LTTE (Language Teacher Training and Education) International Conference 2020 yang kali ini mengambil temaâPost-Pandemic Language Pedagogy: Perspectives and Directionsâ. Ternyata masih draft saja dan belum saya publish temans hingga 3 hari setelah conference selesai, so sorry guys to cause confusion to you. OK Back to LTTE. Pertemuan ilmiah seperti ini menjadi ajang kami para praktisi ELT untuk berbagi expertise dan pengalaman khususnya dalam pengelolaan dan pemanfaatan TIK pada pembelajaran online semenjak pandemi Covid-19 terjadi. Sangat senang sekali mendapat pencerahan dari para top tiers authors yang buku-buku mereka sering saya jadikan referensi penulisan saya misalnya Prof. J. Reinhart. Prof. J. Newton, Alice Chik, Ph.D,dan Dr. J.S. Lee. Iâm so excited mendapatkan insight dan sharing strategi TEFL di parallel sessions dari para pengajar dari berbagai belahan bumi yang mungkin bisa saya adopsi untuk peningkatan pembelajaran di unit kerja saya. Dan sudah lama nggak menulis paper jadi mumpung lagi WFH dan year end begini saya harus mulai bisa back to writing. Saya ini punya utang janji sama dosen saya dulu bu Dr. Santi C. Djonhar untuk saling co-authors supaya tembus CALICO atau TESLJ, tapi karena kesibukan kami berdua rencana tinggal rencana saja dan tahun lalu beliau telah berpulang ke rahmatullah. Innalillaahi wa inna ilaihi roji’uun. So, Iâve gotta do it my own, I hope next year I can fulfill my promise to her. O Allah please grant my wish, aamiinâŚayok guys bantu diamininâŚ
BTW, saya share knowledge capture saya dari LTTE di blog saya secara berseri, itung-itung buat ngelemesin jari belajar menulis lagi. Kok ditulis lagi? Pasti kalian wondering kan? Iya coz tidak ada PPT satu pun yang dishare pemateri maupun panitia, kata mereka silakan japri saja masing2 nara sumber jika ingin dapatkan materi mereka. Takut banget ya dicontek? Kan pasti kita cite narasumber kita lah. So, aint nobody got time for this, right? Masa semua speaker kita email atu2 gitu? So saya really take notes dan printscreen important parts dari semua keynote speakers. Oya, judul materi yang saya dapatkan dari para keynote speakers yaitu:
Christine Coombe (Editor, Brief Report Section, The Journal of Asia TEFL):âSeeing Your Name in Print! Getting Your Report Published in The Asia TEFL Journalâ
Jonathan Newton (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand): â Word Consciousness: Harnessing Technology to Develop Language Learnersâ
Alice Chik (Macquire University, Australia): âEnglish Learning via Language Learning Social Network Websites: Insight for Teachersâ
Jonathan Reinhardt(The University of Arizona, USA): âTeaching Additional Language with Technology: Leveraging The Potential of Everyday L2 Learning with Online Technologies)
Ju Seong Lee(Education University of Hongkong, Hongkong) : âInformal Digital Learning of English: What does it mean for Language Teachers?â
Chan Narith Keuk(Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia): âBlended Learning in EFL Classrooms: An E-learning Approach for a Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Eraâ
Utami Widiati(Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia): âEnglish Language Learning and Acquisition in Virtual and Blended Environmentsâ
Colm Downes(British Council, UK):âBlending Technology and Effective L2 Pedagogyâ
Yilin Sun (South Seattle College, USA) : âTeacher Professional Development: Teachers as Critical, Reflective and Resilient Educators â Perspectives and Strategiesâ
Joko Nurkamto (Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia):âReflective Practices on Teachingâ
Christine Coombe (Dubai Menâs College, United Arab Emirates):âAssessing Additional Language Learning in Virtual and Blended Environmentâ
Semoga saya bisa nulis tentang semua judul di atas ya guys. Tenang semua udah ada catatan saya, tinggal nunggu waktu untuk duduk manis dan ngetik ulang…Well, saya menulis postingan ini pasti disenyumin aja sama my colleagues yang nulis paper aja cuma kayak ngidu (osob Jowo), but this is for  my reminder buat menulis, coz memang sangat sulit buat WI seperti saya untuk menyediakan waktu khusus buat nulis, kecuali kalau kepepet baru deh mainkaan hehehee. So, mau nggak mau saya harus usaha keras to make time for it. So, bismillah. Wish me luck. Silakan terus menyimak my upcoming post, friends….
This presentation is on the second day of LTTE 2020, delivered by Jonathon Reinhardt, an associate professor of English Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona in the USA. I read his articles quite a lot, and itâs super fun seeing him virtually and get the chance to discuss with him.
To start, hereâs an outline of what he discussed, in the form of questions for us to start considering.First, how have English, Learning, and Technology changed over the past few decades and how are they changing? Considering these changes, what are the implications for online English learning? Why do people do it, how do they do it, when, where, and with whom? Simply put, no longer exclusively in school because itâs required. In his talk he elaborated on those points and argue that, thanks to developments in digital online technology, English learning is now done not only for both extrinsic but also intrinsic reasons, that it is learned not only formally but also informally, that English is not only consumed by learners but also âparticipatedâ in, and that it is no longer only exceptional practice, but itâs everyday practice. He concluded by offering a few formal learning activities that leverage i.e. take advantage of those potentials.
He began his presentation by situating us historically in our current practices. He asked us to think, in the past several decades: 1/ How has the status of English changed? 2/ How has English learning changed? 3/ And how has technology changed? And so then what are the implications for what we understand to be online English learning?
We know that the status of English, that is, what English is, has changed considerably over the past few decades. First, in the 20th century in many places, and still today in some areas, English was understood as a foreign language, something abstract out there, not personally relatable. In the 21st century, however, the Internet is making it a global language, something that serves as means of communicating and interacting not just with people of the English âcoreâ countries like the UK, USA, or Australia, but as a lingua franca with people all over the world. As English becomes global, speakers of it as a first language no longer own the language exclusively.
Second, English was for many merely a school requirement, and it is understood this way in some places still. For those who see it this way, it may be difficult to see its value, especially if itâs presented using old fashioned and boring methods. Things are changing, however, because of its global status, and an increasing number of learners are seeing it as a life requirement not just for school and work, but for doing things that they are interested in doing — following affinities and interests, and becoming a global citizen. This may because in online spaces, learners can see that English is used for daily life, regardless of whether the teacher is watching.
Third, it was seen something optional for social advancement and career success â not everyone learned English, and in some spheres it was possible to get ahead and be successful without knowing English.
Now however, as English has globalized, it has in turn seemed to make it even more necessary for social advancement and career success than ever. Additionally, individuals may be realizing that it has personal value for them. What this means is that over the last few decades, people are developing intrinsic motivations for learning English, not just traditional extrinsic ones. This is something that we should recognize and leverage in our classrooms.
Brad Kachruâs 1985 model of World Englishes captures what many people still intuitively understand about the status of English in the world â that there is an inner circle where English is spoken as a first language, about 380 million users, an Outer Circle of countries that were British and American colonies, about 500 million users, and an Expanding Circle of upwards of 1 billion users of English. Itâs important to note, however, that Kachru developed this model before the Internet, and I would argue that in fact the Internet has changed and is changing what English is to people in all the circles, and that it has to do more with economic development and technology more than historical legacy.
When we look at the percentage of the Web by language, we see that English dominates, at nearly 60%, while the next closest, Russian, is 9%. This is a lower number than it has been in the past, but it is still quite a gap. When we look at Internet users by language, we also see that English users dominate. We can also see that Indonesian users also are quite high. It doesnât, however, show us how many are looking at websites or pages in a language that is not their first language. From this data, we can speculate that people all over the world are exposed to English websites incidentally quite a bit, especially if they want to access information that is not available in their first language.
We also know that English language learning is changing. First, In the 20th century, teachers and formal materials were the source of English knowledge. If we wanted to learn English, we usually learned it in a school. We might have heard it in movies or in music, but they were not participatory, as the Internet is today. Nowadays, English may be also learned informally through observation of, and participation in, authentic social Internet practices, which include popular media, movies, music, and videogames. This has disrupted the status of teachers as the source of knowledge.
Second, when teachers controlled English, learner input could be carefully structured and distributed. Now, however, students have access to more input than a teacher in the 20th century could have imagined. Learners now need autonomous learning skills more than ever to manage their independent learning.
Third, perhaps to justify teacher control, it was theorized that extraneous input was detrimental to learners, because it might not be targeted at their level. For learning to occur, Krashen and other SLA theorists thought, the input needed to be structured at just the right level, and not overwhelm the learner. Now, however, teachers cannot control access, and learners may be exposed to English of all levels, types, genres, and media in many different academic and everyday situations whether we want them to be or not. Second Language Language Acquisition is trying to keep up, and it is turning to socially informed learning theories to explain development.
In sum, English learning has gone from mostly formal, meaning in structured school environments, to both formal and informal, as learners can access authentic discourses and interactions as well as materials designed for language learners, on their own.
There is a lot of incidental exposure to social media and Internet practices in other languages that can be used as a resource for learning. The top block here are social media apps and software â you can see Whatâs app, Youtube, Dropbox, Twitter, and many other familiar apps and maybe some unfamiliar ones. Most of these apps offer interfaces in the userâs first language, but they may also allow access to content in other languages, sometimes with translation.
The bottom block shows some of the many language learning apps available â one of the largest online markets that there is. These are of varying quality, but there is no doubt that our students are using them intentionally, along with many other more formally-structured learning resources like educational Youtube videos. Learning a language is different these days because of the accessibility of these informal and formal learning resources.
Prof. Reinhartâs third point is that technology itself has changed considerably over time, and that it continues to change. Older technologies for language learning were expensive, specialized, and associated with formal domains, meaning work and academic spheres. Very few could afford to have computer and Internet technology, so workplaces and schools, if they were privileged and wealthy enough, were often the only places learners could access technological resources. Nowadays, technology is more ubiquitous, integrated with our lives, and associated with both formal domains like work and school as well as with informal domains like home, socializing, and play â everyday, personal spaces. With the rise of smartphones especially, digital online technologies have become an almost inseparable part of our everyday lives.
In the 20th century, computer interfaces were often transparent, meaning that to use the computer we had to be able to code and have technical knowledge of how computer logic worked. After the development of graphical user interfaces, however, interfaces are more opaque and user-friendly, meaning that users do not see the âbackendâ of a webpage or a phone app, and they do not need to know how to code to operate it. The interface of a website or a phone app now teaches we how to use it, in very simple, straightforward, âuser-friendlyâ terms.
It used to be that programmers produced, and users consumed online content. Now, however, after the Web 4.0 shift around the turn of the millennium, users themselves produce, reuse, and share content. This means there has been a shift from specialized production and consumption to everyday participation. Prof. Reinhart believes we should recognize this, and teach our students how to participate critically and productively.
Before going too much further,Prof. Reinhart explained what he mean by âeveryday. Notice this is one word, and while it can mean something that we do every day, it has an extra meaning. Everyday practices are common, habitual, or routine daily actions and activitiesâthey are dispositional, or ways of doing and being. The everyday can be contrasted with the exceptional, special, or the academic. We associate everyday with the vernacular or the common, average, and unremarkable. We are normally unaware of our everyday practices, and we take them for granted. They become part of what French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu called our âhabitusâ â our daily, unexamined habits and ways of being. Using personal technology and social media has become part of our everyday life, our habitus. Many of us, especially young people, cannot imagine how they would live their lives without it.
Prof Reinhart found some photos online of everyday life in Indonesia with smartphones. It seems like Indonesians are as accustomed to their phones and being online as people in many countries around the world. In fact, when he did some research on what role technology played in everyday life in Indonesia,he found a survey in 2014 had found that Indonesian users spend more than three hours online daily on their smartphones, which is at worldâs biggest usage and 39 minutes longer than the average of 142 minutes.
He also found that 94% of Indonesians had smartphones and that Indonesians they spend 8 hours a day on the Internet â this means not just browsing the Web but shopping, using ride share, texting, etc. â He also found that the top google search query was google translate. This leads him to believe that Indonesians are exposed to quite a bit of online English in their everyday technology-mediated lives, and that theyâre using translation tools to help them understand it. Indonesians are also downloading a lot of music, accessing youtube, and are on social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Whatsapp, and checking the weather. This really is not much different from Americans, except that Americans donât access Google translate nearly as often.
So returning to our overlapping circles, we can identify the major changes that have been brought about by the Internet. First, English is being learned for not just extrinsic reasons like to get a job or because itâs required, but also for more intrinsic reasons, because there are things written and said in English that people personally want to know about, and communities they want to associate with that use English. Second, learning is not just formal and relegated to schools, but it is happening outside of schools, informally and incidentally, through personal digital devices connected to the Internet. Third, Internet technology itself has changed with the rise of social media, becoming more participatory and everyday in nature. So then what does this mean about where all three of these circles overlap, Online English Learning?
Where the three areas meet leads to one final consideration before we talk about implications, that is, how online English learning is changing overall.
In the 20th century, nearly all online and any technology-enhanced language learning happened on stationary desktop computers. These machines were expensive and so were usually shared and if schools had them, they were in computer labs that were accessed during special sessions. Today, nearly everybody is walking around with a personal, mobile device with the power of a supercomputer, connected to half of the planet â as mentioned before, this means that access to other languages, cultures, and communities is no longer only possible under the guidance of a teacher.
It used to be that English learning with technology happened during lab time, maybe through an expensive connection. This made it exceptional and unique, something not understand as impacting oneâs daily life. Now, online English learning resources can be accessed by many learners not just during school but also any time or place outside of school. Although there are still many learners without access, this development is changing what we understand learning is and what it can be.
It used to be that online learning couldnât easily be in real time, and that we turned it off sometimes. Now, itâs fast enough to support videos, sound, and images, which enhance the learning experience considerably. It can also be on all the time, for better or for or for worse.
Digital technology in the 20th century was used mostly for work, and casual uses for leisure and communications were rare. Now, we use our devices not just for work, but for play and everyday activities, to the point where we can hardly imagine how to do many things without them.
Finally, for communication purposes, it used to be that we called each other on the telephone and talked. We then started using email and then chat to communicate in real time. Now we no longer telephone and speak in real time with each other as much, but more frequently we text each other to interact, in real time and delayed, using multimodality to make meaning in the form of emojis, gifs, and video clips. In short, developments in technology over the past few decades means that online English learning is no longer something exceptional that happens in school, usually on special machines. It still may be this way, but now it is also something that is part of our everyday lives.
So what are the pedagogical implications of these developments? What does this mean for how we design formal English learning activities and devise learning objectives? So in summary, online English use today is practiced for both extrinsic and intrinsic reasons. The implication is that we should focus on developing learnersâ intrinsic motivation to learn English, which is more possible than ever thanks to the Internet. Second, online English is learned not only formally but also informally, so the implication is that we develop informal learning skills in our students and help them develop learner autonomy. Third, Internet and social media content is both consumed and âparticipatedâ in, so the implication is that we should help develop our studentsâ Internet participation and digital literacy skills. And finally, online English use is no longer just exceptional but is also everyday, familiar, and personal, which means we should address the development of everyday English usage skills.
Here are some ideas for learning activities:
To take advantage of the fact that people use the Internet to pursue personal affinities, we should design and implement learning activities that encourage this behavior. Intrinsic motivation has been found to keep people dedicated and committed to an activity longer than extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic motivators might be gaining symbolic or cultural capital, finding relational or interpersonal meaning, or achieving autogenous goals, that is, intrapersonal goals the learner set themselves that do not lead to immediate material gain.
Activities that promote affinity behavior and intrinsic motivation might have students follow an intâl celebrity, sports star, or other famous person on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. They might have students participate in an international fan community associated with a movie, a band or performer, a fictional series like Harry Potter, a soap opera or drama, or a video game franchise. The activity might have them pursue a hobby, interest, or other non-academic pastime like fashion, cars, travel, design, cooking, gardening, or dancing. Whatâs important is that the learner has a choice as to which affinity they pursue and how they do it, and that they reflect on it. Language use and learning is simply the means to follow the affinity â language learning isnât the ultimate goal.
Itâs important that we promote the use of informal online English resources outside of class, and instead of ignoring or just criticizing them, help learners develop the skills to discern how to evaluate them and use them effectively for their own needs. Doing this will help learners build learner autonomy, develop self-regulation and learning management skills, and promote positive learnful dispositions, which are positive attitudes towards learning that help support intrinsic motivations.
To the end of teaching how to evaluate online learning resources, we need to help learners become aware of their own learning styles, habits, and preferences. We need to help them recognize useful and authentic practices to learn from informally, because some websites and communities are more friendly to learners then others. We should help them find and enable English learning support online, for example, how to used closed caption in on Youtube videos, how to use online translators and dictionaries critically, and how to find and use other scaffolds, for example, mouseover apps that can provide an annotation or a translation for a word. We need to teach them how to use translators critically and effectively, instead of pretending they donât exist. Most importantly we have to develop learnersâ critical evaluation skills, so that they can decide for themselves which resources are most useful in the absence of teachers.
When we encourage our students to pursue affinity-driven online activities and help them develop the autonomy to direct and regulate their own learning in these informal contexts, we also need to help them go beyond just watching and observing. We need to develop social media/internet participation skills in English in our students, as this will allow them to experience authentic, meaningful communication contexts that lead to real learning. It will also lead to authentic learning of culture â not by learning about it, but by experiencing it firsthand. Finally, participating in online discourses will help them develop digital literacy skills that will transfer to other contexts, including more formal academic and workplace spheres.
Observing is the first step â students can join a group or visit a site and observe how others are participating â maybe how they post on a discussion board, for example. They should pay attention to not the meaning of what is said, but how it is said, and how people interact with one another. Note what is polite, what is inappropriate, and what is expected. The next step is to visualize and rehearse participation. What kind of response would be more or less appropriate? What would be accepted? What would not, and why? A potential post could be run through a translator to make sure itâs comprehensible. Then, help learners test the waters, just a small amount at first, and to note the reaction. Maybe itâs just a like or an upvote or a retweet, but even a tiny bit of particiption can help the learner feel like they are invested and engaged. Small steps can lead to longer and more meaningful participation over time.
Finally, we need to give learners the tools they need to participate in everyday, casual, and informal uses of language, because if they participate with the formal, academic language we usually teach them, they may not fare well. By teaching them everyday and online language, we prepare them for a global English world that is not just academic but is comprised of many Englishes. We should teach them slang uses, online abbreviations, and differences in formality levels among texts and genres, for example, between a social media post and a workplace email.
To do this we can have learners rehearse or role play doing everyday things online in English. There are several projects learners can do you might be familiar with, for example, planning a trip or vacation, designing a room or a house, putting together an outfit or a wardrobe, or planning a party or event. These require going to various sites and using various apps, and can be done in pairs or groups. They can read, discuss, and write reviews, for example, of restaurants, websites, businesses, movies, music, etc., and perhaps even post them if they are genuine. They can pretend-shop for houses, cars, clothes, and household goods with pretend budgets, and in doing so, they will have to interact with new forms of casual, everyday English — just remember, donât let them click on âpurchaseâ
.
These sorts of activities can lead to the necessary English language skills and autonomous learning skills that learners will need in the future. Thereâs a lot more to discuss about these kinds of learning activities, but here are a few more points to bring it together â I think itâs a good idea to use social media or a shared space like a blog where students can come together virtually and share their affinities, evaluations, participatory experiences, and everyday uses with each other â discussing and comparing them as they do them.
Itâs also important to have learners reflect on the language they use and learn, and to compare it to academic/formal uses. In other words, you have to get them to focus not just on communicating about the content, but also to step back and pay attention to the language theyâre observing using to do it â this is crucial for developing critical awareness.
And finally, to really develop learner autonomy and lifelong learning habits, itâs also important get students to reflect on the extrinsic and intrinsic reasons for learning English, and how online language learning is something they can and should do on their own into the future â not because they have to, but because may want to use it for their everyday lives.
In conclusion, students in the future will need to use the Internet and social media in English for everyday purposes. They need to know how to find personal meaning in what theyâre doing and to follow their personal affinities and interests online. They need to have reasons to learn English besides the fact that itâs required of them. They need know that they can learn casually and informally, not just because they are being tested, and they should know that online learning allows for that. They need to know how to direct their own learning and make smart choices with regards to the resources they use for it. They need to know how to participate in Internet communities, not just to be observers or consumers. Finally, they need to know how to use online tools for everyday uses, as well as the everyday, non-academic English language used for it.
As the reasons for learning global English change, the means and materials for learning English change, and technology itself changes, our relationships with each other and with technology itself changes. As technology becomes a part of global, everyday life, it offers the means to make English use and learning an everyday part of the lives of global citizens.
I hope you find this article useful for you, guysâŚ
Ini adalah judul presentasi dari Dr Christine Coombe, seorang Editor, Brief Reports Section dari Asia TEFL Journal. Saya kan punya cita-cita ingin punya penelitian EFL yang bisa dipublish di jurnal bergengsi semacam Asia TEFL itu dan seneng sekali ketika Dr. Christine menyampaikan topik itu di LTTE International Conference 2020. Yang dibahas beliau adalah mengapa kita mempublikasikan tulisan atau peneltian kita, manfaat dari penerbitan jurnal, jenis-jenis publikasi, cara-cara supaya dapat dipublikasikan beserta tips suksesnya, peringatan dari publisher dan ditutup dengan Q & A. Saya dapat banyak insights dari presentasi itu dan jadi semangat nih biar masuk ATEFLJ. Okay biar nggak berlama-lama yuk simak sharing saya.
Why Publish?
Alasan pertama mengapa kita mempublikasi tulisan kita tentu karena banyak institusi menggunakan publikasi sebagai bukti paling nyata dari perkembangan profesional kita dan itu saya sepakat seratus persen. Alasan selanjutnya yaitu tentunya terkait dengan prestise institusional, terutama pada pendidikan tinggi.
Semakin banyak publikasi dari suatu instansi, semakin keren instutusi itu. Makanya kampus-kampus seolah berlomba banyak-banyakan paper di jurnal Sinta maupun terindeks Scopus, ya kan? Selanjutnya publikasi tentu berkontribusi pada basis pengetahuan profesional dan membantu kita mengikuti perkembangan yang sedang terjadi di bidang tertentu. All those reasons saya sepakat dengan Ms Christine.
Benefits of Being a Published Author
Saya dulu pernah menulis di blog sini juga pendapat saya terhadap dosen-dosen yang berlomba-lomba nulis penelitian sebagai academic snobs karena mengejar menjadi seorang published author tapi mengabaikan menjadi dosen yang baik dan skillful dalam mendidik dan mengajar. Tapi memang saya setuju juga dengan yang Christine sampaikan bahwa published author menunjukkan inisiatif dan dedikasi seorang pengajar pada profesi. Selain itu penyebutan published author membuat kita lebih dihormati oleh kolega kita secara umum (kecuali oleh saya ya, Iâm not easily impressed by such label. Buat saya kalau situ dosen atau widyaiswara, bisa ngajar yang bener nggak hehehee). Tapi yang jelas menulis di jurnal jelas membantu mengembangkan keterampilan menulis akademis seseorang dan itu bisa menambah nilai kredit untuk karir dan meningkatkan profesionalisme seorang pengajar. Yah setidaknya ada peningkatan pengakuan di institusi kita dan dalam profesi kita.
Manfaat lain dari menjadi seorang published author menurut Christine yaitu kita bisa mendapatkan lebih banyak uang melalui royalti, dengan catatan dari saya kalau kita nulisnya banyak ya… Buat saya sih nggak banyak karena sekali publish di AEFLJ cuma 12% buat author, itupun harus kita bagi lagi sendiri jika multiple authors. Kalau mau banyak tentu pengalinya juga harus banyak. Tapi memang efforts dari tim publisher pasti lebih gede juga sih agar tulisan kita layak publish. Kalau sudah diterbitkan kan nanti kita jadi lebih dikenal secara luas dan kita bisa dapat undangan lain untuk mempublikasikan, mempresentasikan di konferensi atau diminta untuk konsultasi suatu topik, those sure generates more money. But overall setuju juga sih jika published author seolah menjadi jaminan kredibilitas kita sebagai ahli dalam suatu topik. Saya highlight kata seolah ya, karena saya juga punya banyak teman dosen yang jadi mentee saya itu secara paper dia jago tapi secara aplikasi sih masih under my mentoring, jadi.âŚsilakan disimpulkan sendiri.
Types of Publishing Opportunities
Jurnal papan atas untuk penerbitan dalam topik ELT yaitu:
TESOL Quarterly; RELC Journal; Journal of Asia TEFL; TESOL Journal; SSLA; ELTJ; Applied Linguistics; Teaching Practice; dan Language Learning. Saya dulu pernah punya janji dengan dosen saya ibu Dr. Sainti Chainrani Djonhar untu menulis paper bersama untuk dipublish di TESOL atau ELTJ. Tapi saya menunda2 karena kesibukan kantor yang tidak bisa saya tinggalkan, ternyata tahun lalu beliau berpulang ke Rahmatullah. Jadi saya harus keep going supaya ita-cita kita berdua tercapai. BTW untuk daftar specialist journals (technology) yaitu System, ReCALL, CALICO, CALL
Sedangkan jenis-jenis peluang publishing lainnya yang bisa jadi alternatif kita yaitu
Authored books; Monographs; Textbooks. JadiâŚpilihan banyak sekali ya guysâŚ
Steps to Getting Published
Ada 7 langkah menurut Christine agar tulisan kita terpublikasi. Saya bahas satu per satu yaâŚ.
Langkah pertama:
Tuliskan apa yang Anda ketahui, karena nanti akan lebih mudah kita kembangkan. Tanya diri sendiri apakah saya punya ide untuk artikel, buku, atau sekumpulan materi? Apakah ide ini bahannya telah saya kembangkan atau tulis? Sudahkah Anda menguji materi di lapangan atau berbagi ide dengan rekan kerja? Apakah saya siap untuk berbagi ide dengan rekan kerja atau komunitas akademis yang lebih luas? Kalau jawabannya semua iya, lanjut ke langkah kedua.
Langkah kedua:
Memilih penerbit / jurnal. Lihat katalog / situs web mereka atau nama penerbitnya. Lihat juga siapa editor / anggota dewan penasihat jika itu jurnal. Selanjutnya dapatkan nama kontaknya, kirim email kepada mereka untuk menanyakan apakah mereka mungkin tertarik dengan karya kita. Kirimkan mereka deskripsi 1-2 paragraf yang berisi 1-2 kalimat tentang keahlian kita tentang topik tersebut. Jika mereka tertarik, mereka akan mengirimkan panduan proposal mereka kepada kita. Lalu buat deh deh proposal kita.
Langkah ketiga:
Kirimkan materi proposal kepada penerbit. Kebanyakan penerbit meminta penjelasan tentang karya kita & teori di baliknya, beberapa contoh pelajaran atau bab dalam buku kita. Penerbit biasanya juga menanyakan informasi tentang bagaimana buku / artikel / buku teks kita akan berpengaruh atau berpeluang di pasar. Selain itu mereka juga ingin tahu informasi tentang materi / buku kompetitor yang jadi saingan kita nanti di market. Sampaikan semua itu di proposal kita. Jangan lupa juga kirimkan biodata atau CV dari semua penulis yang terlibat dalam karya itu.
Langkah keempat:
Penerbit akan meninjau pekerjaan kita dan mengirimkannya untuk direview ke reviewer atau pengulas eksternal. Prosesnya bisa memakan waktu selama 6 bulan. Setelah peninjauan selesai, kita akan mendapatkan 1 hingga 3 ulasan anonim. Tanggapi komentar pengulas dengan membuat perubahan pada manuskrip atau dengan memberi alasan mengapa kita tidak ingin membuat perubahan yang disarankan.
Langkah lima:
Jika ulasan umumnya positif, kita  dapat melanjutkan ke tahap persetujuan kontrak atau artikel. Duh pastinya happy banget ya. Baca kontraknya dengan cermat , karena menurut bu Christine pembagian royalti yang baik antara 8 hingga 12% (dikit amat ya?).  Hati-hati dengan klausul dan biaya ‘first refusal’ untuk indeks ‘penulis’ dan ‘subjek’. Selain itu negosiasikan tenggat waktu dan pagination / jumlah kata dengan hati-hati. Kalau di AEFLJ sih Ms Christine pasang 4000 kata dan itu sudah termasuk referensinya ya guysâŚ
Jika ulasan negatif, kita sepertinya mendapat penolakan. Jangan menyerah ya, malah perhatikan alasan penolakannya apa? Revisi sesuai catatan dari penerbit dan kirim ulang lagi. Pokoknya pantang mundur.
Langkah enam:
Setelah naskah akhir diserahkan, pekerjaankita berarti ada di tangan editor jurnal, copy-editor, dan kemudian penerbit. Apa itu rtinya?
Setiap perubahan pada pagination itu mahal. Kita tidak memiliki kendali atas visual / sampul /artistik, dll. Anda harus mendapatkan (dan berkali-kali membayar) izin atas visual dari sumber lain atau teks yang terdiri dari 200+ kata. Camkan ya guysâŚ
Langkah tujuh:
What happens next setelah bukunya keluar? Editor atau penulis biasanya mendapatkan beberapa salinan pelengkap & diskon 40% untuk salinan berikutnya. Dan untuk penulis bab biasanya mendapatkan salinan pelengkap dari buku atau ebook-nya. Nah di sini editor atau penulis mungkin diharapkan untuk mempromosikan buku ini di konferensi atau pameran. Maka rayakan kesuksesan kita. Jangan lupa untuk mulai memikirkan proyek menuliskita berikutnya⌠Duh kayaknya nagihin ya kalau sudah jadi published author. Saya pasti bisa gitu, kayaknya pas banget sambil saya lanjut S3 atau sudah jadi WI Utama.
Strategies For Success
Berikut ini tips sukses penulisan dari Ms. Christine. Yang pertama terkait penulisan referensi: ikuti APA style atau yang ditentukan oleh penerbit. Semua kutipan dalam teks harus muncul dalam referensi, dan pastikan untuk menggunakan urutan alfabetis. Kesalahan dalam daftar referensi membuat editor sangat marah lho, karena bisa terindikasi unethical dan ujung2nya berubah pikiran untuk menerbitkan tulisan kita.
Selanjutnya terkait penulisan Lampiran: beri nomor dengan huruf kapital (A, B, C dll.)
Oh ya ingat ya jika kita sertakan lampiran hanya jika diperlukan.
Untuk penulisan tanda kutip (ââŚâ) itu gunakan dengan hemat hanya jika kita tidak bisa mengatakan dengan lebih baik sumber aslinya. Yah penulis kan harus pintar parafrase dan menyusun kalimat, inti writing skills kan di situ guys⌠OK next yaitu penulisan verb alias kata kerja. Gunakan bentuk lampau atau Verb 2 untuk artikel berbasis penelitian. Gunakan bentuk waktu sekarang (Present) untuk merujuk pada fakta yang diterima secara umum.
Hati-hati jangan sampai mencampur tenses apalagi salah pakai tenses. Sebenarnya pengetahuan tenses in basic ya, kalau sampai salah pakai tenses, malu lah friends pengajar EFL kok yang kayak gini saja masih salah…
Doâs and Donâts
Nah ini terakhir sebagai penutup postingan kali ini. Ms Christine juga sampaikan banyak pesan bahkan larangan terkait penerbitan ya friends. Sudah saya enlist di bawah nih tinggal baca saja.
Jangan banyak menggunakan superlatif atau bahasa informal. Tahu superlatives ya, yang the most, the greatest bla..blaaâŚquantify segalanya berdasarkan data dan fakta dan bukan opini.
Gunakan tulisan yang jelas dan ringkas dengan sedikit jargon, karena keterbacaan untuk seluruh khalayak itu penting ya saudara.
Jangan mengirimkan proposal Anda ke lebih dari satu penerbit / jurnal.
Jangan menerbitkan artikel / bab yang sama di lebih dari satu buku / jurnal.
Jangan berharap hasil cepat dari publikasi. Kalau menurut saya sih quick turnaround itu juga bagian dari nasib hehehee
Tanggapi komentar pengulas seriously, terima jika benar, jangan ngeyel.
Cantumkan co-author hanya jika  dia berkontribusi pada artikel
Jangan mencoba menambahkan co-author lain  jika artikel sudah diterima untuk publikasi. Nggak ada itu susulan-susulan yaâŚ
Bekerja dan berpikir keras pada bagian abstrak dan pembahasan/diskusi
Inventarisasikan kutipan dan referensi dalam teks Anda
Gunakan tools seperti grammar check dan tata bahasa dan professional proofreader
Pastikan grafik, bagan, dan gambar benar-benar menambahkan sesuatu ke artikel, jadi yang tidak penting dan sudah self-explanatory mah tidak perlu ilustrasi.
Perhatikan pemberian judul. Dari judul saja pembaca harus mengetahui inti jurnal tanpa harus membaca seluruh jurnal. Dan jangan sekali-kali menyebutkan nama institusi di judul, Ms. Christine hates that.
OKAY that’s all. Selamat berjuang agar bisa tembus publikasi di ATEFLJ ya friends. Thanks for reading.
Habis ikut sharing dengan Telkom Corpu (sekarang sudah serie 20 guys) dengan narsum Dr. Darhamsyah saja jadi pengen nulis my lesson learnt, cause yang ini ngasih insight buat my next action. Pak Darhamsyah adalah founder dari Smart Eco Life. Jadi judul di atas itu judul bukunya beliau tentang upaya menjalani hidup selaras dengan kepedulian terhadap lingkungan.
OK, saya ceritain dulu apa itu eco life. Eco life itu berkaitan erat dengan tiga hal utama yaitu
Baiklah saya elaborasi satu persatu ya… Howard Gardner yang punya teori multiple intelligence menerangkan bahwa semua manusia dilahirkan cerdas. Dan salah satu kecerdasan manusia yaitu kecerdasan naturalis atau kecerdasan lingkungan. Kecerdasan naturalis itu kemampuan untuk mengenali, melihat perbedaan, menggolongkan, dan mengkategorikan apa yang dia lihat atau jumpai di alam atau di lingkungannya. Contohnya misalnya saja seseorang mampu untuk mengenali tanda-tanda alam yang akan bermanfaat bagi kehidupannya, misalnya ketika melihat ada sekelompok burung terbang, maka dia akan mikir bahwa akan ada peristiwa alam yang terjadi. Kalau di sekitar saya misalnya semut2 pada baris masuk rumah saya, berarti biasanya mau hujan gede dan mereka berbondong-bodong keluar dari sarang mereka di tanah. Kalau contoh dari beliau yaitu banyak hasil temuan teknologi itu berasal dari kepekaan manusia terhadap lingkungan, misalnya teknologi sonar dll, kita belajar dari kelelawar, burung, lebah, laba2 dan semua dikembangkan menjadi hi tech.
Kalau konsep biophilia disampaikan oleh Edward O. Wilson, pemenang dua hadiah Pullitzer. Biophilia menjelaskan kecenderungan manusia untuk mempelajari atau berasosiasi dengan alam dalam kehidupannya. Ini seperti cinta dengan alam sehingga berusaha membuat sesuatu yang ramah lingkungan dan menunjukkan kecintaan pada alam, seperti contoh desain Apple dengan gambar apel tergigit sepotong menunjukkan gambaran bawah sadar akan cinta lingkungan. Jadi biophilia lebih ke praktik menggabungkan alam dan elemen alam ke dalam lingkungan yang kita kembangkan. Biederman & Vessel dalam studi tahun 2006 mengatakan bahwa orang lebih suka melihat pemandangan alam daripada lingkungan buatan manusia, dan melihat pemandangan alam berulang kali tidak mengurangi kesenangan secara signifikan dari waktu ke waktu (alias pemandangan alam tidak membuat kita bosan secepat man-made view). Makanya ketika sesi Zoom dengan pak Darmansyah kemarin beliau benar2 berada di alam luar di daerha Malino, pemandangan belakangnya natural asli bukan virtual background, kita sendiri ikut adem melihat beliau memaparkan materinya, serasa ikutan terbawa segar gitu.
Nature relatedness adalah rasa subyektif dari hubungan yang dimiliki orang dengan lingkungan alam (istilah serupa itu keterhubungan dengan alam/nature connectedness atau penyertaan alam dalam diri/ self-inclusion of nature). Keterkaitan dengan alam itu bentuknya pengukuran perbedaan individual yang relatif stabil tetapi dapat berfluktuasi, misalnya dengan eksposur ke lingkungan alam atau bisa juga dipengaruhi oleh pendidikan lingkungan. Ada skala pengukurannya dari 1 sampai 10, makin tinggi berati semakin memiliki keterhubungan dengan alam dan berarti makin bagus. Pernah diteliti jika orang yang punya skala nature relatedness yang tinggi maka dia punya system respiratory yang bagus dan sistem cardiovascular yang bagus pula.
Dalam perkembangannya, manusia selalu punya ego tinggi untuk mengeksploitasi alam. Ego dia lebih tinggi daripada Eco life dia. Dan semakin tinggi ego dia, semakin kecil eco life dia. Semakin tinggi Ego, dia akan annoy lingkungan, semakin rendah ego dia semakin enjoy dia dengan lingkungan.
OK menurut Pak Darhamsyah ada beberapa ciri pokok eco life yaitu:
interdependence
meaningful
beautiful
adaptive
Yang artinya segala sesuatu itu saling terhubung, punya makna penciptaan, indah dan bisa diadaptasi. Satu kejadian kecil saja di alam akan mengakibatkan pengaruh di anggota alam lainnya. Maka jika kita terlalu mengeksploitasi alam, sudah dipastikan pasti ada dampak bagi manusia itu sendiri.
Interdependence itu membuat kita memikirkan rasa kebersamaan (sense of togetherness) untuk membina hubunganatau rapport dengan sesama mahluk. Meaningfulness membuat kita selalu memikirkan sense of purpose atau rasa berguna dari segala sesuatu. Beauty membuat kita memikirkan sense of aesthetic dengan sensory acuity kita. Sedangkan adaptive membuat kita menggunakan sense of explore kita untuk mencoba berbagai kemungkinan dengan behavioral flexibility kita.
Supaya kita bisa melakukan eco life, maka kita perlu rewiring otak kita dengan rumus FEED. Menurut John Arden, FEED adalah singkatan dari
Focus
Effort
Effortless
Determination
FOKUS itu seperti menyerap dan mengingat dengan benar apa yang dipelajari. Menyuruh otak untuk disambungkan kembali dengan secara sadar akan setiap aspek dari apa yang kita lakukan dapat membantu kita untuk meningkatkan attention skills. EFFORT yaitu upaya sadar mengaktifkan otak untuk membangun koneksi baru. Jadi usaha atau aktivitas sangat penting dalam menciptakan perubahan baru dan koneksi otak. EFFORTLESS itu jika kita telah memulai perilaku baru, maka akan lebih mudah di lain waktu dan secara bertahap membutuhkan lebih sedikit energi dan menjadi lebih otomatis. Jadi kita membutuhkan lebih sedikit energi mental karena perilaku menjadi lebih familiar dan otomatis. DETERMINATION itu tekad, jika kita terus mempertahankan perilaku yang tadi dikembangakan memberi manfaat yaitu perasaan lebih baik, lebih percaya diri, lebih tenang.
Jadi awal mencintai lingkungan pertama kita fokus dulu bahwa kita harus menghargai lingkungan. Lalu lakukan effort supaya kita punya upaya dan langkah-langkah untuk menghargai lingkungan. Jika sering kita usahakan itu maka akan menjadi upaya yang effortless dan otomatis dan akhirnya menjadi tekad dan kebiasaan kita dalam mencintai lingkungan.
Mindset eco life itulah yang membuat kita memiliki tanggung jawab dan kecintaan untuk menghargai segala ciptaan Tuhan. Karena perilaku manusia memang memengaruhi lingkungan, dan perilaku itu juga diakibatkan faktor kognitif, afektif serta fisik dengan lingkungan alam. Misalnya kita mikir: kita mau air bersih dan udara segar, pasti memikirkan juga mahluk lain pun juga menginginkannya. Jadi jangan bakar sampah plastik misalnya, atau membuangnya ke sungai dan laut. Jangan cemari lingkungan dengan plastik. Contoh lain, kita tidak suka atau trauma dengan tsunami, maka harus memikirkan pula bahwa kita jangan pula menciptakan tsunami bagi mahluk lain, misalnya periksa dulu kamar mandi apakah ada semut atau binatang kecil lain yang perlu kita selamatkan dulu sebelum kita mulai mandi, karena air kita bisa jadi bencana bagi semut di kamar mandi. Saya sampai ckckck bener juga ya, kita jadi harus lebih peka dan peduli pada mahluk lain di alam sekitar kita….
Kalau my next action itu bagaimana supaya lingkungan rumah saya lebih green saja. Saya buat list saya akan lakukan Konmari saja dan nambah tanaman di rumah. Nah kalau pengen tahu konmari saya itu seperti apa, nanti saya tulis lagi ya kapan-kapan…
Gosh saya lupa nulis bulan Agustus, ompong deh postingan bulanan tahun ini, hiks. Anyway, akhir Agustus lalu berakhir sudah 3 bulan masa saya menjadi mentor tidak tetap di BPPK. Saya spesialisasi di Penyusunan Kurikulum, dan empat mentee saya berasal dari pusdiklat yang berbeda-beda dan satu orang dari kampus kedinasan kita. mereka semua membutuhkan pembimbingan teknis dalam curriculum design.
Karena waktu yang singkat, tentunya akan efektif jika masa mentoring mereka mendapatkan penugasan seperti yang direncanakan dalam Individual Development Program mereka. Problem saya adalah masing-masing kita punya jadwal kesibukan sehari-hari yang padat, apalagi saya harus mencari waktu di sela jawal mengajar PJJ saya yang cukup lumayan dari Juni sd Agustus lalu. Salah satu mentee saya bahkan pejabat es 4 yang full mengajar latsar juga, jadi most of us di WAG kita bisa slow response. Tapi saya selalu available untuk konsultasi individual mereka 24 x 7, jadi lucu juga kadang kita chat2 sampai jam 11 malam, atau saya baru balas message mereka jam 2 pagi. Kita baru punya waktu untuk Zoom berjamaah ya memasuki bulan ke-2 mentoring, tapi mentee saya semua jadi lebih paham tentang ISD dan jadi lebih teliti dalam analisis instruksional mereka. Overall, semua mentee saya bisa menyelesaikan project mereka tuntas, ada hasil yang bisa saya nilai.
What are my lesson learnt sebagai seorang mentor? Mungkin supaya gampang saya enlist dulu ya…
Sebagai mentor kita harus punya pengalaman dan pemahaman teknis yang of course jauh lebih advanced dari para mentee kita. Saya merasa sebagai mentor saya mau nggak mau merangkap juga menjadi coach mereka karena banyak yang harus saya arahkan dari para mentee saya secara bertahap. Kasus penugasan mereka juga berbeda2, tetapi saya bisa menarik kesamaan yang bisa saya tekankan pada para mentee untuk jadi pedoman mereka dalam penyusunan kurikulum. Dan setiap kasus dalam tugas seorang mentee harus bisa dijadikan bahan pembelajaran yang meaningful buat mentee lain yang unit tugasnya berbeda. Mentor yang nggak kompeten dan berpengalaman nggak bakalan bisa seperti itu dan dapat trust dari menteenya terutama untuk percaya dengan saran pemecahan masalah dari kita, paham ya maksud saya ini guys?
Saya dituntut untuk lebih jeli dalam melihat, mengamati, dan memberikan feedback bagi setiap mentee saya. Di awal saya mentoring mereka, saya awali dengan menanyakan mereka “WHO” karena saya harus membuat mereka melek mereka apa sih visi ke depan mereka dalam Talent Program BPPK itu? Jika mereka punya tujuan jelas mau jadi apa saya di IDP mereka, maka langkah-langkah mereka akan jelas dan terarah serta measurable. Ini yang akan memudahkan saya dalam memonitor progress mereka.
Saya bisa katakan saya jadi rajin memberikan sponsorship kepada para mentee saya. Maksudnya saya melihat progress mereka dan saya acknowledge itu, saya berikan encouragement terus jika apa yang mereka usahakan dalam majemen talenta itu akan sangat bermanfaat bagi organisasi. Saya juga ceritakan dengan mentor-mentor lain di BPPK jika ini nih mentee saya benar-benar keren dan memiliki kontribusi besar di pembelajaran terintegrasi BPPK. Saya pikir saya mirip cheerleader ya memberi dukungan semangat terutama buat mentee dalam pengerjaan tugas mereka.
Ini mungkin yang terakhir ya, flexibilitas tapi bijak. Saya menghargai setiap mentee saya as a person meskipun rata-rata semua masih pelaksana, tetapi mereka semua juga banyak roles yang harus dipenuhi apalagi jaman WFH begini, tugas tambahan dan distraksi banyak sekali iya nggak? Saya bilang tadi saya reachable at any time itu karena supaya mereka juga nggak sungkan untuk segera konsultasi jika ada kendala. Saya juga harus bisa memberikan saran plan A dan plan B jika salah satu tidak bisa working karena situasi dan kebutuhan users. Sering saya tekankan pada mentee untuk membuat pilihan yang bijak karena saya share juga kasus struggling dan failing saya yang relevan dengan situasi mereka. Mereka juga harus belajar dari pengalaman lampau saya dan ambil hikmahnya, coz this is the real learning menurut saya.
Above all, kesuksesan program mentoring yah tentunya semua kembali ke masing-masing individu mentee saya. Kuncinya saya harus bisa building the relationship with realistic expectations about my mentees’ role and a willingness to work hard setiap mentee saya. That’s my story, how about yours?
