eWriting: ESL Writing Success

Year 2 Project Objectives, Activities and Outcomes.
Objective 1: Identify and train faculty for year 2 curriculum development.
The goal was to appoint and instruct four teams of ESL full-time faculty members to develop the content of levels – 1, 2, 6, and complete level 4. A survey of the writers who developed levels 3, 4 & 5 during year 1 was conducted and the curriculum development process was evaluated. The authors gave valuable insights, suggestions and comments on how to more effectively manage the writers’ team. In response to these comments, a more tightly structured curriculum development plan for year two with clearly outlined writing guidelines was developed, and support to the project team was enhanced. A step-by-step process for creating eWriting Learning Objects (LOs) was also developed and implemented providing detailed instructions, timelines and content descriptions of the LOs for the writers. The nature of the LO, as defined for the purposes of the eWriting program, is outlined in:  Seven Steps in Designing the eWriting Learning Objects, (http://www.mdc.edu/kendall/ewriting/process.htm).  The project management provided revised instructions, authoring strategies, themes, definitions and detailed guidelines to help the writers develop the components of the LO – (objective, pre and post test, warm-up, “Teacher Talk”, lectures and activities). http://www.mdc.edu/kendall/ewriting/curriculum.htm    Authors were instructed to provide error analysis (feedback to wrong answers) for all activities as well as suggestions for the computer interactions and audio / video presentations. The LOs were piloted in the classrooms. The writers received regular training in the latest technologies at the College: FrontPage, WebCT, Dreamweaver, Macromedia, Camtasia, and Impatica. These workshops were specifically designed for eWriting project purposes. The project management also developed expanded tables of contents for all levels. They included chapter divisions, learning objective of the LOs, academic themes and suggested vocabulary. The content of the 250 eWriting LOs was based on the six levels of writing and grammar objectives that constitute MDC’s writing program. A wide variety of contemporary ESL printed and online sources were consulted to guarantee the curriculum would reflect current developments and trends in ESL writing instruction. The table of contents ensured continuity between levels, as well as within the program.

Objective 2: Complete the Content Development for the Six Levels
Faculty from four college campuses (North, Interamerican, Wolfson and Kendall) comprised the year 2 writers’ teams. Early in the Fall semester, 2003, the project management conducted four instructional workshops to develop the eWriting curriculum. The first workshop introduced program and course design principles to the writers, the concept of the LO, the competencies, the Table of Contents, the project timelines and deadlines and the year 2 work plan. During the second workshop, the writers presented an LO each and shared suggestions and feedback regarding the course content, the structure and themes of the Table of Contents. The third workshop introduced guidelines and discussed strategies of developing effective and level-specific “Teacher Talk”, a term specifically coined for the eWriting program to describe tone and language of instructional elements within an LO. Workshop four dealt with refining the purpose and structure of pre and post tests present in each LO.  The participants concluded that these were vital tools not only for determining pre-existing knowledge of the LO topic, but also for measuring the amount of learning that happens within each LO for each student.  The project evaluator shared his views and experience in evaluating pre and post tests and stated his expectations of the “increase in learning” in an online lesson. Early test results were analyzed and discussed. The workshop resulted in clearly outlined pre and post test development strategies and test administration guidelines.
During year two of the eWriting project, a significant part of the work was channeled towards completion of the content for the six levels and facilitating the work of the writers’ teams. According to the majority of writers, the process was challenging due to the amount of time needed for content development. Writers were granted release from one class per semester and submitted one LO per week. The project management conducted regular individual, team and group meetings and worked closely with faculty throughout the year to ensure progress in content development. They also provided constructive feedback to the writers, worked on edited versions and requested revisions where needed.  The level 2 writers met the deadlines and completed 100% of the curriculum and will continue contributing to the next project phases. The level 6 writers requested and were granted deadline extensions.  Due to personal reasons, one of the level 6 writers was unable to continue with her writing obligations and asked to be replaced in the Spring semester by another faculty member.  The new writer completed the content for level 6. The level 1 team completed 36% of their allotted work during the fall semester, 2003. They indicated that that they would not be able to complete the work and a new level 1 writer was recruited for the Spring semester, 2004.  The new writer completed 50% of the level 1 LOs in one term. During the spring semester two new writers were appointed to finish developing level 4. Special training sessions were conducted with the new team. The three level 4 writers will continue working on the project and will develop multimedia for the online program. Currently, the content of all levels is completed with the exception of 12 level 1 LOs.
Objective 3: Pilot, Revise and Edit the Content for the Six Levels
The process of piloting, revising and editing the content has been a key project objective in year 2 and will expand considerably in year 3 to include and implement the online LOs college-wide. Piloting the content in the classroom is being refined at every step. It is done on a volunteer basis and has been embraced by the majority of full-time faculty at the ESL department. Their contributions to the project progress in terms of testing the content, providing useful editing and revision suggestions have been invaluable. Classroom piloting targets and serves the following purposes:

  • To test the content of the LOs in terms of appropriateness of level, length of the LO, student understanding of material, clarity of instructions, pedagogical soundness of activities, and user satisfaction.
  • To evaluate data from students’ pre & post test performance. The tests are graded by the project assistants and submitted for analysis to the project evaluator (please see evaluation report attachment).
  • 3) To edit and revise the content of LOs based on piloting results.

Detailed instructions for the piloting procedures were developed and revised. “Piloting” versions of the LOs were developed – to include student surveys, which were regularly submitted to the evaluator for data analysis.
After analyzing the feedback of level 3 LOs, the length, scope, and criteria in writing pre and post tests were modified and the piloting strategies and instructions for presenting the LO in a classroom environment were improved. Regular meetings and advice from the project evaluator also helped refine the process. A session with a FIPSE evaluator at the annual conference in Denver, December, 2003, was insightful. He suggested that, at this stage, we launch a more intensive approach (pilot more content in less time and with fewer students) which we did in the Spring and Summer, 2004. The piloting of 50 LOs from levels 2, parts of levels 3 and 4, during the spring semester rendered better results in terms of the “learning curve” data and students’ interest. During the summer, four professors are engaged in piloting levels 1, 5 and 6 in their writing classes. During the summer, the test piloting of another 24 LOs will be completed. Regular communication between ESL professors, project management, evaluator and writers, facilitates the editing and revision processes.
Objective 4: Prepare the Programming Phase of the Project

  Programming the six-level online eWriting lab required:

·        Hiring three programmers and training them in the tools for online instruction

·        Collaborating with CT&D to develop training workshops for programmers

·        Purchasing the hardware (three Dell laptops) and software (Animation Factory, gifART, Hot Potatoes, HP Masher, Macromedia MX, Impatica, Camtasia updates and licenses, Lectora, Photoshop, and Wimba.

·        Developing online skills tutorials for students

·        Developing templates for online LOs

·        Training faculty for the multimedia development phase of the project. The workshops were attended by project staff, faculty, advisory board members, programmers and ESL lab managers. Writers interested in technology were also welcome to attend. Workshops included FrontPage, Hot Potatoes, WebCT, Dreamweaver, WebCT  and Learning Objects.

Six of the eWriting curriculum developers opted to develop the multimedia components of the lessons. To address a variety of learning styles, each LO will include Impaticized, narrated PowerPoint Presentations and/or Camtasia movies. Training in these tools was planned by the project management and conducted by CT&D on 4/30/04. Prior to the workshop, participants prepared a PowerPoint presentation based on one LO. Participants learned to narrate PPT presentations and Camtasia movies, to convert them into streaming media, to narrate and edit them, and to upload files into WebCT. The evaluations reflected participants’100% satisfaction with the usefulness and the new skills acquired at the workshop. During the summer semester, 2004, four writers are working on the multimedia components, and by the end of the semester, 44 lessons from levels 4 & 6 will be developed. During the Fall and Spring semesters, the multimedia components of the online program will be completed.

Objective 5: Launch the programming of LOs (ongoing)

 The programmers started putting up the “shells” of the LOs in November 2003, using FrontPage and Dreamweaver for the lectures and Hot Potatoes software for the activities. So far, they have programmed all of levels 2 and 3 and 75% of level 1.The project director and manager are constantly supervising the work of the programmers, editing the online material and suggesting improved presentation and instruction techniques. The software for programming purposes is being updated as needs arise. A programmer was hired to put up the pre and post test questions for all LOs and lessons in WebCT. She has already completed programming 35% of the test items for the program.
Objective 6: Disseminate Project Progress
During the second project year, two articles were published in major academic periodicals: The Language Magazine, September, 2003, “Re-Inventing the Learning Wheel”, and Magna Publications, August, 2003, “Miami Dade Produces Home-Grown Learning Objects for Massive ESL Program.” Both articles were written by Steven Donahue, one of the level one writers, from the North Campus.
The ESL/FL newsletter at the Kendall Campus, Connections, also follows closely and reflects the developments of the eWriting project. Three articles reflecting the project progress have been published so far: http://faculty.mdc.edu/rizquier/NLAPR04/MAINPAGE.htm
The project website was developed and the content reflecting the project activities, curriculum, and progress was published online. A web designer is currently working on the website “look” and “feel.”
The process of presenting the eWriting program at the local, state and national conferences has already begun and will continue throughout the life of the project.  The project manager presented “Seven Steps in Designing the eWriting Learning Objects” http://www.mdc.edu/kendall/ewriting/7Steps/7StepsLO_files/frame.htm at Miami Dade College Professional Development Day, March 4, 2004. The surveys revealed the participants’ highest satisfaction with the usefulness of the presentation. The project management submitted a proposal, “Creating Learning Objects – an ESL Writing Program in Six Levels”, to the 2004 Conference on Information Technology in November, in Tampa and it was recently approved. A proposal to present at the Annual FIPSE directors’ meeting in Washington will be submitted.
Third Year Plan, Changes and Delays.
As indicated in the year one annual report, the project had a late start and we are one semester behind schedule in terms of course reviews and online piloting of the program. Another reason for the latter was the extensive year 2 classroom piloting of the content, which rendered valuable feedback and facilitated the content editing phase. All anticipated and significant third year changes will be a result of widening of the scope and impact of the program. The following goals and activities will be added to the original proposal:

  • Recruitment of ESL faculty members from six MDC campuses and one outreach center to work on the multimedia development, reviews and programming of the eWriting lab.
  • Implementation and piloting of the WebCT versions of eWriting at the ESL labs college-wide.
  • Adaptation of the program to meet the specific and varied needs of all campuses.
  • The publication of the eWriting program as textbooks (adapting the curriculum to publisher specs, hiring editors and pre-publishing experts)

Improving the Quality of Teaching and Learning
The eWriting project has and will have a tremendous impact on the quality of teaching and learning at the college. So far, 12 ESL faculty members from four campuses have been writing the curriculum for the program, more than 10 have piloted, revised and edited the LOs. Everyone involved has undergone extensive training in new technologies, piloting procedures, curriculum writing workshops, and online language instruction tools. All project related workshops have been open to and were attended by interested ESL/FL faculty and staff. Trainees are currently incorporating tools, e.g. Flashlight Online Surveys, Narrated PowerPoints, Web Pages, and WebCT course support in their own classes.

Impact on Educational Practices
The eWriting lab was originally conceived as a huge undertaking and, during the last two years, has continued to grow in scope, depth and impact. In addition to the 250 hours of online instruction, a secondary goal was to develop support tutorials for online ESL students – word processing, proofreading, editing and Internet skills. This aspect of the project recently resulted in a more comprehensive activity - the ESL department wrote a $25,000 HETS grant proposal in collaboration with five other colleges and universities in the US and Puerto Rico to build a repository of Learning Objects, intended to help ESL students (especially Hispanic) succeed in online courses.
As mentioned above, disseminating the project findings is a year 2 goal. By the end of this calendar year three conference presentations – MDC Professional Development Day, Conference on Information Technology and The FIPSE Annual Directors’ Meeting will have been made. The project management also regularly communicates and coordinates grant activities with the project manager at FIPSE. An on-site visit to the college in January, 2005, was agreed upon at a recent telephone conference.
Evaluation proceedings
Since its onset, all project developments have been carefully evaluated. The project management holds weekly/bi-weekly meetings with the Grant Evaluator who closely monitors project activities and progress and analyzes evaluation data. During year two, he conducted face-to-face interviews with MDC students piloting the eWriting material and a focus group with content developers – results are reflected in the attached evaluation report. An important tool that is used for evaluation purposes is the Flashlight Online Surveys, at Washington State University, which provides instant feedback.
Sustainability of project
The purpose of the eWriting program is to meet the need of ESL students at Miami Dade College and beyond to have easy access (any time any place) to interactive lessons to help them improve their writing skills. The institutionalization of the program has already begun – four campuses have been involved in the curriculum development and in year 3 we will involve all six campuses and one outreach center in the programming, piloting, editing and implementing the program college-wide. Besides the ESL/FL departments, interested experts from other areas such as College Prep, English, and Community Education will also be involved.
Preparing the publishing versions and e-packs of the program and negotiating with publishers is a new development that has added depth and scope to the project.  It also opens the possibility of ongoing sustainability from royalties that the texts will generate.  These royalties can be utilized to update, enhance, and expand the eWriting product and to fund further areas of development.  Our future plans also include applying for an evaluation grant to ensure the program is institutionalized, evaluated and adapted according to the needs of all campuses. Attempt at implementing the program nationally, if not internationally will be made.