Language(s)

Japanese

Learner level

Institution

Liverpool John Moores University

Name(s)

Contact details

Objectives

To create an overall design for a website for students of Japanese and slot in a "year abroad" section. To motivate students at all levels, giving them a permanent window on this, the most exciting part of the course. To give students abroad access to forms, handbooks, email links, etc.

Implementation

I had already 'published' for Japanese students here at JMU "He's Smiling In One But Not In The Other: an alternative Japan Handbook": a collection of photocopies of letters, maps, photographs etc. from past students in Japan, so I already had a lot of material which could now be made available for all students, not just to those imminently departing. This would be a major part of the 'year abroad' section of any website.

An overall design was made of a website that the year abroad section would slot into. Most of the design effort was put into this higher level. Then the skills for making a website were acquired (HTML language, etc.) Within the overall framework, things were more or less put into the ‘year abroad ’ section in an ad hoc fashion. The important parts were the handbook, the oral dossier, and news and photographs from Japan. The only thing that couldn't be put on were audio letters and realia (though of course scanned images of tickets, menus, etc. could be put on). After trialling the site, it was clear that better indexing and hot-linking was needed especially at the top of the page, so this was done.

Outcome

What we have is a colourful, attractive site: interesting emails and photos from students in Japan. Emails, normally edited and then forwarded once to all students on the discussion group, but then lost, can now be made permanently available. Similarly, articles and photos of the students in host university magazines, which hitherto would have been pinned up for a season and then become faded, tired and discarded, can now be carved in perpetuity onto the web. Students in the second year can now see stuff from students one year above them and who they knew personally -- the link with Japan is made.

As well as news, also available for all to see are some of the application procedures -- documents that they'll have to write in Japanese (academic transcripts and CV's ...); and some of the study they'll be engaged in in Japan: guidance on the oral dossier and records of past dossiers. Forms that students would normally have to remember to take to Japan are now available on the web: they can download them, fill them in, and return them in email. First and second year students will be aware that they themselves can access all the information that students abroad are using.

Changing the objective from 'Increased Motivation' to 'Disseminating the experiences of the third year students to first and second years' then students' feedback says that the objective is successfully being met -- whether it is increasing student motivation or not is very hard to measure.

Evaluation

The effort was undoubtedly worthwhile. Also undoubtledly, the greatest difficulty was finding the time to do the work. Even when the time investment of learning HTML is taken into consideration, and the lack of technical assistance, because to some extent the project is ongoing, and will never be finished, it always will take up time.

The next big problem is not knowing if it is used, how much it is used, whether it is of any use to the students. If you’re performing on stage you get some idea of how you’re doing by the catcalls or bouquets. With this, it is pretty much silence. A counter would be of some limited help. I have a 'love heart' email hotlink to me sitting in constant view in the matrix frame, yet it is rarely used.

It is all very well hoping that the site would motivate students, but they have to be motivated to go to the site in the first place! This applies to the second years: some had worries about the third year, I asked them had they visited the site, they confessed they hadn’t, and when they finally did give it more than a cursory glance they found the answers to their questions all there. For these and for other reasons, the site would benefit by being promoted more within the School and University itself.

An overall lesson is this: do not expect accolades or chocolades. Do it because you think it would be a Good Thing.

Project url

http://www.staff.livjm.ac.uk/lanjcoll