A quick glance at the title of this book had me thinking, “Oh, meta-cognition and distance education.” Then I reread it and became a bit perplexed. I felt more comfortable after reading the first paragraph of the foreword by John Daniel (president of the Commonwealth of Learning). He admits to having a “shaky understanding of the word meta.” He gives a second definition: “communication that indicates how verbal information should be interpreted; stimuli surrounding the verbal communication that also have meaning, which may or may not be congruent with that of or support the verbal talk. It may support or contradict verbal communication. Communication that is not expressed in words.” The book delivers another helpful definition in Chapter 5: “hidden underlying meaning; the deeper, alternative and/or opposite meaning behind or beneath what is actually expressed.” Most of us are aware of the process of “thinking about how we learn” (metacognition), so it is a simple extension to think about how we communicate. But the depth of the complexity of this process shows why a book like this is useful for online instructors.
Organization
The editors divided the 17 chapters into four sections: knowledge building, dynamic models of meta-communication and reflective conversations, designing online messages for reflections and assessments and reflective communication skills.
Knowledge Building
Although I am focusing much of this review on the book's value to the learning of languages (the topic of the impressive first chapter of the book), the need for clear-eyed analysis of “what's happening” in the undercurrents of a class' communication (face-to-face or online) is apparent in all subjects. Tony Wagner's push (2012) to identify key “21st century” skills for learners means working for “collaboration, interdisciplinary problem-solving, and intrinsic motivation.” Meta-communication is clearly part of that process.
Although the language density of the book might exceed the patience of many teachers of English language, the titles of several of the chapters should pique the interest of trainers of future online teachers. The people charged with providing professional development for teachers in generally but especially of English as a second language or English as a foreign language should find value in the first chapter's checklists for addressing four frequent problems related to maintaining effective online discussions (and promoting critical thinking skills): (1) “not knowing what to say,” (2) “saying too much,” (3) missing some participants and (4) “nobody is saying anything.”
The second chapter's checklist of 18 points sets a high bar for “what distance education should do.” The third chapter addresses the opportunities for e-racism and recommends multiple courses, rather than a one-size-fits-all course to promote multicultural sensitivity. Chapter 4 closes the first section of the book with suggestions for improving group work and collaborative learning.
Models of Reflective Conversations
The book's longest chapter (about “student reflective conversations”) showed so much benefit in reflective essays and reflective journals that I have started requiring students in my face-to-face classes to start reflecting on what the classes mean (online, if possible, or at least by e-mail). I now understand why my professors in distance education courses don't ask for a “summary of the asynchronous lecture” but instead ask students to “reflect on the key points of this week's lecture.” The message is clear: language and specific words are important in cultivating positive mindsets and a culture in the class for learning.
Chapter 6 asks, “How much do online instructional designers consider learners' cultural and linguistic backgrounds?” and advocates additional and better reflective communication. The rest of this section addresses issues related to online discourse in the dissertation process (one-to-one mentoring) and describes a model for planned interactivity (with a helpful checklist). This section gives examples of highly effective techniques for implementing reflection in online discussions. A point about formatting: several testimonial quotes of students could have been italicized to help the reader see those transitions. Even that apparent oversight had positive results: my confusion led to reading those testimonials more carefully than I might have.
Designing Online Reflections
As a teacher of English as a second language, I am often in conflict with administrators over the level of online activity that my face-to-face classes engage in. “There's no reason for your students to be online,” several directors of language academies have told me. “Students pay for face-to-face interactions, so stop asking for computer lab time—and tell your students to get off their smart phones while in class.” The ninth chapter, “Designing Asynchronous Message Board Assignment for Deep Learning Discourse,” introduces vocabulary that has been helpful in renewing my requests for in-school, in-class computer time to provide fully guided instruction on how to achieve “deeper learning.” The appendix of that chapter guides students with “offering critiques to peers” and helpful questions for “revising of information and organization and tone” to aid in thinking about the process of learning that comes from the process of communicating.
This rest of this section gives additional helpful tips for instructional designers. The function of metaphors are discussed. In Chapter 11 the reader is asked to think about the influence of the learners' culture on the online environment. The “cultural aspects of e-learning” can also affect traditional teaching approaches, according to contributing author Amani Hamdan, who describes the impact of expanded online education in Saudi Arabia on the country's culture. The section concludes with an essay about the role that photography can play in online learning.
Assessments and Reflective Communication Skills
The final section covers new types of assessment (how about putting tests in virtual worlds like Second Life?) that will be “authentic, interactive and continuous” (Chapter 14). Chapter 15 looks at issues growing from mass media, noting even the impacts of the format of distance education materials and the style of the written text. Anyone unfamiliar with the variety of interactions possible with online conferences will find Chapter 16 helpful. The screenshots allows readers to imagine themselves at a conference attending a poster session. The final chapter reviews important features of online courses, the importance of goal-setting, and the advantages of effective communication skills and concludes with a review of effective use of blogs as tools to promote dialogs.
Many of the contributors to this book speak English as a second language and are clearly well versed in the vagaries of English language learning. Five of the authors are involved in multicultural education, providing sensitivity training to help trainees become more aware of unintended messages when we analyze our communication.
Editors' Purposes
It should be no surprise to readers familiar with the editorial policies of the Turkish Online Journal for Distance Education that its founding editor has shaped this book to have a focus on ICDEEEWA (the proposed International Council for Distance Education in Eastern Europe and West Asia). The majority of the 17 articles are written by authors who are familiar with the challenges of blended teaching under less-than-ideal online conditions—and that experience might be helpful for U.S. and European readers who plan to work with students and colleagues from the ICDEEEWA region.
I found one article difficult to plow through. I later learned that an editorial lapse allowed an early draft of the chapter to be sent to print. Contact the lead editor, Ugur Demiray, at udemiray33@gmail.com to get the intended version. Anyone familiar with the TOJDE online journal knows that the contributors' e-mail contacts are included with most of TOJDE's articles, so I was surprised to find that only one profile included the author's contact info. Contact Demiray for a list of e-mail addresses.
Other Points
While the general theme is about how a focus on meta-communication can improve distance education, I see immediate benefits to the narrow field of language learning as well as the broader field of face-to-face classes. The book's editors wisely include glossaries of terms to help neophytes to grasp the deeper layers of meaning of meta-communication. I found it particularly useful to read this book while I was in the midst of designing an online course. Thanks to the book's focus on how to integrate technology, discussions about deep learning and concerns about how multicultural influences can impact the meta-communication, I was able to design a better course.
In conclusion, because this book has these three impacts (a focus on the proposed regional group called ICDEEEWA, a complex multifaceted description of meta-communication, and the recurring theme of reflection), it is difficult to predict that everyone will benefit from reading this book. In the United States, certainly, there will be people who will be puzzled about the book's focus on viewpoints from the ICDEEEWA region. There will be others who, like me, do not initially quite understand the need to examine the layers of meaning in meta-communication. It would help a second edition if some of the best techniques described in the book to promote reflective online conversations could be better highlighted in the text (perhaps with formatting), making them easier to find. On the whole, the book gives a multifaceted look at the role of unseen, often unintended, communication online.
