Lessons learnt

A very positive aspect in our work has been the clear indication that our colleagues in VOLL seem to be very open to technological change with an increasing number of Internet users amongst teachers who have attended workshops. Our experience in running the workshops, together with  the case studies of samples of good practice, illustrate that the use of ICT increases motivation amongst teachers and learners alike and leads to improved performance and motivation on the part of the learners.

The main reason for not using  ICT seems to be insufficient access to hardware and lack of technical support. Contrary to the belief of many administrators, we found that very few language teachers dislike or fear ICT once they have seen their possibilities. But, for ICT to be introduced successfully in VOLL teaching and learning contexts where multimedia laboratories are in use, some prerequisites are:

•  ready access for all learners

•  the presence of a full-time technician devoted to servicing and maintaining the functioning of the multimedia laboratory

•  the employment of a full-time webmaster

•  adequate training for all new teachers and in-service training for others

•  meaningful use of the multimedia laboratory classes for intensive practice

•  learner-centred approaches to learning

•  commitment by senior management to the implementation of ICT in language learning classes with vision, support and proactive leadership

The participants in the workshops all believed that ICT will play an increasingly important role as the new media become increasingly integrated into everyday life. They foresee greater co-operation and collaboration at a European and at a global level, particularly in VOLL as advances in technology and increased user-friendliness of equipment are breaking down resistance to ICT use in and outside the classroom. But they also believe that the present fascination with technology will fade, giving way to an emphasis on improved pedagogy which will facilitate “blended” learning, which will become increasingly time- and place-independent. There will be a shift from passive consumption of ready-made programmes to independent building of content, tailor made for specifics groups or individuals. However, not enough attention is being devoted to questions of how the new media can systematically aid language acquisition and learning.

With regard to pedagogy and methodology, we have seen that a “shift of paradigm” is necessary in teacher / learner roles. In the course of our workshops, and based upon research conducted in parallel with our activities, we became aware that the introduction of the new media into VOLL calls for a change in learning and teaching patterns. Co-operative, collaborative procedures are called for to harness the wide range of possibilities the new media offer. Teachers are called upon to abandon traditional roles and act more as guides and mentors, exploring the new media themselves as learners and thus acting as role models for their learners. The case studies show that there is closer interaction between teacher and students when the new media are employed.

We believe that the new media will lead to a major change in the culture of learning, because of the learning efforts and learning possibilities linked to the new media. The new media:

•    call for and facilitate more independence on the part of the learner, more self-directed activities and the organisation of learning processes;

•   encourage interactive work;

•  facilitate direct feedback;

•  call for a change in the role distribution of teacher / learner, where learners take on teaching functions;

•  enable contents to be continually updated with minimum efforts;

•  provide faster access to teaching materials.

•  provide greater opportunities for individual forms of learning;

•   but also demand more social learning in group and team work.

However, we have noticed in our training activities that new teaching and learning media do not automatically lead to a new culture of learning; they simply offer the opportunity for change. Teachers’ attitudes to the new media and appropriate concepts for their use and for the orchestration of learning will decide whether the desired outcomes can be achieved and whether a major shift in the culture of learning is possible.

The pluralisation of learning spaces beyond the teaching institution is changing the character and contents of institution-based learning and allows us, as teachers, to accommodate the complexity and individuality of learning. We have observed that there is a considerable growth in the importance of learning processes outside institutional contexts,  but we still believe that the chief place for learning will remain the school / teaching institution.

We do not see the new media as a panacea for teaching / learning problems, and they cannot, in our view, replace present models of language learning. ICT alone cannot provide a comprehensive basis for language learning but must be integrated into present, proven and successful practice. ICT should complement and add to current models and contribute to changes towards this concept of a new culture of learning.

The new media not only facilitate this changed culture of learning in institutional contexts, they also demand such changes. They provide new opportunities and challenges by:

• offering a wider range of teaching contents (especially teaching methods);

• enabling more self-directed learning, offering a range of choices, individual learning pathways and freer forms of learning;

• offering teachers and learners the chance to plan and organise courses together (empowering learners to influence the choice of teaching contents);

• freeing learning and teaching from the limitations and constraints of the traditional classroom by opening up and using spaces outside the school/ teaching institution;

• facilitating communication between learners and between learners and the teacher via the Internet.

Language teachers working in a media-rich environment will, like their counterparts in other disciplines, need to:

• recognise the individual learning problems of learners;

• check the truth of information content offered or develop such crirical forms of analysis amongst their learners;

• make a careful and considered choice concerning the use of the media;

• develop efficient search techniques and be capable of conducting effective research with the help of the computer;

• be able to use standard software confidently and competently;

• make wise and critical choices of information found.

In ICT-rich environments, teachers must above all:

• improve their didactic competencies linked to media;

• provide less information and instruction, but offer more consultation in learning processes;

• monitor learning processes rather than direct them;

• offer and organise group work to a greater extent.

This means that teachers need to focus on the design of situations, sequences and activities conducive to learning languages by encouraging learners to participate in collaborative efforts. Indeed, the management of learning scenarios, where learners and teachers complement one another’s skills, expertise and knowledge in collaborative efforts, must form the basis of the education of the language teachers of tomorrow.

Roles of teachers

As facilitators, teachers must in many ways know more than they would as directive givers of information. Facilitators must be aware of a variety of materials available for improving students’ language skill, not just one or two texts. The language textbook is no longer the sole source of information. Multimedia programmes offer sound and vision, showing how native speakers interact; electronic dictionaries and encyclopaedias are available for instant reference; online newspapers provide up-to-date information on current affairs in the countries of the target language; (official) websites offer background information on policy, tourism, political views. Teachers need to know how to teach learners to use all this material effectively.
As facilitators, teachers have to be flexible, responding to the needs that students have, not just what has been set up ahead of time based on a curriculum developer’s idea of who will be in the classroom. Teacher training is a key element to success in this more flexible language classroom, so that teachers can use multimedia and other resources effectively.

Teachers must not only know and understand the functions of different media available in a media-rich environment, they should also know when best to deploy them. In the joint construction of projects with their learners, they need to guide learners in the use of word-processing, graphics and presentation programs. Integration of audio-visual elements will bring home to learners the fact that the foreign language environment of the target language is as vibrant and multi-faceted as the society in which they live.

To keep abreast of developments in the countries of the target language in an increasingly complex world, teachers need to know how and where they can access information for their own and for their learners’ use. Knowledge and competent use of search engines and reliable information sources are essential. For those concerned with mainstream education, the propriety and reliability of information sources must figure as one of the main criteria for the selection of background material. Familiarity with the use of electronic tools for language analysis (e.g. concordancers) will enable teachers to further develop their own linguistic and professional competence and increase their confidence in the use of the language.

In order to orchestrate successful learning scenarios, teachers need to learn how to put together tasks and materials to guide their learners to successful execution and conclusion of their projects. Unlike work with conventional teaching materials (textbook, workbook, audio and video materials), which have been graded, pre-assembled and collated in a chronological order, the design of learning scenarios is much more complex, requiring higher order skills involving researching and evaluating source materials, setting overall aims and objectives and breaking down tasks into meaningful and manageable sequences.
For the teacher tackling this for the first time, the task is very daunting indeed. Encouragement, help and advice is needed in terms of examples of good practice which may be emulated or serve as sources of inspiration for similar undertakings. If this new role of language teachers is accepted and encouraged by educational authorities, the implications in terms of duties and responsibilities need to be considered. Lesson preparation time increases as these tasks are taken on and this fact must be honoured in teaching contracts, if teachers are to adopt and accept the approach.

The investment in time and effort implied above requires a sharing of responsibilities and tasks among teaching staff, if there is not to be a general rejection of new technology because it confronts them with an impossible workload. Collaboration with colleagues will lighten the burden and make the efforts more fruitful and rewarding. Obviously, co-operation within a specific teaching institution will prove more efficient, producing tailor-made responses to the local situation, but the new media provide possibilities for exchange between institutions and beyond (national) borders. Teachers of the less widely taught and used languages could well profit from such internet exchanges, helping them to overcome the sense of isolation many experience in their teaching situation.
New management patterns must emerge to ensure fair distribution of workloads, and revised job descriptions will be necessary to share and co-ordinate the tasks in hand.

Teachers will need to develop fairly sophisticated management skills in order to be able to provide a healthy balance between the different elements which make up the new learning environments. Mastery and confidence in the use of technology needs to be applied to the learning inclinations and abilities of individual learners whilst covering the prescribed syllabus or curriculum which is often set by outside authorities. Because of the immediacy of ICT, many decisions have to be made on an ad hoc basis and time budgets need to be constantly reviewed if optimal results are to be attained. Present indications are that traditional time frameworks of 45–60-minute lessons drastically need revising, if the potential of the new media is to be exploited to the full.

For many teachers, opening up the classroom to the outside world presents as much a threat as an opportunity. Their authority is challenged in a world of constantly changing patterns, when it is often difficult to establish, for example, the difference between “correct” and “incorrect” language use. In the protected environment of the textbook they have recourse to the authority of the author(s) and publisher. In the wild mangroves of the real world they must constantly be searching for new patterns confirmed by reliable data from trusted sources. A further challenge is often presented to them by learners who possess more advanced computer skills than they do. However, if they are prepared to enter into the adventure of ongoing learning together with their pupils, they will find it a rewarding and fruitful experience. A prerequisite is that they are prepared to act as the experienced guide for their learners and not as the all-knowing guru who controlled and dominated the classroom of yesteryear.

If task-based, project oriented work in the foreign language classroom using the new media is to become the norm, or at least form an important part of activities, then models of evaluation need to be revised radically. Standard multiple-choice examinations are, for example, hardly likely to test the learners’ newly acquired skills in (foreign language) Web literacy. A portfolio-based approach to assessing language competence and skills acquired would seem to be a more appropriate way of recording progress in the target language. As the skills to be acquired by learners are largely identical to those to be mastered by teachers-in-training, this form of evaluation should be practised in initial and INSET training courses, providing teachers with first hand experience of the system and with direct relevance to their own situation.

Teacher training is a key element to success in the more flexible ICT language classroom, so that teachers can learn to use multimedia and other resources effectively.
The teacher tackling the design of complex tasks needs encouragement, help and advice in terms of examples of good practice which may be emulated or serve as sources of inspiration for similar undertakings.
If the new role of language teachers is accepted and encouraged by educational authorities, the implications in terms of duties and responsibilities need to be considered. Lesson preparation time increases as these tasks are taken on and this fact must be honoured in teaching contracts, if teachers are to adopt and accept the approach.
New management patterns must emerge to ensure fair distribution of workloads, and revised job descriptions will be necessary to share and co-ordinate the tasks in hand.
In short, we believe that the positive potential of ICT in FLT & FLL has been recognised, the technology and materials are available, but ongoing training is essential if we are to reap the benefits of the rich learning environment which ICT offers for foreign language learning