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Introduction
> Learning Goals
> Teaching Guidelines > Planning
Tips > Sample
Web Projects > Conclusion
The five learning goals listed above-active and creative mastery,
autonomous learning, collaborative learning, cross-cultural learning,
and critical learning-are important elements to consider in any
English language classroom in today's society. They take on even
greater meaning and importance in relation to the goals of incorporating
the Internet into teaching. The teaching guidelines in this section
will help you organize your classes to achieve the above goals
as well as specific learning objectives in areas of second language
development.
Dual Immersion
Traditional approaches to computer-assisted language learning
(CALL) view technology as a tool for teaching English. In our
view, this perspective is too limited in a world where technology
has drastically altered how language may be taught and how language
is used daily around the world. To learn effective communication
skills, students thus must learn the English language and the
technology together.
L. Opp-Beckman (personal communication, March 1999) has suggested
a framework for accomplishing this, which she calls dual immersion.
In dual immersion, students are immersed in learning language
skills and technology skills simultaneously, with the teacher
providing the necessary structure and support along the way. This
framework closely matches what we have found to work in our own
courses and in those we have researched (see, e.g., Warschauer,
1999). It is also consistent with what we have called an electronic
literacy approach (Shetzer & Warschauer, 2000), which emphasizes
the importance of developing new technology-enhanced literacy
and communication skills in the English language classroom.
Integration
Dual immersion is best achieved if computers are well integrated
into the curriculum. As Warschauer (1996b) notes, CALL has gone
through three stages: behavioristic (beginning in the 1970s),
communicative (beginning in the 1980s), and integrative (beginning
in the 1990s). Behavioristic CALL emphasized drill-and-practice
software for the learning of discrete skills. Communicative CALL
focused on communicative activities using the computer but often
still in an ad hoc or disconnected fashion, leading many to conclude,
as Kenning and Kenning (1990) stated, that CALL "finds itself
making a greater contribution to marginal rather than to central
elements" (p. 90) of language learning. This led to an interest
in integrative CALL, in which the computer is used naturally and
regularly together with other tools and media "serving the
creation of an enriched workplace for accessing resources and
using language constructively" (Barson & Debski, 1996,
p. 52). Indeed, research in a variety of classroom and organizational
settings has provided evidence that the introduction of computers
has the most impact when the computers are an integral component
of a new way of learning and working instead of being used in
an isolated fashion (see, e.g., Sandholtz, Ringstaff, & Dwyer,
1997; Zuboff, 1988). In CALL, therefore, try to think of how Internet-based
activities can become part of and support the overall class curriculum
rather than how to use them in isolation.
Project-Based Learning
Integrated teaching demands new ways of organizing the classroom.
Probably the most important of these is the incorporation of project-based
learning (see chapters 3, 4, and 5 and the examples in this chapter).
When students work together on substantive projects, they gain
experience in developing their own learning goals and using the
Internet as a resource to fulfill these goals. They can also solve
problems and carry out tasks that are similar to what they will
later have to do outside the classroom. Project work can also
help ensure that Internet activity moves beyond simple chatting
or Web surfing. Rather, simpler tasks (e.g., chatting with a keypal
or browsing the Web) lead to more complex products, such as an
oral presentation or an on-line publication. Project work is an
excellent way to help achieve all of the goals mentioned above.
Student-Centered Learning
Project work goes hand-in-hand with another suggested approach,
student-centered learning. Student-centered learning implies that
the course curriculum in general, and student projects in particular,
will be shaped according to students' own needs and interests.
This ability to adapt the curriculum matches the requirements
of the new information economy and society, in which people must
be able to find and create different types of knowledge as they
need them rather than apply facts that they have learned in school
(Reich, 1991).
Student-centered learning does not imply that the teacher is
absent or passive but rather assumes that the role of the teacher
shifts from the proverbial "sage on the stage" to that
of a "guide on the side" (Tella, 1996, p. 6), helping
students organize their projects and giving language-specific
instruction as needed during project activities. Several research
studies have indicated that when teachers are able to make such
a shift, computer- and Internet-enhanced learning has more positive
results (e.g., Sandholtz, Ringstaff, & Dwyer, 1997; Warschauer,
1999).
Learning With a Purpose
The Internet allows even children to find and access important
information and communicate to a real audience. The Internet is
thus well suited for sustaining projects with a meaningful purpose.
Students can work in long-distance teams to tackle an environmental
issue (Vilmi, 1995) or help build a Web site for a local nonprofit
agency (Warschauer, 1999). They might explore common ground on
an international conflict (Cummins & Sayers, 1995) or write
a policy statement for a global treaty (Mak & Crookall, 1995).
There are many choices for student projects. Finding one connected
to a real-world purpose will ensure that students learn not only
how to "surf the Web" but also how to "make waves"
(Shneiderman, 1997, p. vii).
Introduction
> Learning Goals
> Teaching Guidelines > Planning
Tips > Sample
Web Projects > Conclusion
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