Abstract:

Computers and other electronic technologies have come to permeate many daily activities, whether checking bank statements and booking vacations online or sending e-mail and recording voice messages on a cell phone. It should come as no surprise, then, to find that to a great extent, these technologies have been co-opted by the field of education. The paper shows how teachers captivate the imagination of learners, how learning proceeds with new technologies. Text, video, and voice tools have become relatively inexpensive and increasingly easy for educators to use, and they play an important role in creating lessons and communicating with students and fellow teachers. The teacher uses the computer for administrative or organizational functions, such as record keeping; word processing to produce texts (i.e., creating lesson plans and student materials); e-mailing parents; or participating in professional development, the teacher uses computers with students in an environment that combines face-to-face classrooms with computerized tasks; the teacher uses computers to support distance learning, where learners meet only virtually. Using technology can make language learning faster, easier, less painful, and more engaging. Learners have opportunities to interact with each other and negotiate meaning, interact in the target language with an authentic audience. The paper shows how language skills can be integrated in an online learning environment (e.g., combining voice chat for speaking and listening, Web pages for reading, blogs for writing and reading, and online video for listening).

Keywords:

Innovation, technology, language skills.