CHAPTER 1:

BLENDED LEARNING: AN INTRODUCTION

Blended learning refers to a language course which combines face-to-face

classroom components with an appropriate use of technology. Technology covers

Internet, CD-ROMs, interactive whiteboards, e-mail, chat, blogs and wikis. There

may be little or no relation between the taught and the online components of a

course. Blended learner can exploit carefully chosen online materials and learners

have the opportunity to work at their own pace and follow their own interests.

 Using technology in language teaching

Using technology can be motivating; the “interactivity” of language exercises

can be highly beneficial (web-based exercises). Setting learners to work on an

interactive exercise can add variety to the class. The type of feedback which good

interactive materials provide is appreciated by learners.

One of the great benefits relates to the opportunities afforded by MCM

(Computer-Mediated Communication). The computer is used to enable

communication between the teacher and the learners, separated by time, distance

or both. Between classes, learners can access their materials whenever they want

to. Young learners (‘digital natives’) are part of the Net generation and expect a

language school to offer opportunities to use technology in their courses.

The use of technology outside the language classroom can make learners

more autonomous. It allows language practice and study away from the confines of

the classroom (in a hotel room, the office, an Internet café, home). These

developments can be time saving, for example, posting course materials online for
learners to access can save the teacher time and expense of photocopying. Of

course, the time taken to become familiar with technology needs to be factored in,

and this should not be underestimated.

When we consider the role of technology, it is very helpful to distinguish

between reading, listening, writing and speaking. In the area of listening and

reading, students can, for example, listen to digital audio and pause it at will and

play it again to read a transcript. With reading, learners can access meaning when

reading on-screen texts by clicking on a hyperlink. For speaking and writing,

writings can be sent between teacher and student for online feedback and with

speaking some pronunciation-repetition tasks can be assigned.

 Factors Influencing the Uptake of Blended Learning

Some factors that influence the use of technology in language courses

include attitude, level or own and learner’s access to these resources, and costs.

Teachers and students may hold positive, negative or neutral attitudes

towards technology (from technophile to technophobic). The learners’ level may be

an influencing factor in which type of technology you use and how often it is used.

As computers are becoming more common language teaching, the access of

technology for students and teachers is the key on how to incorporate it to the

classroom. The common trends include a rise in broadband connections, thus

more learners can access computers both in school and at home.

 Balancing traditional approaches and technology

1. Separate the role of the teacher and the role of the technology
 It is important not to see the teacher and technology as

interchangeable and to clearly distinguish what each can do that the

other cannot.

The teacher can do a needs analysis, tests the learners and know

them in terms of personality and attitude, can create a learning syllabus,

interprets material, moderates the fluency sessions, reacts to learner’s

utterances, deals with “fuzzy” areas of the language.

Technology is available 24/7 and provides endless exposure to the

target language, offers the possibility to control the exposure learners

receive, can pause an audio clip at will, redoes exercises until students

feel satisfied with their results.

2. Teach in a principled way

Teachers must ask themselves whether technology will improve

teaching and enhance learning and ensure that the teaching is driven by

the pedagogy and supported by the technology.

3. Use technology to complement and enhance F2F teaching

Learners may play a game which recycles language in a fun context.

If there is a close correlation between the content of the lesson and the

online materials, the online material will be used more enthusiastically.

4. ‘It’s not so much the program, more what you do with it’ (Jones,1986)

Speaking a language has a social dimension. Particular use of the

technology over-emphasizes the guided-practice element of language

learning at the expense of real-time communication. There may be

authentic interaction, clarification and restricted use of the language.

Then, in the self-study period or at home, the learner consolidates using

the exercises set by the teacher. Technology may be used in ways which

promote communication between the learners.