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irruption of ICT generates into education: the emergence of new teaching and learning spaces which inevitably lead to changes in the pedagogical models. The.
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LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
“I’m not a teacher: only a fellow-traveller of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead—ahead of myself as well as you”
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
I.I. New pedagogical models 7 I.I.i. The Teacher’s Role 18 I.I.ii. The Student’s Role 27 I.I.iii. Educational management 32 I.II.Instructional modalities in technological environments 32 I.II.i. On-site Learning 34 I.II.ii. Distance Learning 34 I.II.iii. Blended Learning 36 II. RESOURCES FOR ON-LINE TRAINING II.I. Integrating resources: 42 II.I.i. Virtual Resource Centers (VRC) 43 II.I.ii. Virtual Learning environments 45 II.II. New Teaching and learning strategies 48 II.II.i. Collaborative Work in virtual spaces 48 II.II.ii. Autonomous work and self-regulated learning 50 II.II.iii Virtual Learning Communities (VLC) 51 II.III. Creation of on-line instructional materials 54 II.III.i. Basis for the design and creation of instructional Material 54 III.- ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN THE DIGITAL ERA: FROM CALL TO WEB- BASED LEARNING. III.I. ICT in the English as a foreign language Curriculum 58 III.II. ICT and the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) 65 III.III. Current research trends: From CALL to Web-based Learning /Training and the new emerging technologies 69 IV.- TEACHER TRAINING IN ICT: STATE OF THE ART AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS. THE CATALAN MODEL. ICT COMPETENCIES FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS. IV.I. Teacher Training in ICT. Basic Competencies 74 IV.II. The Catalan Model 84 IV.III. ICT Competencies for English language teachers 96
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
VI.iii.iii.i.i. Analysis of quantitative data 192 VI.iii.iii.i.ii.Correlational analysis of relevant data 192 VI.iii.iii.i.iii. Analysis of qualitative data 223 VI.iii.iii.i.iv. Creation of categories with NUDIST 234 VI.iii.iii.i.iv. Results 228
VII. CONCLUSIONS VII.I. Some previous considerations. 273 VII.II. General conclusions of the research 275 VII.II.i. Methodological aspects. Barriers for a successful integration of ICT 278 VII.II.ii. Valoration of previous ICT training 280 VII.II.iii. Mastery and Competence in the usage of ICT in the English as a foreign language classroom 281 VII.II.iv. ICT in English Language Teaching 282 VII.II.v. Training needs. Feedback after training 283 VII.II.vi. Usage of the on-line environment. The creation of a virtual learning community 285 VII.III. Guidelines for the design and implementation of a training action plan addressed to English as a foreign language teachers 287 VII.III.i. Orientations for the improvement of Initial and in-service teacher training regarding the integration of ICT 288 VII.III.i.i. Actions to be developed regarding teacher training and the teacher's access to technological equipments and resources 291 VII.III.i.ii. Teacher Training in terms of the professional develoment of teachers 292 VII.III.ii. Design and development of an Action PLan addressed to English as a foreign language teachers. The creation of virtual learning communities as training agents. 293 VII.IV. Proposal of future research streamlines. 302
BIBLIOGRAPHY 309 APPENDIX 343
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
The XXIst century confronts its citizenship with new choices, opportunities and challenges due to the ubiquitous presence of technology into all spheres of life: business and administration, government, education… The profound shifts undergone in the academic field must be viewed by thoughts on the new possibilities that new technologies involve. Traditional teaching and learning paradigms have been shaken by the impact of the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT from now on) into educational practices at the time that teachers and trainers are confronted by challenges which range from the acquisition of skill and literacy in the usage of IT to the delivery of the necessary tools which will lead students to become knowledge creators and users. Thus, deeply immersed in the Society of Knowledge, a society based upon a critical, rational and reflexive use of global and distributed information (Gisbert, 2003:252) in which the most outstanding communication means are telematic networks, one of the greatest challenges to be overcome on our way to the XXIst century is to enable teachers and students to achieve competency and mastery on the use of technology instead of letting them be enslaved by it.
The widespread use of ICT in all areas has a direct effect upon the way in which the world is perceived. The permeating presence of telematic networks in all scopes of life allows unlimited access to information and a flexibilization of time and space barriers. ICT has shaken the traditional teaching and learning approaches and poses new challenges to the educational community, challenges which emerge together with new teaching and learning environments and instructional modalities, mainly set in virtuality. A profound integration of new technologies into education as a central means to teaching and learning processes will inevitably require from teachers changes in attitude and teaching paradigms, such changes will oblige them to adapt to new methodological approaches, educational concepts and management aspects - all of which will have to be set in technology-rich environments. Thus, open and flexible teaching and learning processes, interactive and bi-directional communication systems together with the
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
teaching of English as a foreign language from an innovating perspective and constitutes the practical part of this doctoral research. The implementation of this instructional model through a study carried out during the academic years 2003- 2004, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 will give us results to proceed with future research on this field and will also produce guidelines to convert the model into an instructional Action Plan, with the aim of contributing to enhance quality standards in the teaching of English as a foreign language through the use of ICT and to fill the gap of the instructional needs that digital age teachers need.
Chapter I is devoted to provide a detailed overview on the new scope that the irruption of ICT generates into education: the emergence of new teaching and learning spaces which inevitably lead to changes in the pedagogical models. The new role of teacher and student, the competencies and literacies teachers need to meet the challenges of the digital era. We will also provide a general vision on the new instructional modalities brought about by the irruption of ICT in the educational field, from blended learning to distance learning, paying attention to the changes and aspects that each modality embodies within teaching and learning processes. A third section deals with the difficulties of including ICT into educational management, the hurdles with which schools face this advance of technology and their need to catch-up and update their equipment and training programs for their teachers and students.
Chapter II draws an approach towards the different resources for on-line training and thus, the different ways to integrate resources in teaching and learning processes which take place in virtual environments. According to this, virtual resource centers and virtual learning environments are deeply analyzed together with the new teaching and learning strategies which emerge out of the new training challenges and needs brought about by the digital educational scenario: collaborative work in virtual spaces, autonomous work and self-regulated learning to finally conclude by providing an overview on virtual learning communities. The growing importance of virtual learning communities within training processes and their potentialities as training agents constitutes object of study of this research,
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
as well. Within this chapter there will also be paid attention to the design and development of procedures for the creation of on-line training materials.
Chapter III is mainly concerned with the teaching of English in the digital era. An overview on the current and more widespread research trends which range from CALL to Web-based Training and the impact that ICT have had upon this academic area in the last few years will be offered. Afterwards we will provide the reference context in which the research part of this thesis will be placed: Primary and Secondary Education in Catalan High Schools and the placement of ICT in the English as a foreign language curriculum, with special emphasis on the current situation and perspectives of the future. The need to revise the curriculum and integrate ICT into it so that it can become effective upon teaching and learning practices is also made evident.
Chapter IV exclusively refers to English Language Teacher Training in the usage and implementation of ICT into teaching practices. Thus, the reference context and the collective to which the research part of this thesis will be orchestrated is analyzed and deepened into. In order to do this there will be an extensive study of the instructional mechanisms to which Catalan Primary and Secondary Education English as a Foreign Language teachers may have access (in both telematic and on- site modalities) paying special attention to ICT competencies for teachers of English, to course contents, technological resources used and the detection -if it is the case- of a shortage of instructional initiatives aimed at providing ICT specific training. Thus, there will be an analysis of the proposals by Universities via Schools of Education (ICEs) and the Education Department of the Catalan Government. After this overview, there will be a comment on the perspectives of the future and the most outstanding challenges that XXIst century English teachers have to meet. To conclude this chapter, a final section will be devoted to establish -according to the teacher’s training needs and different recommendations by highly praised educational institutions- which have to be the learning objectives and contents related to the use and mastery of ICT of teachers of English as a foreign language.
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
investigation, with the distribution of the questionnaire to teachers attending the courses, the distribution of instructional materials and the delivery of different web-based materials and communication tools. Phase Three will be devoted to the analysis of the results obtained, the treatment of data with the help of different instruments: Nudist (Qualitative), SPSS (quantitative)... and finally there will be a section in which these results are going to be thoroughly deepened into.
Last chapter will be aimed at reaching conclusions once the investigation and the results have been concluded. This final chapter will include general conclusions related to the present situation of teachers of English as a foreign language in Catalonia regarding the use and integration of ICT in teaching and learning practices, the training offer which is addressed to them, the barriers that prevent them from satisfactorily implementing technology in their classrooms… The possibility of having made this research extensive to a sample of teachers belonging to both Primary and Secondary education of the whole Catalan territory, and the significance of the results obtained, allows us to propose and recommend an instructional Action plan addressed to train teachers of English as a foreign language in the use of ICT. The creation of a virtual learning community to sustain a collective of English as a foreign language teachers in order to enhance new training models of life-long learning will constitute another of the proposals set up after the research has been fully developed. This training Action plan intends to provide the necessary training and support to teachers but also tries to foster the communication among them. This communication is essential and needed to bring about changes in teacher education. Community building and the exploitation of teachers’ networks as training agents, according to our opinion, will become the basis upon which XXIst century quality training is to be built.
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
The telematic networks and the Internet – now central to new teaching and learning processes- open up to communication ways which allow unlimited access to information and knowledge, account for a flexibilization of time and space barriers and increase interaction. The Net constitutes an excellent environment which has definitely transformed the different relationships within the educational field and has made possible the emergence of new teaching and learning modalities, which, in turn, require radical pedagogical changes and a redefinition of traditional teaching and learning pedagogical models. According to Cabero (2001), "the flexibilization time-space accounted for by the integration of IT into teaching and learning processes contributes to increase the interaction and reception of information. Such possibilities suggest changes in the communication models and the teaching and learning methods used by teachers, giving way to new scenarios which favor both individual and collaborative learning”.
Authors such as Gisbert (2003:256) warn us that although telematic networks constitute powerful containers and transmitters of information and that computers become important tools central to teaching and learning processes, their educational potentiality can be minimum if it is not accompanied by other pedagogical measures. Similarly, Blázquez (2003:14) emphasizes the fact that the participants in these teaching and learning processes set in new virtual environments will have to develop a critical distance in order to benefit from the enormous advantages they account for: "We are aware that the Internet is not and will not be the panacea, it will not even become - to our judgment- a suitable educational means in all situations, furthermore, a proper critical distancing will be required to educate with it".
The profusion of telematic networks and the multiplicity of spaces offer varied
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
possibilities in which in which innovating teaching and learning processes may be confined and demand from us, educators, to re-think and re-define traditional and unmovable pedagogical models. In this context, in which new educational scenarios and participants are in constant evolution and variation, deep changes in the teacher and student conception as well as in the instructional models are called for.
I.I. New pedagogical models
The new teaching and learning systems orchestrated around telematic networks offer new perspectives to the traditional concepts of time and space and demand a redefinition of traditional pedagogical models, being the roles of teachers and learners – on the one side, and the re-configuration of educational organization and management the most outstanding shifts to be overcome in the XXIst century educational field. Many authors and institutions such as the European Language Network, ICC (2002:8) coincide in emphasizing the enormous communicative and training possibilities that ICT contain. According to them, new organizational and pedagogical models need to be exploited by teachers so that they can offer a co- operative, collaborative and life-long type of learning to the citizenship of the future.
The utilization of ICT learning settings and tools in educational processes, evidently leads to radical changes both in the role of teachers and learners and to the emergence of new teaching and learning environments and methodologies (e- Learning, Web-based Learning, Open and Distance Learning) as well as new training modalities (on-line training, on-site training, Blended-Learning, Instructor- led Learning/Training, Classroom Training -C-training-…) Finally new virtual training settings aimed at facilitating tools and resources to favor communication and interaction and distributing teaching materials through the web will emerge in order to encourage and promote collaboration and co-operation among the participants in teaching and learning processes.
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
Similarly, referring to the role and function of teachers who develop their activities in ICT-based settings, Lufti, Gisbert and Fandos (2001:70) point out five main functions a teacher should compile: information consultant, group collaborator, facilitator, critical generator of knowledge and finally, academic supervisor. The authors add that the teacher´s profile is shaped in three dimensions: cognitive-reflexive, active-creative and affective-comunicative (2001:71). Cebrián (2003:78-79) develops the new profile of teachers according to the following functions: assessor and guide of the autonomous learning process, resource facilitator, designer of new technology-rich learning environments, adapter of different materials, producer of new didactic materials in ICT-based settings, evaluator of the different processes in which these environments and resources are involved and finally he/she will have to be able to acquire a professional viewpoint on ICT life-long learning.
The necessity of thinking through the challenge that ICT integration supposes to teachers constitutes a basic aspect upon which many authors such as Gisbert, (2001), Colás (2003), Blázquez (2003) and other reports agree and determines-at the same time- the appearance of clearly defined instructional needs. As Gisbert (2001) points out, the teacher’s role in ICT-based learning settings is not easy, it is crucial that they acquire instruction regarding the design and implementation on on-line courses, the orchestration of ICT/Web-based instructional processes and the development of management skills. Ongoing teacher training together with the creation of suitable instructional spaces becomes fundamental to enable teachers to implement successfully ICT in their teaching and becomes -at the same time- essential to reach a high degree of quality in the near future teaching processes.
Adell and Sales (1999:363) point out several functions, suitable for on-line training, which teachers should have to assume in technology-rich environments: Curriculum design: the teacher has to design and develop a proper curriculum that the use of ICT requires. If we understand ICT as a basic competency that both teachers and students need to acquire it is necessary that it becomes a curricular subject; Content creation: the telematic networks offer a great deal of materials
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
and contents which have already been created and the teacher may decide to adapt them or not into the teaching/learning situations; Tutor and facilitator: the teacher becomes facilitator of knowledge with the help of multiple telematic tools and resources and guides the process for an efficient and correct selection. Evaluation: a non-traditional evaluation is required at the time that new tools and resources open up new perspectives for the teacher. Students interact with multi- faceted materials which sometimes the teacher cannot control. Thus, a deep evaluation of all the elements that intervene in the new teaching and learning processes is needed.
The existing literature on the role and functions of teachers is varied and diverse. Authors such as Cebrián de la Serna (2003), Majó and Marqués (2002:312), Gisbert (2000), Cabero (1999), González Soto (1997) , Alonso and Gallego (1996) have tackled this issue in their works. Santandreu (2004:17-19) makes a compilation of the different contributions to which we agree and reproduce the four main roles teachers working in ICT-based settings would have to play:
As far as these first classification is concerned, Santandreu (2004:20-21) goes on and establishes a deeper distribution of functions to each role, and accounts for distinctive aspects inherent to each function:
LANGUAGE TEACHERS.Maria del Mar Camacho i Martí ISBN: 978-84-690-7634 / DL: T.1394-
