Abstract from the publisher:
In Always On, Naomi S. Baron reveals that online and mobile technologies--including instant messaging, cell phones, multitasking, Facebook, blogs, and wikis--are profoundly influencing how we read and write, speak and listen, but not in the ways we might suppose.

Baron draws on a decade of research to provide an eye-opening look at language in an online and mobile world. She reveals for instance that email, IM, and text messaging have had surprisingly little impact on student writing. Electronic media has magnified the laid-back "whatever" attitude toward formal writing that young people everywhere have embraced, but it is not a cause of it. A more troubling trend, according to Baron, is the myriad ways in which we block incoming IMs, camouflage ourselves on Facebook, and use ring tones or caller ID to screen incoming calls on our mobile phones. Our ability to decide who to talk to, she argues, is likely to be among the most lasting influences that information technology has upon the ways we communicate with one another. Moreover, as more and more people are "always on" one technology or another--whether communicating, working, or just surfing the web or playing games--we have to ask what kind of people do we become, as individuals and as family members or friends, if the relationships we form must increasingly compete for our attention with digital media?

Our 300-year-old written culture is on the verge of redefinition, Baron notes. It's up to us to determine how and when we use language technologies, and to weigh the personal and social benefits--and costs--of being "always on." This engaging and lucidly-crafted book gives us the tools for taking on these challenges.

Abstract from the publisher:
Brave New Digital Classroom deftly interweaves results of pedagogical research and descriptions of the most successful computer-assisted language learning (CALL) projects to explore how technology can best be employed in the foreign-language curriculum to assist the second language acquisition process.

Directed to all language teachers--whether at the school or the postsecondary level, with or without prior experience--this book focuses on how to use new technologies effectively. Blake urges teachers to move beyond a simple functional competence of knowing how to use the tools toward first a critical competence--realizing what the various tools are good for--and ultimately a rhetorical competence of knowing how the tools will help transform the learning environment. This book examines the effective use of a range of technologies, from Internet sites through computer-mediated communication such as synchronous chatting and blogs, to distance learning. At the end of each chapter questions and activities demonstrate the interactionist, learner-centered pedagogy Blake espouses.

An invaluable reference for experienced researchers and CALL developers as well as those of limited experience, Brave New Digital Classroom is also ideal for graduate-level courses on second language pedagogy. It will also be of interest to department chairs and administrators seeking to develop and evaluate their own CALL programs.

Abstract from the publisher:
Although the foreign-language profession routinely stresses the importance of technology for the curriculum, many teachers still harbor deep-seated doubts as to whether or not a hybrid course, much less a completely distance-learning class, could provide L2 learners with a way to reach linguistic proficiency, especially with respect to oral language skills. In this study, we examine the case of Spanish Without Walls (SWW), a first-year language course offered at the University of California - Davis in both hybrid and distance-learning formats. The SWW curriculum includes materials delivered via CD-ROM/DVD programs, online content-based web pages, and synchronous bimodal chat that includes sound and text. The contribution of each of these components is evaluated in the context of a successful technologically assisted course. To address the issue of oral proficiency, we compare the results from both classroom and distance-learning students who took the 20-minute Versant for Spanish test, delivered by phone and automatically graded. The data generated by this instrument shows that classroom, hybrid, and distance L2 learners reach comparable levels of oral proficiency during their first year of study. Reference is also made to two other ongoing efforts to provide distance-learning courses in Arabic and Punjabi, two languages where special difficulties in their writing systems have an impact on the design of the distant-learning format. The rationale for offering language courses in either a hybrid or distance-learning format is examined in light of increasing societal pressures to help L2 learners reach advanced proficiency, especially in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs).

Abstract from the publisher:
The development of autonomous learners is an important goal for language teaching programmes. However, achievement of this goal depends on teachers creating an environment where learners can experience autonomy in order to become more autonomous, a process referred to by Little (2003) as `autonomization'. In distance learning, course materials are the main vehicle for this process which brings particular challenges to course writers. This paper explores those challenges and how `autonomization' can be achieved through distance language teaching materials, by examining experience and developments at The Open University (UK) during its first decade of language course production. It reports the ways in which course writers in French, German and Spanish for adult distance learners have turned commitment into practice in order to develop the capacity for reflection, metacognitive strategies and conscious decision-making essential for autonomous learning. The paper concludes by considering how support for `autonomization' can be further enhanced, the implications for course writers and future research.

Abstract from the publisher:
Among numerous modes of technology enhanced learning there are not many that have received as
much attention as distance learning. Stimulated by the recent rapid developments in Web technologies,
researchers in both ICT and education are constantly working to make the most of technological
resources and put them to the best pedagogical use. In the area of foreign language teaching a lot has
been done to cover a variety of world languages, but there are constant attempts for new solutions,
taking into consideration specific needs of language learners. This paper is based on our experience in
implementing and the desire to improve a set of three academic English language courses at the
Faculty of Information Technology (FIT), the first university institution that have introduced distance
learning system in Serbia and delivers academic programmes both traditionally and as distance
learning. The first part of the paper presents the technological aspect of the FIT e-learning system,
common for all FIT courses. Then we move on to discuss the major specificities of foreign language
teaching. Next, we examine the process of development and implementation of English courses at FIT
in terms of general course design, selection of teaching materials, technological and pedagogical
processing of course materials, the role of the teacher, student support and motivation, performance
assessment, course evaluation, and key differences between the two modes of delivery which have to
be taken into account. The final part of the paper deals with the noted inadequacies and difficulties of
technological and pedagogical nature, as well as challenges and new steps in improving the English
courses at FIT. In conclusion, we highlight the complexity of technological, organizational, and not
the least, pedagogical issues involved, but also hope to provide a solid starting point for more
ambitious projects concerning distance learning and foreign language teaching.

Abstract from the publisher:
Becoming a Webhead (BaW) is a 6-week free teacher development online workshop, one of the TESOL Electronic Village Online (EVOnline) sessions offered annually as preconvention activities for members and nonmembers of TESOL. The main goal of BaW is to introduce language teachers around the world to different web communication tools and explore the best ways of using them in their teaching practices in a friendly and collaborative atmosphere. In this paper, we will describe the syllabus, materials, participants, and success stories of this Webheads workshop.

Abstract from the publisher:
Faced with the need to teach English to a large number of students, the Universidad de Concepción, Chile, has created an innovative Communicative English Program using ICT, which is made up of four modules covered in four academic terms. The English program aims to develop integrated linguistic skills with a focus on learning for authentic communication. The program has been implemented in a blended-learning (b-learning) pedagogical model that includes: (a) learners’ work with UdeC English Online, software conceived as the backbone of the entire Communicative English Program, (b) online monitoring, (c) facet-o-face EFL teacher-led classes, and (d) conversation classes with native speakers of English. The online software is an interactive multimedia environment which houses all the materials and ICT tools that learners need in one central web platform. Some of the core concepts underlying its design are multimodal L2 input exposure, enhanced input, learner-fit content delivery, interaction (human-computer, human-human, and intrapersonal) through computer supported collaborative and individual learning tasks, as well as a more human-like dimension for positive and corrective feedback. This paper describes the elements of the b-learning model, issues about its implementation, and results obtained in the piloting of its first module.

Abstract from the publisher:
This article discusses some pedagogical implications of a research project carried out at the University of Antwerp between 1996 and 2004. Its objective was to explore the boundaries of a pedagogy-driven approach in research-based research-oriented CALL system design. The starting point was the observation of a serious decrease in linguistic-didactic functionalities and in overall interactivity of online language learning programs compared to applications developed earlier on CD-ROM. The resulting research question was the following: which software tools, components, and protocols are most efficient for designing, developing, and implementing online interactive language courseware? Besides deliverables in terms of design models, object models, architectures, and frameworks, this
project also yielded relevant pedagogical conclusions for online language pedagogy, the role of the teacher, and pre-service and in-service training. These conclusions should be read as provisional suggestions which can lead to new working hypotheses in the field of online language learning and teaching.

Abstract from the publisher:
This article is aimed at educators who find themselves facing the need to develop
their e-teaching skills, with little or no formal training or institutional support.
It explores how this can be achieved using the notion of "teacher autonomyâ"
in combination with standard professional development measures for language
teachers. The article recounts an attempt to develop my own e-teaching skills,
within the framework of an 8-week collaborative project. In the course of this
project, I learned to use synchronous audiographic conferencing software (Lyceum,
as developed by the Open University (OU), U.K.) in combination with an
asynchronous virtual learning environment (WebCT) to teach English for specific
purposes to a group of 14 Masters degree students in a French university. Largely
unfamiliar at the outset with the pedagogic use of the software, I consider how
critical analysis and reflection (by means of a teaching journal) can be used in
combination with observation by a "critical friend" to inform pedagogic decisions
in pursuit of a nondirective approach to teaching and learning. I also address the
affective dimension of such a process, especially the stresses to be dealt with by
the novice tutor in a multimodal environment. Where there are limits to the approach adopted, I identify those limits.

Abstract from the publisher:
The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss some communicative opportunities currently emerging in networked classrooms and their implications for didactics. In particular, I examine multiple contexts that appear and how they give rise to diverse practices. However, such practices often have their origin in out-of-school contexts and not in institutional discourse and curricula. Consequently, we need to understand how these practices can be explored and exploited in educational contexts. Otherwise, schools risk losing out on important cultural change and may fail to prepare learners for emergent communicative opportunities and requirements. In this paper, which is based on a longitudinal study of Norwegian teachers of English practising in technology-rich environments, I discuss the implications of teaching in and across multiple contexts that emerge in technology-rich environments. Findings indicate that we need to develop our notion of didactics so that it supports teachers working across multiple contexts. As such, didactics takes on the characteristics of a boundary object that mediates learning in and across different social worlds.

Abstract from the publisher:
The University of Virginia's (UVA) Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese created two new hybrid courses for elementary Spanish which supplement 3 hours a week of class time with 2 hours of mandatory, web-based practice activities to respond to a need to make better use of personnel resources at the university. This article reports on the results of a pilot project comparing the impact of the hybrid course model versus the traditional classroom model on student grades. We also conducted two surveys of students and Teaching Assistants about the perceived impact of web-based grammar and vocabulary drills on in-class activities and student performance. The studies described here, albeit small, support the findings of more extensive surveys of hybrid language courses. We posit that the computer can be well used in hybrid language courses at the level of routinized, lower level skills of cognition while supporting higher level functions, such as communication and writing.

Abstract from the publisher:
This article provides a critical overview of the field of distance language learning, challenging the way in which the field is often narrowly conceptualised as the development of technology-mediated language learning opportunities. Early sections focus on issues of concept and definition and both theoretical and pedagogical perspectives on the field. Emphasis is placed on evident shifts from a concern with structural and organisational issues to a focus on transactional issues associated with teaching/learning opportunities within emerging paradigms for distance language learning. The next section reviews choices and challenges in incorporating technology into distance language learning environments, foregrounding decisions about technology made in particular sociocultural contexts, the contribution of “low-end” technologies and research directions in developing new learning spaces and in using online technologies. The investigation of learner contributions to distance language learning is an important avenue of inquiry in the field, given the preoccupation with technology and virtual learning environments, and this is the subject of section six. The two final sections identify future research directions and provide a series of conclusions about research and practice in distance language learning as technology-mediated interactions increasingly come to influence the way we think about the processes of language learning and teaching.

Abstract from the publisher:
Computer-mediated communication (CMC) forms an integral part of the firstyear
Spanish course, Spanish Without Walls (SWW), designed for distance education.
The CMC component of SWW supports bimodal (i.e., oral and written)
interactions among students and the instructor and provides the same kinds of
benefits as those in face-to-face interactions well documented in the literature
on second language acquisition (SLA). The study described here illustrates the
progress of a typical first-year language student as she interacts with the course
instructor. Analysis of the transcripts of this studentÊfls interactions shows that
she remained engaged in the language-learning process, actively participated in
negotiation of meaning, repaired her language errors, and was able to satisfy her
own language-learning needs.

Abstract from the publisher:
An analysis of the characteristics of education and educational institutions of the third millennium shows that predominant features are flexibility, inclusiveness, collaboration, authenticity, relevance and extended institutional boundaries. Roles of both students and teachers have changed significantly as educational goals have broadened to include lifelong learning, global interaction, the acquisition of meta-cognitive knowledge and skills, and processes include negotiated curricula and real-life tutors and informants. This is a demanding package that appears to lead us naturally to a social constructivist paradigm for learning and teaching. While few would dispute the value of this approach in humanistic terms, a series of dilemmas – social, conceptual, political, pedagogical – have been articulated. The author will demonstrate that although these are not insurmountable, addressing them has major time implications. The paper argues that to free up time we need to combine social constructivist activities with cognitive constructivist ones, incorporating personalised ICALL systems.