Are Textbooks Still Relevant in a Web 2.0 World?
Jane Petring, jane.petring@gmail.com
For the past five years, I have been writing ESL textbooks while communicating daily with educators around the world who are interested in exploring online tools, and every day I feel myself tugged and pulled in two directions. There is enormous satisfaction in seeing a manuscript go through reviews, revisions, and rewrites to become a published work that lands in the hands of students and teachers. At the same time, the lure of collaborating with colleagues from all over the globe to create communicative activities that are instantly available is electrifying. There is no denying that the format of educational materials is in great flux right now, and for this reason I would like to bring together materials writers and computer-assisted language-learning specialists to delve into the future of ESL/ELT materials in the digital age.
As technology becomes cheaper and more accessible around the world, the range of possibilities for language learning seems almost limitless. Free social software sites offer opportunities for real communication between real people in real time. Interactive educational Web sites allow students to practice skills, conduct research, and assimilate knowledge at an individualized pace. However, orchestrating activities, investigating appropriate sites, learning new software, maintaining equipment, and assessing student progress may be beyond the scope of a busy classroom teacher, and privacy issues could become major concerns for educators. Well-designed textbooks are reassuring for many educators when the books provide logical sequencing and pedagogically sound exercises that respond to the needs of the students and school system. Nevertheless, materials writers need to take an honest look at how Web 2.0 is changing the way people interact and learn if we want to remain relevant in the 21st century.
Most of my face-to-face real-life colleagues are very happy teaching with carefully created textbooks that were designed with the required curriculum in mind: There are interesting videos and listening exercises to stimulate discussion and improve listening comprehension; the grammar lessons follow a logical sequence and cover the points in the course outline; and the readings and writing assignments ensure that the teacher is presenting appropriate and stimulating material for the particular level. In my college, we offer 17 different English courses, and sometimes have as many as 16 sections of a particular course. Having teachers use the same materials for the same course offers a certain degree of consistency and quality control. Of course, teachers will embellish the course with their personal style and knowledge, but the textbook provides an anchor of accountability.
On the other hand, through my involvement with TESOL’s Electronic Village Online sessions, I have become involved with a vibrant network of ESL teachers all over the world who enthusiastically embrace digital media and the learning potential through connectivity and online interaction. Students of these teachers might be encouraged to maintain a blog for writing practice and post it on Web sites like Wikipedia, so that they are communicating with real readers—not just the teacher. Podcasts and videos, including professional lectures such as TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talks or student-made videos posted on YouTube or other video hosting sites, are used for listening comprehension, as a springboard for discussion, or for speaking exercises. VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) such as Skype or Yahoo Messenger can be used for synchronous discussions with partners anywhere in the world and presentations with slides and photos, videos, and voice can be used for interactive seminars. There are hundreds of sites with interactive grammar exercises (e.g., ESL Blues or the brand new Online English Grammar gadget you can add to your personalized iGoogle homepage) and vocabulary-enrichment practice, including some that provide opportunities for social service such as Free Rice or Aid to Children. Links to all of these options can be conveniently stored on a wiki (a web page that can be accessed or modified by the user) or a teacher-management site such as Tapped In. Assignments can be deposited in designated folders and reading or listening assignments can be picked up. It is also possible to have sections of public domain novels delivered to an e-mail address every day. The problem is certainly not a lack of material, but rather how to organize it to maximize its potential.
I’m delighted to see so many educators embracing these new technologies and sharing discoveries and successes. The potential is truly exciting. The cross-cultural exchanges and the involvement of educators from the bottom up allow for rich and creative applications. Our net-generation students are more and more adept at communicating and networking through digital media. As digital natives, they are already developing online social skills and building online communities in their mother tongue with sites like Facebook and MySpace. Using the tools of technology in a second language is a logical next step for building new communities and finding new venues for communication. At the same time, the teacher’s role and responsibility is harder to define as trouble-shooting technological skills become essential and valid methods of assessing acquisition become more elusive. Peer-to-peer learning is much harder to supervise and evaluate. If educational curricula continue to have standardized objectives and criteria for assessment, then digital-media-based courses will require a major time investment to scout out the best sites and tools (something that changes daily) and learn how to maximize their potential while ensuring that the course requirements are being met and that there is no abuse. The educational potential of online teaching and learning is enormous, but busy teachers also face the possibility of drowning in too many options. Will erstwhile book-based materials writers become course designers of online tools or perhaps orchestrators of available tools? Will privacy issues make online networks too risky for educators and school boards? Will books withstand the test of time? Are there skills that books develop that digital media can’t accomplish? Will environmental concerns regarding electronic waste affect digital design? Or will new technologies make paper-based publishing obsolete?
It will be interesting to share experiences, insights, and concerns related to using and writing paper-based, multimedia-based, and online-based materials, and I look forward to a lively discussion in Denver!
Jane Petring teaches at Collège Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil, Québec. She is the author of Insight: English Skills for Academic and Professional Purposes and Insight Grammar, and coauthor of Prospect and Prospect Grammar, published by Les Éditions CEC, 2007. Jane will be leading a discussion on the question “Are Textbooks Still Relevant in a Web 2.0 World?” at TESOL 2009 on Saturday, March 28, at 7 a.m. in Room 708.
MWIS Newsletter February 2009 Volume 22 Number 1: Table of Contents
