Here - EnglishAgenda - British Council

PrefaceClaire WhittakerWhen I took up the post of Training and Systems Manager with the British Council inBosnia and Herzegovina in 2003, little did I know that it would result in the proposalfor this publication, or better still that the proposal would be accepted. The rest, asthey say, is history. Prior to this post my experience of using computers in EnglishLanguage Teaching (ELT) had been somewhat limited. I had first used them as ateacher in 1997 when I had access to a computer room with an internet connectionand a limited number of CD-ROMs. I used them for extension activities to complementmy face-to-face sessions by providing the students with additional controlled practiceof the grammar or vocabulary that had just been presented.This experience piqued my interest in using computers for language teaching andlearning and so I read articles and books on computer-assisted language learning(CALL) in an attempt to find practical suggestions for their successful integration andusage. I also attended courses on information and communications technology (ICT)in ELT, as it was then referred to, in my quest for knowledge. This interest and limitedamount of experience and knowledge did not, however, adequately prepare me formy role as Training and Systems Manager in which I ‘inherited’ a blended learningcourse that was being used to teach English to military personnel in the armedforces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was also the first time that I had heard theterm ‘blended learning’ and I have to say, initially, I was sceptical about its longevity;how wrong I was.One of my first tasks in the role was to carry out a study into delivery of the Englishlanguage in the 13 geographically spread language centres, to become familiar withtheir working practices. This highlighted the numerous significant inconsistenciesin the language delivery between them, for example the length of courses, thetimetables and syllabi. I felt that we needed to standardise the language delivery,not only to be able to manage the system more effectively, but also to provide eachstudent with comparable learning opportunities. At this stage I was unconcernedby the fact that these courses employed a blended learning approach rather than atraditional face-to-face approach. Nor did I realise what it entailed or appreciate itspotential. My outlook was soon to change though, once I began to understand thecomplexities of designing, or in my case redesigning, a blended learning course.Only once the course content and length had been standardised did I begin toquestion the blend itself and to consider the design, not only at lesson level but alsoat course level, for the first time. Unwittingly this resulted in what was to becomea three-year iterative redesign process. Throughout this time I continued to readarticles and books on what was now largely being termed blended learning, butwas frustrated by the lack of advice on the principles and practicalities of blendedlearning course design (above lesson level) and descriptions or studies of blends inELT contexts.Preface | 7