Here - EnglishAgenda - British Council

What are the limiting factors?Although not directly referred to in the case studies there are indications thatthis question was considered, especially when it came to choosing software. Forexample, Eydelman (Chapter 3) was constrained by costs; as there was no budgetfor software the choice was limited to what was free. In my context sustainabilitywas a key consideration so the design had to reflect this and the courses had to becost-effective to run and maintain once the financial support from stakeholders hadbeen removed. This had an impact on the materials we chose and the number ofcomputers that we purchased. There was also no internet connection in our languagecentres, which significantly limited the software that was available to us.2. Course designThe second stage in the design process can commence once you have familiarisedyourself with your context, determined what your reasons for blending are andidentified the limiting factors. Armed with this information and having determined thata blended approach is appropriate for your context the design stage can begin andthe next set of questions can be addressed.What are you going to blend?The definitions of blended learning in ELT given in the introductory chapter allrefer to a combination of two modes, face-to-face and technology – computerassisted language learning (CALL), or online. These two modes were incorporatedin all the blends described, with the authors choosing a variety of software for theonline component, with Moodle being the most popular choice (see Table 4). Thedecision on what software to use was often influenced by the level of institutionalinfrastructure and support, so for example Gilbert (Chapter 1) chose Moodle becauseit was the University’s official Course Management System and Pardo-Gonzalez(Chapter 4) chose Wimba because ‘it suited our needs and allowed us to furtherdevelop the English program without becoming programmers or engineers.’Table 4: Software choices for the technology modeSoftwareMoodleAuthor and ChapterGilbert (Chapter 1); Aborisade (Chapter 2); Peachey(Chapter 5); Dudeney and Hockly (Chapter 6); Bo andO’Hare (Chapter 7); Hirst and Godfrey (Chapter 9)PBWorks Eydelman (Chapter 3); Ingham (Chapter 15)Wimba Pardo-Gonzalez (Chapter 4)A VLE e.g. Moodle or Blackboard White et al. (Chapter 8)Pearson Fronter Douglas and Paton (Chapter 10)Mobile phones Kern (Chapter 11)Posterous Kern (Chapter 11)Flash Beagle and Davies (Chapter 12)Email Keedwell (Chapter 13); Russell (Chapter 14)Screencasts Russell (Chapter 14)Reward CD-ROMs Whittaker (Chapter 16)Conclusion | 229