A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

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Teaching in the disciplines
• involving them in individually chosen project work
• linking tuition to a range of activities in open learning facilities.
In summary, learners need to accept responsibility for their language learning, to develop
the capacity to reflect on their individual learning style and to use that reflection to shape
the content and process of subsequent learning.
Interrogating practice
In what ways are your students encouraged and provided with the tools to
become independent learners with transferable language-learning skills?
USING TECHNOLOGY IN MODERN LANGUAGES
C&IT can also be a useful tool in the development of autonomous learning, and many HE
colleagues are experimenting to harness the power of digital communication to enhance
the learning experience of their students (see Chapter 7). Language teachers have often
argued in the past that language means interpersonal communication and interaction,
requiring face-to-face contact which allows language support mechanisms such as facial
and body language to contribute to meaning. However, the growth of e-mail and texting
as means of personal communication, the development of webcams and video phones,
the expansion of the internet as an instant source of information and the increasing use
of intranets and Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) within institutions as means of
dissemination, interaction and learning support (see Case study 1) cannot be ignored.
The computer has valuable potential as one of a range of learning tools, and it is the
teacher’s duty to encourage learners to make full use of any appropriate tool.
The key question is: ‘What is appropriate?’ Any computer-based learning and teaching
activity must be assessed according to its contribution to the learner’s language skills
and to how well it promotes the development of learner independence. Usage needs to
be language rather than C&IT driven. One needs to be certain of the specific advantages
brought by digital resources to ensure that valuable time is not wasted in the development
and execution of activities which would be more effective in the traditional classroom
environment or using paper and pen.
There are numerous ways in which appropriate software, both generic and language
specific, can make a unique and valuable contribution to the learning process; for
example:
• Features of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) may be used to demonstrate grammatical
changes and patterning in a very clear and visual way.