What is Blended Learning?

    The term blended learning refers “[…] to the practice of using both online and in-person learning experiences when teaching students.”(Hidden curriculum; 2014) This means that students attend regular face-to-face lessons but at the same time “[…] in-class time may be either replaced or supplemented by online learning experiences, and students would learn about the same topics online as they do in class—i.e., the online and in-person learning experiences would parallel and complement one another.” (Hidden curriculum; 2014).

    Both online and face-to-face learning have many advantages and if they are combined the result will be positive. A case in point of face-to-face learning benefit is the fact that teachers can cater for their students emotional needs in irreplaceable ways. Moreover, teachers can provide a stable and comfortable classroom environment to make the learning process more engaging and satisfactory. What is more, for English teachers, it can be said that face-to-face learning is highly necessary. “In situations like foreign-language teaching, where a teacher’s body language and cultural insights provide students with complex information, it’s difficult to imagine a robot or computers entirely replacing teachers” (Partarrieu, S.; 2015)

    On the other hand, the importance of including online instances of learning and teaching cannot be dismissed. First, our students are Digital Natives (Prensky, M.; 2001) and the use of technology can make the learning and teaching processes much more engaging. Second, students can work on themselves, organize their activities around their needs and work at their own pace. Third, teachers can structure and schedule lessons so they can become more elastic. Finally, “Blended learning may also allow teachers to spend less time giving whole-class lessons, and more time meeting with students individually or in small groups to help them with specific concepts, skills, questions, or learning problems […]” (Hidden Curriculum; 2014).

    In conclusion, it can be stated that nowadays a combination of face-to-face and online learning is the most suitable way to carry out foreign language lessons. "There is no single recipe for success when combining traditional and digital methods, but it’s clear that human presence – even remotely – still plays an important role in student motivation and progress" (Partarrieu, S.; 2015). Also, using the web to enhance the learning process allows the students to choose when, where and how to learn. (Itslearning Global; 2013)

    

    

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References:

Hauze, S. (2013, October 22) Blended learning. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVDx6tK_Y9k

Hidden curriculum (2014, August 26). In S. Abbott (Ed.), The glossary of education reform. Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/hidden-curriculum

Itslearning Global (2013, may 24) Blended learning in 2 minutes and 38 seconds. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5txJfv2q0c&feature=youtu.be

Partarrieu, S. (2015, October 5) Why we still need face-to-face teaching in the digital era. Retrieved from https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/why-we-still-need-face-face-teaching-digital-age

Prensky, M. (2001) "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" On the horizon 9 (5) 1-6.

World Wide Web 2.0

  According to the online English Oxford Living Dictionary (2017), Web 2.0 is “The second stage of development of the Internet, characterized especially by the change from static web pages to dynamic or user-generated content and the growth of social media.”

  The major difference between this Web and the previous version (Web 1.0) is that the latter was only to resort for information or specific content. Nowadays, that static use becomes more dynamic and interactive since “websites enable community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration.” (Rouse, M.; 2015). 

  The Web 2.0 can be really useful in teaching and learning processes in order to make them more appealing and engaging. Teachers can profit from many sites and applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. that allow the learners and the teacher to be in contact outside the classroom. These, and many other “social networking sites”, enable people to communicate and exchange information quickly. Another fashionable application is Instagram and falls into the category of “social curation”. This means that through this app people can share content around a certain topic. Finally, a really useful and convenient “web app” is Google Doc. It allows teachers and learners to write and provide feedback simultaneously, create a collaborative task for the whole classroom and more.

  In order to conclude this post, it is important to highlight that the correct and appropriate use of the Web 2.0 can make the teaching and learning process much more motivating, engaging and meaningful. Most of our students are in constant interaction with technology and teachers need to find out new ways to introduce it in the everyday lesson. Teachers do not need to be afraid of the use of technology and the web inside the classroom.

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References:

• Rouse, M. (2015) Web 2.0 Retrieved from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Web-20-or-Web-2
• English Oxford Living Dictionary (2017) Definition of Web 2.0 in English Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/web_2.0

SAMR: Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition model

     Since including technology in the classroom adds new challenges, Dr. Ruben Puentedura created the SAMR Model in order to help and guide teachers to evaluate the progressive use of technology in the learning and teaching processes.

   

Puentedura, R. (n.d.) “SAMR: Beyond the Basics”

   The dotted line in the picture shows the moment when you move from using technology to enhance learning in order to transform the learning process. This process of moving from enhancing to tranforming the learning allows the teacher to reflect upon his o her own abilities and skills as regards the different uses of technology within and outside the classroom. 

 One can enhance learning through SUBSTITUTION that is, for example, asking students to use a word processor such as Microsoft Word to write an essay instead of handwriting it. Furthermore, AUGMENTATION allows technology to act as a substitution but with some functional progress; that is, for example, students can make use of the Word spelling and grammar checker.

  In order to cross the dotted line, the next step is MODIFICATION, that is, for example, using Google Doc so as to share their essays with other classmates and receive comments from them. Now, the essay is an article created to share with a real audience beyond the classroom. The highest level of this model is REDEFINITION and it means that students can do a task that was unimaginable before. That is, for example, that students film a video in which they are explaining the content of the essay and share it in YouTube where people from all over the world can see it and comment about it. Reaching this last level in the SAMR Model means the implementation of 21^st Century Skills, such us media creation, collaboration, critical thinking, communication, etc. (Common Sense Education; 2016).

 As a conclusion, we very much agree with what Michael Gorman (2014 p. 4) states: “All educators must realize that a final goal of any classroom is redefinition. At the same time, there will be times when even the most proficient educators with technology conduct a task at the substitution level. It really comes down to the tool fitting the task and learning target. An understanding of the SAMR Model allows educators to reflect on their own progress while investigating ways to use educational technology in a useful and productive way. The SAMR Model allows all educators to view the steps they are taking down the road of technology enhancement toward true transformation.”.

Here you will find a short and explanatory video about the SAMR Model:

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References:

Puentedura, R. (n.d.) “SAMR: Beyond the Basics” Retrieved from http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2013/04/26/SAMRBeyondTheBasics.pdf

Gorman, M. (n.d.) “The SAMR Model of Technology Integration Article” Retrieved from https://sacsteacher.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/9/1/31918433/the_samr_model_of_technology_integration_article.pdf

Schrock, K. (2017) “Resources to support the SAMR Model” Retrieved from http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html

Candece, M. (2013, May 30) “SAMR in 120 Seconds” Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us0w823KY0g

Common Sense Education (2016, July 12) “What is the SAMR Model?” Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b5yvgKQdqE&feature=youtu.be

Spencer, J. (2015, November 3) “What is the SAMR Model and what does it look like in schools?” Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC5ARwUkVQg&feature=youtu.be

TPACK: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge.

      

       The formulation of TPACK is an extension of what Shulman proposed, “[…] that effective teaching requires a special type of knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge (or PCK).” (Koheler, Mishra, Kereluik, Graham & Shin, 2014, p. 102). Koehler and Mishra add the importance of technological knowledge because it can be an effective way of teaching. Consequently, TPACK emerges: As they said,“Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) refers to knowledge about the complex relations among technology, pedagogy, and content that enable teachers to develop appropriate and context-specific teaching strategies.” (cited in Koheler et al., 2014, p. 102).

       Furthermore, “An important part of the TPACK framework is that TPACK does not exist in a vacuum but rather is grounded and situated in specific contexts as represented by the outer dotted circle in the TPACK diagram.” (Koehler et al., 2014, p. 102). The diagram below describes TPACK.
        The particular method to implement the TPACK model is: in the first place, teachers have to think about the content they are going to teach. In a second intance, teachers decide how they are going to teach the content. Finally, they choose which technological tools are going to be implemented.

         Following this view of teaching suggested by the researchers mentioned above, teachers can make use of different technological devices to work with students inside and outside the classroom. We found that students from the 3rd year of a State Secondary school are used to work with Facebook groups in many other subjects. They use this social media as a platform to do homework activities, share ideas and doubts about subject matters, among other uses.

As an example of TPACK in English Language Lessons, we created the following Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/112371179403236/ for a 3^rd year of a State Secondary School. The students are expected to post or upload different assignments we will ask them to do.

As it is shown in the screenshots, students are working with Present Simple and Present Continuous. The aim of the task we gave them is to clarify the different uses of these tenses since it was difficult for them to distinguish. Students will post pictures with the time in order to portray their dailies routines using the Present Simple and short videos or “boomerangs” describing the actions they are performing using the Present continuous.

       Finally, we want to highlight that all teachers can design and create their own technological tools so as to make the teaching and learning processes more engaging

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References:

- Koheler, M., Mishra, P., Kereluik, K., Graham, C. R., & Shin, T. S. (2014) "The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework" Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology, 101 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-3185-5_9

Digital Literacies and the importance for EFL teachers.

   According to Hockly (2013) digital literacies refer not only to “the ability to effectively make use of the technologies at our disposal […] but also the social practices that surround the use of the new media” (What are digital literacies? para. 2). So, apart from knowing how to use the technology, it is also important to know how to communicate and navigate through the different digital environments (University of Derby; 2014).

   How can Digital Literacies be introduced in the language classroom? Researchers have found that these can be divided into four main areas:

·         Those with a focus on language: they have to do with the importance of including not only print literacies but also texting literacies. “Whilst print literacy is a familiar typology, texting literacy remains the domain of regular mobile phone users and is much maligned in educational circles for the supposedly negative effect it is having on literacy” (Hockly, 2013, para. 5).

·         Those with a focus in connections: it has to do with raising awareness on our students about the use of the different social media and how to communicate appropriately. It is important because “In such spaces users not only write about themselves and their lives, but also participate in wide social groupings which transcend geographical, religious and ethnic boundaries” (Hockly, 2013, para. 6).

·         Those with a focus on information: it has to do with the ability of finding information and also to recognise sites and sources that are reliable.

·         Those with a focus on (re)design: it has to do with how to transform and create something new with the content that social media offers.

   For English teachers it is important to acknowledge and apply this information to our teaching practices because English is the language of global communication. Also it is important to remember that technology is involved in every aspect of students’ life and it would be very beneficial if teachers care about their interests when planning the language lessons.

   At the bottom of the post it can be found a short and explanatory video:

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References:

- Hockly, N. (2013) "Digital Literacies: What are they and why should we care" Retrieved from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/digital-literacies-what-are-they-why-should-we-care

-University of Derby (2014, November 5) "Digital literacy and why it matters" Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2k3C-iB88w

Teachers and Digital Natives

      Nowadays, teachers have the responsibility to adapt and change their approaches, methods, contents and teaching material so as to keep Digital Native students engaged and motivated. All teachers have to bear in mind that students are constantly  changing. In present day the changes are influenced by the arrival and rapid dissemination of new digital technologies. Because of this, teachers have to include in their lesson planning the use of technologies. 

Digital Native

     The main reason is that the newest generation of students were born and grew up surrounded by technological devices (television, tablets, video games, computer games, etc.) Another reason, as Prensky (2001) said, is that “as a result of this ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume of their interaction with it, today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently" and this leads into a different brain structure (p. 1). Some other reasons are that students receive information really fast, prefer games instead of traditional work and they are multi-taskers. In addition to this, teachers cannot expect that students adapt themselves to his /her old-fashioned methodology; that is to say, digital natives will not go backwards and it is the teacher who has to approach them. For these reasons, teachers who were not born surrounded by technologies, have to invent Digital Native methodologies so as to approach students' necessities and make the teaching and learning processes much more engaging.

Different Brain Structures

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Reference: 

- Prensky, M. (2001) "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" On the horizon 9 (5) 1-6.