Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:49:26.850Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Learning to teach online or learning to become an online teacher: an exploration of teachers’ experiences in a blended learning course

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2011

Anna Comas-Quinn
Anna Comas-Quinn*
Affiliation:
Department of Languages, Faculty of Education and Language Studies, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom (email: A.Comas-Quinn@open.ac.uk)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A key role in the successful implementation of any learning approach is played by teachers, so how well blended learning works will depend largely on how well teachers make the transition from their traditional face-to-face classroom roles to the wider more complex role that blended learning requires. The additional skills and the forging of a new professional identity might not come easily to all practitioners.

This paper evaluates the impact that the introduction of blended learning in a distance language learning course has had on teachers. It presents and discusses findings from a small-scale evaluation study which compared quantitative and qualitative data gathered through a survey and a small number of interviews with participant observations from the researcher and the institutional end-of-course debriefing report.

The paper argues that whilst technological challenges and the sheer amount of change that teachers were faced with were largely responsible for some of the negative attitudes reflected in teachers’ opinions about the course, a less obvious, broader explanation for the difficulties that teachers encountered might be found in the way that learning, teaching and training are conceptualised by both teachers and the institution.

It is proposed that a transmission of knowledge approach to training fails to acknowledge and properly support the transformation of teachers’ identity that results from moving from traditional classroom-based teaching to online teaching. The shift goes beyond the acquisition of ICT skills and requires a pedagogical understanding of the affordances of the new medium and an acceptance by the teacher of his or her new role and identity.

Keywords

teacher trainingteacher identityonline teachingblended learning
Type
Research Article
Information
ReCALL , Volume 23 , Special Issue 3: Special issue on CALL and CMC teacher education research , 01 September 2011 , pp. 218 - 232
Copyright
Copyright © European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bañados, E. (2006) A Blended Learning Pedagogical Model for Teaching and Learning EFL Successfully Through an Online Interactive Multimedia Environment. CALICO Journal, 23(3): 533–550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biggs, J. (1999) Teaching for quality learning at university. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.Google Scholar
Billet, S. (2001) Learning Throughout Working Life: interdependencies at work. Studies in Continuing Education, 23(1): 19–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billet, S.Somerville, M. (2004) Transformations at Work: Identity and Learning. Studies in Continuing Education, 26(2): 309–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Compton, L. K. L. (2009) Preparing language teachers to teach language online: a look at skills, roles, and responsibilities. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 22(1): 73–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conole, G.Dyke, M. (2004) What are the affordances of information and communication technologies? ALT-J, 12(2): 113–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crook, C.Cluley, R. (2009) The teaching voice on the learning platform: seeking classroom climates within a virtual learning environment. Learning, Media and Technology, 34(3): 199–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. (2009) The L2 Motivational Self System. In: Dörnyei, Z.Ushioda, E. (eds.) Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engestörm, Y. (2000) Activity theory as a framework for analysing and redefining work. Ergonomics, 43(7): 960–974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ernest, P.Hopkins, J. (2006) Coordination and Teacher Development in an Online Learning Environment. CALICO Journal, 23(3): 551–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, R. (1997) Managing Open Systems. London: Kogan Page.Google Scholar
Goodfellow, R. (2007) Rethinking Educational Technologies in the Age of Social Media: from ‘tools for interaction’ to ‘sites of practice’. Keynote presentation for Echanger Pour Apprendre en Ligne (EPAL) conference, Université Stendhal, Grenoble, 9 June 2007. Available online at: http://w3.u-grenoble3.fr/epal/pdf/goodfellow.pdf (accessed 5 December 2007).Google Scholar
Hager, P.Hodkinson, P. (2009) Moving beyond the metaphor of transfer of learning. British Educational Research Journal, 35(4): 619–638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hampel, R.Stickler, U. (2005) New skills for new classrooms: Training tutors to teach languages online. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18(4): 311–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kessler, G. (2007) Formal and informal CALL preparation and teacher attitude toward technology. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 20(2): 173–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkwood, A. (2003) Understanding independent learners’ use of media technology. Open Learning, 18(2): 155–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkwood, A.Price, L. (2005) Learners and learning in the twenty-first century: what do we know about students’ attitudes towards and experiences of information and communication technologies that will help us design courses? Studies in Higher Education, 30(3): 257–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkwood, A. (2008) Getting it from the Web: why and how online resources are used by independent undergraduate learners. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 24(5): 372–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kubanyiova, M. (2009) Possible Selves in Language Teacher Development. In: Dörnyei, Z.Ushioda, E. (eds.), Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 314–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lave, J.Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Practice: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, T. (2006) When Teaching is Learning: A Personal Account of Learning to Teach Online. CALICO Journal, 23(3): 581–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lockwood, F. (1995) Students’ perception of, and response to, formative and summative assessment material. In: Lockwood, F. (ed.), Open and Distance Learning Today. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mason, R. (1989) An evaluation of CoSy on an Open University course. In: Mason, R.Kaye, A. (eds.), Mindweave: Communication, Computers and Education. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 115–145.Google Scholar
McPherson, M. A.Nunes, J. M. B. (2004) The role of tutors as an integral part of online learning support. European Journal of Open and Distance Learning, http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2004/Maggie_MsP.htmlGoogle Scholar
Murday, K., Ushioda, E.Chenoweth, A. (2008) Learners’ and teachers’ perspectives on language learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 21(2): 125–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, B. (1998) A strategic perspective on staff development for open and distance learning. In: Latchem, C.Lockwood, F. (eds.), Staff Development in Open and Flexible Learning. London: Routledge, 33–44.Google Scholar
Rosell-Aguilar, F. (2007) Changing tutor roles in online tutorial support for Open Distance Learning through audio-graphic SCMC. JALT-CALL Journal, 3(1–2): 81–94.Google Scholar
Rosewell, J. P. (2009). Equitability and dominance in online forums: an ecological approach. Presentation delivered at CAL'09 Learning in digital worlds, 23–25 March 2009, Brighton, UK.Google Scholar
Salmon, G. (2003) E-moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online, (2nd ed.). London and New York: RoutledgeFalmer.Google Scholar
Scida, E.Saury, R. (2006) Hybrid Courses and Their Impact on Student and Classroom Performance: A Case Study at the University of Virginia. CALICO Journal, 23(3): 517–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shelley, M., White, C., Baumann, U.Murphy, L. (2006) It's a unique role! Perspectives on tutor attributes and expertise in distance language learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 7(2), http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/297/609CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tait, J. (2002) From Competence to Excellence: a systems view of staff development for part-time tutors at a distance. Open Learning, 17(2): 153–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, C.Ding, A. (2009) Identity and Self in E-Language Teaching. In: Dörnyei, Z.Ushioda, E. (eds.), Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 333–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiebe, G.Kabata, K. (2010) Students’ and instructors’ attitudes toward the use of CALL in foreign language teaching and learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 23(3): 221–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar