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    Social networking threat to language learning

    publication date: Mar 23, 2010
     | 
    author/source: Jason West
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    eu flag dr evilSo, you decided to brave it eh? Keep that pillow handy for the really scary bits. Here you go:

    http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=18269


    Here are a few choice bits from the recommendations section of the paper with how I see them relating to LOT.

    p.99 - Recommendations

    • Promotes creation of Personal Learning Environments (PLE) by learners (I call these Personal Learning Networks - PLNs)...basically with EOT and what I am doing, getting Facebook users to make friends with English speakers and have a group of people they can practise the language from the EOT lessons anytime (different time zones/accents) is creating a PLE/PLN on Facebook.
    • Encourages informal online learning in real-time (i.e. speaking! Also refers to Livemocha earlier and use of Skype but recommends new pedagogy and courses be built to reflect the technological opportunities now available - p.93)
    • Use 'everyday tools' (i.e Facebook/Skype/PDF)
    • There is a contradiction though - they say learners should 'maintain a division between social and educational environments'...this is interesting...it can easily be done of course...and you can just have different groups on Skype/Facebook etc. but it will become more difficult if not impossibe as learning becomes more embedded in our personal online social media usage.  I think it is a sign of their innate fear of what is happening (it is the one clear caveat and it is a defensive one that probably relates to the authors and their peers). The report states that English is taking over due to social networking...fear of educators not having jobs could be the driver to this remark but they acknowledge elsewhere that the role of the teacher has to change because of technology.  Very interesting, and I would say a predictable reaction. Useful for EOT is that with all of this effective informal English learning going on via social networks people will still want to practise their English and need materials to help them have something to say.  Hence the rise of Livemocha and Italki etc...and online language exchanges. 

    p.98 - Training

    • Train the teachers...then cascade down.  This is what I am doing at the moment on a small scale.  But we could do it with anyone, not just qualified TEFL teachers or state sector teachers. Now there's a really scary thought!
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    Why would you call a report on the effect of social media and ICT on language learning a 'threat'? The EU asked some clever people at the Open University to find out what was happening and to tell us how things were changing in language teaching and learning and what we should do to survive it. I have highlighted and commented on some of their recommendations, which are very good indeed.

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