While posing important questions about how learning proceeds with new technologies, this volume demonstrates how teachers captivate the imagination of learners, from school children to postgraduates, by providing real-world purposes for language. The authors are from educational institutions in many regions of the world, and describe technology use from the lowest levels, such as word processing and scanning, to high-end multimedia and interactive communications through voice and video on the Internet. Technology is perhaps the best means to creating an environment conducive to language learning. Technology can support teachers in making language learning faster, easier, less painful, and more engaging, and helps create an optimal language learning environment. Learning Languages through Technology reflects the many and varied ways teachers are currently using computers and the Internet and provides a rich resource for both novice and expert educator.
The volume is divided into four sections:* Language Development Online: Skill Building through Technology* Content-Based and Task-Based Learning: Collaborative CALL* Authentic Audience in a Web-Based World* Constructivism in Professional Development Features throughout the volume are helpful to pre- and in-service teachers: each chapter opens with a preview of ideas to ponder before reading, and each of the four sections begins with a preview of the chapters and concludes with a thought-provoking issue in technology and pedagogy. Follow-up questions for class discussion, further research, and activities appear at the end of each section, leading readers further into the discussion of the role technology plays in learning-both currently and in the future. Appendices list the tools, software, and Web sites helpful in using technology with learners.