Eeyore and the pixel dropout: what’s wrong with technology-enhanced language learning? Jim Coleman, The Open University, UK

Indian Context 2006 Desktop PCs +27% Internet +33% Servers +81% Notebooks +144% 2007 ‘Year of Broadband’ Target 20m subscribers by 2010 (ambitious) Current 8m subscribers (2.3m connections) 60m+ internet access by end 2007

Pixel drop-out 1 in 2,359,296 pixels Perfectionist – unrealistic approach to TELL Consumerist – learner as customer

Enthusiast Expert Reinventor of wheels Not-invented-here syndrome Supply-side approach Managerialist - Remember the language laboratory?

Pedagogue Teacher beliefs – strong and persistent Transmission model of learning Fixed model of target language Classroom as locus of learning

Technophile (geek/real world) Rapid evolution of hardware – Democratisation + capacity + mobility + convergence + standardisation + ephemerality of platform Rapid evolution of affordances, e.g. blog, vidcasts, wikis Information sources UGC Social networking Continuous Partial Attention (Linda Stone, 1997)

Research context Histories of CALL: Levy 1997, Warschauer & Kern 2000, Chapelle 2001, Beatty 2003, Jung 2005, Levy & Stockwell 2006, Lamy & Hampel 2007 Marginalisation (Coleman 2005) Atheoretical early research

Research context Computer as tutor (stand-alone) Computer as resource (input) Computer as publisher (output) Computer as medium (CMC)

Research context Poor research design (small sample, uncontrolled variables…) Hexe Hilde syndrome (teacher-researcher) Mekon syndrome…

The Mekon

Research context Cognitive SLA > sociocultural SLA Autonomy, affect (motivation, anxiety), strategies, multimodality. Synchronous vs. asynchronous Anonymity = security or discomfort? Meaning of silence Online contexts - , tandem, online forums, chat, blog, audio-conference, video-conference, virtual worlds

Research context CMC is good –Increased opportunities for TL communication –Increased motivation to communicate –Lower anxiety –Learning community –Higher-level learning

Research context CMC is bad –Bizarre language variety – neither S nor W –New literacy for new culture – neither C1 nor C2 –Text-dominated at present –Lacks paralinguistic signs –Negative affect – technophobia, frustration (HCI) –Technology drives pedagogy

The Open University First students admitted ,000 students (8,000 in languages since 1995) All part-time, distance taught: supported open learning Open as to people, places, methods, ideas Coleman (2006) Fremdsprachen aus der Ferne

The Open University ‘teacher’s voice’ embedded in team-written materials (text, audio, video, website) > open content Tutor feedback on written and spoken TMAs C20 hours a year f2f or online tuition (voluntary) Learning communities (16,000 First Class conferences) Moodle from 2007 Lyceum: synchronous audiographic tutorial environment FlashMeeting: synchronous enhanced videoconference

Open University research Development of audiographic conferencing (Hampel & Hauck 2004, Hauck & Hampel 2005) Tutor role and training (Hampel 2003, Hampel & Stickler 2005, Hauck & Stickler 2006) Autonomy (Hurd 2005, Murphy 2005, 2007, 2008) Task design (Duensing et al. 2006, Hampel 2006, Lamy 2006) Learner beliefs (Murphy 2005, Hurd 2006)

Open University research Affect and cognitive strategies (Hauck 2005, Hauck & Hurd 2005, Hurd 2007) Online interactions (Hampel et al. 2005, Hauck 2007, Heins et al. 2007, Lamy 2004) Multimodality (Hampel & Hauck 2006, Lamy 2006)

Open University research Sociocultural approach Several languages, large numbers Face-to-face, blended, online learning Quantitative and qualitative approaches Mobile devices, instant messaging, social semiotics

Open University research Spoken Online Learning Events 22/23 June 2007 Cynthia White, Dorothy Chun, Glenn Stockwell Available online at

Online learning

On-lion learning

Intervultural communication