Basic concepts of ICT used in education. Current situation of ICT in TEFL

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become increasingly popular in almost every area in society. Education is not the exception, nowadays, teaching and learning are being benefited from ICTs in many different contexts.

Some concepts might be clear before we start to discuss the situation of ICTs in EFL. First, we have e-learning, a wide concept that involves all learning mediated by electronical devices and services. Donal Clark has cited Rosenberg for a concise definition

Marc Rosenberg (2001) confines e-learning to the internet as: the use of internet technologies to deliver a broad array of solutions that enhance knowledge and performance. It is based upon three fundamental criteria:

• networked
• delivered to the end-user via a computer using standard internet technology
• focuses on the broadest view of learning

E-learning includes, then, distance education via online or virtual learning. Distance education via online learning refers to teaching and learning process done out of the classroom. The interaction is not held face to face, which means that teacher and learner do not have to be in the same space but mostly at the same time.  Blended learning is, then, the combination of online learning with the traditional teaching style of classes. It means that some classes are online and some others face to face.

ICTs are currently being used in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in many ways. We take advantage of many different resources available on and offline. Computers and other electronical devices are present in more and more learning environments and many teachers take the blended learning as an option when designing syllabuses. I think that this increasing use of ICTs in the EFL classroom is totally beneficial because it fosters autonomy and it is attractive for the students.

Teacher and students in the computer room at the Modern Languages School (EIM-UCV)

Reference:

Clark, D. R. (2010). Defining eLearning. Retrieved May 5, 2012 from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/elearning/define.html