Blending Learning in a Web 2.0 World

In modern language classroom, teachers need to realize the importance and effectiveness of learning technology, particularly Web 2.0 technologies. It means that this technology offers the solution to bridge the traditional and modern method of teaching and learning system. In practice, this technology has shown a massive improvement and made differences in student behavior.

There is a prediction that language learner for the future will have many characters due to their technology usage. They potentially have considerable access to the information and technology which is made the communication and learning language is easily obtained. There are no more boundaries between language and technology because they digitally mastered.

Web 2.0 technology material involves the engagement of community: the user and the developer. It allows the active creation of information by users. So, there is a "publication and participation". It is very useful because:

1.       It has been difficult to build the expected application that were part of web 1.0

2.       It has exercises in various guises

3.       The internet does provide a useful resources of all kind of authentic material, most of it is free at the point of delivery

4.       There a range of tools than can enable us to be social in all sort of ways: textually, orally, visually, and aurally.

  

Based on Vaughan and Garrison, blended learning is on the cusp of transforming education. Blended learning is used to describe an approach to design of a course or program that integrates the best face to face and online learning while significantly reducing traditional class contact hours. It is attracting considerable attention to enable the integration of appropriate and meaningful online experiences.

Types of blends are:

1.    F2f plus online.

It is face to face training or language course. It is the integration of traditional learning with web based on-line approaches.

2.    Combination of technologies.

It is the combination of media tools employed in an e-learning environment, purely distance learning course, where no face to face lessons occurs.

3.    Beyond four walls.

It is the combination of a number of pedagogic approaches, irrespective of the learning technology used.

4.   Combination of real world plus virtual world.

The teacher delivers a face to face, real world lesson, and then arranges to meet his or her students in a virtual world such as Second Life for a follow up lesson.