Dear friends,
As you all know the ELTWeekly team was running and working hard for the execution of the NCTELT’09.
And we are happy to inform you that “we have done it!”
NCTELT’09 was a BIG sucess. Some of the ELTWeekly subscribers were the part of the conference. We will update you with the conference snaps and videos by coming Thurday.
This week we could not prepare the issue #8 of ELTWeekly due to the conference, so we will be back with the same on next Monday.
Don’t worry we have something to read for you from an eminent ELT expert – Dr. S Mohanraj. Following is the speech Dr. Mohanraj delivered on the inaugural ceremony of NCTELT’09, also it is there in the first issue of “Technology in ELT” journal.
So read the following article and go ahead for a vibrant week 🙂
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ICT and ELT
by Dr. S Mohanraj
Today we are in the 21st century. How is this century different from its previous ages? One certainly has to acknowledge the presence of technology and its vast influence as a major feature that marks our present age.
Technology has invaded all parts of our life including crime. We need to sit up and alert ourselves before technology takes a complete control of us – or Orwell’s prophecy in Nineteen Eighty Four comes true.
Technology is a double-edged sword. It can harm us if we ill treat it, and benefit us if we harness it and use it for betterment of our own lives. Technology in Education is one such field and this seminar is going to focus on it solely.
This seminar will address technology purely from the point of view of Information Communication Technology, which has become possible because of the computers. And Education can be understood to confine itself to language education in general and English Language Education in particular.
This morning I shall focus in my talk on the various ramifications that this topic can have in our lives. Perhaps it would be better to have a historical perspective on this.
The use of technology in education became evident when Skinner developed Programmed Learning. His theory was that all learning was change in behaviour and that since change is gradual, it can be controlled. He proved this by conducting the well-known rat box experiment, and the details are not worth recalling. But the major error in his assumptions was equating learning by animals with learning by human beings. Though repetition and habit formation have a place in learning, they do not constitute to the entire process of learning.
The programmed learning is an exception to this. Programmed learning looks at the process of learning in a different perspective. Learning content when enormous could be threatening and complex. To facilitate easy learning, it becomes essential to break it down into small pieces, and organize these pieces systematically and sequentially for transmission. When the so transmitted information is retrieved properly, learning becomes a possibility. This entire principle was captured in Programmed Learning and there are several success stories of programmed learning to date.
Programmes were considered machines for they could control the behaviour of learners exactly as machines can control the quality of their outputs. The programmes developed further when they ceased to be behavioural and became cognitive.
Another offshoot of programmed learning was the Language Laboratory, which used listening programmes. These laboratories in their various forms are popular even today. The latest versions of language laboratory are called digital laboratories and these provide multimedia exposure to the learner. Though there has been a lot of advancement, laboratories still treat learner as an isolated entity whose learning behaviour can be controlled.
Subsequently a variety of equipment was either invented solely for purposes of use in the education system or borrowed from the ready stock available in the world outside. Radio was one such instrument. Radio which was originally used as an instrument of communication in times of emergency (especially in times of war and disaster – Radio Hams are still doing this job appreciably well) became an instrument of entertainment. As an instrument of entertainment it became very popular and hence was harnessed for non-formal teaching. It was employed to warn the fishermen, educate the agricultural labourers, and also teach languages and music to housewives. The need for such courses, particularly the last two was prompted by the change in life style and the social structure. The Industrialization brought in more leisure and prosperity to people. Radio became more a necessary instrument than a luxury. And the housewives had more leisure to cope with when radio became a handy tool to learn. To cater to her needs the radio also broadcast lessons on childcare, women’s health, household tips, need for cleanliness, health, hygiene, balanced diet etc. Inspired by the success of these, serious minded educationists experimented with the radio as an instrument of formal learning. In India radio became a part of the school curriculum in several states, Gujarat being one of them. Though radio had its glorious days, with the advent of television, it was soon forgotten. Of late, it is bouncing back with FM broadcast becoming easily accessibly, and private entrepreneurs entering the field of broadcast.
Television was another instrument like radio, which had immense popularity as soon as it was introduced. Television also became an ideal instrument for use in the field of education. It could bring the world outside into the classroom and provide a real environment, and it could simulate several of the situations as the magic eye of the camera could manipulate creatively. It became a hot medium and many a time with a non-serious learner the actual message was lost. Television also had the advantage of greater reach out with OB facility being incorporated and the CCTV becoming popular. There have been experiments where more than 10,000 students have been addressed by a teacher because of the advent of CCTV and OB facility. Video conferencing facilities are a reality in India today and this has bridged the gap between the haves and have-nots in education today.
To add to major media equipment like Radio, Television we have also used other pieces of equipment like the slide projector, tape recorders, video cassettes, films and film strips, opaque projectors, and overhead projectors. With the invention of computers and equipping it to store audio and video materials all other pieces of equipment have become redundant with the exception of overhead projector. Overhead projector (popularly known as OHP) is often used as a substitute for the chalkboard.
Computers are the latest addition from the field of technology to education. Since their appearance, they have made a significant difference to the teaching learning process. It is necessary to understand how this has become possible.
Computers have been traditionally considered as instruments of numerical processing. Since numbers do not lie and are characteristically consistent in their behaviour, it is possible to systematically capture their operations and manipulations. The speed with which computers could process the numbers and provide results set us thinking to harness this potential for language processing or what we today call word processing.
In order to do this, it became essential to find out those characteristics of language which are consistent and thus predictable. Spelling is one such factor the other being the acceptable shape of the sentence or the structure. Initially, computers were able to capture these features and today we have the possibility of storing a dictionary and grammar corpus on the system. The system compares every word and sentence fed into it, compares it with the existing corpus and informs the user about its acceptability. Though this has been a tremendous help for new users of language, often seasoned users of language and creative users of language find it rather annoying.
Computer has other possibilities of storing data and providing access to the stored data at the tip of our fingers. This feature of the computer also has influenced the pedagogic practitioners in a big way. It is now possible to educate and evaluate a learner by creating portfolios for each learner so that the progress can be monitored efficiently. This also helps in maintaining the confidentiality which was hitherto lacking in our system.
Coming to specifics of ICT in ELT there is a lot that can be said and the two day conference will address each of the areas and I do not want to preempt the proceedings. Suffice it to say, today we can use computers for developing language skills as well as teach the content areas. Good software is available and all we need is to develop the right attitude and receive the necessary training to use the available resources fruitfully.
Dr. S Mohanraj
Professor and Head
Department of Training Development and Education
The English and Foreign Languages University
HYDERABAD 500 605
mohanrajsathuvalli AT gmail DOT com