The Internet as a Teaching & Learning Tool, Benefits, Challenges & disadvantages

Singhal, M (1997). The Internet and Foreign Language Education: Benefits and Challenges. The Internet TESL Journal, 111, Retrieved 04/26/09, from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Singhal-Internet.html

Internet has become an important new technological tool. The influence of the internet has covered all the aspects of the educational, business and economic sectors of our world. Since the internet is wide spread in many fields and domains, without any doubt, it also carries great potential for educational use, especially languages. Although it is most likely available to all people, only recently have educators been realizing the benefits the internet can have in teaching and learning languages. Language teachers have been using the internet in the creative ways; one these ways is email, a specific feature for the internet. Email can encourage students to use computers in realistic authentic situation to develop communication and critical thinking skills.

Both teachers and students can easily build a virtual communication and then can benefit from the meaning full interaction and communication email makes possible. Thereby, email can be used to a communicative long- distance with language learners in different school or even other country for the same purpose. In addition to the communication benefit or advantage on the internet, the internet can also be used to retrieve and access information. The World Wide Web is a very big virtual library at one’s finger tips with huge information for language learners.

I believe that the language is not only a subject, such as physics or Geography, it is more than that, and it is a world where learner immerses him /herself into another tangue. Therefore, the essential pedagogical principle of language teaching is one that emphasizes the study of language in cultural context. Understanding the culture of the target language enhances understanding the language. To this end the internet is an important resource to both learners and teachers. The internet will allow the language learner to communicate with the native speaker. In this way the internet facilitate the use of the specific language in an authentic setting. Learner can use the internet to gather information from language resources for variety of purposes. For example, learners can access information from countries round the the world and obtain cultural, social and historical information from the countries where the target language is spoken.

As Mike (1996) describes, “the use of the internet has been also shown to promote higher order thinking skills. A language teacher, for example, may instruct the learners to search for specific information. Searching the Web requires logic skills. Once information has been obtained, the result must be reviewed which requires scanning, discarding and evaluative judgment on part of the learner. Such an effort permits learner to practice reading skills and strategies”. Thus, might allow the learner to practice certain skills such as negotiating, persuading, clarifying meaning, requesting information and engaging in true life, authentic discussion. Finally, using internet can improve computer skills. In the Defense Language Institute (DLI) Middle East School One, integrating technology plays an important role in delivering lessons to students in classroom, especially in teaching cultural notes, cultural presentation, and teaching vocabulary through activities, using the smart board, computers, projectors and sound media. These devices help teachers to use hypermedia in delivering lessons with some interactive combination of text with pictures, sound and video. The most reliable website for language teaching is (http://gloss.lingnet.org) which provides students with proficiency level from levels 1, 1+, 2, 2+, 3 and 3+ and also skills that are listening, reading, and writing or topic domain.

Challenges

The Internet has potential benefits in learning teaching language. However; there are many disadvantages related to the nature of using the internet itself, when lines are busy due to many users, or cut off the power, it may take sometimes to access information. Lack of training and familiarity on part of the teachers can make it difficult to use the internet in language classroom. Letting the learners surfing on the internet might prone them to unsuitable information for their age. Equity issues also may promote difficulties, when trying to use such a technology in the classroom. These disadvantages might discourage both teachers and students to use the internet to teach or learn second or foreign language.

I concluded that despite these disadvantages, it should be known that the internet has great potential benefits in education, one of them, for example, our current Course of technology Eduu: 563 which is being taken now online. Therefore, the internet is a technology that has significant implications for teachers and students. The teachers of languages should be familiar with the use of the internet. And also they must learn how to transfer files from net sites to their computers, download and upload sound, videos, software….etc. Schools also should allot some money to train all teachers to become capable to use computer and search on the internet. Such a situation is challenging the educators, and they must rise up to make a decision about how the internet can be successfully integrated into language classroom.

References:
www.insidehighered.com/news
www.maninstruct.edu