4.6 Questionnaire: Monologue and Dialogue

The online discussion list provided an opportunity for teachers to reflect, share information, express concerns and to articulate their own theories about teaching and learning FSFL in online learning environments. Those who volunteered to participate in the online discussion list generally represented a group of individuals experienced in using the Internet. The fact that these individuals were willing and able to participate in an online discussion meant that they had to have a certain level of competency in the use of e-mail. Many of the participants were involved in Internet projects and some were even responsible for training other teachers in use of the Internet in teaching.

These teachers represented a select group who, it might be expected, would hold some similar beliefs about use of the Internet in teaching and learning. The aim of this study was not only to profile the beliefs of teachers who were comfortable and competent in teaching in OLEs, but also, to gain insight into the beliefs of those teachers who work in these environments very little or not at all. Even though these individuals do not work in these environments, they are still adequately familiar with them to be able to express their beliefs about them. It may well be because of their beliefs that these individuals do not choose to experiment with online learning environments. Thus, the beliefs of these individuals are important in building an understanding of teachers’ beliefs in general. These beliefs provide a point of comparison to the beliefs of those who work frequently in online environments.