6.2.5 Learning

This sub-category of beliefs related to ways in which OLEs can enhance learning is a very broad one. The beliefs in this section, while very close or similar to those in the next section on teaching, differ from them in that the focus here is on the student and on the learning situation or process as opposed to being on the teacher and the instructional process. Indeed, many of the beliefs in this study focused specifically on students, their changing needs and on the importance of focusing on their changing role. It is not surprising that teachers expressed beliefs about the changing needs of students and the ways in which these changes can affect the learning process. Perhaps more than ever today, as society is constantly changing, does it become even more challenging to respond effectively to the needs of students. One teacher’s belief that "Today's students are quite different from those of even 2-3 years ago" recognizes the rapid pace of change and its impact on teachers.

It is interesting to observe how teachers perceive this change. One teacher noted that "The students are accustomed to numerous stimuli, (ie. (sic) virtual video games, etc.), thus the teacher has to be more creative to obtain and maintain their attention." This belief sees the change in students as resulting in a situation where the teacher has to compete for students’ attention. Teachers’ beliefs about how students are changing and how they can respond to these changes can reflect different perspectives. One perspective values technology as a means to ensure that students become life-long learners and that they can transfer their learning to other situations. This perspective shows evidence of a reconceptualization of the role of the learner as one who is not simply a passive consumer or recipient of knowledge but an active constructor of knowledge who is able to think critically and solve new and complex problems. Another perspective values technology because of its ability to effectively compete for students’ attention.

Beliefs that are more likely to reflect the former perspective are those that describe technology as something that "broadens the students’ horizons" and allows "students to be creative and learn through experience", or allows them to have "more independent learning in class" and "to learn on their own while using an alternate approach to teaching". Beliefs in the value of technology in general or of OLEs in particular to allow teachers to compete effectively for students’ attention, may result in a valuing of online activities such as "internet competitions", "treasure hunts, crosswords", "activities for special occasions", "games, puzzles, maps", "sending greeting cards". While these activities may have a place in language learning, they do not represent those activities that may best take advantage of the potential of OLEs to transform the language learning experience. These types of activities are no doubt the types that provide what one teacher referred to as a "nice change of pace from the regular classroom setting". However, they offer the same advantages as did the introduction of the language lab which was valued at the time of its introduction because of its potential to take the boredom out of the classroom.

Activities reflecting beliefs in the value of technology to transform the learning process are those in which students are producers as opposed to consumers of knowledge. Teachers described activities such as the creation of "class web pages where students can post autobiographies and display their art work", or opportunities for "creative writing with online feedback" and "writing for publication". These beliefs are confirmed by Warschauer (1997b) who argues that the Internet creates optimal conditions for learning to write by providing an authentic audience for written communication. Singhal (1997) also affirms that the Internet can serve as a medium for experiencing and presenting creative works or as a platform for students’ own work. Online activities in which teachers incorporate a variety of language skills including listening and speaking also represent a means of exploiting the potential of OLEs. One teacher described how she used web sites for listening activities, "to make France and French more of a reality" to access "guest "speakers" from various French-speaking countries". Not surprisingly, the teacher concluded that such activities received a positive response from her students because students "see a purpose to learning a language and even to learning grammar!". Such use capitalizes on the potential of OLEs to make learning real, purposeful, and meaningful to students.

Other advantages that OLEs present for learning lie in their capacity to change the pattern of interaction in the classroom so that it becomes more decentered in general and student-centered in particular. One teacher referred to opportunities for students to "work in groups and chat amongst themselves in the target language". Beliefs in the value of student-to-student interaction reflect principles of constructivist learning. They also reflect a move towards a transformation of practices as observed by Dwyer et al. (1992) in their ACOT study. The authors found that the direction of change was towards child-centered rather than curriculum-centered instruction; towards collaborative rather than individual tasks; towards active rather than passive learning.

Unlike CALL which presented the same material in the same way and with the same analysis of performance, online learning provides a multitude of presentations and a wide range of content suitable to different learning styles and strategies. The value of such modes of presentation that centre on the student are highlighted by those beliefs that recognized and valued differences in learning styles and abilities and which associated use of OLEs with a means to address these differences. Changes in modes of interaction may be accompanied by beliefs that devalue the "linear and traditional approach" and instead express a preference for the "arborenscence" (sic) or hyper-textual approach of the Internet.

OLEs present further benefits for learning particularly in the teaching of culture. The cultural component of language learning became important with the advent of Communicative Language Teaching. However, teachers may not have had access to the resources or tools needed to allow students to develop an appreciation for and understanding of the real contexts in which languages exist. Singhal (1997) argues that the Internet can offer students the opportunity to participate in the culture of the target language and learn how cultural background influences one’s view of the world. Beliefs that recognize the value of OLEs to open "up the classroom to many more cultural inputs than the library did" represent an understanding of the importance of contexts for learning. The dissatisfaction with the inadequacy of TLEs to promote cultural understanding and to allow students to "get past the beret and baguette!" emphasizes the value of OLEs to promote authentic and meaningful learning.

OLEs present further advantages to language learners in that they can provide them with opportunities to develop and deploy higher-order thinking skills. Singhal (1997) argued that logic skills are required for searching, that evaluative judging is required by students when they review the information, and synthesizing occurs when students make a complete and coherent whole out of the information which they have gathered and evaluated. The following belief supports Singhal’s assertion: "When students use the Internet in their second-language learning certainly they have to problem solve: analyze, interpret, synthesize the materials that they are using on the Internet". These types of beliefs also suggest an awareness of the complexity of language learning and how online activities can be designed to ensure challenging and effective learning experiences. Beliefs in the importance of high-order thinking skills contrast with what Prawat (1992) argues is the major obstacle to educational reform -that of the emphasis on factual and procedural knowledge at the expense of deeper levels of understanding. In an exploratory study by Hannafin and Freeman (1995), the authors hypothesized that teachers who hold objectivist views will use the computer only for lower-order skills. Likewise, those with constructivist views would be expected to use computer programs that facilitate more open-ended and problem-solving approaches to curriculum.

Some participants in the study highlighted the value of OLEs to facilitate changes in the role of the learner and the teacher. Teachers noted that students’ use of OLEs makes them "become more responsible and independent learners", that it facilitates "le travail en autonomie" whereby the student can "construire seul son savoir" and that "it can help create a situation in the classroom whereby the students become more responsible for their learning". Autonomy in learning suggests that students are choosing their own goals, determining the paths for learning, and that student control is looked upon favourably as an element that can enhance learning. Such beliefs lie at the very heart of the vision espoused by this study.

Also at the centre of the vision is the role of the teacher. Beliefs about the role of the teacher will be discussed in the next section. However, one belief expressed in relation to this issue is that, along with a change in the students’ roles to that of being more responsible for their learning, comes a change in students’ beliefs: "They realize that the teacher does not have to be a font of information, rather a guide. Hopefully, this will encourage them to become lifelong learners." Beliefs of this type indirectly highlight the fact that, not only can teachers reconceptualize their role, but students, as well, can begin to reconceptualize their role and that of their teacher’s. Beliefs of this type also suggest a link between the roles held by students and teachers on one hand, and the concept of life-long learning on the other. The emphasis on life-long learning contrasts with beliefs in an earlier part of this section where teachers emphasized the importance of using technology to compete for students’ attention.

Many of the beliefs in this section reflect aspects of the vision of language learning for the 21^st century. Pusak and Otto’s (1997) "new era" of language learning is characterized by many of the beliefs which were discussed in this section The beliefs emphasized process rather than product. The importance accorded to communication and collaboration instead of the study of the structure of the language recognizes the importance of function over form. Their new era favours development of critical thinking skills, promotes student-directed, student-centered learning, accommodates different learner styles and strategies and allows for the development of cross-cultural insights. These elements were all highlighted in the beliefs in this section. Those beliefs included in this section that do not reflect the vision are those that value the capacity of OLEs to compete effectively for students’ attention. These beliefs reflect earlier uses of technology in language teaching that valued the capacity of the machine to take away the drudgery of language learning.