Abstract
The paper is meant as a necessary radiograph of the roles which a foreign language teacher may or, rather, should assume in an ICT based class, in response to the current knowledge society high demands and expectations from education. The question arises whether a teacher focused both on instruction, but mainly on construction, i.e. on the students and on their learning, can develop as a reflective professional, thus contributing to better ensuring the educational process increased efficiency against the teaching context constraints, of which time is perhaps the most important one. In order to obtain a more clear perspective, a debate is initiated on whether the teacher’s new roles, required by the use of ICT in the teaching/learning/evaluation cycle, such as that of a facilitator, can be successfully performed, while maintaining the essentially positive humanistic characteristics that foster a foreign language class. In order to illustrate this thesis, a case study, presenting in detail a language teacher’s evolution in this respect, is provided. The analysis which is carried out takes into consideration a presentation of the teacher’s profile, as well as her ICT focused training in its dynamic development throughout a decade of teaching English using ICT in different manners. An essential shift of focus has taken place during this period in the teacher’s approach to using the modern technology in class, from the initial - unavoidable! - enthusiastic exaggeration of its role, toward a perspective that is characterized by well justified options from the pedagogical point of view, and which should enrich the humanistic context of the foreign language class. The main stages in the teacher’s increasing awareness of the best ways of approaching and using ICT in the language class are described and commented upon. Examples of various means of implementing ICT in the English classes at tertiary education level are given as an illustration of this evolution. |
Keywords
ICT based language teaching, reflective teacher, teacher’s roles, constructivism, tertiary education |