Blog post 2

Technological determinism is that: 

      Technological determinism refers to the idea that the introduction of new technology

automatically brings certain results (see discussion in Chandler, 1995; Feenberg, 1991).

Deterministic outlooks underlie many common beliefs about educational technology; note, for

example, the frequent discussion of the alleged impact of computers on learning without regard to

how the computers are actually used. Chris Dede (1995, 1997) has described this as based on a fire

metaphor, i.e., the notion that computers generate learning the way that a fire generates warmth.

Technological determinism does have a certain logic, since there is sometimes a correlation

between the presence or use of particular technologies and other outcomes. But correlation does not

imply causation. Paul Levinson (1997) makes a useful distinction between hard determinism and

soft determinism. The former implies strict causation, and it is a concept rejected by most scholars.

The latter more sensibly suggests that while technological development does not automatically

cause outcomes, it does enable new processes and outcomes. For example, in the realm of teaching

and learning, there are obviously many types of classroom (or distant) interaction that are enabled

by computers and the Internet that simply couldn’t have occurred previously.

The ten developments in Information and Communications Technology:

     The first important change is from phone-based to wireless communication because of

improved technology and telephone/Internet relay facilities. It has been suggested that low-weight

solar-powered electric planes (like those pictured at <http://www.aerovironment.com/areatelecom/

telecom.html>) will serve as communications relay platforms facilitating low-cost wireless

communication from anywhere on earth.

     A second change will be a move from dial-up Internet connections to permanent, direct

online connections. For example, according to Telecommunications Research International (see

<http://cyberatlas.Internet.com/big_picture/geographics/article/0,1323,5911_352761,00.html#table

>), cable modem access in the US grew by some 44% in the first quarter of 2000, while high speed

digital forms of access using existing phone lines grew by 183%. 

     A third change will be from the use of mainly personal computers to the use of portable

computing and online devices. One step in this process is the likely convergence of the laptop

computer, personal digital assistant, and cellular telephone into powerful handheld computing and

(tele)communication devices.

      A fourth change will be from narrowband (referring to the speed at which information

passes over communication lines) to broadband. Cable modem connections currently deliver 10

Megabits per second, shared among many users. The next version of broadband (“broaderband”) is

expected to provide up to 40 megabits per second for each user, or 26 times the bandwidth of the

fast T1 connections used by most institutions today, facilitating extremely rapid Internet

connection.

     A fifth change will be from expensive personal computing systems to widely affordable

computers and other hardware, first in the developed countries and then in the developing

countries. In Egypt, for example, both the cost of purchasing a personal computer has fallen by

half in recent years, and Internet access is now free.

      Related to this, a sixth development is that the Internet will change from being an exclusive

form of communication and information, mostly limited to people in developed countries, to

becoming a mass form of communication accessible to most of the planet. Recent statistic indicate

that more than 10% of the world’s population is online.

       A seventh development will be a movement from text-based information and

communication to audiovisual forms of information and communication, as exemplified by the

growing popularity of digital photography and home video production facilitated by new

technology and the increasing trend for Internet news sites to offer multimedia presentations of

news.

     An eighth change will be from use of English as the main online language to multilingual

Internet use. By 2005, the number of Web pages in English is expected to drop to 41% of the

world’s total (Computer Economics, 1999). At the same time, however, it is suggested that a much

higher percentage of the commercial Web pages will be in English. A present indication of this

trend is the large percentage of English language secure servers used for Internet commerce (see

 
the discussion in The Default Language, 1999). This will create a situation of diglossia, where

people using their native languages for local or regional communication and commerce and use

English for international communication and commerce on the Internet.

     A ninth change will be from “non-native” to “native” users of information technology. This

concept does not refer to language use, but rather to comfort and skill in using computers. Children

who grow up with computers and the Internet will be able to access information and communicate

online with “native-like” fluency, as opposed to older generations, many of whom have had

difficulty making the transition from print to screen.

       A tenth change will be the movement of CALL from the language laboratory to the

classroom. Computers and other online devices will be found in every classroom in developed

countries, not only in computer laboratories. For example, the Maine Department of Education has
 

made computers available to all 7th grade students in the state, together with wireless access points

in most schools.
 

 :The five meant areas will be examined is that

New Contexts

The projected developments of ICT will have a profound influence on the context in which

English is taught. Largely because of the increased use of English in new globalized media and

commerce there has been a major expansion in the number of second-language English speakers

around the world. According to recent estimates (see Crystal, 1997), there are now over 375

million native speakers of English (i.e., the “inner circle” of English speaking countries such as the

U.S., Australia and England [Kachru, 1986]), an equal number of second language speakers of

English (ESL speakers in Kachru’s “outer circle” of countries such as India and Nigeria), and some

750 million English as a Foreign Language (EFL) speakers in countries such as China, Japan,

Egypt, and Israel. This represents a significant growth in the number of non-native speakers of

English and suggests that there will be a fundamental change in the relationship between nativeand

non-native speaker. Extrapolating from the work of Graddol (1999), it can be estimated that a

century ago there were about three native speakers of English for every proficient non-native

speaker of the language. However, a century from now this proportion will be reversed. Indeed, the

very distinction between native English speaker, ESL speaker, and EFL speaker will change as

millions of people throughout the world use English to communicate globally and access

international media. For example, according to a recent study (Warschauer, El Said, & Zohry,

2002), Egyptian colloquial Arabic is used in most informal e-mail. However, nearly all formal

communication by e-mail—even between one Egyptian and another—is conducted in English. 

New Literacies

 

This leads to another likely result of ICT developments, the emergence of important new

literacies (see discussion in Warschauer, 1999, 2003). In the era of print, the act of reading

consisted of an attempt to understand the meaning of a single author. In contrast, reading in the

online era has become an attempt to interpret information and create knowledge from a variety of

sources. Although all reading and research skills include selecting the right questions, choosing the

right tools, finding information, archiving and saving information, interpreting information, and

using and citing information, there is a great difference between reading a book in the library and

assuming that the information in it is reliable because it has been vetted twice--once by the

publisher and again by the librarian who purchased the book--and conducting research online,

where the very act of reading cannot be done without making critical decisions at every step.

Online readers must constantly determine whether to scroll down a page, pursue an internal link,

try an external link, or quit the page and conduct a new search. In the past, “critical literacy” was

presented as a special category of language education; however, in the online future, virtually all

literacy will necessitate critical judgment.

New Genres

 

Similar changes are occurring with respect to writing. It has been suggested that the essay

will increasingly become a marked form. Although essays may still be studied as a literary form, it

has been suggested (Faigley, 1997) that few people will actually write them since they will be

replaced by multimedia presenting concepts through multiple technologies. This impacts upon the

way English writing must be taught in the future. For examples of possible types of student writing

of the future, teachers should consider some of the educational Web sites being developed by

students in the Think Quest competition (http://www.thinkquest.org). In these sites, students

demonstrate mastery not only of multimedia but also electronic communication, which may

represent the future of writing instruction

New Identities

 

The increased importance of online communication is also contributing to new kinds of

identites. As an example, let us consider the case of Almon, a Hong Kong immigrant to the United

States (discussed in Lam, 2000). Though Almon had lived in the US for several years, he

performed poorly in English class and had little confidence in his academic English ability. Yet he

developed his own “J-Pop” Web site about a Japanese popular singer and spent several hours each

day e-mailing and chatting with other J-Pop fans around the world who were attracted to his site.

Although most of the fans were Chinese or Japanese, all communication, as well as the site itself,

was in English. Through this process Almon developed self-confidence in his English

communication ability as part of a global youth movement that uses English and new media to

share ideas. This case does not suggest that teachers should

downplay academic literacies, but it does imply that students who use new media can develop a wide

range of literacies and identities, and these skills must be taken into account in English teaching.

New Pedagogies

 

We must now consider the new pedagogies that these changes will elicit. The progress of

CALL has been based on evolution from the mainframe computer to the personal computer to the

networked, multimedia computer, and corresponding changes have occurred in CALL-based

pedagogy. Table 1 illustrates some of the changes that have occurred and are occurring in CALL

since its inception in the 1960s. The stages have not occurred in a rigid sequence, with one

following the other, from “bad CALL” to “good CALL” since any of these may be combined for

different purposes. However, there has been a general transformation in CALL over the years, with

new ideas and uses of computers being introduced. 
 

 The three CALL stages are:

1.1970s-1980s: Structural CALL

 

 

2.1980s-1990s: Communicative CALL

3.21st Century: Integrative CALL

 

 

 

The expected effect on English teaching:

      I think that, the future on English teaching development is full of success since the use of huge number of tools that help learner and facilitate the education. The result of new generation with different live style like computer, ipad, iphone and, video game will develop in the content knowledge of children education.