- Email: [email protected]
English in the digital age: information and communications technology and the teaching of English
182
Book reviews / Computers & Education 37 (2001) 179–194
instructive, to see a fraction of the time spent on methods devoted instead to reflection on the ends of the university in this increasingly technology-dominated age. Ross Vermeer Educational Technology and Publishing Unit Open University of Hong Kong 30 Good Shepherd Street Homantin, Kowloon Hong Kong E-mail address: [email protected] PII: S0360-1315(01)00040-9
English in the digital age: information and communications technology and the teaching of English A. Goodwyn (Ed.), Cassell, London, 1999, 176 pp, ISBN 0 304 70623 X, (paperback) £15.99.
Andrew Goodwyn, in the introduction to this useful volume, declares ‘This is a difficult time for all teachers, and for English teachers in particular’, and he poses the question which forms the central tenet of this book: ‘Does the machine serve us or do we now serve the machine?’ English in the Digital Age ‘celebrates the potential of technology to transform reading, writing, speaking and listening’ while being realistic about its limitations. The writers of the individual chapters argue cogently that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) does have a fundamental place in the teaching of English, and provide persuasive examples of its creative possibilities. In his introductory chapter, ‘An English Teacher in the Computer Age’, Goodwyn sets the scene. He thoughtfully dissects such problematic notions as computer literacy, ‘universal’ education, the multicultural dimension of the English language and the role of students and teachers in cultural change. ‘Linguistic culture’, he asserts, ‘is now the culture of the Internet, the global media, the hypertext, the interactive encyclopaedia, and, of course, the book’. The anxieties and hopes of English teachers living and working in such a period of cultural change are examined sympathetically, and their fears that computers will replace teachers are convincingly allayed. The next two chapters offer practical perspectives of the teaching of English in two widely divergent geographic regions. First, Jude Collins looks at the situation in Northern Ireland, with a survey of attitudes to ICT among students and teachers, and he provides some useful case studies. He flags up some difficulties and concerns, but also finds real enthusiasm for the future health of English studies in the digital world. ICT is viewed positively by pupils in the schools he studies, and he finds much mutual support among teachers coming to grips with the technology. A sense of joint enterprise was also apparent in student–teacher work at university, and this seems to emphasise some of the collaborative, collegial modes of working within the ICT environment. He concludes by pointing to some of the possible downsides of the use of ICT, in particular the danger of the technology overshadowing the real value of the learning of English. For him, the technology is the medium not the message.
Book reviews / Computers & Education 37 (2001) 179–194
183
Second, Vaughan Prais and Les Lyons review Australian perspectives on the use of ICT in English, with an eye as much on future developments as on current activities. Their case studies focus on teaching strategies and their effectiveness in the digital environment, and find that there are fundamental shifts in ‘knowing, learning and reasoning in English’. They also report gender differences in attitudes to new technologies, which pose some challenges in establishing effective teaching and learning. Jane O’Donohoe takes a broader view in looking at how the Internet can enhance the teaching and learning experience, and she discovers much enthusiasm among children for its possibilities for both research and communication. Learning through and about the Internet allows students to take control of information spaces, especially if they are guided by inspired and enthusiastic teachers. O’Donohoe has found that this encourages students themselves to ‘become enthusiastic, expert and innovative producers, not passive consumers’. For her, this is the key to the teaching of English in the modern age. Zancanella, Hall and Pence offer a serious analysis of computer games as literature and find that the best of them are ‘texts worth reading’, and that they ‘extend how we experience narrative in terms of plot, agency, positionality, and conventions’. There have been a number of academic studies of interactive fiction and narrative form, and these evaluations of hypertextual literary forms for use in teaching and learning are welcome. The authors claim that these games offer an opportunity for students and teachers to share expertise in a more democratic reading environment, with students bringing to the interaction their gaming skills and teachers bringing their facility in textual interpretation. Stephen Clarke focuses on the teaching of Shakespeare and gives a ‘dispassionate evaluation of the potential for ICT to develop, extend and enrich the study of Shakespeare in schools’. Students can study in greater depth the textual manifestations of Shakespeare plays, and learn to understand how the reading texts which they usually study in book form came into being. They can also study performance alongside textual versions of the plays, and both can be annotated with a wealth of contextual material in digital form. ‘Students can learn to theorise. . .about a wide range of text types; and they can also reveal connections that are not so easily uncovered in traditional means of teaching Shakespeare’. Andrew Goodwyn has the last word with a chapter on ‘texting’ — the use of word processors to allow students to interact more closely with texts: those written by themselves and those written by others. Goodwyn opines that many teachers (and others) underuse facilities which could make a creative contribution to the learning experience. The teaching of English in a digital age is alive and well, and enthusiastic teachers and learners can create new, collaborative learning spaces where all can benefit. This wide-ranging book makes an excellent contribution to the academic debates about these matters, and offers a realistic appraisal of the possibilities of ICT in English.
PII: S0360-1315(01)00024-0
Marilyn Deegan Queen Elizabeth House Oxford University 21 St Giles Oxford OX1 3LA, UK E-mail address: [email protected]
Book reviews / Computers & Education 37 (2001) 179–194
instructive, to see a fraction of the time spent on methods devoted instead to reflection on the ends of the university in this increasingly technology-dominated age. Ross Vermeer Educational Technology and Publishing Unit Open University of Hong Kong 30 Good Shepherd Street Homantin, Kowloon Hong Kong E-mail address: [email protected] PII: S0360-1315(01)00040-9
English in the digital age: information and communications technology and the teaching of English A. Goodwyn (Ed.), Cassell, London, 1999, 176 pp, ISBN 0 304 70623 X, (paperback) £15.99.
Andrew Goodwyn, in the introduction to this useful volume, declares ‘This is a difficult time for all teachers, and for English teachers in particular’, and he poses the question which forms the central tenet of this book: ‘Does the machine serve us or do we now serve the machine?’ English in the Digital Age ‘celebrates the potential of technology to transform reading, writing, speaking and listening’ while being realistic about its limitations. The writers of the individual chapters argue cogently that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) does have a fundamental place in the teaching of English, and provide persuasive examples of its creative possibilities. In his introductory chapter, ‘An English Teacher in the Computer Age’, Goodwyn sets the scene. He thoughtfully dissects such problematic notions as computer literacy, ‘universal’ education, the multicultural dimension of the English language and the role of students and teachers in cultural change. ‘Linguistic culture’, he asserts, ‘is now the culture of the Internet, the global media, the hypertext, the interactive encyclopaedia, and, of course, the book’. The anxieties and hopes of English teachers living and working in such a period of cultural change are examined sympathetically, and their fears that computers will replace teachers are convincingly allayed. The next two chapters offer practical perspectives of the teaching of English in two widely divergent geographic regions. First, Jude Collins looks at the situation in Northern Ireland, with a survey of attitudes to ICT among students and teachers, and he provides some useful case studies. He flags up some difficulties and concerns, but also finds real enthusiasm for the future health of English studies in the digital world. ICT is viewed positively by pupils in the schools he studies, and he finds much mutual support among teachers coming to grips with the technology. A sense of joint enterprise was also apparent in student–teacher work at university, and this seems to emphasise some of the collaborative, collegial modes of working within the ICT environment. He concludes by pointing to some of the possible downsides of the use of ICT, in particular the danger of the technology overshadowing the real value of the learning of English. For him, the technology is the medium not the message.
Book reviews / Computers & Education 37 (2001) 179–194
183
Second, Vaughan Prais and Les Lyons review Australian perspectives on the use of ICT in English, with an eye as much on future developments as on current activities. Their case studies focus on teaching strategies and their effectiveness in the digital environment, and find that there are fundamental shifts in ‘knowing, learning and reasoning in English’. They also report gender differences in attitudes to new technologies, which pose some challenges in establishing effective teaching and learning. Jane O’Donohoe takes a broader view in looking at how the Internet can enhance the teaching and learning experience, and she discovers much enthusiasm among children for its possibilities for both research and communication. Learning through and about the Internet allows students to take control of information spaces, especially if they are guided by inspired and enthusiastic teachers. O’Donohoe has found that this encourages students themselves to ‘become enthusiastic, expert and innovative producers, not passive consumers’. For her, this is the key to the teaching of English in the modern age. Zancanella, Hall and Pence offer a serious analysis of computer games as literature and find that the best of them are ‘texts worth reading’, and that they ‘extend how we experience narrative in terms of plot, agency, positionality, and conventions’. There have been a number of academic studies of interactive fiction and narrative form, and these evaluations of hypertextual literary forms for use in teaching and learning are welcome. The authors claim that these games offer an opportunity for students and teachers to share expertise in a more democratic reading environment, with students bringing to the interaction their gaming skills and teachers bringing their facility in textual interpretation. Stephen Clarke focuses on the teaching of Shakespeare and gives a ‘dispassionate evaluation of the potential for ICT to develop, extend and enrich the study of Shakespeare in schools’. Students can study in greater depth the textual manifestations of Shakespeare plays, and learn to understand how the reading texts which they usually study in book form came into being. They can also study performance alongside textual versions of the plays, and both can be annotated with a wealth of contextual material in digital form. ‘Students can learn to theorise. . .about a wide range of text types; and they can also reveal connections that are not so easily uncovered in traditional means of teaching Shakespeare’. Andrew Goodwyn has the last word with a chapter on ‘texting’ — the use of word processors to allow students to interact more closely with texts: those written by themselves and those written by others. Goodwyn opines that many teachers (and others) underuse facilities which could make a creative contribution to the learning experience. The teaching of English in a digital age is alive and well, and enthusiastic teachers and learners can create new, collaborative learning spaces where all can benefit. This wide-ranging book makes an excellent contribution to the academic debates about these matters, and offers a realistic appraisal of the possibilities of ICT in English.
PII: S0360-1315(01)00024-0
Marilyn Deegan Queen Elizabeth House Oxford University 21 St Giles Oxford OX1 3LA, UK E-mail address: [email protected]