Welcome
First off, let me say that I’m very excited to be facilitating this workshop and appreciate your commitment as educators (since, after all, you are spending considerable time and effort in coming here!).
Information and communication technologies present a moving target. Conventional stand-alone tools like email and synchronous chat are now incorporated into 3D rendered virtual environments, Internet telephony closely resembles traditional telephone communication but can also be combined with video and is increasingly being used as a tool for avatars in online gaming systems to engage in audio communication while carrying out complex and closely coordinated collaborative tasks. In this sense, even “old” tools are taking on new meanings and functions.
We also are witnessing a radical shift in our student population. Students are now often entering college and high school with more experience with textual communication (IM, blogging, facebook, myspace) than most of us would have accumulated even much later in life. But what kinds of writing/textual communicating are they doing? And how are their everyday communication practices (and high levels of expertise in digital communication genres) to be acknowledged in formal educational settings?
In essence, what are the implications of new and emerging genres of language use for instructed foreign language education? When, and how, should we incorporate new media literacies into classroom practice? How will we evaluate and/or grade blog entries rather than conventional essays, or collaboratively produced texts in contrast to the gold standard of individual authorship?
Perhaps most importantly, what is our responsibility as foreign language educators to make our courses and materials relevant to the immediate and future communicative needs of students?
Throughout the three days we spend together, I look forward to discussions addressing these and other sure-to-emerge topics, strategies, and contradictions. My goal is to learn as much as I can from the experiences and expertise many of you will share — for that, thanks in advance!