Form and Function in English Teaching: Meeting the Challenges of the ICT

Diane Larsen-Freeman has suggested that the point of education is to accelerate the learning process-and "not to be satisfied with or try to emulate what learners can do on their own." This makes a useful starting point when thinking of the challenges and opportunities facing us as educators. Consider the new technologies of learning. They can greatly facilitate individual study (far more than we usually let it, indeed); but can they usefully add to what we do in the classroom? Yes, if we look at databases, simulations and concordances: not really, if we stick with PowerPoint. If we use technology to help us do what we want to do (for example, if we believe that learning entails hard thinking about difficult problems, and use it to help students define a problem space) it is an amazing resource; otherwise it is just a gimmick. Here, as in so many areas, form follows function.