Jane Petring of Collège Édouard-Montpetit (Longueuil, Québec) asks this very question in an article and forthcoming discussion at TESOL 2009. She notes that “materials writers need to take an honest look at how Web 2.0 is changing the way people interact and learn if we want to remain relevant in the 21st century”. Petering is not alone – the future of the course book is also being discussed on the IATEFL Cardiff Online forum.
The web 2.0 is clearly changing how we work, communicate and learn. So, if the textbook is to keep up with these developments, what should it look like?
End of the Textbook?
Textbooks are still in demand – there are both teachers and students who appreciate the structure and order of a published coursebook. In fact at Avatar Languages we make use of the online English-to-Go service, which provides a valuable and solid textbook-like collection of lesson plans and materials.
However, as we strive to focus on the student’s needs we have found that many language learners are looking for a more flexible and tailored approach. The internet and especially 2.0 applications are key in enabling this because of the following attributes…
- Enormous source of up-to-date content such as BBC news and independent blogs
- Online language reference materials such as grammar explanations and dictionaries
- Interactive applications such as virtual worlds and Google Maps Street View
- Opportunities to create and collaborate through editing wikis, writing blogs or participating in forums
The above attributes of the new internet mean that more people are finding the web increasingly engaging and that it has greater relevance to their (increasingly online) lives than a paper-based textbook does. A previous blog post on “Dogme 2.0” mentions some of the reasons behind this trend and looks at some pedagogical principles that can guide the use of the web 2.0 in language lessons. This blog also has other posts that give concrete examples of how web 2.0 tools can be used in language lessons…
Google Maps Street View to allow students to visit real cities online and describe their virtual surroundings.
Second Life allows for more immersive experiences and can also be used for practicing activities such as presenting in a virtual world conference.
Wikipedia articles can be edited by students as well as being used as a source of information.
Textbook 2.0
But where does this leave the coursebook? And how should it change to keep its relevance? I see the following as possible attributes of a “2.0” textbook…
- Online format with print-friendly option
- Real content that keeps the book continually up-to-date
- Embedding and linking as the means to connect with third-party content
- Encouraging online engagement and collaboration
- Events online to bring together students for social learning and teachers for professional development
- Teachers’ Book offering greater support to the teacher as a facilitator of 2.0 learning
Nergiz Kern suggests similar possibilities on the IATEFL Cardiff Online forum.
Teacher Support Service 2.0
It seems that it is not just the book that may need to change, but also the business model. The textbook 2.0 could be more of a service than a product, because it would need to be continually updated and would therefore feel more like work in progress. Essentially the “book” could be rented as an online subscription rather than purchased as a finished product.
In large part, the textbook 2.0 could allow language schools to contract out some of the work that their teachers already do (finding and adapting resources that engage the students so that language learning opportunities emerge) rather than the current practice of buying in the materials and lesson plans (in the form of a course book).
This is an extreme alternative to the current model of a printed textbook, but perhaps this in itself is a measure of the challenges of keeping up with 2.0 developments.
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on Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 at 1:46 pm and is filed under AUTHOR: HOWARD VICKERS, PEDAGOGY.
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