The document discusses the integration of interactive technologies in language education to enhance learner autonomy, highlighting the advantages and challenges of educational technology in foreign language learning. It presents a framework for teacher development, emphasizing the need for rich, contextualized input and communicative tasks to foster effective language acquisition. Key concepts include the balance between precision and generalization in language teaching, reflecting on how technology can support engaged learning while addressing the obstacles teachers face in implementation.

1. LaDiLS, Department of Linguistics and Comparative Studies Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
International seminar: Education technologies & language learner autonomy 14 October 2013
Sharpening pencils in the digital age:
classroom integration of interactive technologies
to support learner autonomy
Shona Whyte
Université Nice Sophia Antipolis

2. Shona Whyte
applied linguist
Department of English Studies
Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, France
teaching
EFL (oral expression, translation)
second language acquisition/teaching
technology (digital literacy, ICT for FL)
teacher education (primary, secondary)
research
teacher education
classroom interaction
technology integration

3. Education technologies &
language learner autonomy
Christian Ludwig (University of Duisburg-Essen)
The Use of Education Technology Tools in Foreign Language
Learning – Advantages, Constraints and Challenges
Shona Whyte (Université Nice Sophia Antipolis)
Sharpening pencils in the digital age:
classroom integration of interactive technologies
to support learner autonomy

4. Sharpening pencils?

5. projector
touch sensitive screen
computer

6. Pencils versus
(IWB) pens

7. pedagogical exercise
versus communicative task
3 4
http://bit.ly/1bJesF6

8. Writing the date
Primary EFL What is the goal of the
activity?
8 year-olds
2nd year of English
What teaching method is
the teacher using?
Opening routine What do you think her
general learning objectives
might be?
Example 3

9. Writing the date
goal of activity practice pronunciation, vocabulary
and grammar by writing and reciting
dates
teaching
method
•PPP (presentation, practice,
production)
•memorisation as homework
•public performance
learning
objective
produce sentences using correct
pronunciation, vocabulary and
grammar
Example 3

10. Story retell
Primary EFL
8 year-olds
mixed-level class
final task
Example 4

11. Pupil 1 Pupil 2

12. Story retell
What is the goal of the
activity?
What teaching method is the
teacher using?
What do you think her
general learning objectives
might be?
Example 4

13. Story retell
goal of
activity
use the target language in communication
by retelling a story
teaching
method
•comprehensible input with noticing
activities
•listening, repeating, recreating story
segments; drawing/retelling
•public performance
learning
objective
successfully complete communicative
activities or tasks
Example 4

14. Writing
the
date
Story
retell
goal of
activity
practice pronunciation,
vocabulary and grammar by
writing and reciting dates
use the target language in
communication by retelling a story
teaching
method
•PPP (presentation, practice,
production)
•memorisation as homework
•public performance
•comprehensible input with noticing
activities
•listening, repeating, recreating story
segments; drawing/retelling
•public performance
learning
objective
produce sentences using
correct pronunciation,
vocabulary and grammar
successfully complete
communicative activities or tasks
Scholastic tradition
(Communicative or) Task-based
Language Teaching (TBLT)

15. principles of teaching
and learning

16. learning and teaching a
second language

17. second language acquisition

18. second
language
acquisition
1. interlanguage hypothesis: learner has built-in syllabus with
developmental stages (rate but not route of acquisition may vary)
2. interaction hypothesis: meaningful communication and
interlocutor feedback drives acquisition
3. noticing hypothesis: focus on form helps learner to notice
aspects of L2 and gap with own production
(Cook, 1998; Ellis, 2005; Lightbown, 2000; Myles 2002)

19. second
language
acquisition
1. interlanguage
2. interaction
3. reflection
1. whole-class, lock-step instruction
2. decontextualised, rote learning
3. structural syllabus
LIMIT

20. other teaching and
learning

21. “the mind is an instrument, you
first sharpen it, and then use it”
one of the most fatal,
erroneous, and
dangerous conceptions
ever introduced into the
theory of education
Whitehead, 1904-60

22. The mind is never
passive; it is a perpetual
activity, delicate,
receptive, responsive to
stimulus. You cannot
postpone its life until
you have sharpened it.
Whitehead, 1904-60

23. Whatever interest attaches to
your subject-matter must be
evoked here and now; whatever
powers you are strengthening
in the pupil, must be exercised
here and now; whatever
possibilities of mental life your
teaching should impart, must
be exhibited here and now.
Whitehead, 1904-60

24. “isn’t there something I must do first?”
Despite my great
emotional involvement in
work, I just hate to start
doing it; it's a battle and a
wrench every time. Isn't
there something I can
(must?) do first?
Shouldn't I sharpen my
pencils perhaps?
Halmos, 1916-2006

25. In fact I never use
pencils, but pencil
sharpening has become
the code phrase for
anything that helps to
postpone the pain of
concentrated creative
attention.
Halmos, 1916-2006

26. “How long does it take to get to the
good stuff?”
And the answer,
inevitably, is not nearly
as long as we make it out
to be
Robert Duke
Head of Music
University of Texas at Austin

27. What is “the good stuff”?
Why don’t we get straight to it?
teaching and learning foreign languages

28. Whitehead’s
model of
learning
1.romantic
2.precision
3.generalisation
methods of second/
foreign language
scholastic
tradition
teaching
communicative
language
teaching
task-based
language
teaching

29. romantic stage
... first apprehension ...
... immediate cognisance of fact ...
... a ferment already stirring
in the mind ...
Whitehead, 1917/32

30. scholastic
tradition
romantic stage
communicative
language teaching
task-based language
teaching
access to
cultural
knowledge
the engagement of learners in
communication in order to
allow them to develop their
communicative competence
[…or] ability to make
meaning (Savignon, 2007,
209)
task-based teaching calls for the
classroom participants to forget
where they are and why they are
there and to act in the belief that
they can learn the language
indirectly through
communicating in it rather than
directly through studying it. (Ellis,
2006: 31)

31. precision stage
... the stage of grammar, the grammar of
language and the grammar of science.
It proceeds by forcing on the students'
acceptance a given way of analysing the
facts, bit by bit.
Whitehead, 1917/32

32. precision stage
scholastic tradition
communicative
language teaching
task-based
language teaching
structural syllabus:
development of
grammatical competence
natural approach: no
precision stage (Krashen &
Terrell)
pre-­‐
and
post-­‐task
ac*vi*es
audiolingual method:
overlearning of linguistic
patterns (Lado & Fries)
interaction hypothesis:
communication
breakdown, negotiation of
meaning (Gass, Long)
focus
on
form
(Long)
CER: development of
linguistic (notional/
functional) competencies
noticing hypothesis
(Schmidt)

33. generalisation stage
... a return to romanticism with the
added advantage of classified ideas
and relevant technique. It is the
fruition which has been the goal of
the precise training.
Whitehead, 1917/32

34. generalisation stage
scholastic
tradition
communicative
language teaching
task-based language
teaching
accurate use of
language to
structure
cultural
knowledge
[…] ask for information, to
seek clarification, to use
circumlocution […] to
negotiate meaning, to stick to
the communicative task at
hand, […] to take risks, to
speak in other than
memorized patterns.
(Savignon, 2007: 209)
engagement in a planned learning
activity with a primary focus on
making meaning and engaging
with real-world authentic
language use with a defined
communication-based learning
outcome (Reinders, 2008)

35. learning spiral
1.romantic
2.precision
3.generalisation
generalisation stage
= learner autonomy

36. what is “the good stuff”?
scholastic tradition CLT/TBLT
romantic goal understand the target culture use
the
target
language
in
communica*on
precision stage •explicit learning of linguistic
structures, vocabulary,
pronunciation
•analyse cultural artefacts
•task
prepara*on
•no*cing
ac*vi*es
•incorpora*ng
feedback
generalisation phase discuss cultural knowledge
without making grammatical
errors
successfully
complete
communica*ve
ac*vi*es
or
tasks

37. obstacles & challenges

38. too much precision work, not
enough generalisation experiences
The pupils have got to be made to feel that they are
studying something, and not merely executing
intellectual menuets (Whitehead, 1917)
For a student of mathematics to hear someone talk
about mathematics does hardly any more good than
for a student of swimming to hear someone talk about
swimming (Halmos, 1975)

39. obstacles & challenges
• beliefs about second
language learning and
teaching
• proficiency & self-efficacy
• institutional constraints
• lack of pedagogical
models

40. Writing the date Story retell
impoverished and decontextualised
input
rich, contexutalised input
no focus on meaning, no communicative
purpose
exclusive focus on meaning and
communication
complex grammar (copula, modal,
grammatical inflections)
little explicit instruction, only simple
grammatical forms produced
focus on accuracy focus on fluency
one learner performing in front of
whole-class
volunteers take turns to perform

41. Writing the date Story retell
Seems simple to teachers,
because they
•underestimate the complexity of the
activity
•overestimate learners’ capacities to
reproduce forms
Seems difficult to teachers,
because they
•underestimate learners’ capacities for
formulating meaningful utterances
•overestimate the difficulty of the activity
•
less likely to promote language learning
- does not involve meaningful
communication
- rote learning and accurate reproduction
more likely to promote language learning -
focuses on meaningful communication
- provides support for successful task
completion

42. Brainstorming about a
sales pitch
goal of activity learn how to make a good
presentation
teaching
method
•comprehensible input
•discussion/brainstorming
•revision after class
learning
objective
express opinions on topic using
appropriate vocabulary and grammar
Example 6

43. I tend to use slides like this
1) for myself to use instead of a lesson plan so that
I know what’s coming next and
2) for learners to make sure everything is on the slide.
They don’t have to take notes and can see it later. This, I think,
allows learners to listen more actively because they know the
notes will be uploaded on the online platform afterwards.
They are not concerned with taking notes so much and more
with the lesson itself.
I added a slide there because content hadn’t really been
discussed. This is something I had not prepared
as such. But the IWB allows you
to remain flexible.

44. obstacles & challenges
• beliefs about second
language learning and
teaching
• proficiency & self-efficacy
• institutional constraints
• lack of pedagogical
models
Hubbard, 2008

45. research in teacher education
• iTILT
• video-conferencing
collaborative
action research

46. teacher development
• high ICT & IWB
confidence & strong
IWB convictions
• wide range of tools and
teaching objectives
• innovative participation
in IWB community

48. It corresponds to
the children's experience, because
they showed me with the pen, it's giant,
and I'm in front.
So I thought "Uh-oh. If I'm teaching from the front,
there's something wrong." It's called an interactive
whiteboard, there's this notion of interactivity,
so it's clear that I'm too much in the spotlight.
So I need to find a way to get myself
on the sidelines, because
the goal is for them to be
more autonomous.

49. Framework for language teacher development with IWB
IWB use teacher development classroom practice
1
• little experience/access
• low IWB beliefs
• low self-efficacy
• limited tool use + teaching goals
• peripheral participation
• (negative) focus on
technology + project
• decontextualised language
practice
• IWB as whiteboard
substitute (no software)
2
• more IWB experience
• higher IWB beliefs
• moderate self-efficacy
• different user patterns but limited
goals
• peripheral participation
• (negative) focus on
technology + project
• technical rather than
pedagogical interactivity
• limited interactional
opportunities
3
• experienced IWB user
• high self-efficacy and beliefs
• range of tools + goals
• core participant in
development programme
• interest and initiative in range
of teaching and technology
issues
• contextualised language
practice
• focus on learning
opportunities
Whyte, S. (2013). Interaction and interactivity in technology-rich second language
classrooms: the iTILT project in France. WorldCALL, Glasgow, UK.13 July.

50. authentic tasks
• video communication
with young beginners
• telecollaboration in
English between French
and German primary
classes (English as a
lingual franca)
• IWB supporting live
communication via video
link and screen-sharing
Whyte, S. (2011). Learning to teach with videoconferencing in primary foreign language
classrooms. ReCALL 23(3): 271–293.

51. collaborative action
research
• collaboration between
teachers and researchers
• novice-expert teacher
tandems
• technological and
pedagogical support
(activity design and
implementation)
Cutrim Schmid, E., & Whyte, S. (Eds.) (forthcoming). Interactive whiteboards for language
teacher professional development. Bloomsbury, January 2014.

52. a major affordance of technology is
learner autonomy

53. learner autonomy depends on individual
interlanguage development

54. interlanguage development requires
1. rich, contextualised, comprehensible input
2. sustained, repeated, communicative
interaction
3. reflection on target language and own
language production

55. learner autonomy depends on teacher
willingness to provide input, orchestrate
communication and guide reflection,
and so to ...

56. • value open-ended, communicative tasks
• give time and space for learner contributions
• refrain from excessive grammar instruction
and correction

57. obstacles but also opportunities

58. becoming digitally sharp
effective classroom
integration of interactive
technologies
supported by ongoing
teacher education
can encourage greater
learner autonomy in and
outside class

59. • http://www.music.utexas.edu/directory/details.aspx?id=36
• http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/images/upload_library/1/
Portraits/halmos5.gif
• http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/images/upload_library/1/
Portraits/whitehead.gif
• Eric T Gunther
• icondock.com

60. Sharpening pencils in the digital age:
classroom integration of interactive technologies
to support learner autonomy
Shona Whyte
whyte@unice.fr
http://efl.unice.fr
@whyshona
http://bit.ly/19BPgi9