Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T13:39:38.973Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

18 - Digital technology and online teaching

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2024

Get access

Summary

Preliminary note. The particular websites and apps mentioned in this chapter may have been renamed or even have disappeared by the time you read this; you may need to find updated ones through a search engine.

Digital literacies

In order to make best use of the learning opportunities that online digital technology offers, students need to possess not just one but a number of digital literacies. In this section, I’ll summarise those that seem to me most important for language learners: for a longer and more detailed list, see the first chapter of Pegrum et al. (2022).

Print literacy

At its most basic level, print literacy is the same literacy as that needed to read books and other kinds of paper-based publications. Research indicates that most students still prefer reading longer texts from paper rather than from a screen (Baron, 2017), and that their comprehension tends to be better when based on reading from a print version (Mangen et al., 2013). My impression is that this applies to the wider population as well. (I myself prefer reading from a screen, but am aware that I am in the minority!) In any case, everyone today needs to know how to cope with online reading, including ease of reading different design formats (infographics, for example) and the use of hyperlinks to move between different texts.

Print production literacy is the ability to use a keyboard fl uently and accurately to produce written English text. Most students develop this skill gradually as they get used to using a keyboard as well as pen and paper for their writing, but it can be improved by learning to touch-type using one of the many available online courses.

Editing literacy means using online tools appropriately for editing; not just the wordprocessing tools of emboldening, italicizing, enlarging, contracting, deleting, cutting-andpasting, inserting and moving text, but also the more sophisticated annotating tools such as inserting margin- or footnotes, or using editing tools such as track changes in Microsoft Word.

Hyperlink literacy involves knowing when it is worth clicking on a hyperlink in order to follow it up, and how to return to the main text later, as well as how to insert your own hyperlinks.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×