New Perspectives in Science Education

This paper reports on a one-year longitudinal study that adopted a blended teaching approach based on designing and implementing an online EFL course to be used by students aged 13-16 years old along their more traditional face-to-face lessons. The reason for creating a more dynamic learning environment aligned with the rest of the curriculum was to increase EFL learners’ engagement and motivation through their exposure to authentic material and participation in real-life tasks. To this end, a number of online activities were designed including: a) an on-line classroom with hand-outs, extra activities, resources and discussion groups for students to further develop their digital literacy along with their English language competence, b) a wiki for students to make a contribution and post their own messages on a specific topic, c) a series of Skype group discussions with invited external guest speakers, d) a private YouTube space for students to upload their videos and watch relevant EFL material. Data analysis of pre- and post-tests on reading and writing performance along with students’ questionnaires showed that open online access technologies gave EFL participants the opportunity to enhance their reading and writing skills while developing their critical thinking and collaboration skills. The paper concludes by highlighting the fact that online class components were not designed around the tools, attempting to fit the online tools into a task-based EFL lesson, but rather served the learning objectives of the actual lesson based on a blended teaching approach, in which face-to-face and online learning activities were relevant to and complemented one another. Careful planning proved to be one of the most important components of teaching online, since a well-planned online curriculum greatly reduced the potential for frustration and confusion during students’ online language learning process. As a final word, it is worth pointing out that, although the use of technology is increasingly offering new learning and teaching opportunities, it will not automatically bring benefits and solve any existing curriculum problems. Thus, the reasons for introducing online technology into the learning environment, and the purpose that it is intended to serve needs to be carefully considered and appropriately integrated into the curriculum planning.