How the Web Can Be Used as a Tool in Language Teaching and Learning?

This is a question raised by Dr. Towndrow in his book and a question every educator needs to explore in the modern society.

In order to answer this question, we should know clearly what the Web is to learners, which is to say, what the Web means to individuals. Is it a pond of resources that we just simply jump into and grab anyone without a second thought or a shop of inspiring learning materials that learners should make efforts to use wisely?

With the correct attitude to the Web, learners need to follow the steps to search and use learning materials. We have focused on locating digital information online in week 3, when searching engines and choosing key words were introduced. However, evaluation of a website seems more complicated. Having experienced evaluating three websites using the framework, I deeply feel the responsibilities of being an educator for the first time. Before I would just tell my students to source online by themselves, assuming that as adult learners, they should be capable to do so, without realizing that they lack of evaluation strategies, which are actually what I myself need to learn.

Evaluating the website is the process to choose a tool for our language learning. Just as when you want to do some woodwork, there are many tools available, hammer, chisel, axe, spanner and stabber, etc. however, there will be one which suits a certain job most. In front of numerous websites, learners should choose those could be tools to help get the learning job done efficiently.

Whether the Web could be a tool in language learning depends on the users,who should have the sense and ability to make it a tool.