Moroccan higher education students’ and teachers’ perceptions towards using Web 2.0 technologies in language learning and teaching

Rdouan Faizi

doi:10.34105/j.kmel.2018.10.005

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to examine Moroccan higher education students’ and teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards using Web 2.0 technologies in language learning and teaching. The results of the study revealed that all the informants were immersed in using these Internet-based applications for personal and educational purposes. Nevertheless, while language learners reported to make beneficial uses of these online platforms as language learning tools, the great majority of the interviewed faculty members did not really benefit from these platforms. Although language teachers acknowledged that Web 2.0 technologies had a positive impact on language teaching and learning, most of them were still reluctant to incorporate these tools in educational practice. The findings demonstrated that most teachers’ use of these applications was limited to sending or transferring web links and learning materials produced by other Internet users. Rather than making effective use of Web 2.0 technologies and applications as teaching facilities, most teachers used them only as a means of communication.

Highlights

Over the past few years, the Internet has evolved from being a read-only platform that people used to access information into a read-write universal channel in which users are producers and consumers of digital content
Our choice of online rather than paper surveys was dictated by the fact we wanted to reach the majority of students and faculty members, and to ensure that anonymity of the informants is maintained
Regarding the use of these digital applications for language learning purposes, the findings revealed that 82% of the surveyed students noted they use these online tools to improve their language skills and even learn new foreign languages

Summary

Introduction

Over the past few years, the Internet has evolved from being a read-only platform that people used to access information into a read-write universal channel in which users are producers and consumers of digital content. In the last few years, the rapid advances in information and communication technology have resulted in the emergence of a new generation of Internet-based collaborative tools, commonly known as Web 2.0. The latter are a set of dynamic technologies where users can share and publish their information and at the same time connect with other users (Kumar & Cohn, 2012). These platforms, to which any Internet user can have access, are of different categories but all share the common characteristic of creating and exchanging usergenerated content (Harris & Rea, 2009)

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Conclusion