Tecnologías de la información y la comunicación

The Information Technology and Communication (ICT) are present today in all areas of society, something that has caused a profound transformation in many aspects. How could it be otherwise, this effect has also occurred in the educational environment, which appear has been called e-learning, that is, the use of technology through the modern technology in the teaching and learning process.

ICTs offer us many resources to support teaching (teaching materials, virtual environments, internet, blogs, wikis, webquests, forums, chat, messaging, videoconferences, and other channels of communication and information management) developing creativity, innovation, collaborative work environments, promoting meaningful, active and flexible learning.

What is or should be the role of ICTs in the teaching of foreign languages? The responses of both specialists and teachers themselves vary from one extreme to another, as the experts say that we are facing the loss of teachers and schools themselves, to those who believe that these new technologies are not more simple tools that support the teacher.

To dig deeper into this issue must begin by saying that This type of education is not as novel as it is based on education distance (in the case of virtual courses the teacher and student are separated physically, and the student is largely responsible for its formation), although the difference is that now the computer is the communication channel. Furthermore, the face teaching these tools also offers a wealth of resources for the classroom.

This technology is based on a method of synchronous work (instantaneous interaction between teachers and students) and asynchronous (intermittent interaction, delayed in time), and offers a number of advantages, such as increased student motivation, promotion of individual process learning, immediate feedback and a non-linear access to information.

However, we cannot make the mistake of considering the panacea for all ills of education, since there are few drawbacks to their use, such as the lack of quality control, the difficulty of access and use, too much freedom and intellectual property rights.

We can then ask the efficacy of ELAO questioning ourselves by learning more students who use it than not, if there is any kind of strategies that are best for certain students in particular, if they like students using the ELAO in its learning and what kind of learning takes place when these tools are used.

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