27.1: Introduction

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Learning outcomes

Have deeper insight in the social implications of including social media software in e-learning with geographically distributed adult learners.
Understand and apply principles of adult learning theory in planning for online learning with working adults.
Identify primary considerations for planning online language learning.
Select the most appropriate tools to ensure an engaging learning experience.
Create a simple and safe online environment.

“Email preceded the Internet … blogs are ten years old and wikis have been around since 1995 … If most of this stuff is twenty years old, why are we talking about it now? Because it’s not about the tools, it’s about the people. The reason that it matters now is that we are experiencing a seismic shift—it’s about who can be brought together with these tools”. – Ethan Zuckerman Today, thanks to wide Internet and broadband adoption, educators can develop and distribute materials and resources, often co-created with their learners or developed entirely by the learners. Among the emerging technologies is a new generation of social software called ‘Web 2.0’, a term first coined by Tim O’Reilly (2005). These emerging technologies, or emerging humanity as Bryant (2007) states, use connectivism to enable social and personal learning (Siemens 2004, 2005) to enhance and promote lifelong learning.

Social media, in contrast to traditional media, uses “the wisdom of the crowds” (Suriowecki, 2005) to collect, create, and share information and it is particularly pertinent to the online adult learner. Social software is often available for free or a low cost, with no or little maintenance. The ease and speed in setting up an online supportive learning environment by independent, institutional, or corporate trainers lends itself to ‘just in time’ learning for one-to-one and small group learning.

Among the plethora of tools, with new programs appearing everyday, blogs and wikis are going mainstream in educational and corporate learning, often replacing the costly CMS and LMS. The choice of technology depends on the educator’s needs for a tool to support any specific learning outcome with the predetermined target audience and their learning needs. Blogs or wikis can replace an LMS in one context but perhaps not in another. The technology must fit the pedagogical needs and not the reverse. Educators need to develop a critical awareness of the tools available, and the skills needed to use them, before choosing a technology or technologies to support learning.

This article will focus on the blog, which to date, has been adopted widely by non-technical educators for its ease of use and maintenance as a publicly accessible web application. The target learners are geographically dispersed working adults, collaborating fully online in small groups to enhance their language skills and competencies.