It requires new models of language teaching and learning to meet the needs of a generation of learners seeking greater autonomy and connectivity as well as opportunities for learning by social networking. In striving to achieve these goals, this workshop will explore theory, pedagogy, and technology for language teaching and learning. The theory that can overcome limitations of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism is connectivism (a learning theory for the Digital Age). By creating new and dynamic theoretical construct for learning in the digital age, connectivism recognizes learning supported by social activity and personal networks. Thus, connectivism is particularly attuned to 2.0 pedagogy and technology of Web 2.0. From blog to Facebook to wiki to podcast, new Web 2.0 applications keep emerging. But what is the Web 2.0 really about? This workshop will begin with fundamentals of Web2.0 technologies: What are they? How do they work? Why should we use them? How are they changing teaching and learning language? Web 2.0 technologies are not only transforming how we use technology, they're also helping close the gender gap globally. Presenters will demo some important Web 2.0 technologies. Participants will then learn: • How these technologies are shaping the ways millennial students choose to learn • How these technologies are shaping the ways both genders learn • Gain understanding of each technology • Explore potential uses in teaching and learning of language • Analyze how Web 2.0 technologies can empower both genders globally • Explore the pros and cons of social networking • Create lesson plans utilizing different Web 2.0 technologies • Review how to integrate Web 2.0 technology • Gain overall understanding of how to teach with the Web 2.0 technologies For the last twenty years, we have been experiencing how technology has restructured the way we live, learn and communicate. The theory of connectivism has emerged to explain the social, informal, and community-based characteristics of learning in the digital age. It recognizes the centrality to learning and of idea generation supported by social activity and enabled by personal networks, interactivity and engagement in experiential tasks. As such, connectivism is especially attuned to the principles of the Web 2.0 era. Web 2.0 technologies offer potential for addressing the needs of today's diverse student population by allowing customization, personalization, and ample opportunities for networking and collaboration. Today's students demand greater control and ownership of their learning and the inclusion of technologies in ways that satisfy their needs and preferences. When using the Internet, these students are not just passive consumers but active producers of knowledge. As members of the broad culture of Web 2.0, they are discovering creative ways to contribute, communicate, and collaborate by utilizing a variety of tools that enable them to generate and share ideas. Language learning and digital technology (includes Web 2.0 technologies) are now inseparable. Digital technology has significant and lasting consequences for reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The challenge lies in integrating the strategies to use digital or Web 2.0 technologies in language teaching and learning.
