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This instrumental case study explored some preliminary impacts of a 7-year blended learning initiative (BLI) at a medium sized Canadian university on student learning. Building on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, two research questions directed the investigation: (1) What are the preliminary impacts of a BLI on student learning? (2) What are the actual lived experiences of students, professors, and administrators in a university-wide BLI? Preliminary impacts reveal that student retention appears to be greater in blended courses as opposed to traditional ones, and no significant differences were observed for student grades in the campus-wide roster of courses. Both students and instructors shared that an intentional synergy of in-class instructional practices and online activities added value to a course and had a positive impact on student learning. The viewpoints of the three key stakeholders were very different concerning themes such as motivating factors and mechanisms for support; these themes need to be taken into account and weighted carefully.

In this article, we present the initial results of the first phase of our international Research Network, which sets out to revisit the current needs of language teachers in terms of training to achieve the integration of technology within their educational contexts. We focus on the type of needs and their order of priority from the viewpoint of English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teachers and suggest some recommendations for training programs. These data, collected via an online questionnaire distributed in several countries, were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively in relation to participants’ perceptions of needs regarding language education technology, as well as participants’ perceptions of the “ideal” teacher, and their relation to the use of technology. Results indicate that despite overall satisfaction regarding training received, many teachers mention their need for a posttraining follow-up. They also express interest in developing “learning task design” skills and in exploring course management platforms such as Moodle. Furthermore, while most participants fully or partially agree with the relationship between technology and excellence in language teaching, their definition of the “ideal” language teacher rarely includes the use of technology. A shift in “ideal” teacher beliefs seems, therefore, necessary for better adoption and use of technology in language education. Dans cet article, nous présentons les premiers résultats de la phase initiale d’une étude effectuée par notre Réseau international de recherche, qui vise à réexaminer les besoins actuels des professeurs de langues en termes de formation sur l'intégration de la technologie dans leur propre contexte éducatif. Nous mettons l’accent sur les types de besoins et leur ordre de priorité du point de vue des professeurs d’anglais langue seconde/langue étrangère (ESL/EFL) en proposant plusieurs recommandations pour les programmes de formation. Les données ont été collectées par le biais d’un questionnaire en ligne distribué dans plusieurs pays, et ont fait l'objet d'une analyse quantitative et qualitativement par rapport aux perceptions des participants sur les besoins en matière de technologie de l'enseignement des langues. Le questionnaire interroge aussi les participants sur leur perception de l'enseignant « idéal », et leur relation avec l'utilisation de la technologie. Les résultats indiquent que malgré la satisfaction générale concernant la formation reçue, de nombreux enseignants mentionnent leur besoin d'avoir un suivi. Ils expriment également leur intérêt à développer des compétences en conception de tâches d’apprentissage et à explorer des plates-formes de gestion des cours comme Moodle. En outre, bien que la plupart des participants reconnaissent un lien positif entre la technologie et l'excellence dans l'enseignement des langues, leur définition du professeur de langues « idéal » inclut rarement l'utilisation de la technologie. Il semble donc nécessaire que les croyances relatives à la définition du professeur de langue « idéal » évoluent afin de favoriser l’adoption et l’usage de la technologie dans l’enseignement de langues.

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What is it? An action-oriented approach views “users and learners of a language primarily as ‘social agents’, i.e. members of society who have tasks (not exclusively language-related) to accomplish in a given set of circumstances, in a specific environment and within a particular field of action. While acts of speech occur within language activities, these activities form part of a wider social context, which alone is able to give them their full meaning” (Council of Europe, 2001, p. 9). As ‘social agents’, learners fully engage in meaningful real-life situations to which they learn to respond in a wholly cognitive and emotional manner, mobilizing their unique linguistic and sociocultural repertoires. Here, the notion of ‘task’ goes beyond the mere notion of a communicative activity to encompass the realization of projects or problems to be solved rooted in reality, socially, and culturally situated, through a set of targeted and concerted ‘social’ actions, ‘not exclusively language-related’, to achieve a clearly defined objective. Whether within the community in a community-based approach, or in the classroom, itself perceived as a mini-society with a social dimension (Puren, 2009), learners engage and collaborate with peers and others as they mobilize and acquire prior and new skills, knowledge, values, and know-how to solve real-life problems. Communication is not the goal, it is the means, along with critical thinking, self-reflection, creativity, and adaptability, to achieve the task...