Understanding Teachers' and Students' Use and Attitudes of Web 2.0 in ESL Classrooms at the American University of Sharjah

Abstract

In an age of rapid change and massive dependence on the Internet, students nowadays are exposed to the Internet and its applications in many aspects and means. This exposure has led to students developing an expectation of having the Internet almost everywhere and in everything at anytime. Such a dramatic change in students' mentalities, personalities and ways of dealing with information makes the need to fully integrate the Internet in language classroom practices even more demanding. One way of addressing this need is by effectively implementing Web 2.0 services in language classrooms in a way that best suits the language teacher, best represents the classroom material, and best responds to students' needs and expectations. In an attempt to figure out an answer for such a quest, the purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of students' and teachers' uses and attitudes of Web 2.0 services so they can be utilized to best serve their English classes. The aim was fulfilled through surveying 13 teachers and 51 students in the Intensive English Program (IEP) at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). The findings of this study showed that students are not familiar with many of the services studied in the study. Although teachers generally know most of the services, they did not use them much, both personally and in their classrooms. Implementing Web 2.0 services in classrooms was limited to a consuming role.