Web SpeakApps

The term open is somehow finding its way into educational contexts. In 2006, Lankshear and Knobel introduced two mindsets and stated that according to mindset 2, which is typical for the contemporary knowledge society, a space is perceived as open, continuous and fluid. Thus, the emergence of digital technologies and changing mindsets are also challenging language educators to rethink how to design for learning in an open world.

Openness was also a focal theme of the Eurocall CMC & Teacher Education SIGs Annual Workshop, held this year in Bologna, Italy. As part of the workshop, the teacher training approach of the SpeakApps project was presented and discussed. The presentation, along with others, resulted in a fruitful discussion that yielded many profound questions such as:

• Why is openness important in language education?
• What are the central forces of change behind the changing paradigm?
• What is the learner’s role in the production of open educational resources?
• What makes educational resources sharable, reusable and re-sharable?

However, after many attempts to find answers to these questions, they still remain open.

The SpeakApps project aims at creating a collective of teachers, learners, researchers and other stakeholders, and in doing so, providing a space in which to share both conceptual and material artefacts with a special focus on spoken skills. Stay tuned and be ready to join the discussion.