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What Does It Take to Teach Online?

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Mirjam Hauck and Uschi Stickler 463

What Does It Take to Teach Online?

MIRJAM HAUCK
URSULA STICKLER
The Open University, UK

THE QUESTION OF PEDAGOGY

Increasingly, fundamental questions are being asked of online language learning:
In what ways can online teaching benefit the language learner most? How can
online environments be designed, or redesigned, to suit the purposes of language
learners? Finally, what does the language teacher need to know to become a suc-
cessful online tutor? In other words, questions of pedagogy for online language
teaching are coming to the fore. They will need to assume even greater—and
more sustained—importance, if online language learning is ever going to shed
the image of being “second best” to face-to-face teaching and lose the peripheral
status which it still seems to have for many researchers (Coleman, 2005).
Conferences devoted to the topic of pedagogy such as EuroCALL 2004 (see
Holzmann, Koleff, & Peters, 2005) and a number of seminal articles (see, e.g.,
Kern, Ware, & Warschauer, 2004; Felix, 2005; Thorne, 2005) all ask for an ap-
propriate online pedagogy, whether in collaborative settings, from a constructivist
perspective, or in the context of intercultural communication. Kern et al. (2004)
offer an overview of recent trends in online language-learning pedagogy and re-
search, identifying linguistic interaction, intercultural learning, and literacy and
identity as three key areas of dynamic development. In all three areas, networked
computing and the ready availability of opportunities for communication outside
the traditional language classroom have offered new potential and, thus, new chal-
lenges to research and pedagogy. The focus of research has shifted from quantita-
tive to qualitative methods, from inside the classroom to online settings, and from
the learning of language(s) to the learning of culture(s).
Scrutinizing in detail developments in one of these areas, Thorne (2005) outlines
different models of “internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education.”
Telecollaboration and e-tandem are just two ways in which computer-mediated-
communication (CMC) can be used to further intercultural competence through
meaningful dialogue. As Thorne acknowledges, teacher intervention, planning,
and organization clearly play a crucial role in the success of these collaborative
learning endeavors, yet a pedagogic framework for them is still to be created:
“[T]he outstanding problem is how conditions for developing a capacity, and per-
haps even hunger, for the challenges presented by intercultural communication
can be inculcated in instructed FL settings” (p. 4).

CALICO Journal, 23 (3), p-p 463-475. © 2006 CALICO Journal

464 CALICO Journal, Vol. 23, No. 3
Rather than providing an overview of current research, Felix (2005) suggests a
future pathway to make e-learning pedagogy fit for the third millennium by identi-
fying the shift from instruction to construction of knowledge as the major tenet of
online pedagogy—a sea change noticeable in the wider context of education that
has led to calls for “unlearning pedagogy” (McWilliam, 2005). At the same time,
Felix underlines the constraints of time and circumstance that make truly con-
structivist teaching in the everyday (language) classroom all but impossible. The
solution she offers is to combine high-maintenance collaborative tasks of social
constructivist teaching with automated activities for the cognitive construction of
knowledge, thus placing intelligent CALL firmly back on the agenda for online
pedagogy. This suggested combination “would on the one hand expose learners to
sophisticated automated activities, engaging them in autonomous, predominantly
cognitive and metacognitive processes; on the other, with the help of networked
systems, it would involve them in collaborative, process-oriented real-life activi-
ties fostering psycho-social processes” (Felix, 2005, p. 96).

SHIFTS AND CHANGES

One could argue in this context that language teachers have been faced with the
necessity to “unlearn” pedagogy before. The tutor role in language education
underwent considerable changes when approaches based on authentic commu-
nication and learner autonomy became pedagogical desiderata, if not outright
demands (see, e.g., Holec, 1979; Rogers, 1969; Rogers & Freiberg, 1994). The
advent of generally available1 and reliable information and communication tech-
nology (ICT) tools such as email, internet relay chat, or, more recently, instant
messaging and audioconferencing has added to these trends, not a new dimension,
but rather new attributes (ease and speed of access) and new quantities (number of
Internet-based exchanges among people, the sheer mass of information available
on the World Wide Web, access to native speakers and cultural informants virtu-
ally across the globe). In his “bibliometrical” research of CALL publications Jung
(2005, p. 12) cites 61 instances of the descriptor “authenticity,” 98% of which
are post-1992. The figures for “autonomy” are similar: 115 instances of which 83
(72%) belong in the post-1993 period.
CALL itself has undergone quite dramatic changes in pedagogical paradigms
in the wake of technological advancements. Since its beginnings in the 1960s,
the use of computers in language teaching has moved from the initial computer-
as-tutor approach—based on a behaviorist learning model and reflected in re-
petitive drills—to communication and interaction via the computer, that is, CMC.
Ubiquitous connectivity among learners has allowed the move from this cogni-
tive approach to learning to an integrative, sociocognitive approach combining
traditional language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing with
electronic literacy skills such as learning to interact with others through the use
of a variety of technological tools as an integral part of language teaching (for a
more detailed overview of the history of CALL, see Warschauer & Healey, 1998;
or the more recent article by Bax, 2003).
Mirjam Hauck and Uschi Stickler 465
There is little doubt, that CALL and, more important, networked language-learn-
ing environments offering a variety of modes for communication and interaction
have changed the face of the language classroom. These changes have had a pro-
found and irreversible impact on language tutors and their perceived role(s)—in
the classroom and beyond. The initial enthusiasm for increased opportunities for
exposure to the L2 via online or ICT-supported interaction is reflected in a vast
array of experimental, if often uncoordinated, uses of computers for language
teaching (see Salmon, 2005). While we continue to discover the possibilities and
constraints of CMC, a trial-and-error approach to pedagogy still seems to be the
order of the day. This is partly due to the fact that “[n]etworked environments
that allow learners to communicate using the full range of multimodal forms are
relatively new” (Chun & Plass, 2000, p. 165), but it is also a result of the on-go-
ing, fast-moving development of technologies and the ensuing multiplicity of the
modes they afford.
It has become apparent that enthusiasm alone will not necessarily lead to suc-
cessful learning experiences; “it is the tutor’s skill in managing learning activities
which results in the success or failure of the learning event” (Shield, Hauck, &
Hewer, 2001, n. p.), a factor also stressed by Jung (2005, p.15),
Information technology may provide us with the means of overstepping the
boundaries between classroom and real life, making experiential learning a
possibility. It is true, we can allow nature to run its course nowadays. Nature,
however, can be very unsympathetic on occasion to the cause of foreign-lan-
guage learning. That is why we need teachers who can adapt or modify their
students’ language acquisition devices when necessary.
There is, in other words, a growing consensus on the potential of developing an
e-pedagogy for language learning. In common with some of the contributors to
this special issue of the CALICO Journal, we would even go a step further and
advocate that successful online tutors should know how to create a need in learn-
ers to adapt, stretch, and modify the means for communication and interaction
available to them (see also Hampel & Hauck, in press).

ROLES AND SKILLS

The successful online tutor needs to
1. combine and adapt different roles, including those of teacher, administra-
tor, trouble shooter, and colearner (Shield et al., 2001);
2. have recourse to different styles of teaching (e.g., cognitive, social, etc.);
and
3. develop new e-teaching skills.
That online teaching skills differ from face-to-face or traditional classroom
teaching skills has been consistently argued by Salmon (2004). That online lan-
guage teaching offers yet another challenge is the central thread of a recent pa-
per entitled “New Skills for New Classrooms,” based on work done at the Open
University’s Department of Languages (Hampel & Stickler, 2005). The authors
466 CALICO Journal, Vol. 23, No. 3
propose a “pyramid of skills” for successful online language teaching to capital-
ize on a situation where learner communication is doubly mediated by the foreign
language and the learning environment.
Research into online language pedagogy often comes from dedicated practitio-
ners engaging in action research and motivated by a desire to improve practice in
their field. This is also the backdrop for this special issue, which draws together
different strands of online pedagogy. This collection, however, cannot cover even
a fraction of all the possible combinations and applications of ICT and CMC for
language-learning purposes. One notable absence is the lack of new and innova-
tive research into synchronous videoconferencing because software development
has not been as quick and reliable as anticipated. Simpler but more reliable appli-
cations (e.g., Internet phone) have, in the meantime, met with far greater popular-
ity among users.
The contributions to this issue come from geographically (and, of course, cul-
turally) diverse regions, covering more than half of the globe. The institutional
settings described in the articles vary widely, as does the involvement of research-
ers in the studies. In some cases, a number of different roles (e.g., teacher, tutor,
trainer, researcher, organizer, work flow manager, course writer, etc.) are played
by a single individual; in others, the authors are dedicated researchers.

ASPECTS OF ONLINE PEDAGOGY

We have brought together articles in a number of areas ranging from tutorial or
dedicated CALL via blended learning to tutor training and collaborative learning,
and the articles investigate the use of virtual (language) learning environments,
asynchronous and near-synchronous text-based CMC, as well as synchronous au-
diographic conferencing. The insights from practitioners on how to make the best
use of online contexts in their particular circumstances and for their particular
clientele illustrate the multifarious nature of the terms “online teaching” and “on-
line learning” in the area of languages. The questions presented in the research-
focused articles show how much work there is still to be done in online language
education and pedagogy, and even the findings in these articles lead to further
questions.

Tutorial CALL
This issue opens with a research article in the area of tutorial CALL, a subject
that has been unjustly neglected and unduly associated with behaviorism and
which, according to some authors, should be brought back into the mainstream
of online language learning research (see, e.g., Hubbard & Siskin, 2004). The
starting point of Jozef Colpaert’s state-of-the-art article is his critique of various
approaches to online language teaching and learning such as technology-driven
or affordances-based methods. In a truly pedagogy-based approach, he argues, a
detailed needs analysis and a definition of the method that is most suitable for this
purpose should come first.
Mirjam Hauck and Uschi Stickler 467
Colpaert’s considerations are based on a comprehensive project exploring the
potential of a “pedagogy-driven approach in research-based research-oriented
CALL system design” (p. 480) where tutors inform CALL research by giving
feedback and formulating new working hypotheses at critical points in the design
and development process of applications for online language learning. In what
he calls “dedicated CALL” (p. 479), online systems no longer shape language-
teaching methods but, rather, it is the other way round. Acknowledging that the
gap between technology and language pedagogy constitutes the main challenge
in online teaching, Colpaert advocates a 10-step pedagogy-driven design process
where teacher contributions play a pivotal role both in identifying and formulating
needs and in developing solutions. A similar attempt to bridge the gap between
technology and language pedagogy and to combine the development of both tech-
nical and pedagogical knowledge and competence in order to train ingénieurs
pédagogiques ‘pedagogical engineers’ forms the background to the research of
Mangenot and Nissen and also informs that of Lewis.

Blended Learning
If teachers, then, “can and should become contributors in CALL research,” (Col-
paert, p. 494), our next three contributions prove that they are well on their way.
Hubbard (2003) identified evaluation as one of the main gaps in CALL research.
Yet evaluation is one of the contributions that practitioners are uniquely placed to
make through their experience, through direct learner contact, and—as is the case
here—through surveys and quality assurance measures implemented as part of the
design and development process of their online language-learning modules and
courses. It is crucial that these tutors, course designers, coordinators, and so forth
not simply be satisfied with providing a good course but, instead, that they have
set in motion action research to better understand and enhance both curriculum
and tuition. From the UK, the US, and Chile, three contributions provide insights
into the online classroom.
It is no coincidence that these articles all report on projects based on “blended
learning” or “hybrid courses.” Whether for pragmatic, financial, or pedagogic rea-
sons, many institutions see blending as a solution to the practical problems of uni-
versity teaching in the 21st century. For a variety of reasons, whether to increase
access, student numbers, and the transferability of skills, or to give students a
competitive edge in a global market, many language departments have incorpo-
rated online elements in their courses. Fortunately, the days when blended courses
meant haphazardly compiled elements transferred to whatever medium happened
to be available at the time and implied convenience on the cheap have long gone.
All the examples presented here can in themselves be seen as “good practice;”
yet, in generating insights that are applicable well beyond the immediate context
of their production, these articles go well beyond “case studies” or “good practice
guides.”
In the first practitioner piece, Elena Polisca reports on how embedding a Web
-CT-based independent language-learning program (ILLP) into an existing cur-
468 CALICO Journal, Vol. 23, No. 3
riculum for learners of Italian at the University of Manchester, UK, has influenced
student motivation and the quality of the portfolios submitted for assessment.
While proving a confidence booster for weaker students and helping them remain
highly motivated throughout the course, the ILLP also allows stronger students
to push themselves to the limits of their ability. As the author shows, a decisive
element in a carefully planned ILLP is in-built reflection, not an obvious or im-
mediate favorite with students but eminently useful in the longer term process
of language learning. Empowered to intervene actively in their course via the
platform and encouraged to depart from suggested activities and move on to more
self-directed work, learners at both ends of the capability spectrum manage suc-
cessfully to become less dependent on their teacher(s). Their portfolio work tends
to be more personalized, and they seem more creative in editing online material
than those students who opt out of the program.
A similar case of blending and a study based on successful innovation born
of necessity is presented by Emily Scida and Rachel Saury of the University of
Virginia. They see their article as a contribution to the growing body of investiga-
tions focusing on how hybrid courses influence student learning and classroom
practice. Their observations are based on a small-scale comparison of student
performance in a hybrid program and in a traditional classroom. Following Little-
wood (1990), who found that using language implies having constantly to create
higher level plans in terms of ideas, meanings, and conversational strategies and
that being able to execute these plans depends on the degree of automaticity at
lower levels, they feel that such automaticity can be achieved by employing the
computer as tutor. In accordance with Felix’s call for pedagogy for the third mil-
lennium (Felix, 2005), the authors hypothesize that hybrid courses can offer the
ideal language teaching and learning scenario where an initially conservative use
of the computer for practicing vocabulary and structures allows students to carry
out higher level functions such as communication and writing.
Whereas our American authors stress the emerging importance of Spanish as
the major second or foreign language in US higher education institutions, Emerita
Bañados from the Universidad de Concepción, Chile, emphasizes the need for the
large-scale learning of English for a global market and as a valuable commodity
in the education market itself. Considerable investment is targeted towards mak-
ing this resource available to more students at a high level, and the chosen way of
achieving this is by means of blended courses. Bañados’ article “A Blended-learn-
ing Pedagogical Model for Teaching and Learning EFL Successfully Through an
Online Interactive Multimedia Environment” describes the implementation of a
blended-learning program (English Online) at the Universidad de Concepción.
She stresses the need for a multidisciplinary team of teachers, technicians, soft-
ware developers, graphic experts, and video producers to find a “common lan-
guage” (p. 541) and points out that this can require “hundreds of hours of discuss-
ing possibilities, sharing ideas, and jointly planning lessons” (p. 539). Only on
this basis can maximum benefit be drawn from the substantial talents at hand and
the creative potential available for developing a language-learning environment
that reflects the tutors’ original vision. This article, written from a practitioner’s
Mirjam Hauck and Uschi Stickler 469
perspective, sheds light on both the solutions devised at the Universidad de Con-
cepción and the steps needed to arrive at them.
The processes described in all three of the above articles call to mind that the
design of courses, for delivery wholly or partly online, continues to require large
amounts of time, energy, and finances. However, as Colpaert quoting Cooper
(1997) so pointedly reminds us: “The only thing more expensive than software is
bad software” (p. 493). That these courses are also costly in terms of maintenance
and updating and require more faculty input than face-to-face classes is a view
shared by Pauline Ernest and Joseph Hopkins based on their experience at the
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Spain.

Tutor Training
The third section of this issue is concerned with the training that language tutors
need when they set out to swap the classroom for the virtual world. Little has been
written specifically on the topic of the training requirements for online language
instructors, and it is hoped that every insight gained about what it is like to receive
and/or to provide training will contribute to improved staff development efforts
in the future.
Ernest and Hopkins, course coordinators of the English program at the Univer-
sitat Oberta de Catalunya, consider issues arising from the training and support
of online instructors. The context of their observations is quite different from the
other case studies featured in this special issue, given that all courses at the Uni-
versitat Oberta de Catalunya as well as course coordination activities and tutor
training and support take place predominantly online, via asynchronous CMC at
a virtual campus. This means, moreover, that students at the Universitat Oberta
de Catalunya are technoliterate by the time they start their language course. The
authors have found that in their role as course coordinators they spend a substan-
tial amount of their time on the training of colleagues and offer an overview of the
initiatives they have taken over the last 10 years to meet tutor development needs.
They identify the sharing of insights by tutors, regular opportunities for joint tu-
tor reflection, and construction of knowledge on pedagogical issues as well as the
constitution of a learning community among online teachers as critical factors in
the successful delivery of any online course. The provision of a space for “com-
munal warmth” (p. 558) where staff can share experiences, tips, and support is
regarded as essential.
Often, however, tutors are faced with having to develop their e-teaching skills
without sufficient institutional support. This problem inspired one of the most ex-
emplary “warm” spaces for training and development of online language instruc-
tors currently available, which is reported on by Teresa Almeida d’Eça and Dafne
González. They set up and run a free, annual online workshop for teachers of EFL
in particular. In “Becoming a Webhead” (BaW) language tutors equipped with
a computer, an Internet connection, and, most important, a sense of adventure,
get acquainted with various web communication tools and their potential use in
teaching. BaW relies on hands-on activities followed by shared reflection among
470 CALICO Journal, Vol. 23, No. 3
participants where “[e]ach can be learner at one time and teacher at another” (p.
575). The “high tech and high touch” (p. 578) approach to training chosen by the
course designers combines intensive hands-on learning with equally intensive hu-
man interaction. Its worldwide dimension, a nonthreatening atmosphere, and the
human element provide a “powerful mix” (p. 578) for learners with varying levels
of expertise who achieve their individual objectives collaboratively in an environ-
ment characterized by social scaffolding. This success does not come about natu-
rally. This safe place for exciting pedagogical discoveries rests on a solid peda-
gogical basis: “Planning ahead, dividing tasks, being organized, in short, working
collaboratively as a team has been the crucial factor of our e-moderation” (p.
578).
At the other end of the spectrum, what happens when novice online tutors are
left largely to their own devices is depicted very clearly in an honest and insight-
ful account by one of our colleagues at the Open University.2 Tim Lewis tells us
how he went about equipping himself with appropriate teaching skills for a mul-
timodal online environment combining audiographic conferencing and WebCT.
His starting point is the concept of teacher autonomy which, following McGrath
(2000) and Smith (2000), he sees as the capacity for “self-directed professional
development” (p. 590) and describes how he used three different instruments (i.e.,
reflection based on keeping a teaching journal and two action research methods,
observation by a ‘critical friend,’ and discussions with a group of colleagues in an
online forum) in order to systematically develop his online teaching skills. “When
Teaching is Learning” also addresses the affective dimension of learning to teach
online and the relevance of heightened teacher awareness of one’s own autonomy
as well as that of learners. Lewis concludes with a critical analysis of the chosen
tools in terms of their potential to bring about behavioral change in tutors who are
about to or have already embarked on learning how to teach online.

Collaborative Learning
These considerations are taken a step further in the article by François Mangenot
and Elke Nissen from the Université Stendhal in Grenoble, France. Theirs is the
first contribution in the fourth and final section of this special issue, which fea-
tures two articles inspired by one of the most exciting and fast-developing areas
of online language learning: collaborative learning at a distance—or telecollabo-
rative learning.
The authors set out to remedy the perceived lack of information flow between
the research areas of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) and net-
work-based language teaching (NBLT), particularly with regard to the impact on
tutor involvement of collaborative versus noncollaborative settings. They com-
pare and contrast learning contexts designed for collaborative work with more
tutor-controlled and activity-led settings and find that although the learning plat-
form and the course might be designed to encourage learner collaboration and
reflective discussion, “just insisting on these aspects was clearly not enough” (p.
619). They see the tutor’s ability to raise learner awareness and acceptance of
Mirjam Hauck and Uschi Stickler 471
the need to develop an autonomous approach as well as new skills as pivotal for
successful CSCL and emphasize that better teacher training is required to achieve
this.
Of all the forms of NBLT, it is telecollaboration that offers the greatest oppor-
tunity for cross-cultural and cross-linguistic collaborations of language learners
(see Thorne, 2005). Robert O’Dowd at the Universidad de León in Spain and
Markus Ritter at the Universität Essen in Germany present research that is based
on their own telecollaboration projects and a comprehensive overview of other
projects in the area. They offer a taxonomy of the causes of failed communica-
tion in telecollaborative exchanges and show how problem areas at various levels
(e.g., individual and sociocultural factors) are often interrelated. Of significance,
they also take into account collaboration between teachers as well as learners and
the special case of virtual collaboration where, “contrary to other team-teaching
efforts, teachers involved in online exchanges often do not even know each other
face to face” (p. 630). Yet, they point out that their ‘inventory’ of pitfalls does not
necessarily guarantee a successful outcome to those who use online communica-
tion tools with the aim of linking language learners from all four corners of the
world. They see it rather as a reference guide, a way of making sure that areas of
conflict and misunderstanding can be systematically turned into key moments of
cultural learning for both tutors and students.

CONVERGENCE(S)
While editing this volume, new connections and possible collaborations have be-
come apparent to us: Would Spanish learners and tutors at universities in the US
not benefit from collaboration with online students of English in Chile? Would
novice tutors left to find their own training not benefit from “Becoming a Web-
head?” Would research into tutorial CALL not be enriched by the attempts of tech-
nologists, software designers and English tutors to find a “common language?”
The current volume is intended in the spirit of
1. bringing together different projects,
2. sharing reflection on experiences,
3. analyzing and discussing problems,
4. furthering a deeper understanding of what it takes to teach languages on-
line, and
5. stimulating new and more far-reaching debates.
We trust this will lead to an increased awareness of tutor needs and hope that
it will inform and enhance provision of appropriate training opportunities. We
would like to encourage those teaching online to feel free to use and adapt the ap-
proaches described in the articles for reflective practice and to communicate their
thoughts and experiences either via the CALICO mailing list (http://calico.org) or
directly to the editors.
Although the research-oriented and the practitioner-focused reports are clearly
two elements to this special issue, the division between them is not as clear cut as
we had originally envisaged. Going far beyond what Allwright (2003) has termed
472 CALICO Journal, Vol. 23, No. 3
‘exploratory practice,’ the practitioners have turned out to be truly reflective in
their various approaches. They have shown a keen interest in the ongoing evalu-
ation of their work with the aim of contributing to an existing body of knowl-
edge about best practices in online language teaching. Moreover, their findings
are relevant not only to the settings in which they work but are also more broadly
applicable. All this is achieved in often less than favorable circumstances, or, as
Ernest and Hopkins (p. 565) put it: “On a personal and professional level as online
coordinators, we still find that we have to struggle to reconcile the multifaceted
daily demands of our job with our desire to carry out much-needed research in the
field.”
Those whose primary focus is on research have shown that there is a variety of
ways to tackle the question of online pedagogy ranging from a qualitative “case
study” approach based on deep personal insights (that will reverberate with many
a new language tutor) via a theoretically based comparative study of different
teaching and learning environments and their inherent constraints and affordances
to a more general advocacy of pedagogic considerations as the basis for online
teaching. With the help of these studies, new light has been shed on what it takes
to teach online.
Online teaching takes technical know-how, content that is planned from a
pedagogic rather than a technological perspective, creative adaptation of skills
and teaching styles, training of tutors to equip them for work in an environment
where—as a result of an increasing rate of technological development—the goal-
posts are permanently shifting, and thus a willingness to change, adapt, question,
and improve constantly. Despite the hope of some administrators that online lan-
guage teaching would allow cuts in staff costs, the teacher is still very much part
of the learning context; maybe not as a “guide on the side,” and certainly not as
a “sage on the stage,” but as a (co)designer of learning situations, mediator, and
colearner in the search for information, the construction of knowledge, the devel-
opment of competences, and the creation of opportunities for real and meaningful
communication.

THE ROAD AHEAD

While we continue to develop and explore new ways of using online media,
“teaching is indeed learning,” and it will probably take a little longer to establish
not only what it takes to teach online but also how we learn to teach online.
Some of the challenges that lie ahead of us are
1. multimodality and new literacies,
2. open source/open content, and
3. online tutor training on a larger scale.
The increasing convergence of technologies makes new and different cognitive
demands on tutors and learners. The varying degrees of embeddedness of modes
in the new media and the resulting differences in ‘modal density’ (Hampel &
Hauck, in press)—the number and interaction of modes available in one single
medium (i.e., computer, cell phone, or palm pilot)—turn language acquisition in
Mirjam Hauck and Uschi Stickler 473
virtual environments into a new challenge. Moreover insights gained from one
online learning and teaching environment might not necessarily be transferable to
the next.
Open source/open content make it all the more important to think of delivery
as well as content, of pedagogy as well as affordances, and of teachers (virtual
or real) as well as materials. Open content will only become relevant when what
is offered is pedagogically prepared material rather than a haphazard collection
of lecture notes. On the other hand, learning activities prepared for one cultural
context might have to be re-thought or re-presented for the global audience of
open accessibility in order to meet culturally diverse learners’ styles and needs.
Language professionals are ideally placed for this task of “localizing.”
Finally, online language teacher training is already gaining prominence, fund-
ing, and a public—both on a European level with projects such as Lancelot3 and
internationally with Webheads. Other online communities of educators, not nec-
essarily language specific, include Tapped In and Learning Times. At the outset,
online language learning benefited from enthusiastic teachers (and learners) try-
ing out new ideas. It is likely that investigations of online teaching and online
tutor skills similarly rely on enthusiastic practitioners prepared to experiment with
and reflect on their online teaching practice and its challenges.
While we have presented here a range of views on the tasks and challenges of
online pedagogy, a systematic overview of teacher training methods and reflective
practice in online language teaching, a “How do we learn to teach online” collec-
tion might be the next step that is needed to carry this endeavor forward.

NOTES
1
For a current discussion of the digital divide, see van Dijk, 2005.
2
It should be noted here that Associate Lecturers or tutors employed at the Open Univer-
sity to teach online language courses do, routinely, receive training for this. The situation
for researchers and lecturers, however, is slightly different.
3
Lancelot: LANguage learning by CErtified Live Online Teachers, a European project
launched in June 2005 (or more information, see http://www.kolabora.com/experts/heike_
philp/2005/07/09/lancelot_language_learning_by.htm).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The editors would like to thank the following individuals for their invaluable
help in reviewing contributions to this special issue: Jim Coleman, Nina Garrett,
Regine Hampel, Stella Hurd, Christopher Jones, Marie-Noëlle Lamy, Monika
Shelley, Lesley Shield, and Claire Bradin Siskin.

AUTHORS’ BIODATA
Mirjam Hauck is a Senior Lecturer and Head of German in the Department of
Languages at the Open University in the UK, where she has been involved in
investigations of multimodal virtual learning spaces for language learning and
teaching for almost a decade. She has also been responsible for the introduction
of online language tuition and tutor training in the German section. Her current
research and publications focus on the role of metacognitive knowledge and strat-
egies in the context of electronic literacy.
Dr. Ursula Stickler joined the Department of Languages at the Open University,
UK, as a Lecturer in German in 2002. She has published widely in the areas of
autonomous language learning, especially tandem learning and language advis-
ing, technology-enhanced language learning, and online teaching skills. She is
involved in the training of online tutors at the Open University.

AUTHORS’ ADDRESS
Mirjam Hauck
Dr. Ursula Stickler
Department of Languages
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA
United Kingdom
Email: Ursula Stickler, u.stickler@open.ac.uk; Mirjam Hauck, m.hauck@open.
ac.uk
476 CALICO Journal, Vol. 23, No. 3

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