Technology + Autonomy + Learner: Technautonomous Learner

Below are the results and my comments on a survey I conducted for a Forum by contribution of 594 students and the help of colleagues from 12 different English Preparatory Schools of both private and state universities in Turkey. Survey contained questions in different areas. But as you may predict, I will focus on Autonomy and relate to Technology use.

In the hit philosophical blockbuster The Matrix, Neo asks Morpheus “What is the Matrix?” Morpheus does his best to tell him the definition and says “we never free a mind once it’s reached a certain age” Similarly, I had the same kind of question “What is Autonomy?”. I looked up different sources for the definition of Autonomy which really confused me. Here they are:

• … is the ability to take charge of one’s own learning… (Holec)
• Autonomy is an experiment in how learning can be freed from the bounds of any institution and how the individual can reclaim control of and responsibility for his or her own education, while investigating the opportunities to learn from a variety of authentic sources. (Stanchina)
• The term describes the situation in which the learner is totally responsible for all of the decisions concerned with his learning ….. there is no involvement of a “teacher” or an institution. And the learner is also independent from specially prepared materials. (Dickinson)
• …we seem to have come to a point where autonomy in learning is associated with desirable classroom behaviors, such as doing one’s homework, actively using the target language in pair or group work, learning from one’s mistakes, listening to each other, and using the opportunities to learn outside the classroom. (Benson)

Here is my favorite.
➢ … autonomy is not a synonym for self-instruction, it is not limited to learning without a teacher. (Little)

I believe “sole” self-instruction will lead to self-destruction. And the teacher is a guide just like Morpheus who only shows the path.
Are Turkish students Autonomous? Let’s see the results. There are five answers Never True, Rarely True, Sometimes True, Mostly True, Always True. I will consider Mostly and Always True as “Yes” and comment accordingly.
1. S: I watch movies with English subtitles and dubbing while learning English.
61% of students said “Yes”. They like to use technology and want to improve their skills without being ordered by an authority. Use this weakness and encourage them to watch something for fun 😉
2. S: I enjoy studying English by myself.
54% Yes. I remember reading articles that say technology reduces stress level of students. That might be the reason they like to be by themselves, to reduce stress. Technology clearly offers a great chance to be “by oneself”. We may consider assigning tasks, or directing to some web sites as an individual activity in order to guide them.
3. S: I make effort to be in English speaking environment.
34% Yes. By looking at the rate it can be clearly seen that Guide alias Teacher needs to take an active role in trying to involve students in English speaking environment. As I said in my blog header “Creating Opportunities” is the key issue as we all know students learn better if we help them improve their performative skills as well as receptive skills.
4. S: I look up the unknown vocabulary in songs.
53% Yes. It has always been cool to know the lyrics and as we all know songs play an important role in everybody’s life (pop, rock, hymn, anthem…) There are a lot of ways we can integrate songs with technology. http://emrahakkurt.edublogs.org/mobile/ There are many applications (for ex. karaoke or composing your music, converting your speech into music…) that teachers can use either on either computer or mobile platforms.
5. S: I learn English by searching different sources.
38% Yes. The same amount of students said “sometimes”. Students do search something on the net, teachers know that but they just don’t feel like using it to improve their language skills. Spoonfeeding them is a part of the solution as it is Teachers who direct them to web sites. What I experienced is that students tend to do search by themselves if spoken to their minds. Another thing is content based search which focuses on students’ interests and trying not to look like teaching.
6. S: Seeing that I can speak English motivates me.
Grab a Chair! It is 83%. I am sure all the teachers will agree on the idea of Motivating Students. They want to see that they can use the target language. Let’s go back to Creating Opportunities I mentioned. The example: One of my long-time-ago students (who did not display signs of language skills) won the competition I announced in the class and then I was able to observe her growing interest and attitude towards English. Competition was: Visit VH1(international music channel) web site, place your wishlist, if accepted and your name is on TV screen you will be rewarded. I did NOT describe how to do. She did take all the steps and we saw her name on TV screen for about 20 minutes. A few years later I was watching the same channel and guess what I saw?
7. S: I try to read as many English newspapers, magazines, books, web pages as I can.
31% Yes. What can I say? Ignorance is bliss! OK this is reality, lets accept it instead of whining about it. If they don’t like reading those things especially in English, give them something that includes fun and English and please make the messages short. Facebook! Don’t have internet? Use downloaded funny videos! No projectors? Use the catchy rhyme of a song on your MP3 player. Don’t have an MP3 player or phone?  Get a job/life. I am sorry for you pal… 🙂

The ideas above are related to technology as this blog is about technology use. I am not trying to say Technology is the sole answer.

Interview with Artificial Intelligence: Will Technology Replace Teachers?

Inspired by the blog of my colleague Handan (handanbilir.edublogs.org), I have been dying to write about technology and teachers. She shared the ideas she noted in an ELT conference by Tony Gurr and Gordon Lewis. The question was: Will Technology Replace Teachers?

Without hesitation, my answer was “YES” on the contrary of what was said in the conference. I agree with ideas but I also have my own comment on the issue. What I believe about technology use is that the Role of Teachers will change. We all know that automation in factories caused many people to lose their jobs but there are still people working in them. They are working in departments where machines can not be trusted. I can hear some say, what kind of stupid comparison that is as teachers are not working with materials like metal or wood but people. We have to remember that WE created schools as they are now, why not turn them into something different?! We learnt from the nature and animals by observing/discovering and then shared this information with others and as the information grew, a need to transmit it arose. So we formed schools as they are today, of course after countless evolutions.

An ambitious IT specialist accepts the truth that they don’t know everything but it doesn’t mean that they can’t. I remember surprising many friends by knowing a lot about technology. But in fact a magic trick does the work, tell them to see you (say) 30 minutes later, and search online Tutorials and videos. Maybe in the future we will only have Tutor(ial)s as a way of learning. Teachers may serve as the content provider. We already have alternatives like Distant Education or Home Schooling…

Below is my video Interview with the Technology (AI). I took my chance to ask different AI applications whether they think Technology will replace Teachers. It drove me crazy until I could get relevant answers and I compiled them. Hope you enjoy. Warning: you may not like what you are about to see 🙂
My Interview with AI

iPhone Siri Demo