Assessing the integration and quality of online tools in language teacher education: The case of blogs, chat and discussion forums

E-learning is frequently being integrated into educational contexts due to its capacity to make way for new methods of learning that bring education into one s home, breaking the traditional structure of educational institutions (Barajas 2002: 2), and in particular online tools are increasingly being implemented in language teacher education programmes to enhance the learning experience and support novice teachers as they embark on their newfound careers. It is therefore a worthwhile endeavour to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of such tools in order to ensure pedagogically sound techniques and benefit from the full potential of online learning. Quality in this context is judged by how successful the technology is in fulfilling the aims of the research project in question, as well as quality issues surrounding how well the technology suits the tasks used in the study or how appropriate the technology is for a particular cohort of students. Amongst the other issues of quality this author has judged as being worthy of discussion are ease of use, enjoyment or affective factors, the value or benefits afforded by the technologies, the perceived usefulness of the technology, and the long-term effects of the technology.   Accordingly, this chapter sets out the approaches taken for implementing online communication tools in an MA in English Language Teaching programme. The quality of three different tools, namely blogs, chatrooms and discussion forums, as well as face-to-face discussions is investigated. This is done using student teacher feedback on these communication tools, which derives from questionnaires and interview data, and is situated around themes of communities of practice, mentoring and the integration of new technologies in a classroom setting. Thus the ability of such tools to cultivate a community of practice and encourage peer mentoring within this context is analysed, as well as the participants potential integration of new technologies as a result of their training. The chapter closes with a discussion of the pedagogical implications of such findings for fostering and maintaining quality in language teacher education.