Richard McNamara

Psychologists have long known that the quality of an individual’s development is infinitely connected with their social cognition.  Human-computer communication of this kind is complex. These complexities, although investigated by psychologists and probed in the great literature of the world, are often ignored or misunderstood by second language instructors.  This is largely due to the teachers who confuse the difference between how individuals learn a second language and how they naturally acquire their native language. I make no such confusion.

I deliberately take advantage and apply elements from both forms of acquisition and use them in the classroom.  My student-centred e-learning approach guided by social cognitive learning theory, makes a noticeable shift away from contemporary classroom norms and real-time teaching assumptions.  From course feedback over the last three decades I have found that my classes have been both an informative and an enjoyable experience for students. No matter what the educational topic or goal, I am pleased to say that compared with ‘rostrum centred’, textbook driven courses, my hybrid e-classes are always full of happy smiling faces.

With this in mind, where possible, it makes more educational sense to provide post-digital revolution students with both interactive e-learning environments and real-time applied courses which better suit both their educational goals and modern social reality.  Networked computers alone, or in combination with existing digital language learning architecture, can be effectively harnessed for this specific purpose.