[Reprint] Pedagogical lessons from students’ participation in Web 2.0

Abstract

Responses of Vietnamese undergraduate students majoring in English to the integration of a Moodle site during an upper intermediate macro-skill course highlight differences in learner autonomy and expectations. Students’ general attitudes towards, and participation in, this online Web 2.0 environment provide the basis for the research reported in this paper. Qualitative data from individual interviews ranged from neutral to very positive. The data also identified three patterns of online participation: task-oriented, content-oriented and community-oriented. These patterns reflect a transition in the local students’ learning expectations and behaviours towards controlling their learning processes and socialising activities in their formal learning. The paper concludes with a number of pedagogical suggestions for the process of technology integration in education in the local context. These are aimed at better engagement of students in the process of personalising online learning environments to suit their needs.