reflections on EFL learning tasks and IT

Most of the IT-related tasks designed for EFL teaching and learning in my school (Harbin Institute of Technology or HIT) are quite restricted and closed. For example, in the media classroom, sometimes the instructors use electronic resources devised by the publishers of the textbooks stored in CD-ROM. A typical practice in such a classroom is that the instructors control the presentation of the electronic materials which are basically the conversion of existing print-based materials. Another example of the restricted mode of IT-related learning tasks currently under way is the inclusion of movies in the language classroom. In these classes, learners are shown a movie while the teachers don’t need to do anything else except control the media player. Sometimes students are required to work on some worksheets and sometimes they are not required to do anything at all. The reasons that IT-related tasks are not adequately integrated in the syllabus design are manifold. First, lack of access to PC and computer labs is one of major obstacles. Secondly, lack of training on IT on the part of instructors is another problem. Thirdly, the educational environment at HIT tends to discourage individualized learning and teaching. Teachers are evaluated by centralizing top-down policies while initiatives to creatively use IT in EFL teaching by individual teachers are not adequatly motivated.