A focus on technology...

“Knowledge sharing and creation is at the heart of innovation in all fields […] Knowledge cannot be transferred; it can only be enacted, through a process of understanding, through which people interpret information and make judgements on the basis of it […]” (Leadbeater, 2000:12) [1].

This is the statement I chose in January to start my final paper of the first semester. I pose it again because, in my opinion, it well sums up the way we have worked so far with wikis and Skype exchanges.

If I think of all the things we have learnt and done so far and the things we will learn and do in the next few weeks, I realize how important new media tools are in the context of knowledge creation and acquisition. At first, knowing that the computer and new technologies would accompany us throughout the course worried me, because I wasn’t accustomed to learn English by means of media applications and I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to deal with them. Fortunately, as the course went on I experienced quite a positive use of technology, experiential and interactive.

Developing our six wiki pages and conversing every week with my American peer made me understand the importance of ‘learning-by-doing’, co-operation and negotiation and, most importantly, made me reflect on the close, triple connection existing between the communicative function of language, the use of technology and the process of creating and sharing knowledge.

Maria Chiara

[1] Source: Bruns A. and Humphreys S. 2005 “Wikis in Teaching and Assessment: The M/Cyclopedia Project”.