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N.A. Gunina
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often results in duplicating the materials teachers use in their traditional
classes. Making the right decision requires certain experience of both
teaching and studying online. The best thing a teacher can do is to get en-
rolled in an online course and see how it works. Another problem is related
to computer literacy, which is still an issue for many lecturers who are re-
luctant to incorporate technology into their teaching practices. This is
caused by fear of technology, on the one hand, and lack of time to master
the necessary skills required for online course design, on the other. How-
ever, selecting appropriate development strategies seems to be impossible
without clear understanding of available technologies.
Open and closed technologies for blended learning.
Today, most
universities in Russia have learning management systems (LMS), which
provide teachers with an array of useful tools to be used both in fully
online and blended classes. Institutionally supported LMS can be supple-
mented by Web 2.0 technologies widely available in the Net. When mak-
ing a decision about the choice of technology, an instructor has to explore
the possibilities of different tools and choose the one which best meets the
learners’ needs.
Institutionally supported LMS are closed technologies (
Moodle,
Blackboard, etc.
) as they limit access to authorized users who are mem-
bers of this institution. This has both advantages and disadvantages for
instructors and learners. Being secure, private, centralized and controlled
environment, LMS might have certain limitations which prevent teachers
from using the materials they think will help students to achieve their
learning outcomes. Apart from this they require some training, which can
be quite complicated and time-consuming.
Open access technologies (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.) often re-
ferred as social media are free and familiar to both teachers and students
since they are widely used for communication. However, they are not se-
cure and teachers have to solve the issue of privacy on their own. Some
students might refuse to use this or that open technology for certain rea-
sons.
Developing communicative competence in Business English clas-
ses through blended learning.
Language acquisition is impossible
without developing communicative competence of learners as it is “the
underlying system of knowledge and skill required for communication”
[2: 5]. Communicative approach, which replaced traditional grammar-
based approach of the past, is learner-centered, cooperative (collabora-
tive), interactive, integrated, content-centered and task-based. In Russia,
communicative teaching started about two decades ago and since that
time teachers have tailored their courses in such a way as to facilitate and
encourage interaction in ESL classes. However, the set goals are not
necessarily achieved. The problem is that learners’ communicative use of
English outside the classroom is bound to be limited, and as a result,