Learning communities mediated through technology: Pedagogic opportunities for minority languages

This chapter argues that the recent alignment of key pedagogical and technological developments have the potential to revolutionise learners’ experiences within learning environments. For minority languages, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is that dominant languages are becoming even more pervasive as new forms of media and technology enter into our daily lives. The opportunity is that new technologies have lowered the barriers to producing and publishing many forms of content and have enabled many-to-many communication and collaboration. The chapter outlines the theoretical underpinnings of collaborative learning and how these affect language and literacy learning. The field of ‘New Literacy Studies’ is then discussed and how this field has particular relevance for minority language communities. Some of the uses of Web 2.0 technologies in relation to language and literacy development are highlighted. The chapter concludes with an example of how these technologies could be used to forge links between a school and its wider community