Conclusion

The first experience of "Virtual English", with 10 teachers and more than 150 students from different countries around the world involved, has reached some of its main aims:

students have improved their level of English,
students have learnt and practised about the computers and about the Internet,
students have visited ESL web sites where to practise their English, and thus have learnt how to use the Internet with pedagogical purposes,
students have published their own writings in some ESL web sites,
students have met new people and have learnt a lot about different cultures,
students have compared their country and culture with others,
students have been involved in the process of learning, and have participated in the development of "Virtual English".
students have worked autonomously and collaboratively,
students have enjoyed the experience and have had a good time,
students have developed a critical learning perspective,
(...)

teachers have met new people and have increased their knowledge about other cultures,
teachers have seen their students motivated,
teachers have worked together with other teachers, comparing experiences and sharing problems and ideas.
teachers have become more confidential with computers and Internet,
teachers have listened and helped their students,
teachers have learnt from students and from other teachers,
teachers have widened their students' school confines,
teachers have have enjoyed the experience and have had a good time
(...)

Some of the teachers and students' messages to me have helped me to evaluate "Virtual English":

(...)
I finally got hold of all the information that is online and I like your project.
It's more than just writing letters which is good. My students did not like that they were told what to write about. They rather preferred writing their own letters as they had done with their American pen pals.
Every time I handed a pattern to them, they were disappointed. And they were much better when they could write what they wanted.... They were more eager then, too.
That was very obvious.
For me this project was interesting, because you teach English as a foreign language too and I learned what you can do with the help of the internet.
So thanks for our good contacts throughout the year.
I hope to hear from you again.

Teacher from Hannover, Germany

Hello Dolors,
You asked me for feedback. This unit 2 was really good. My students were excited about the topic Town, Customs etc.. The working atmosphere was wonderful.
First I was puzzled about the title: Town... Should we deal with the theme town
or the country. I decided to do the both. The theme town suited to the programme of the rest of the group (only 6 are pen pals). Victor agreed with the plan.
(...)
The students didn't write to you yet. We have had an examination period and been
very busy. I will ask them to write to you tomorrow if possible.
The units are large. I have problems of time as they are very time consuming and
we don't get computer lab turns every week.
I haven't been able to use the IRC or MIRC and I haven't been able to read yours or
Victors attachments in the letters due to the system we use here.
Bye,
Marjatta, teacher from Finland

I find the use of Internet interesting and refreshing in this everyday
school life. the pen pal idea was good, it was interesting to write about your home town, your country and learn about your key pal's opinions and views.
The only negative side was the shortness of time. There wasn't enough time to get
into anything deeper and the disappointment of not getting to the computer
laboratory as often as we would have wanted to.

Riikka Ikaheimo, student from Finland

(...)
In my opinion some of the things did not work well. First of all, letters lacked spontaneity. My students and those from Finland used the same patterns, and the result was that letters from both sides were very similar, and the boys did not always answer the questions. Then, we must think about the fact that students can have individual email accounts. I think that one of the aims is to make students get into the habit of using the mail, and this can only happen if they can work autonomously.
(...)
I think "Virtual English" is good. Probably the first experience in this new field of using the Internet to teach English. I would like to work together again with you and with Marjatta next year....

Victor, teacher from Cambrils

Message to Dolors about this credit from I.E.S Jacinto Verdaguer

-We have enjoyed learning about different interactive ESL web sites
- we have found difficult to publish your writing on the net.
-We'll never forget to publish our article on the net.
- sometimes it is boring like to do a lot of grammar but to surf on the net is enjoying.

Victor and Michael, students from Cornellà.

Although most students and teachers liked "Virtual English" some of its "components" have not been as accepted as expected. After having read all contributions from teachers -some of which did not finish the experience- I have concluded that the following points should be revised:

the patterns of the letters (although they helped some students they were boring and uninteresting for others). The patterns will remain in the units, but students will be told to follow them only if they really need that help,
the grammar tasks were too difficult for most students following "Virtual English". Thus, they will be modified. Some of them will be omitted and others will be revised,
the time factor (more time is needed to accomplish all the tasks). Most tasks will remain there; teachers will have to program in advance which tasks to leave out,
a lot of different problems most of them dealing with technology. Let's hope things will improve in a near future,
instructions were a bit long some times and students had to read too much before implementing the task,
there should be more contact between partner teachers,
more suggestions and ideas are expected from readers,
(...)

Interviewed students' opinions should also be mentioned in this part of the project. In general they liked "Virtual English", they loved the idea of working with Internet -specially the key pal letter exchange- and they enjoyed most visited ESL sites. They believe "Virtual English" helped them to improve their English, they became more familiar with computers, learnt about the internet and above all, increased their general knowledge about the world. Nevertheless, they have many complaints:

most of them could not follow the units "online"; they call for better equipment and connections at schools,
they found many technical problems,
some of them could not participate in any chat,
most of them did not like the grammar sites,
they found they had to read and write too much,
some of them were disappointed by their key pals (they did not answer or they wrote very short, uninteresting messages),
they would have enjoyed having more than one key pal,
they found many tasks were a bit difficult,
they had not time enough to finish the project,
they had no opportunities to surf on their own,
(...)

To conclude I can say that the experience of preparing and implementing "Virtual English" has been very rich, fruitful and worthwhile. Yet, and as one of the teachers who could not finish the project suggested in her feed-back, "Virtual English" is for "good" students (alumnes d'ampliació) who have chosen it as an optional credit, and it would not work with other type of students unless the tasks are rewritten to that aim. Not without problems and difficulties, teachers and students involved have challenged this innovative way of teaching and learning English, and faced the new technologies world of uncertainty and mystery. The promising potential of Internet and its motivational component should push teachers to include internet resources in their lessons, and to program units similar to the ones in "Virtual English" having in mind different types of students, level of proficiency, school equipment and other resources, such as video-conferencing and net meeting. Some say Internet is going to change the world, as the wheel or the printing did in the past. We cannot leave our students living in this past. In fact, a lot of research is needed to learn more about the impact of the new technologies on the teaching of English as a foreign language.

Finally, I would like to give special thanks to all the teachers and students who have participated in the project, particularly to Victor Feliu, Esther Mellinas, Núria Brichs, Carmen Ortiz, Mari Carmen Rodríguez, Marjatta Ryan, Jevgeni Koshelev and Helga Hwysk for their invaluable contribution to the development of "Virtual English" and for their enthusiasm, help, support and loyalty before, during and after "Virtual English", and also for giving me permission to publish some of their messages. I should also apologize to the teachers and students who have been let down by their partners and have not been able to complete the project. I appreciate the interest shown.

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