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of telecoms engineers, but it was what they voted for! However, it was through
constant evaluation of these moves, and discussions with all stakeholders, trainers,
managers, participants, and the client that we were able to innovate in a way that was
‘safe’, managed and palatable.
In summary, our context was key, and the stakeholders led the thinking. The technology
came only in response to client needs, exploring features in our context, while at the
same time working within trainers’ sense of plausibility. Prabhu (1990) says that the
best method is one that meets a teacher’s ‘sense of plausibility’. The teachers who
worked on this project were the ones who were most able to grasp this use of IT,
and could see how this could support language learning. We set off with a general
language-learning pedagogy in mind, and learned as we went.

Practical considerations and recommendations

■ ■ Operate within teachers’ sense of plausibility.
■ ■ Seek support from colleagues, managers, and other available networks.
■ ■ Be open to questions about the proposed course’s learning outcomes.
■ ■ Be open about the business model.
■ ■ Seek to learn from trying to formulate answers to challenges.
■ ■ Place learning and context first, technology second.
■ ■ Create opportunities for learning.
■ ■ Carry out an IT audit to see if your proposed tools will run on your and your
client’s system.
■ ■ Use tools in a way that create affordances for dialogue rather than just mono-
directional instruction.
■ ■ Put tools in student hands as often as possible.
■ ■ Consider how the course will evolve and change as well as how improvements will
be decided on.

We responded in a transparent way to feedback at the end of each course and to
input on needs at the beginning of each course. At the same time we had to deal with
disappointment when certain interventions were not to the standard we hoped for, or
did not reap the desired responses from participants. Each course built on the last,
each time hoping to garner more positive feedback and better learning. This project
shows how a course can develop with a partner over a longer period.

Final word
More than any course I have worked on, or designed, these CBECs afforded high
levels of challenge and variety to me as an experienced and growing, DELTA qualified
teacher, and later business manager. These challenges, which came about as a result
of contextual realities, led to my pursuit of deeper questions about teaching and
learning online that I pursued in an educational technology-focused MA. By adopting
a learning mindset, and by working closely with our partner, this experience became

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