1. Assignment Nº 4
Web 2.0 Applied to English Teaching
Essay on Infoxication 2.0 by Elena Benito-Ruiz in “Handbook of Research on Web 2.0
and Second Language Learning”.......................................................................................2
Works Cited.......................................................................................................................4
The Future of Technology in ELT.....................................................................................5
SUBJECT: ICT
LECTURER: Paula Ledesma
STUDENT: Florencia Braña
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Florencia G. Braña

2. Essay on Infoxication 2.0 by Elena Benito-Ruiz in
“Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second
Language Learning”.
At first sight, it could be said that Elena Benito-Ruiz in Handbook of
Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning, Chapter IV Infoxication
2.0 (2009) intends to point out that the Web 2.0 information overload, which she
refers to as “Infoxication” is one of the main drawbacks to this web of
communication and information. By this term, the author means “an intoxication
of excessive information and communicational demands”; i.e. “a massive
abundance of fragmented Web 2.0 informational and communicative
resources.” (Benito-Ruiz, This concept has also been referred to by several
authors under the names of “data smog”, “data obesity” (Shenk, 1997),
“information pollution” (Nielsen), “content overload” (Himmen, 2007), among
others.
Nevertheless, by reading between the lines, the reader can realize that
the author also aims at throwing light into the issue of how to tackle this
massive amount of data. The web 2.0 is affecting the world and people’s
everyday lives.
As Will Richardson (2010) explains in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other
Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms “...the Read/Write Web is changing our
relationship to technology and rewriting the age-old paradigms of how things
work.
The Web 2.0 presents teachers with a great challenge: to become more
than ever the facilitators and guides of the teaching-learning process. According
to the author, it is the teacher who within this technological context should give
learners the necessary tools to be able to face the demands of an updating
changing web. Teachers should be wise enough to provide learners with tips
and strategies to empower them. They should show them how to have a
selective, critical attitude to content; how to identify what they aim at and where
to find it (preventing aporia); how to focus on a task avoiding “interruption
overload”, such as cell phone calls, text messages, pop-up windows, etc. and;
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Florencia G. Braña

3. finally, how to make use of RSS readers and RSS mash-up tools. The overall
educational goal would be then to enable learners to become autonomous,
independent and self-gestioning Web 2.0 users.
The development of critical thinking and time-management skills should
be an essential objective of education 2.0. If teachers are able to show student
how to find their way out of the entangled web of information, not only will they
have overcome a crucial obstacle in this process but also be able to benefit
from it at its best. It is necessary to transform the way we do school because
the digitalization of information and automation of jobs has transformed the way
we socialize and work (Kist, 2010, p. ix)
The author finishes off the Infoxication chapter by stating that
“Knowledge is a process of piling up facts...” and that “...wisdom lies in its
simplification.” The teaching of content and knowledge in them will only be
useful in the short-run, but it will not sow any future seeds. The main objective
of education 2.0 should be to create learning opportunities to foster multi-
tasking and multi-literate skills as well as wisdom, which will eventually become
a valuable long-term resource for life.
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Florencia G. Braña

4. Works Cited
Benito-Ruiz, E. (2009) Infoxication 2.0 , en Thomas, M.Handbook of Research
on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning, (60-74), United States of
America: Information Science Reference
Himma, K. E. (2007). A preliminary step in understanding the nature of a
harmful information-related condition: An analysis of the concept of
information overload. Retrieved August, 13, 2007, from
http://ssrn.com/abstract=954719
Kist, W. (2010) The Socially Networked Classroom-Teachingin the New Media
Age Age. United States of America: Corwin
Nielsen, J. (2003). BBC News. Retrieved July, 20, 2007, from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/ 3171376.stm
Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools
for Classrooms. United States of America: Corwin
Shenk, D. (1997). Data smog: Surviving the information glut. San Francisco,
CA: Harper Edge.
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Florencia G. Braña

5. The Future of Technology in ELT
In my opinion the future of technology in ELT is in educators’ hands. I
think it is possible to transform the traditional language teaching classroom in a
multi-literacy technological one. There can be no doubt that communicating in
this century is going to be different from communicating in the old century -not
necessarily better or worse but different. Consequently, we need to give kids
practice using this new media at school. It maybe difficult for educators to
attempt to do so in real schools but that’s part of the challenge that comes along
with this kind of teaching.
The objective is to figure out ways to keep students safe and at the same
time provide them with the experiences they will need to become literate
enough to keep up with the demands of this technological century.
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Florencia G. Braña