ЦИФРОВОЙ ТЕКСТ КАК СРЕДСТВО ИНТЕГРАЦИИ ИНФОРМАЦИОННЫХ ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ В ОБУЧЕНИЕ АНГЛИЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ

Introduction. Nowadays we cannot stay unaware of the fact that we are becoming more and more submerged into the “online” culture. We watch or listen to the news, read books, go shopping, book hotel rooms all over the world, buy train or airplane tickets, make important payments and remittances using computers or mobile phones. We do not need face-to-face interaction anymore as we want to stay mobile. With the growth of the cities and often in the need to commute or rather while waiting in traffic congestions during rush hours’ people wish to compensate this time laps by inventing urban fast transport like underground, fast food or takeaway services just to save time as they know it to be an unrenewable resource. And we continue to use smart and intellectual technologies at home to plan our time-table, to do the household, to entertain us, generally speaking to accompany us and to help us in facing the routine challenges that again threaten by distracting us from really important things. We are getting used to it and it really seems to making our lives easier [51].

Background. The conversion of live interaction into the on-line one is established by some researches as a negative influence on socializing [16], [17], [30], [31], [50]. For example, Turkle in her previous work [49] is rather optimistic about virtual communication and digital revolution in general. But later she points out the illusion of companionship when we are actually alone by demanding too much from virtual objects disregarding our “alive companions”. She also argues that our lives have become more “condensed” because of the replacement of full live conversations by texting and twittering [50]. However, some researches show that people feel more confidence when they don’t have to implement face-to-face communication [33], [37]. There are the suggestions that computer mediated communication (CMC) in an online chat room entails greater anonymity, greater control over self-presentation, more intense and intimate self-disclosure, less perceived social risk (i.e., diminished personal cost if interactions or relationships fail), and less social responsibility toward others and the interaction than in traditional face-to-face communication [11], [37], [38]. An earlier study had found that several of the most common types of support given online were emotional, informational, and esteem; while tangible assistance was least often given [10].

And whereas lately mostly lonely and depressive or “geeky” people used widely Internet socializing the past few years have brought about substantial change: our online interactions are now more social [57]. Moreover, enterprises are likely to use websites or mobile applications in their businesses [21], [24], [57].  For example, a survey found out that executives equally agree on the need for mobile apps to enhance customer engagement. It showed that 87% said there is high demand among their customers for effective mobile apps that can help them access the company’s services [21]. Therefore, scientists of today are becoming involved into the social media marketing research stating that companies thus gain competitive advantages [35]. The profitability of advertising in a social net and having a social network profile has also been discussed [29], [31] as “online social networks have extended marketers’ ability to reach shoppers through new touch points” [53]. When people get useful and easy to use shopping services on social networking sites, then they are more willing to use these services on social networks [13].

The next basis for integrating web-texts into the educational process can be found in textbooks. Looking into any up-to-date phrasebook or notes for travelers we can find phrases about shopping, buying tickets, having takeaway, discussing menus [26], [34], weather forecasts, mass media [15], [25], cuisine, television [14]. As for professional spheres, many examples of introducing websites and webpages or mobile applications can be found, e.g., Career Paths: Agriculture besides has its mobile application available on AppStore [42].

Still we have plenty of examples when these spheres are reflected online in online shops, booking services or news sites, at our disposal we have plenty of bytes of information and webpages: users’ collections of culinary recipes and cooking advice, language learning, as well as social nets with communities discussing almost all up-to-date issues: both dealing contemporary political, economic and professional or academic ones. Sisojev [4] gives an example of the secondary education system in Russia: applications for grants and scientific contests are realized via Internet only. “Moreover, communication with the members of Russian and foreign education programmes is also only online possible” [4: 122]. Without knowing how to use Internet services this communication and idea or experience exchange will fail or never happen. Besides, Sysoev [4: 11] argues that students’ communication skills should be developed not only in live interaction but when interacting without seeing an interlocutor, i.e. via Internet and mobile services. Thus, one should take into account not only language communicative means but extra linguistic ones as well such as: smiles, Emoji, memes. These are the means that abundantly met in a digital environment.

    21st century literacy. Consequently, more often it is inevitable for us and for our students to “ask” Google or Siri who know everything to get access to the unknown, to get fast and accurate response for the needed knowledge. But when these helpful services immediately react by giving us thousands of links we face the demand of navigating skills to single out and choose the suitable resource and further the needed section and many other actions which would lead us to success. Internet assisted language learning may reveal the same problem for students. Besides, with new technologies that enter our lives sometimes too fast we must be able to reconsider curricular, teaching methods and design lessons to make the learning process correspond IT development and make it valid in new technologies context, e.g. virtual reality and augmented reality, iBeacon technology, 360-degree imagery and 360-degree video. The process of this reconsideration must be carried out in a new paradigm of new demands not only to a teacher but to a learner as well. Thus, being teachers we must develop both our and students’ IT skills to provide the support in using new technologies to our best advantage and profitably using them for learning in particular, especially in the context of e-Learning.  

Warlick [56] speaks about totally new approach to literacy. He states that nothing is known about a working place of the future because more and more professional collaborations has started to happen virtually with consequently less paper occupying our desks as a result of that very above mentioned informatization by penetrating of electronic databases into almost all organizations (banking, medicine, schooling, etc.). Thus, without having an exact image of a future working place the only thing we can teach our students is “how to teach themselves” [56]. Stating that the term “literacy” must be redefined in the new conditions of overwhelming information Warlick suggests that four basic components of literacy must be regarded in the new focus. Thus “Reading, Riting and Rithmetic” are expanding to “Exposing Truth, Employing Information and Expressing Ideas Compellingly”. In addition, he speaks about one more important component: Ethics, including respect and protection of information and its infrastructure. Tour [48] examining TESOL in particular “in times of change” supports the broader concept of literacy and strongly supports the approach which aim is to “facilitate the development of a wide range of capabilities so that in a second or foreign language context, students are able to deal effectively, appropriately and successfully with multimodal texts and associated practices in a digital environment: to ac­cess, use, design, create, research, comprehend, analyze, evaluate, communicate, collaborate, and share”. She also gives the characteristics of digital texts with diverse modes of meaning construction contrasting them to traditional printed-based ones.

Digital and web texts. Characteristics and genres. Speaking about multimodal texts in TESOL practice we should bear in mind that in spite the students of the 21^st century being born surrounded by “smart” background they still may lack these navigating skills through English-based websites. Therefore, web texts should be included as they are really what students will use in their everyday life. As we are confident Internet users we have to face web text everyday as technology has “generated” new types of texts: digital texts and then web texts. Moreover, to form foreign language communicative competence one must be able to realize not only face-to-face communication, but vie Internet using confidently its services [4]. Yet for better understanding of how digital and web texts could be included in the educational process we need to discuss their characteristics.

Firstly, we should differentiate these two concepts by determining their definitions. As for a web text, it is considered to be limited to its occurrence in the Internet space (web environment) only. Yet, a digital text is a wider concept that includes a web text as one of its forms. Still in the discussion concerning a digital text it should be mentioned that they generally may be referred to any predigital forms having been transformed by digitization [22]. Such types of the texts may be theoretically included into the wide concept of digital texts. However, such examples are limited in their usage in computer assisted language learning (CALL) only without the involvement of Internet tools. Yet the scope of this article is to discuss the meaning of “true” digital texts and web texts in particular.

In his blog Sánches [44] describes a digital text saying that it may include anything like “a verbal written text, an oral text, a static or animated picture, a sound (human voice, music, effects)”.

 So, by nature, digital text is generally more flexible then printed one. It can be subjected to many operations such as search, rearranging, condensing, it may be annotated or read aloud by a computer. Digital textbooks and different aspects of applying them have been recently discussed by some researchers [6], [43], [45], [54]. They trace the path from printed educational materials to the digitals ones (eTextbooks) and discuss the requirements to the new educative technologies, hypertextuality questions [45] and the advantages of digital textbooks in comparison to a “400 page, five-pound, paperbound book” [55]. But they are not just a PDF format succession of pages. They are meant to incorporate any means of information transmission as mentioned above. The foremost technologies let other interactive objects be included into a digital text such as augmented reality (AR) technologies which we are going to speak about further [2], 360-degree mobile imagery and 360-degree mobile video, contextual sensors technologies, e.g., iBeacon. 

But Golumbia [22] has described the main characteristics of a digital text.

• Nonlinearity, which is examined in the focus of the temporal aspect. Here it should be said that this characteristic may be rather a controversial one. From the one hand nonlinearity implies fast moving from one part of a text to another. As for videos a DVD fulfills this function in comparison to a video cassette. From the other hand both written texts (non-digital) can be nonlinear (e.g. written on in the form of index cards), and digital texts can be linear (e.g. originally non-digital that have been scanned or photographed and do not have necessary tools like bookmarks, thus reducing the possibility of moving throughout their length in comparison to a simple book if being considered from a reader’s position).
• Multimedia, which implies the usage of all the forms of media throughout the text. That has become possible due to the appearance of such tools as PowerPoint, Adobe’s Photoshop, Fireworks, Adobe’s Flash, Premiere, AfterEffects, etc., and has widened the possibilities of Microsoft Word that allows to insert broad range of still image format and some formats of audio, video and computational objects as well as hypertext links.
• Hypertextuality, that implies the possibility of physical connection between texts elements. However, theoretically this can work with the printed text: when working with a book one may make notes writing down other books’ names where he can look for further information.
• Collaboration, which can be traced more obviously on the websites like Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, implying “the production of new media objects that respond to and often incorporate elements of earlier productions” [22: 58].
• Portability, that refers primarily to the reproducibility, i.e. perfect copying of digital texts.
• Preservation, that is the characteristic which demands the availability of a digital text on any computer system.

There is one more characteristic that Golumbia does not mention. It is multimodality, that is generally considered to be the strategic use of more than one communication modes to make meaning (image, gesture, music, spoken language, and written language). Multimodality here is not the characteristic of a digital text only, it can be paper (comics, picture stories, graphic novels; and posters, newspaper, brochures) – especially taking into account the latest AR technology achievements.  A multimodal text can also be live (a performance) [40]. “A multimodal text can be transmedia – where the story is told using ‘multiple delivery channels’ through a combination of media platforms, for example, book, comic, magazine, film, web series, and video game mediums all working as part of the same story” [40]. Jenkins [28] argues that media used for transmedia must not duplicate the information delivered by other media in one and the same text, but logically contribute into it adding new information, that is not transmitted by the other media.

Thus, we can say that a text is digital when it is opposed to a printed one although the latter may possess some characteristics abovementioned. But if a text possesses all the enumerated characteristics it is a digital text. Moreover, an originally printed digitized text preserve its original characteristics and thus cannot be considered to be digital.

Some scientists tend to go further in their digital text studies having begun to differentiate between its genres and types as well as to describe them [20], [44]. In these researches such web texts as Wiki services, Flickr, Instagram, YouTube, Scribd and Google Drive are mentioned. Still as these works are fully theoretical no one gives any accurate classification with exact descriptions of web text genres. However, Ivanov [3] tries to form Global Net genres into (1) news genres, (2) scientific educational and special information genres (e-textbooks, articles, interactive courses, discussion clubs), (3) fiction genres (eLibraries or digital libraries), (4) entertainment genres, (5) genres forming non-specific communication and (6) business and commerce genres. But it should be said that this classification was worked out in 2000, and obviously needs to be corrected. Goroshko [1] gives a more up-to-date genres description which she calls Internet-communication genres. Having studied the relevant literature, she makes a conclusion that “the approaches to the virtual genres studies can be arranged according to a leading factor, i.e. to a parameter that a scientist considers to be the leading in genre formation and functioning” [1: 31]. The factors of different existing theories are human, media, structural, discursive. However, she does not classify genres and we can find only the description of approaches to the virtual genres paradigm. Goroshko concludes in her theoretical research that the Internet-communication genres are poor structured yet. In conclusion, we may say that this aspect of web texts still should be thought over.

A brief web-page analysis. A digital text with all its characteristics is most often met in a form of a web-page. Introducing digital texts like this into the learning process a teacher should know the components of a web-page, their characteristic, how web designers usually arrange the information. Only in this case a teacher can form good navigating skills in his students. Such information can be found in a number of handbooks for web designers. Nielsen and Loranger [39] agree that a web text should be highly structured, capacious and highly navigable, i.e. include everything that may save user’s time and provide him with the information needed in the shortest period of time. Thus, all the most important information is placed in the upper and lefter part, as it used to be in printed editions.  Miller [36] in his book gives a logically organized structure of a web-page. It consists of:

1. Header;
2. Navigation;
3. Feature;
4. Body/ content;
5. Sidebar;
6. Footer;
7. Background.

Thus, header, navigation and feature are placed in the most viewable by users part of a web-page body. These three components will help a user to better orient and understand where they should go further. A header usually describes the content of a web-page. Navigation is Information Architecture. This part contains broad categories where a user may go and continue navigating through smaller site sections, it may also include parts that a website creator wants a user to go to. The Feature area is included to be “perceived before all others” [36]. This is a focal point of a page. The Body or the Content is usually a terminal point of a search but it may not mean that this section is represented in a form of a long text, vice versa the text is more often divided into short passages, each passage describing only one objective [5].  Besides Chamina says that data presented on a web-page are to be visualized in tables, graphs, diagrams, etc. The passages are usually provided with heading tags so as search engines could better evaluate the content [45]. A sidebar is another form of navigation but it contains widgets, that are the visual tips that shows “that the needed information is somewhere near” [39: 243]. Although the widgets may not be directly connected with the page content as they may be advertisements [52] or an “embedded feature of content from another site, e.g. today’s weather from weather.com.” [19:18].  In a footer contact information is usually given as well as social account links or other links (e.g. to ‘other’ pages).  A background is the ‘backcloth’ of a page, it does not contain any textual signs commonly, but may all the same stay appealing for a user due to it being of a right color, or fancy floral, or it may support the main content.

These are the main structural components of a web-page. As for content components (web-page sections), one may include buttons, consumer testimonials, photos, animation, videos, search bar (which is very useful if it works effectively), geolocation (which defines users’ location and provide accurate information), calendar, pdf uploads, etc. These are general content components which may be found on a broad range of websites. Specific content components are varied from field to field.

It was decided to take a group of websites of educational establishments and compare the sections that a user needs to find in their navigation bar. To limit the number of section we have chosen the ones which are definitely needed to a student. They are: admission, programs, library, calendar/events, structure. And one of the most convenient tool of a non-English website is the possibility to switch the language into English.

Three Universities in different countries have been chosen:

1. English speaking country (the USA);
2. Non-English speaking country (Spain);
3. Mother tongue country (Russia).

 Such choice is based on comparing realms. The visualized results are presented in the table below (NB – navigation bar which is horizontal and is placed in the upper-part of a page, SB – side bar which is vertical and is placed either on the left (which is preferable) or on the right).

Table 1 - Universities' websites brief analysis

Before interpreting it should be mentioned that the Spanish variant of Madrid Polytechnic University has more attractive design. But still in its NB all the necessary sections are absent. And it needs time to understand where a person should go to find the information. Interpreting the obtained data, it may be concluded that the needed sections are mostly present on the websites’ homepages. Still in some cases it demands some navigating skills to find it. An unexperienced user may be confused or it will take him a lot of time to navigate especially if he possesses poor vocabulary in the given field.

This factor should stimulate teachers to encourage students to practice their navigating skills in the right way to improve them. This may be done by giving a number of tasks accompanied by clear and accurate instructions. As students tend to apply their navigating skills by the simple algorithm typing the name of the topic into the search bar and choose the first link given, and then just copy the text without any critic approach. What is worse is that sometimes even the topic may slightly differ from that in the task, it happens more often when a student is not properly prepared neither technically nor in English to such type of tasks.

The place of augmented reality in a digital text. One of the most interesting feature of a digital text is its media components. There are a lot of digital media previously studied and classified by scientists. Green and Xiaoli give several broad classifications and detailed tables about media types [23].

All these media have been well studied and described. We would like to focus on a relatively new component of a digital text: augmented reality (AR) and AR objects. The principles of AR, the devices used have been thoroughly explored and described [12], [41]. Its application in different spheres and its influence on the future of publishing have also been traced. Special attention is paid to AR educational use [7],  [8], [9], [32] and to AR textbooks in particular [27]. Lim and Park analyze existing AR books and come to the conclusion that their usage has positive effects “on not only cognitive but also affective domains such as engagement, presence, interactivity and affordance” [32: 180]. The benefits of AR in educational environments have also been studied [18]. Up to now scientist are looking for the appropriate and the most efficient incorporation of AR in the educational environment, that is why a user (or a teacher) may find plenty of other teachers’ resources where they share or exchange their experience and tips for including AR technologies in a classroom.

Here however the question occurs about whether an AR technology is a digital text or it is not. The studies about AR [41], [46] define this technology as the mixed reality that combines exact context existing in reality and virtual (digital) imagery, audio, video, typed texts. Yet as AR itself is not the focus of our theoretical description this issue will not be covered here.

Generally, we may say that an AR object needs some base or anchor to appear on a display. That is why digital text cannot be read without a non-digital one. Still a non-digital component stays useless without a certain digital support. Thus, AR is the brightest example of digital and non-digital texts interconnection. But the conclusion is that AR cannot be definitely called a digital text, but something wider, with a digital text being an ever-present component if it.

Geolocation as a digital text media. Geolocation service is used by many mobile applications nowadays, for many it is the bases of development (Foursquare, Swarm, Google Maps, etc). That is why we cannot omit this issue in this article. Moreover, such technology as iBeacon is steadily entering the educational process. Still we should restrict this digital text media to mobile digital only: to the usage of such handheld devices as smartphones, tablets and others. In spite of this fact new technologies invite us to include it in our everyday life and our classrooms as well. The use of iBeacons inside school/ university walls is possible due to the fact that iBeacons are more accurate than the geolocation services provided by GPS satellites.

Moreover, iBeacons allow us to create policies and guidelines of how a device should behave based on the context of which region it is in. This fact give teachers incredible possibilities to provide the students with the necessary material or tools which they get right onto their devices. For example, Jamf Pro (formerly Casper Suite). has been designed to automate that kind of device management as well as applications management. 

AR and iBeacons usage in an educational establishment. The combination of iBeacon technology and AR technology can give the widest possibilities for using in inside a school or university. As for AR, its possibilities are being discussed now [9], [45] and in some schools, they are already used in the educational process. Bower at al. [8] not only describes the spheres where AR may be applied but also speaks about the principles of design-based learning approach using augmented reality and gives several examples of how students can develop their IT skills trying themselves as designers with augmented reality. The abovementioned research contributes greatly to the bases of integration of IT skills development during the process of learning.

AR and iBeacon technologies may make the process of learning more interactive and they may provide digital support for such games as quests in real time, or quests in reality. For example, a group may be divided into several teams, each one with their own routes and tasks for finding a definite place. The places are marked with iBeacons. Arriving at this place the students need to find a marker with the next task of the next place of their group route. Or the marker may contain the description of the coordinator who will give them the task, assess them and give further instructions. The markers may be “read” with any technology which is available. The easiest one is Aurasma service. Using Aurasma application on their smartphones a student “augments” the marker (it may be a photo, a book, a place) and follows the instructions given. The overlayer may be an audio or a video file or it may be simply a typed text, or a problem (in Mathematics), a chemical equation. In general, it may include anything that will stimulate the application of students’ knowledge in a definite field.

The other example of the combination of these technologies is providing the students with the necessary information. Thus, entering the definite classroom, the students get information about the markers to which they can turn to. And then using their AR applications they are provided with all the information the teacher wants them to possess. iBeacons though may be placed not only in classrooms but somewhere near the notice boards where AR markers are gathered: there teachers may hang the announcements about assignments, contests, extra classes, meetings and other events. Or they may organize a thematic board including cultural tips, literature review, places of interest, events related with the topic, etc.

Conclusion. New technologies have generated the new approach to the concept of information itself, making people seeking for accurate knowledge at any moment and in any sphere of life. The needs for efficient information access made companies to create web sites and mobile applications for their customers, further incorporating new technologies such as AR and iBeacon into their advertising strategies to make it more interactive and attractive to a prospect customer.

Thus, the overall process of usage of Internet technologies and mobile applications has led to the growth of new type of interaction and further “new literacy” or “digital literacy”. This type becomes the skill that is demanded by contemporary society. That means that only possessing these skills one has the chance to become a competent and fully-fledged member of society in general and in his/her professional field in particular.

All this leads to IT skills to be both the aim of learning and its means. This becomes possible only by integrating IT into the educational process no matter what course it is applied at. Language learning students get this double but impossible to avoid challenge. They have to master two sciences at a time. Still these two have one thing in common: they both may be used as the means of mastering them. Integrating IT technologies into language learning classrooms will promote mutual assistance from each of these sciences for each other and consequently the faster mastering both language and technology, e.g. the same is with English: the majority of applications and platforms as well as sites use the English language thus making it impossible to use IT without knowing English. Thus, language classes may become a good field of accepting this challenges and finding solutions for them. Wider incorporation of digital texts and teaching algorithms of operating them and the information they contain, with the usage of AR technologies and iBeacon technologies will contribute greatly to the education of well-qualified professionals and young people adapted to the information society.