Integrating technology into mother-tongue education: Examples from Hebrew

This paper describes the current approach to the instruction of Hebrew as a mother-tongue (L1) language based on technological developments and on the relationship between technology and pedagogy. As such, we rely on well-known models of integrating computerized tools and distance learning in the educational system, while emphasizing the potential contribution of these environments to L1 education. At the core of this paper is the combination of linguistic and didactic approaches to L1 teaching that bring together both theoretical and functional aspects of learning and teaching language via a computer. The focus here is on technologically-based L1 learning environments that combine different types of computerized tools within a comprehensive language-learning/teaching system that is designed for facilitating and improving language skills. This system is cognitively motivated, and is modeled on a combination of elements, such as principles of constructivist, social, and active learning. The structural-conceptual framework of this environment complies with principles of both local and global connectivity and hierarchy. For example, at the local level, learning materials are connected through a hypertext structure; at the global level, the entire system is inter-connected, with assignments linked to dictionaries and relevant websites, and the learners themselves connected through email and forums. The teaching/learning processes that take place within this L1 environment are illustrated by examples of both online and offline computerized courses.