Sustainable CALL development

Abstract

The rapid pace of technological development, along with the uncertainty and unpredictability that characterise the knowledge society, have brought to the fore the issue of sustainability and sustainable development on various international, national and local educational research and policy agendas. Sustainability is a complex concept that gives rise to many definitions and interpretations. In this chapter, we draw on environmental/ecological definitions of sustainability and sustainable development, as well as system theories, to propose a multidimensional framework for sustainable CALL development. Following a definition of sustainability that employs systems theories and ecological economics, we briefly review the literature on sustainable e-learning in general and CALL in particular. We then propose a systemic view of sustainable CALL and discuss two models, the ‘institutional model’ and the ‘CALL ecosystem model’ that can be used to help integrate sustainability in our CALL designs and development.