When my 9th graders read different books last year in book circles, we found many of the books on the net. http://esl-bits.net/ Quite a few of my students still preferred to read the ”real” book, the printed version.

I would rather make a difference between Course book (online or not) AND digital resources of varying kinds that you find on the net.

As many of you have said…time is one factor.  Also, the people who write the course books are professionals and the material is supposed to follow the curriculum.

On the other hand, my students and I would be bored to death if we only used one course book. Having fun, being inspired and using authentic language is important when you learn a language. It is also easier to adapt/and find resources on the net for different students on different levels.

I’m not too fond of using just ONE course book in my classes (online or not). I want to add what I find appropriate for this class at this time and I use old and new course books, but mostly resources on the net. 

I want to be flexible and there is so much out there!
Marita Elg

It seems that both coursebooks and ICT resources are valid tools fpr learning a foreign language. It always depens, of course, on the quality of the textbooks and the ICT materials. I personally stopped using textbooks in Spanish 3, 4 and 5 some years ago, due to the fact that the textbook available had not a good didactical approach. Since then I have been creating my own material and completing it with ICT resources in order to practice, improve and support the grammatical or lexical items seen in the classroom. For those who are interested, the created materials for Spanish 4 are now available in Digilär.

However in Spanish 2 I combine the traditional textbook with my own material since the group is smaller in number and the textbook allows students to work easily on their own. 

In English I do not use any textbook either. We work with topic-based lessons. I build up material around the chosen topic that covers the four language skills and fits the requirements for the course. 

Santiago Villalobos

      We tend to however forget sometimes that there are students that still, for various learning reasons, need a coursebook. Another thing that has been noted recently is that not everyone has access to internet when at home. So I believe in a variation of sources, be it digital or coursebooks. That makes the lessons more interesting, too. Grammar and vocabulary practise is best done digitally, I believe, with it’s instant gratification system. In addition, it is good to use digital material as opposed to a coursebook as you can more easily individualise the lessons. 

      The thing that the majority of students feel averse to, I feel, is paper handouts. That is however not really needed today, at least if you use Google, with the exception of the aforementioned students perhaps.

       “It would seem sensible therefore to see continued reliance on the coursebook not in black and white terms…”  (Allen, 2016).

Anette Liddle