Using online technologies for informal learning by future teachers of English

Book excerpt: This monograph aims to introduce the theme of informal learning. It consists of the theoretical part and the results of research conducted at the Faculty of Education, Palacký University in Olomouc among its master's students – future English teachers and the students of other 3 universities. It attempts to find out how often and how the students use online platforms, applications, websites and social networks in their informal learning and formal education. It describes the differences and similarities between the students' use of online technology for their own supervised and unguided learning and for the purposes of their formal studies. Comparisons in the use of online technology are made with regards to the students' gender and form of studies. The third part consists of the qualitative part of research focused on how future teachers of English have been approaching online technologies throughout their lives, primarily for the sake of informal education. In semi-structured interviews, teacher candidates who study primary and lower-secondary education at the Faculty of Education of Palacký University in Olomouc shared their history of using online applications and web pages from their young school age up to the present time. Differences and similarities between the two groups of students are explored, as well as the potential influence of their specific histories with online technologies on how they plan to utilize these in their future careers.