Research suggests that ICT in the form of applications, online resources, social media, simulations, gaming and digital publishing are excellent options for teachers looking to give their students a meaningful experience and much-needed practice in a target language. (Allen, 2007; Franciosi, 2017; Purushotma et al., 2009; Stepp-Greany, 2003; Ziegler, & Feucht, 2012)
Initial attempts at building a conceptual framework revolved around adapting an existing theoretical framework based on the work of Stephen Krashen (Krashen & Terrell, 1983). The framework targeted students whose environments provide little to no opportunities for second-language interactions outside of the classroom. This framework was called ARCC for “Absorb, Recall, Comprehend, and Create. It was decided that this framework wasn’t comprehensive or specific enough. Over the course of several weeks, team members developed a new framework called ERAIC. Rather than focussing on the affordances of the technologies involved, ERAIC evaluates resources based on the quality of the target language interactions they encourage. It is important to note that a resource may fall into several categories depending on how it is used.
Building solutions around this framework proved to be counter-intuitive. Requiring educators to learn a new framework in order to access digital resources added an unnecessary step potentially discouraging them from utilising the group’s design solutions. While ERAIC may be useful for developing and for evaluating tools, in-service teachers are likely looking for resources that respond to very specific needs. They also seek guidance about how to integrate desired resources, an issue not addressed in the framework. The solutions were therefore redesigned to allow for peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing through a variety of platforms, as well as enhanced searching and filtering based upon a variety of pertinent metrics, such as grade levels, subject matter, and French language skills reinforced by the resource.