Teachers’ Use Of i-Pads in Modern Foreign Language Lessons: A Comparative International Enquiry

Author(s):

Jan Georgeson(presenting / submitting)Claudia Blandon(presenting)Linda la Velle

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

16. ICT in Education and Training

Format:

Paper

Session Information

16 SES 03 A, Tablet Computers in Primary Education

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-08

17:15-18:45

Room:

3005. [Main]

Chair:

Ed Smeets

Contribution

We report on the second phase of a longitudinal project investigating MFL pedagogy in a secondary school in Devon, UK and an all-age school in Galicia, Spain, and focus here on teachers’ developing understanding of the pedagogic potential of using Apple i-pads in MFL classes with 11-12 year old pupils. We examine different methods to support teachers’ understanding of their own practice, including engagement in collaborative lesson delivery between Spain and the UK. Along with other curriculum areas in both countries, MFL has benefitted from considerable resourcing in ICT, although adoption of iPads in MFL teaching has been reported as much lower than in other subject areas (Naace, 2012) and, in spite of sophisticated pedagogical thinking, transformation of the learning process is not straightforward, with or without ICT (Gray et al. 2007) and can be shaped by the relationships within a subject area between its dominant pedagogy, culture and available technology (John and Sutherland, 2005). Nonetheless, social media continue to provide ample evidence of the expansion of vibrant online communities dedicated to the development of MFL e-pedagogy and the sharing of e-resources (Teaching Agency, 2012; Dale, 2013). Teachers were seeking to answer the following research questions: does the use of IPads in MFL classes improve pupils knowledge, skills, confidence and motivation in learning a second language, and to what extent is this true for different pupil groups? University research partners were also seeking to answer questions about how involvement in a comparative study supports teachers’ reflective thinking about their own practice. Interpretation of the data was influenced both by Tobin’s dialogic approach to fieldwork (Tobin, 1997) and by the ‘Padagogy Wheel’, which encourages analysis of the effectiveness of apps used in teaching within the hierarchy of Bloom et al.'s (1956) taxonomic model, updated for educational use of ICT (Churches, 2007).

Method

Researchers and teachers in the UK and Spain worked together to plan lessons to teach Spanish, English and French to 11/12 year olds, using generic iPad apps. Lesson plans were exchanged and taught in both countries. These lessons were observed and data were recorded using traditional methods (observations sheets, high quality video capture) as well through using the Video Enhanced Observation (VEO) app, which enables the tagging and reviewing of individual elements and episodes of classroom teaching and learning, e.g. teacher questioning, pupil problem-solving, etc (Haines, 2014). Evaluative data were collected from post-lesson teacher reflective interviews in Spanish (MFL English teachers) and English (MFL Spanish teachers). Using a modified methodology from Cutrim Schmid (2011) and Rich & Hannafin (2009), video clips from the lessons were used to trigger responses to questions designed to probe understanding of pedagogic content. Teachers also kept reflective logs detailing their experiences of using iPads, informed by data from in-class e-voting to collect feedback from pupils. Focus group discussions and interviews with teachers from each country encouraged reflection on the experience of looking at someone else’s practice and what that can tell you about how and why you do things ‘back home’.

Expected Outcomes

We present here teachers’ reflections on the lessons involving the use of iPads by both pupils and observers, including their views on the transformative power of ICT compared with their own lived human experience of learning a foreign language in different cultural and international contexts. Also discussed are the relative perspectives of Spanish and UK teachers on their developing pedagogic content knowledge in the context of lesson planning and delivery. Previous research points both to the creative and rote-learning potential of iPads (Naace, 2012), as well as the interaction between self-motivation and competitive classroom culture. These are two aspects of pupil motivation that Bolster has highlighted as of particular importance in MFL (Bolster, 2009) but which play out differently in the two school contexts, in both peer culture and school culture attitudes to English in the Spanish school, and French/Spanish in the English school. We also investigate further the potential of ICT in MFL lesson to offer simulations of communication experiences (such as role play and avatars) in the same way that subject-specific apps in science and geography have been show to support learning previously gained only through lab work and field trips (Baggott la Velle et al. 2003; Poland et al. 2003).

References

Baggott la Velle, LM, McFarlane, AM and Brawn, R. (2003) Knowledge Transformation through ICT in Science Education: Ac case study in teacher-driven curriculum development. British Journal of Educational Technology 34 (2) 183-200 Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.; Furst, E. J.; Hill, W. H.; Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company. Bolster, A. (2009) Continuity or a fresh start? A case study of motivation in MFL at transition, KS2-3 The Language Learning Journal, 27, 2 23-254 Churches, A. 2007, Educational Origami, Bloom's and ICT Tools. Available at http://www.unity.net.au/allansportfolio/edublog/?p=324 ). Cutrim Schmid, E. (2011). Video-stimulated reflection as a professional development tool in interactive whiteboard research. ReCALL, 23, pp 252-270 doi:10.1017/S0958344011000176 Dale, J. 2013 The language of Twitter: the rise of MFL teachers online. The Guardian 7th February 2013. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/feb/07/twitter-language-mfl-teachers Haines, J. 2014 VEO. Haiku Deck. Available at https://www.haikudeck.com/veo-education-presentation-9xfZWRTaWd Gray, C., Pilkington, R. Hagger-Vaughan. L. and Tomkins, S. (2007) Integrating ICT into classroom practice in modern foreign language teaching in England: making room for teachers’ voices. European Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 30, No. 4, November 2007, pp. 407–429 John, P.; and Sutherland, R. (2005) Affordance, opportunity and the pedagogical implications of ICT Educational Review, 57(4): pp 405-413 NAACE (2012), The iPad as a tool for education - a study of the introduction of iPads at Longfield Academy, Kent. Available at http://www.naace.co.uk/publications/longfieldipadresearch. Poland, R. Baggott la Velle, LM, and Nichol, JD. (2003) The Virtual Field Station (VFS): using a virtual reality environment for ecological fieldwork in A-level biological studies. British Journal of Educational Technology, 34 (2) 215-232 Rich, P.J. and Hannafin, M. (2009) Video Annotation Tools Technologies to Scaffold, Structure, and Transform Teacher Reflection Journal of Teacher Education vol. 60 no 1. pp52-6 Tobin, J., (1992) A Dialogical Approach to the Problem of Field-Site Typicality. City & Society Vol 6 no 1 pp 46-57. Teaching Agency (2012) Modern foreign languages (MFL) resources. Available at http://www.education.gov.uk/ta-assets/~/media/get_into_teaching/resources/subjects_age_groups/mfl_language_resources.pdf

Author Information

Jan Georgeson (presenting / submitting)

Plymouth University, United Kingdom

Claudia Blandon (presenting)

Plymouth University

Plymouth Institute of Education

Plymouth

Linda la Velle