Educational Technology - Teacher Education
M. Zarrabi; M. Mohammadi; Z. Seifoori
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Technology has been hugely integrated into foreign language classrooms and teachers are expected to take a proper position toward using it. Aside from extrinsic factors such as time, equipment, and training, there are also intrinsic factors residing within the teachers like ...
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Background and Objectives: Technology has been hugely integrated into foreign language classrooms and teachers are expected to take a proper position toward using it. Aside from extrinsic factors such as time, equipment, and training, there are also intrinsic factors residing within the teachers like beliefs, teaching experience, and willingness to use technology that can predict their perceptions toward integrating technology in the class. The latter seems to be the reason why teachers do not pay due attention to effectively integrating technology into their practice which is still insufficiently explored. This study aims to investigate the relationship between teachers’ professional identity and their perceptions toward Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) among Iranian EFL teachers and the practices, challenges, and solutions they consider.Materials and Methods: In this mixed-methods research, out of all Iranian EFL teachers working in universities, language institutes, and schools, 174 were selected using convenience sampling. In the quantitative phase, the participants completed two questionnaires, i.e., Teachers’ Professional Identity and Perceptions toward using ICTs. In the qualitative phase, 39 teachers with high levels of perceptions toward using ICTs who were selected to adopt purposeful sampling answered a structured interview. A standard multiple linear regression and frequency analysis were conducted to analyze the data in the quantitative and qualitative phases, respectively. Findings: The results of standard multiple linear regression revealed that professional identity is a strong predictor of ICT use. Teaching experience, however, is not a determiner in this respect. Also, the result of the triangulation of the data from the survey and the interview showed no corroboration. The qualitative data analysis also indicated several common technological practices of teachers in their classrooms. The teachers’ major challenges were categorized as teacher-related (e.g., lack of ICT literacy and professional training; lack of self-confidence and confronting technical difficulties; difficulty in class time management; and preparing technology-based materials), learner-related (e.g., lack of knowledge and being unfamiliar with ICTs; technology as a source of distraction; lack of interest in using technology and cooperation), and institution-related (e.g., weak internet connection; the unfamiliarity of the managers with the concept and denial of advantages of technology; their unsupportive behavior; traditional educational systems and policies; and lack of budget, facilities and equipment). They further suggested some solutions to address the technology-integration issues. They were three types: Solutions that can be handled by the teachers (e.g., increasing their own technological knowledge; being more disciplined, organized, patient, and self-confident; dedicating enough time and attention to their students’ needs and selecting appropriate technologies for learners with differing learning styles, age, and interests; and supporting each other in handling technical difficulties). Other solutions can be managed by the institutions (e.g., providing up-to-date facilities and technological tools; holding training courses, workshops, and seminars to increase technological literacy; encouraging and supporting teachers in applying technologies and being innovative). Some other solutions offered by teachers can be addressed by policymakers (e.g., allocating the budget to the institutes and educational centers to provide appropriate technological equipment and high-speed broadband Wi-Fi).Conclusions: The results of this study clearly demonstrated that high professional identity with all its components (i.e., subject matter, pedagogical, didactic) can positively influence the application of technology in class. Out of these three, teachers’ didactical expertise showed a more significant role. This implies that managers and directors of study, besides equipping the educational centers and facilitating access to technology in class, are expected to provide teachers with pre-service and in-service training courses to empower them to be experts in teaching skills and strategies. Raising teachers’ awareness about other aspects of professional teachers such as professional ethics/values and their knowledge base is also recommended. These challenges did not very much contradict those that resulted in similar studies in other parts of the world. Despite these problems, teachers continue practicing technology in their classes using a variety of ways like using software and applications, gadgets and tech tools, and the internet as the major source of any technology-integrated activity. The results of this study could be more generalizable if more volunteers from all around the country took part in it.
Electronic learning- virtual
Z. Cheraghi; H. Omranpour; A. Motahari nejad; F. Moghisseh
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Regarding the fact that most of the submitted official documents are written in or translated into English, all English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learners are not only required to learn professional knowledge but also need to know English technical vocabulary in their field ...
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Background and Objectives: Regarding the fact that most of the submitted official documents are written in or translated into English, all English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learners are not only required to learn professional knowledge but also need to know English technical vocabulary in their field of study. Therefore, enhancing technical vocabulary competence (VC) is one of the aims defined by ESP learners. In this new digital era, various techniques facilitate vocabulary learning via using Information and Communication Technology. Due to the advent of technology and the developmental trend of learning, learners are provided with the opportunity to use online and mobile applications in a very wide range to develop their English vocabulary knowledge. Accordingly, this study was an attempt to explore the effect of using Google Docs on ESP students' vocabulary learning. The research also intended to find out the learners' perceptions toward using Google Docs on learning and practicing target technical vocabulary.Materials and Methods: To this end, a quasi-experimental research design was employed for gathering both quantitative and qualitative data. In this regard, 40 Iranian ESP nursing learners who were randomly allocated into an experimental (n=20) and a control group (n=20) participated in this study. The learners in the control group were asked to use their personal traditional techniques for learning technical vocabulary, while the experimental group was assigned to use Google Docs for vocabulary learning. Four data-gathering instruments were utilized; first, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was employed for homogenizing the participants. Second, each group underwent a pretest and a posttest to assess their learning of the assigned vocabulary lessons. Then, a survey was conducted among the experimental group to investigate learners' motivation about learning technical vocabulary through using Google Docs. Lastly, a semi-structured interview was employed with the experimental group to explore their thoughts and perceptions toward using Google Docs. A series of t-tests, including two paired sample t-tests and one independent samples t-test were employed to compare the performance of the two groups in terms of learning technical vocabulary.Findings: Subsequent to validating the assumption of normality, the results of an independent samples t-test revealed that there was a significant difference between the students of the experimental and control groups on post-test scores. The obtained data revealed that both experimental and control groups were able to improve their vocabulary learning successfully. However, comparing the two groups showed that the experimental group performed significantly better than their counterparts in the control group who used their practical traditional techniques for learning specialized vocabulary in ESP courses. Additionally, face-to-face semi-structured interview results uncovered that the experimental group learners had positive perceptions toward using Google Docs for learning technical vocabulary.Conclusions: Counting on the integration of technology into the curriculum of learning/ teaching ESP, it was concluded that Google Docs was an effective website tool that boosts, engages, and motivates learners to expand their technical vocabulary learning. Based on the limitation of the research, it is suggested to conduct a similar study with both male and female ESP learners, and also with a larger sample. The results of this research contain considerable implications for ESP instructors and learners and also curriculum and syllabus designers. Incorporating ICT into ESP education has revolutionized and changed the method by which ESP material developers construct ESP materials. So, findings can be implemented in any educational contexts as well as other languages.
e-learning
K. Taghipour; F. Mahmoodi; M. abbasi; M. Mohammadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Digital Divide refers to inequality in information and communication technology (ICT) which refers to inequality between the people who have access to digital technology and information and those who have very limited access or no access at all. Considering the fact that the ...
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Background and Objectives: Digital Divide refers to inequality in information and communication technology (ICT) which refers to inequality between the people who have access to digital technology and information and those who have very limited access or no access at all. Considering the fact that the Iranian education has entered the field of providing instruction in Corona pandemic conditions without having the necessary preparations and planning, examining the digital divide and knowing how to implement the instruction in these circumstances can improve the quality of instruction in schools. Accordingly, the current study was conducted with the intention of evaluating the amount of digital divide in the second secondary school education of Tabriz city in the condition of COVID-19 pandemic and identify the factors affecting it.Methods: The descriptive survey research was used. The study population included all teachers and students of second secondary school education of Tabriz city in the second semester of the academic year of 2019- 2020 who were randomly selected using cluster-random sampling method in three schools from each of the five educational districts and the 12th grade class from each school. The data were collected using the questionnaires of Hosseini et al. (2013), Gregg (2016), Zarei Zavaraki and Salemian (2015). The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts in this field. The reliability of the questionnaires was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient for Hosseini et al. (2013), Grieg (2016), and Zarei Zavaraki and Salemian (2015) questionnaires which were calculated to be 0.796, 0.86, and 0.92, respectively. Multivariate Analysis of Variance, independent T-Test and Friedman Test were used to analyze the data.Findings: The results showed that there is digital divide between the teachers of the five educational districts of Tabriz city only in the amount of access to ICT and the amount of the usage of computers during the day. However, there is a significant difference between students in five educational districts of Tabriz city in most dimensions of digital divide, access to ICT, the usage of computers during the day and the year, and the level of their skills in using ICT. Teachers, as compared to students, have more access to ICT in most educational districts of Tabriz, but students' attitudes, skills, and their usage of ICT is better than those of the teachers in most districts of Tabriz city. According to the results related to the effective factors on the digital divide from the perspective of the teachers, the shortage of technical, financial, and economic equipment, cultural, motivational- educational weakness, and the shortage of management and planning infrastructures have been identified as the most important and effective factors on creating the digital divide in second secondary school of Tabriz City.Conclusion: According to the findings, the digital divide is evident in the second secondary school education of Tabriz city. It is essential that the Ministry of Education, in addition to equipping schools, sets up ICT centers in the disadvantaged areas for better access of teachers and students to ICT, as well as providing ICT-related skills training courses.
E-Lerning
Gh. M. Rahimidoost; F. Moosavi; A. Masnavi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Today Internet has a substantial effect on all aspects of human life and has influenced every individual and social aspects. According to studies, more than 82 percent of Iran's population use Internet by the year 2019. Internet as an attractive and pervasive medium has a deep ...
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Background and Objectives: Today Internet has a substantial effect on all aspects of human life and has influenced every individual and social aspects. According to studies, more than 82 percent of Iran's population use Internet by the year 2019. Internet as an attractive and pervasive medium has a deep effect on economic, financial, administrative sectors as well as social, cultural, and scientific communications; and somehow has changed people’s lifestyle. This effect has been such that today a concept called digital citizenship is mentioned instead of the traditional concept of citizenship. Since instruction and learning are an important area of human life, reducing the increasing costs of instruction and improving students’ learning and teachers’ teaching have become a main challenge of educational systems, and officials and mangers therefore seek to solve such a problem. Generally, technologies as a new solution open promising windows for educational system administrators. From the advent and development of the Internet as a powerful and interactive tool, it has been at the center of attention of the administrators. The unique nature of the Internet and the fundamental differences with previous media have also attracted the attention of many teachers and professors. Internet provides numerous tools and facilities and could be a desired environment for overcoming challenges. These tools and facilities could be applied in different phases and parts of teaching. Some are appropriate for presenting materials, some for gaining and directing students’ attention, some for doing various practices, and some for doing cooperative and group projects. Therefore, researchers recently have studied how to use Internet tools for various purposes of teaching and learning. Investigating teachers' abilities and capabilities for using Internet tools in teaching and learning has become a main question for researchers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the skills of math teachers of secondary schools in Ahvaz to integrate Internet tools in their teaching. Methods: The research method was descriptive survey in which a researcher-made questionnaire was designed. Developed questionnaire consisted of 41 Likert type questions which were divided into 5 categories. 10 questions were related to presenting the material, 9 questions to gaining attention and motivating learners, 13 questions related to designing and developing practices, 4 questions related to providing optimal feedback to learners and finally 5 questions related to facilitating cooperative learning. Reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by alpha coefficient and found to be 0.872. Then expert views were used for assessing the validity of the questionnaire. Statistical population was Ahvaz math teachers and based on the size of the population, all 67 teachers (37 males and 30 females) were selected from high-school teachers. Then the required data was gathered by the questionnaire. Findings: The results this study indicate that the teachers' skills in using the Internet tools are almost poor. In other words, teachers' skills for presenting the materials (1.62), for gaining attention and motivating learners (1.55), developing practices (1.79), providing optimal feedback to learners (1.72), and for facilitating cooperative learning environment (1.23) were all lower than the assumed mean of the study. Conclusion: Theskills of teachers in integrating Internet tools into teaching including presenting the materials, gaining attention and motivating, developing practices, providing optimal feedback to learners, and for facilitating cooperative learning environment are all poor and need to be improved.
Educational Technology
M. Moeinikia; A. Zahed Babelan; E. Aryani Ghizghapan; Z. Bigdeli
Abstract
brought another technology called information and communication technology (ICT). This technology has a much wider impact capacity, compared to previous technologies, and in the field of education, by being affected by this new capacity, beneficial developments can be made in the pillars of the relevant ...
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brought another technology called information and communication technology (ICT). This technology has a much wider impact capacity, compared to previous technologies, and in the field of education, by being affected by this new capacity, beneficial developments can be made in the pillars of the relevant components. It is a matter of further reflection and understanding in recognizing various aspects, including opportunities or threats arising from the use of this technology. In other words, today the world with the features that have shaped the computer and Internet communications, has emerged to the extent that the networking community has led to the comprehensiveness, complexity and technological networking in various fields. The purpose of the present research was analysis and synthesis analysis presented in the context of the application of ICT in teaching and learning on students’ learning outcome. Methods: The research method is a meta-analysis. The population of the study consists of the written works such as theses and articles available on the websites Irandoc, Magiran, Sid and Noormagz and some papers indexed in journals between years 1387-1394. From among the done works, 36 studies were selected. Data analysis was performed with the help of three software programs, SPSS 22, CMA 2 & EXCEL. For descriptive statistics frequency and percent frequency were used, for inferential statistics, to calculate the effect size G Hedges, fixed effect and random effect model were used. To study the significance of frequency of the research, counting method (chi-square) and in order to combine effects sizes T Vainer possible combination method was used. To study the problem of publication bias in primary studies Funnel chart was used. Findings: It showed that publication bias in the primary study of learning outcome variable existed. To fix this problem, two models of fixed and random effects of Dual and Tweedy fitness test were used. In order to study the homogeneity of the studies, Q and I2 tests were used. The results showed that the primary studies are not homogeneous. Also, the calculated effect size was significant for studies under both models, fixed and random, for the examined variables. Vainer t possible combination results showed that there were significant differences between the combined effects sizes. Finally, the application of ICT in teaching and learning in students' learning outcome is verified Conclusion: According to the results of the research on the significance of the effect of using ICT in the learning efficiency of learners, it is suggested that practitioners (education planners) to consider the use of teaching aids and the use of new technologies as a priority. It is obvious that the development of ICT expansion infrastructure in the country, especially in educational centers, and providing opportunities for the entry of information technologies into schools and universities without ICT, which creates new social contexts for students to learn, is a key step in this direction. Ultimately, it is certainly the teachers who hold the key to effectively using technology to improve learning, but if teachers do not fully understand how to use ICT effectively to advance student learning, the huge investments made in ICT innovations will be easily wasted. According to the results of the research, it is suggested to encourage teachers to use new technologies in the process of teaching and learning in order to use them more and better, proper training should be held and to raise the level of their scientific knowledge in the above fields. Certainly, in order to succeed in this way, proper investment to equip schools with new technological tools is an important and vital thing that needs to be given more attention by the authorities
Electronic learning- virtual
A. Soleimangoli; A. Dolati; A. Aminbeidokhti
Abstract
This study was aimed at identifying interaction solutions in improving the teaching – learning process of smart schools in Semnan the method used for this study was exploratory mixed method that first part is qualitative and second part is quantitative. In the qualitative research, in first case ...
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This study was aimed at identifying interaction solutions in improving the teaching – learning process of smart schools in Semnan the method used for this study was exploratory mixed method that first part is qualitative and second part is quantitative. In the qualitative research, in first case 6 persons who are expert in ICT were sampled and they were interviewed in depth method, in second case 24 teachers were chosen in a purposive and snowball methods and they were interviewed in semi-guided method. After content analysis of the obtained results of interviews and deep theoretical study, the researchers developed this results in a form of questionnaire contained 2 sections: 1: demographic information and 2: interaction solutions in improving teaching – learning process of smart schools in the ideal situation and the present situation. Construct and content validity of the questionnaire was determined by experts, and its reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha, which in the ideal situation reported 0.85 and in the present situation 0.89.In the quantitative part of the research, questionnaires were completed by 254 teachers, 24 managers, 24 deputies and 8 experts in ICT that they were sampled in a stratified method. The results are shown that " connecting schools to National intranet and creating local network to the school "with the most important which are ranked in the first place. «Mobilization computer mini PC, class mate, thin client or lap top connected to the network lan" is in the second place» Computer integrated communication with other schools that is placed in the third." Active member in the Portals smart schools» in the fourth place of the improving effect of the teaching - learning played roles in the smart schools.
Technology-based learning environments
B. Nazari; J. Poorkarimi
Abstract
Due to the increasing development of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the community and schools, this study aimed to identify the relationship between the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), and students’ academic achievement in smart and regular schools. ...
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Due to the increasing development of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the community and schools, this study aimed to identify the relationship between the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), and students’ academic achievement in smart and regular schools. The population was primary school students in the fifth grade and the sample included 662 students, which determined through cluster sampling was. The Survey was done through the use of questionnaires. The method for how to collect data for the purpose and descriptive survey that collects data for action. The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire made by utilizing ICT validity of its content validity and reliability was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Alpha coefficient was calculated to 0.92, indicating a high reliability of research tool is the tool. The results showed that the relationship between academic achievement (previous year and the previous term) and there is no use of ICT (p = 0.251; r = 0.088; r = 0.048, p = 0.534), as well as the use of ICT in the boys significantly higher than girls is the (p = 0.003; t = -2.98) and the use of ICT in schools was significantly higher than conventional schools is the (p = 0.001; t = 3.68).
