DelliCarpini, M. (2012). ACTION RESEARCH – BUILDING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY SKILLS IN TESOL TEACHER EDUCATION. Language Learning & Technology, 16(2), 14–23. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/june2012/action.pdf
Summary of article: The article is an action research project trying to directly find an understanding of why there is a gap between teacher candidates’ knowledge of educational technology and their use of it in the classroom setting. DelliCarpini points out that she and other authors she has cited know that technology should be embedded into the curriculum in such a way that students are learning their second language while at the same time developing the electronic literacy that they will need to be a part of the global community. She then states that one of the major reasons that this integration is not happening to the level at which it should is because of inadequate teacher and learner training. She discussed the results of a previous research article which stressed that the major negative impacts of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) only arose when there was a lack of computer training for both the teachers and learners. The author cites articles that call for having CALL integration be introduced in a relevant, positive manner to teachers if it were going to actually change their practices. The author’s own research involved a variety of teacher candidates from several different semesters wherein she involved them in an active technology learning class combining readings, modeling of technology use, as well as time for the teachers to develop their own technology based lesson and unit plans. Then the candidates were asked to reflect weekly about their experiences. She discovered that she was correct and that most of her teacher students had not been integrating technology because they did not understand how to do so in their classroom settings, believed technology to be not worth the effort, and were unaware of the existence of certain technologies. She also discovered other barriers, such as time and access to technology. In her conclusion she discusses her results and the facts that she has cited from other papers. First, that teachers’ use of technology in their personal lives does not make them understand how to integrate technology into their classrooms. And then, that teachers must be exposed to the technology, by having it modeled for them and then having the time to experience using it themselves to change their attitudes and to insure that they embed technology into their curriculum.
Reasons for my choice on researching this article: I chose this article not only because it was about technology for TESOL classrooms, but also focused on a teacher education program. She was aiming to find out what a teacher education program could do to better prepare the teachers to embrace and use technology in their new classrooms when they arrived. I liked that two of her stated goals for her project were to “Develop candidates’ skills in integrating technology in a meaningful way into their curriculum” and to “Create learning activities where technology is a natural part of the experience that enhances learning.” These two statements are what my goals are when I teach a technology class for teachers and that is also my drive when I think about why I want to be a part of this whole program. The idea of an action research project is I believe what we will all be doing as a part of this professional practice degree. I also enjoyed her writing style; it was easy for me to follow and understand. I enjoyed the fact that she used actual statistical analyses of her results, which to me makes it more authentic then just presenting a chart with raw data and saying that it “looks good”, which is what I have seen in other articles. Overall I liked the idea of the project and this is exactly the sort of thing that I would love to be able to do, to help teachers become more comfortable with technologies so that they and their students will benefit.
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