Change in the making

Strategic and pedagogical aspects of technology integration in language teaching : towards multimodal language learning environments
Taalas, Peppi
951-39-2091-7;
University of Jyväskylä. Centre for Applied Language Studies / Soveltavan kielentutkimuksen keskus
2005

Ovatko opettajien opetuskäytänteet kehittyneet tietoyhteiskunnan vaatimusten mukaisesti? Missä ollaan menossa kielenopetuksessa? Miten tietostrategioiden luomat visiot näkyvät opetuksen kehittämisessä ja kehittymisessä?

Peppi Taalas tarkasteli väitöstutkimuksessaan teknologian integroitumista ammatillisen ja yliopistotason kielenopetukseen. Hän selvitti ammatillisten koulujen englannin opettajien teknologian käyttöä sekä siinä tapahtuneita muutoksia vuosina 1994-2001. Taalas keräsi tietoa kaikkien suomen- ja ruotsinkielisten ammatillisten oppilaitosten englannin opettajien teknologian käytöstä.

Abstract

This study explores the way in which technology is integrated in language teaching in the vocational and higher education sectors. There are two parts in the study. Part I examines change in a seven-year follow up study where English teachers teaching practices and the technology use are surveyed to see where and what kind of change is taking place. Along with an extensive theoretical framework of educational change and learning technologies, change is examined in the light of three external interventions: immense technological advancement and the information strategies, the changing notion of literacy, and the restructuring of education.

There are three sets of data (from 1994, 1997, and 2001) covering all Finnish and Swedish vocational schools in Finland. Part II of the study is an empirical examination of the ‘rules' and ‘realities' of change in real life context of language teaching. The aims of the part is to better understand the mechanisms of change as a systemic process.

The study has both strategic and pedagogic aims. The strategic aims are to view the impact of current information strategies in the area of language teaching, and to examine the suitability of the available research methods for the multilayered and dynamic contexts of organisational development. Pedagogical aims area to examine the concept of innovative technology use, to present a design model for technology integrated language teaching, and to provide useful information about the current technology-integrated language teaching practices.

The results in Part I quite clearly show that the kind of change described in the Finnish information strategies has not taken place, and that the support structures for technology-integration need to be revised. The teachers' technology use has increased in the seven-year time span, but the use is mostly administrative or quite traditional. Part II raises concerns about the lack of adequate research and evaluation approaches that would support sustainable re-culturing processes in teaching organisations.