The Frequency of using technology

The technology that English teachers used in the classroom included CD players, E-textbooks, the electronic interactive whiteboard, videos, songs, the PowerPoint, online games, and online tests. The results of technology English teachers used in the classroom are presented in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1 Technology that English Teachers Used in the Classroom

Technology English Teachers Employed in the Classroom N %

CD player 8 100.00%

E-textbook 5 62.50%

electronic interactive whiteboard 2 25.00%

video 7 87.50%

song 8 100.00%

PowerPoint 3 37.50%

online game 3 37.50%

online test 2 25.00%

As Table 4.1 shows, all of the eight teachers (100%) used CD players and songs, seven (87.50%) used videos, five (62.50%) used E-textbooks, three (37.50%) used the PowerPoint and online games separately, and two (25%) used the electronic interactive whiteboard and online tests separately, revealing that all teachers used the CD player and songs most in the classroom while they integrated the electronic interactive whiteboard and online tests into instruction least. Because teachers had access to the CD player and songs more easily than the electronic interactive whiteboard and online tests, it was likely that their access to technology would influence the frequency of using technology in the classroom. With regard to the frequency of teachers’ use of different types of technology, the results are presented as follows.

CD player

Half of the teachers, Alice, Ben, Gina, and Helen, used the CD player every time while teaching dialogues, reading, and the workbook because it was convenient, quick, and easy for them to use the CD player in class. Besides, Alice mentioned that without visual aids students could only concentrate on listening, and would not be easily distracted by multimedia (2012-09-20-TI-Alice). The other half, Cathy, Diana, Eric, and Fiona, used it sometimes when they taught vocabulary, dialogues, reading, the workbook, or English songs. Among these teachers, Cathy, Diana, and Eric who used the E-textbook a lot applied the CD player sometimes in class when there was something wrong with the equipment or the E-textbook. As for Fiona, she used it sometimes because she forgot to bring the CD or the CD player to class at times, she would read vocabulary, dialogues, and reading to her students, which she thought was

a fast and convenient way (2012-10-16-TI-Fiona).

Based on these teachers’ responses, it was found that half of the teachers applied the CD player a lot because each of them had their own CD player provided by the school and it was convenient to use it in class. In addition, Alice did not like her students to be distracted when they did listening exercises. The other half sometimes used the CD player for two reasons. One was that they only used it when the technology they used a lot in class was out of order. The other reason pointed out by Fiona was that she could still teach in another way even without it. As a result, the frequency of using the CD player seemed to have something to do with the access to this type of technology as well as teachers’ attitudes about or their habits of using it in class.

E-textbook

Five of the teachers, Alice, Cathy, Diana, Eric, and Gina, integrated the E-textbook into instruction. Among these teachers, Cathy, Diana, and Eric used it every time while teaching vocabulary, dialogues, grammar, reading, the workbook, or supplementary materials because it was convenient for them to apply the E-textbook with listening and visual aids to teaching practices. As Eric said,

Through the use of the E-textbook, I can let students listen to the whole text, and repeat after it; I can also click a word or a sentence for them to listen to and follow. Students can see all of the text on the screen. Besides, it is convenient for me to use the E-textbook, which contains the function of the posters and the CD player, and with it I can save much time of writing on the blackboard. (2012-10-16-TI-Eric)

As for the other two teachers, Alice and Gina, they sometimes used it while teaching dialogues, reading, or the workbook. As Alice revealed, “Using the E-textbook could save time of writing on the blackboard and make teaching variety…I only used it in the seventh grade class because I found better online resources to integrate into practices.” (2012-09-20-TI-Alice) Moreover, Gina stated,

I used the E-textbook with the intention of enhancing students’ learning motivation. However, there were two main reasons why I only used it for one month. One was that some students just took notes without paying attention to what I said. The other was that I could not make examples and showed them to students immediately through the use of the E-textbook. If I use the chalk, I can immediately write examples on the blackboard.

(2012-10-19-TI-Gina)

These teachers’ responses above indicated that Cathy, Diana, and Eric used the E-textbook frequently because the school provided each class with an overhead projector, a screen, a notebook, and speakers. It was thus convenient for them to apply the E-textbook in class, and they also believed that the teaching efficiency could be increased by using it. As for Alice and Gina, they used it sometimes for different reasons. Alice agreed with the aforementioned benefits of using the E-textbook, but it was not the only technology she applied in class since she would consider students’

proficiency levels and learning needs to choose the most suitable technology to integrate into instruction. On the contrary, Gina did not use it anymore because she did not think that using it would enhance the efficiency of teaching and learning.

Hence, it was very likely that the frequency of teachers’ use of E-textbook was related to the access to the technology as well as their attitudes or beliefs about the teaching and learning efficiency of using it in class.

Electronic interactive whiteboard

Only two of the teachers, Alice and Eric, once applied the electronic interactive whiteboard when they taught dialogues, reading, or grammar. Alice used it because she desired to have different ways of teaching English; however, she did not use it often. As Alice said,

I only use the electronic interactive whiteboard in the seventh grade class. I do not use it in the eighth and ninth grade class because I find that using it will easily cause students’ distraction from class, and its supplementary software and equipment are insufficient (2012-09-20-TI-Alice).

Similar to Alice’s reasons for using the electronic interactive whiteboard, Eric used it in order to have different ways of teaching English and increase students’

learning motivation. However, he seldom used it, and he noted that it was not convenient to have English class in the E-learning classroom because it took time for students to go there, which might delay the time in class for at least five minutes (2012-10-16-TI-Eric).

As mentioned above, the electronic interactive whiteboard was once applied by Alice and Eric for similar reasons since they used it for the purpose of changing their teaching methods to enhance students’ learning, which was consistent with the findings from Li & Walsh’s (2010) study. However, both of them did not use it a lot

for the insufficient software and the delay of the time in class. Accordingly, it was implied that their infrequent use of the electronic interactive whiteboard was influenced by insufficient teaching software or the access to the E-learning classroom.

Video

Concerning the use of videos, only one teacher, Alice, used them every time while teaching dialogues and sometimes while teaching grammar or reading. As Alice reported,

Although I spend much time finding videos on the Internet, I still want to integrate them into instruction in that these online resources are related to the real life, and watching them can help students have a better understanding of the foreign cultures, expand their horizons, and increase the opportunities to hear different accents. Therefore, learning is not confined to the textbook. Also, I choose to apply videos almost in every class because I find that students’ learning results improved and their listening ability is enhanced. (2012-09-20-TI-Alice)

As for the other six teachers, Ben, Cathy, Diana, Eric, Fiona, and Gina, they used videos sometimes when teaching vocabulary, dialogues, grammar, reading, English songs, or festivals. They intended to make their class more interesting, show students something happened in real life, let them practice listening in a relaxing way, and motivate their learning interests. Although there were several advantages of integrating videos into instruction, teachers revealed that they would let students watch videos as long as they still had time during class or they could find videos relevant to the lessons.

Generalizing from teachers’ responses, teachers would integrate videos into instruction because they were provided with the equipment for playing videos, and it was convenient for them to use it in the classroom. Among the teachers, only Alice used videos frequently since she believed students would benefit greatly from these videos although it took her a lot of time to find them on the Internet. However, the other six teachers would use them sometimes if they considered the time in class was allowed and relevant videos could be found. It was therefore suggested that teachers’

positive attitudes toward integrating videos into instruction, adequate equipment, sufficient time in class, and suitable videos were relevant to the frequency of using them in class.

Song

While teaching vocabulary, dialogues, grammar, reading, or festivals, all of the teachers sometimes integrated songs into instruction in the classroom. Similar to the reasons for using videos in class, they used songs to make lessons more interesting, enhance students’ learning motivation, and let them learn English from the lyrics in a fun way. For example, Gina revealed that she would teach students songs only on important festivals. She usually searched for popular songs with simple lyrics, which would increase students’ sense of achievement and learning motivation (2012-10-19-TI-Gina). Furthermore, teachers stated that they would sometimes let students listen to English songs as long as they still had time during class and they could find songs related to the lessons or festivals.

According to the teachers’ responses, all teachers were willing to integrate songs into teaching practices since the equipment for playing songs was easily accessed in the classroom, and they thought students’ motivation could be enhanced by learning songs. Although there were several benefits of using songs in class, they did not use them every time because sometimes they did not have time for playing songs in class and it was not easy to find suitable songs for each lesson or festivals. Consequently, it seemed that teachers’ integration of songs into instruction was influenced by the access to the equipment and teachers’ attitudes toward songs. As for the frequency of applying songs in class, it was very likely to be related to sufficient class time as well as appropriate songs for each lesson or festivals.

PowerPoint

Only three teachers, Alice, Cathy, and Gina, used the PowerPoint in class when teaching vocabulary, dialogues, grammar, or reading. Their reasons for and frequency of applying the PowerPoint are quite different. For example, Cathy used it at least once for each lesson. She said, “While teaching vocabulary, grammar, or reading, I can use the PowerPoint to supplement the insufficient part of the E-textbook as an additional complement” (2012-09-26-TI-Cathy). Compared with Cathy, Alice sometimes used it in class, and she stated,

It was convenient and practical to have students play a game or review the lesson with the PowerPoint I had made in advance. The visual effects of the PowerPoint were not as good as those of the videos, and this was the reason why I sometimes used them. (2012-09-20-TI-Alice)

As for Gina, she seldom used it in the classroom. As she pointed out,

I once taught relative clauses with the PowerPoint because long sentences needed to be listed for explanation. For me, making the PowerPoint not only saves teachers’ time of writing on the blackboard but also enhances students’ learning motivation. However, I seldom use it because making the PowerPoint takes me a lot of time. (2012-10-19-TI-Gina)

The teachers’ responses revealed that Cathy used the PowerPoint more frequently than Alice and Gina since she thought it was helpful to her as a teaching supplement. However, Alice and Gina did not use it a lot because Alice found that compared with videos, the visual effects of the PowerPoint was unsatisfactory, and Gina perceived that it would take her much time to make the PowerPoint. Accordingly, teachers’ attitudes toward applying the PowerPoint in class as well as the time-consuming part of making it would influence the frequency of integrating it into instruction.

Online game

In order to enhance students’ learning motivation, three teachers, Alice, Cathy, and Fiona, integrated online games into teaching practices. For instance, Alice sometimes used them while teaching dialogues, grammar, or reading. As she stated,

Although using online games can enhance students’ learning motivation and make teaching activities more diverse and challenging for students, I do not used them very often. I integrated them into instruction sometimes because I am afraid I can not evaluate students’ learning achievement through the use of online games, and computers in the computer classroom will crash easily when all the students surf the Internet at the same time.

(2012-09-20-TI-Alice)

Moreover, Cathy sometimes used them while teaching vocabulary or grammar.

She pointed out that she would apply them as long as she could catch up with the teaching progress (2012-09-26-TI-Cathy). As for Fiona, she indicated that she only used online games once while teaching alphabets (2012-10-16-TI-Fiona). However, Cathy and Fiona did not use video games a lot for the similar reason as Alice mentioned above. When students used them in the computer classroom, they thought there was always something wrong with the computers, which may imply that they lacked of technical support from school to timely fix the technology problems.

Generally speaking, it was found that Alice, Cathy, and Fiona used them with the intention of enhancing students’ motivation. However, they did not use online games

frequently because of the equipment/technology problems in the computer classroom as well as lack of timely technical support from school. It was hence implied that their infrequent use of online games was relevant to the equipment problems and lack of timely technical support.

Online test

Only two teachers, Alice and Ben, once asked students to take online tests in the computer classroom. As Alice expressed,

There are a lot of online games providing students with online tests for autonomous learning, and students’ test results of the online games can be kept for teachers’ reference. However, it is not convenient for me to have students play online games in the computer classroom because computers crash easily and not all of the computers can connect to the Internet in the computer classroom. Therefore, I seldom use online games in class.

(2012-09-20-TI-Alice)

Ben had similar reason for not using online tests a lot, and he stated,

I once had students take online tests to review previous lessons when they were in the ninth grade. I hope that the online tests can help them have a systematic review of grammar. However, I seldom use them because of the tight teaching progress in the ninth grade class and the computer problems in the computer classroom.” (2012-09-26-TI-Ben)

Although there were several benefits of using online tests, Alice and Ben still seldom used them in class. As the aforementioned reasons for not using online games frequently, their infrequent use of online tests seemed to have something to do with the equipment/technology problems in the computer classroom as well as lack of timely technical support from school. Therefore, it is suggested that the equipment/technology problems should be fixed as soon as possible so that all of the students can do online tests smoothly in the computer classroom, which may make teachers be more willing to try to integrate online tests into practices in the future.

In conclusion, regarding the frequency of using technology, all teachers used the CD player and songs most frequently in the classroom while they integrated the electronic interactive whiteboard and online tests into instruction the least. The frequency of using different types of technology in the classroom may have something to do with the access to equipment/technology, suitable resources, sufficient teaching time, equipment/technology problems, timely technical support as

well as teachers’ attitudes toward technology integration into instruction.