Technology, Tasks, Textbooks, and Teacher Reflections – Where teacher research and classroom teachingcollide with new-age learners Plenary Presentation at International Conference on English, Linguistics, Literature, and Education (ICELLE) University of Muhammadiyah Tangerang Nov 29-30, 2019

1. Technology, Tasks, Textbooks,
and Teacher Reflections –
Where teacher research and
classroom teaching
collide with new-age learners
Rob Dickey
Keimyung University
International Conference on English, Linguistics,
Literature, and Education (ICELLE)
University of Muhammadiyah Tangerang
Nov 29-30, 2019

2. Pulling it all together…

3. The starting point …
•Always begin and end with the
Learners

4. The starting point …
•Always begin and end with the
Learners
•Baby Boomers
•Gen-X
•Gen-Y (Millennials)
•Gen-Z
•Gen-Alpha

5. The starting point …
•The characteristics of each
generation (generalizations) relating
to society and technology
•But still,
learners are
individuals.

6. The starting point …
•Baby Boomers – 1945-1964
•Gen-X – 1965-1979
•Gen-Y (Millennials) – 1980-1996
•Gen-Z – 1997-
•Gen-Alpha – ‘children of millennials’,
the first generation born entirely within
the 21st century

7. Where we go from there…
1. Technology
2. Tasks
3. Textbooks
4. Teacher Reflections
• constraints, opportunities, and
considerations
Teacher Research & Classroom Teaching
// New Age Learners

8. Technology?
•Can’t get anywhere without defining
technology

9. Technology?
•Can’t get anywhere without defining
technology

10. Technology?

11. Technology?

13. Technology?
•Can’t get anywhere without defining
technology
• Beyond “eyes and ears”?

14. Technology?
•Can’t get anywhere without defining
technology
• Beyond “eyes and ears”? “toys”?
• Post- “Chalkboard and books”?

15. Technology?
•The promise of technology

16. Technology?
•The promise of technology

17. Technology?
•The promise of technology

18. Why Teachers’ Technology?

19. Why Teachers’ Technology?
•the use of technology has to be in
the best interests of the learners,
and not purely in the interests of
technology
A. Maley, 1997 (KOTESOL)
• (or, may I add, in a teacher’s own
interest in technology)

20. Why Teachers’ Technology?

21. “technocentric trap” (Papert, 1987)
•Too often use of technology because
• “students want it” or
• entertainment value
• (to students and/or the instructor)
• OR – We paid for this, let’s use it.

22. Studies in
Classroom Technologies
•Mostly focused on
“First order barriers” (Ertmer, 1999) or
“environmental barriers” (Mueller et al.,
2008) relating to hardware, software,
training and support
•Have these issues have been
(largely) resolved???

23. •quality of use and integration of
technology into instruction may be
questioned (Kim, Kim, Lee, Spector, and
DeMeester, 2013).
Studies in
Classroom Technologies

24. •Teacher beliefs, however, are still
critically important, and not yet well
understood (Ertmer, 2005; Hew and
Brush, 2007; Kim et al., 2013,
Mueller et al., 2008).
Studies in
Classroom Technologies

25. Let’s investigate…
beliefs vs. practice
•Many contemporary tech-supportive
studies are based on Constructivist
theories of learning.
•You don’t have to believe in
Constructivist learning to believe in
tech. And vice-versa.

26. Critical Theory of Technology

27. Critical Theory of Technology
•Not critical as in “it’s bad”
•“each piece of technology is
constructed by the interaction
between its design and how it is
appropriated by its users” (Schmid,
2006).

28. One-size fits all… NOT!
•Too many conference presentations
touting the next great thing
•Look at the “Why?” instead of just
the “What??

29. What’s a “task”?

30. What’s a “task”?

31. What’s a “task”?
Task = Doing for a purpose

32. What’s a “task”?
•Not just an activity or exercise
•Not just language practice
•Not “teaching time”
•Intimately connected to current
language-learning syllabus
objectives (i.e., this is a language learning
classroom)
•Technology-based tasks?

33. What’s a “Textbook”?

34. What’s a “Textbook”?
•Must it be physical? (printed page)
•Must all students have the same
“textbook”?

35. Teacher Research and
Classroom Teaching
•Classroom Research
•Teacher Research
•Action Research
+ Reflective Practice

36. Research frameworks

37. Research frameworks

38. Research frameworks

39. Reflective Practice
•Not just daydreaming
•Fits your needs &
“style”
•Matches assets
•To serve your
Learners
(and your profession
and yourself)

40. Reflections
Teaching 4th Generation Learners
•Constraints
•Opportunities
•Considerations

41. Reflections – Constraints

42. Reflections – Constraints
•Classroom (physical) constraints
•School (rule) constraints
•Social constraints (expectations?)
•Learner constraints (financial,
emotional, technological?)
•Personal constraints
(style, knowledge, financial)

43. Reflections – Opportunities

44. Reflections – Opportunities
•Learner motivation
•Teacher motivation
•New technologies
•Campus research orientation &
budget

45. Reflections – Considerations

46. Reflections – Considerations
•Classroom
•Community
•Design (and experimentation)
•21st Century Skills (soft skills)
•Teaching Tech Skills
★ How long did (grand)parents go to
school?

47. Continuum of Choice
Teacher-driven  Learner-centered
Kent, D. 2019. p.8
Reflections – Considerations

48. Online (Teaching) Resources
•http://bit.ly/di4allonlinetools
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ihsTwYr1k
Fx9Jb08Z2w5i1MWoxYkRXZbTP4Gcbodp6I/edit

49. Online (Teaching) Resources
•http://bit.ly/ESLEFLtools
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yqJSH4ub6n3K5as1A
ZiSKgQGwq0kogRbnRkUJYjfSBk/edit?fbclid=IwAR3L_MJZwAG
ztlKo6KNIFiHKBZyE8MoZSCwftQVO2vzGXgaHO3nUM5_Agxk

50. Thoughts?
Wanna Play?
Rob Dickey
Keimyung University
robertjdickey@yahoo.com
Available at https://www.slideshare.net/RobertDickey/