Pre‐Service Foreign Language Teachers' Perspectives on Learning With Technology

Abstract: This study explores pre-service foreign language teachers' (N = 25) beliefs about the value and usefulness of employing technology-enhanced activities (discussion forums, blogs, wikis, e-portfolios, videotape recordings) in a methods course, and their perceptions of how these activities supported their learning. Likert-scale items from an anonymous questionnaire indicated that participants found those activities beneficial for bridging theory and practice, enhancing critical thinking, and promoting professional growth. A qualitative analysis of participants' reflections revealed that, despite technology-related challenges and preferences for other coursework activities, participants believed that the technology-based activities provided increased opportunities for varied and richer interactions, peer feedback, and reflection; helped develop their learner autonomy and sense of belonging to a community of learners; modeled effective technology uses; and fostered a deeper appreciation of technology-enriched practices.Key words: CMC, foreign language, teaching methods, teacher education, technology toolsIntroductionA review of the literature on the use of technology-enhanced activities in teacher education courses underscores the potential of technology for fostering pre-service teachers' professional growth (Arnold & Ducate, 2006; Baek & Barab, 2005; Lapadat, 2007; Paulus & Scherff, 2008) and for raising their awareness of the benefits and limitations of such educational tools (Dooly, 2009). As Arnold and Ducate (2006) stated, "encouraging future teachers to learn with technology before teaching with it allows them to become comfortable using various computer applications" (p. 42; italics in original). The requirements for national board certification in the field of early adolescence through young adult- hood/world languages other than English (EAYA/WLOE; National Board for Profes- sional Teaching Standards [NBPTS], 2010) also stress how important it is for foreign language teachers to stay abreast of relevant technology advances and become familiar with how technology not only assists lesson planning and delivery but also facilitates the evaluation of, and reflection on, teaching outcomes. The present study explored pre- service foreign language teachers' percep- tions of the benefits and challenges of tech- nology-enhanced activities employed in a foreign language methods course; the extent to which those experiences enhanced their collaborative learning, reflection, and evalu- ation of teaching outcomes; and the way in which those experiences may influence their use of technology in their future classrooms.Literature ReviewIn 1993, Grosse noted the need to incorpo- rate technology, especially the use of video- tapes, in foreign language methods courses, arguing that technology was "vastly underu- tilized as a topic and medium of instruction in the FL [foreign language] methods course" (p. 310). Since then, educators have rapidly and increasingly integrated technology into teacher education courses (Guichon & Hauck, 2011). Early research on promoting reflection and collaboration in teacher education (Freese, 1999) has shown that viewing and analyzing one's teaching helped student teachers see some of the potential pitfalls of their teaching styles and decisions, think of solutions for elimi- nating those pitfalls, and become generally more aware of "the complexities of teach- ing" (p. 900). More recently, Schmid (2011) also argued that viewing and reflecting on one's teaching can help direct student teach- ers' attention to specific aspects of language instruction, such as the amount and quality of teacher-student interaction and the rea- sons for students' engagement and partici- pation, or lack thereof. Although taking the role of participant-observers in their own classrooms increases student teachers' op- portunities for self-reflection and discovery, it has also been argued that student teachers' involvement in finding alternatives to inef- fective teaching practices generally increases when they analyze others' teaching, as op- posed to their own (Kleinknecht & Schneider, 2013). …