Pre-service teachers' perceptions and practices: integrating digital literacy into English education

dc.contributor.advisorKapp, Rochelleen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorCampbell, Eduarden_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-17T12:25:54Z
dc.date.available2017-01-17T12:25:54Z
dc.date.issued2016en_ZA
dc.description.abstractTeachers are increasingly expected to use digital resources to facilitate learning. Recent research in Higher Education has indicated the existence of a digital divide among students. With the changing role of the English teacher as a facilitator of critical skills and the traditional centrality of literacy to the English classroom, digital literacy has an integral place in English teacher education, despite its absence from the current South African English curriculum. However, integrating digital literacy is challenging and often resisted by teachers. This qualitative case study provides a detailed description and analysis of how pre-service English teachers perceived their own, their learners' and other teachers' digital literacy practices, and how these perceptions relate to their own practices. The study is informed by post-structuralist theory, drawing on the New Literacy Studies (NLS), which views literacy as embedded in social practice, imbued with power and highly dependent on context. It is believed that gaining a deeper understanding of perceived and actual digital literacy practices within specific contexts could lead to an in-depth knowledge of how digital literacy may be integrated in teacher education. The case comprises four English Method students at a relatively elite South African university who were enrolled for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) professional qualification. The participants viewed their own proficiency in digital literacy as limited. The data were gathered from four sources: the participants' detailed lesson plans where digital literacy has been integrated; their reflections upon these lesson plans; questionnaires providing background on their biographies and experiences with technology and a focused group interview. The study found that the participants associated some digital resources with their own and their learners' private lives and therefore did not recognize the value of these resources as educational tools. In addition, the participants experienced the internet as overwhelming and conflated digital literacy with 'Internet Literacy'. They did not find good examples of practice from other teachers at the schools where they undertook their teaching practicals. The way they perceived their learners' practices could have serious consequences for how they facilitate learning and negotiate power differentials in the classroom. Drawing on these findings, the thesis ends with a framework for the integration of digital literacy into teacher education. The framework draws on insights from Authentic Learning, New Literacy Studies and constructivist notions of learning to propose a carefully-scaffolded model which starts with students' own internet practices and provides models and authentic tasks in order to show them the affordances of digital literacy for promoting learning in the English classroom.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationCampbell, E. (2016). <i>Pre-service teachers' perceptions and practices: integrating digital literacy into English education</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22765en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCampbell, Eduard. <i>"Pre-service teachers' perceptions and practices: integrating digital literacy into English education."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22765en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCampbell, E. 2016. Pre-service teachers' perceptions and practices: integrating digital literacy into English education. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Campbell, Eduard AB - Teachers are increasingly expected to use digital resources to facilitate learning. Recent research in Higher Education has indicated the existence of a digital divide among students. With the changing role of the English teacher as a facilitator of critical skills and the traditional centrality of literacy to the English classroom, digital literacy has an integral place in English teacher education, despite its absence from the current South African English curriculum. However, integrating digital literacy is challenging and often resisted by teachers. This qualitative case study provides a detailed description and analysis of how pre-service English teachers perceived their own, their learners' and other teachers' digital literacy practices, and how these perceptions relate to their own practices. The study is informed by post-structuralist theory, drawing on the New Literacy Studies (NLS), which views literacy as embedded in social practice, imbued with power and highly dependent on context. It is believed that gaining a deeper understanding of perceived and actual digital literacy practices within specific contexts could lead to an in-depth knowledge of how digital literacy may be integrated in teacher education. The case comprises four English Method students at a relatively elite South African university who were enrolled for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) professional qualification. The participants viewed their own proficiency in digital literacy as limited. The data were gathered from four sources: the participants' detailed lesson plans where digital literacy has been integrated; their reflections upon these lesson plans; questionnaires providing background on their biographies and experiences with technology and a focused group interview. The study found that the participants associated some digital resources with their own and their learners' private lives and therefore did not recognize the value of these resources as educational tools. In addition, the participants experienced the internet as overwhelming and conflated digital literacy with 'Internet Literacy'. They did not find good examples of practice from other teachers at the schools where they undertook their teaching practicals. The way they perceived their learners' practices could have serious consequences for how they facilitate learning and negotiate power differentials in the classroom. Drawing on these findings, the thesis ends with a framework for the integration of digital literacy into teacher education. The framework draws on insights from Authentic Learning, New Literacy Studies and constructivist notions of learning to propose a carefully-scaffolded model which starts with students' own internet practices and provides models and authentic tasks in order to show them the affordances of digital literacy for promoting learning in the English classroom. DA - 2016 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2016 T1 - Pre-service teachers' perceptions and practices: integrating digital literacy into English education TI - Pre-service teachers' perceptions and practices: integrating digital literacy into English education UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22765 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22765
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCampbell E. Pre-service teachers' perceptions and practices: integrating digital literacy into English education. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 2016 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22765en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Educationen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherEducational Technologyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherEducationen_ZA
dc.titlePre-service teachers' perceptions and practices: integrating digital literacy into English educationen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMEden_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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