Communicative practices in second language learning are underpinned by the assumption that they will enable students to apply lessons to real life circumstances outside the classroom. However, the... Show More

Communicative practices in second language learning are underpinned by the assumption that they will enable students to apply lessons to real life circumstances outside the classroom. However, the disparity between the dearth of technology integration in tertiary English education in Korea and its central position in Korean society cannot be overstated. As found in one of the most recent studies by Webster (2011) on teachers' perceptions and uses of technology, teachers often lack motivation to make changes owing to a lack of reliable resources, training and professional development support. This article, therefore, provides the underpinning for a new theoretical approach to promoting a more culturally holistic engagement with technology at Korean universities and education in general.

A 21st century teacher must communicate in the language and style of their students to ensure that their learning is meaningful. However, this is challenging, especially for teachers who are less... Show More

A 21st century teacher must communicate in the language and style of their students to ensure that their learning is meaningful. However, this is challenging, especially for teachers who are less familiar with using technology in teaching. To inspire a group of ESL ‘digital immigrant' teachers, a professional learning community (PLC) was set up. PLC consisted of both pre-service teachers (digital natives) and in-service teachers (digital immigrants). The two groups exchanged knowledge through a series of sharing sessions to demonstrate the technical aspects of technology, as well as to provide an understanding that technology has affordances and constraints. This case study investigates a group of in-service teachers who adopted the IDDIRR instructional design model (introduce, demonstrate, develop, implement, reflect, revise) to develop technology-based lessons for their ESL classrooms. The data for this study were collected through three main instruments: surveys, interviews and written reflections. The survey data was descriptively analysed using SPSS Version 24, while the reflection and interview data were assessed using thematic analysis. The findings suggest that the IDDIRR-TPACK + PLC model, along with a supportive PLC environment and the presence of more knowledgeable peers (MKO), helped enhance teachers' TPACK and inspired them to integrate more technology in their classrooms.

Although the ESL Composition Profile (CP) has been widely used by scholars as a well-balanced rubric for learner essay evaluation, it is not necessarily easy for L2 teachers to rate students' essays... Show More

Although the ESL Composition Profile (CP) has been widely used by scholars as a well-balanced rubric for learner essay evaluation, it is not necessarily easy for L2 teachers to rate students' essays based on the five criteria of the CP. This indicates the necessity to explore reliable alternatives to the CP. This article, therefore, compares three kinds of alternative approaches: (1) using the simplified version of the CP, (2) using edited essays, and (3) using model essays, paying attention to the correlation between each of the possible alternatives and the original CP. Our learner-corpus-based analysis has shown that simplifying the CP and paying attention to the organization of learner essays appears to be the most effective method.

The purpose of this article was to evaluate the effectiveness of using mobile augmented reality (AR) instructional material for Year 10 science students in a secondary school in Brunei Darussalam.... Show More

The purpose of this article was to evaluate the effectiveness of using mobile augmented reality (AR) instructional material for Year 10 science students in a secondary school in Brunei Darussalam. Specific learning styles were identified for the control and the experimental groups. A mobile AR application of instructional material was developed for year 10 chemistry lesson focusing on redox reaction using Vuforia SDK and Unity3d. The material developed consisted of visual, audio and kinesthetic elements of learning modalities which aimed to stimulate students' interest and improve their learning ability. The t-test (t = -3.39) in the posttest indicate d a significant result (p = 0.00152) between the mean scores of the experimental (mean = 42.72) and control (mean = 26.36) groups. The result showed that the intervention of classroom lessons introduced by the mobile AR application had a significant positive impact on the learning outcome and supported the idea that AR can be a valuable teaching tool. Qualitative analysis also indicated that it improved the liveliness of the learning environment and the interaction amongst the students.

This article presents work undertaken in the 2010-2011 academic year at two international campuses of Nottingham University. Although the data was shared after seven years, it is believed the... Show More

This article presents work undertaken in the 2010-2011 academic year at two international campuses of Nottingham University. Although the data was shared after seven years, it is believed the findings have implications for the present time. The primary aim of this study was to compare the use of podcasts against traditional lectures on student learning of a course designed for Bachelors of Engineering (BEng) and Masters of Engineering (MEng) students majoring in chemical engineering, and chemical and environmental engineering. The campus based in the UK (UNUK) taught the module using a conventional “chalk-and-talk” approach whilst the other in Malaysia (UNMC) used electronic lectures (podcasts) to deliver the taught component of the module. The same assessment (exam and coursework) was used in both campuses to measure the differences in effectiveness of the two approaches. The comparison found that the mode of delivery has no obvious effect on the academic performance of the students for both coursework and exam components, however, the electronic lecture approach was found to have a negative impact on student attendance on campus.

Nowadays, social networking sites (SNSs) on the Internet are increasingly being utilised as a learning tool for study and school-related issues. In Malaysia, most public schools do not allow... Show More

Nowadays, social networking sites (SNSs) on the Internet are increasingly being utilised as a learning tool for study and school-related issues. In Malaysia, most public schools do not allow students to bring their cell phones to school. Hence, learning activities involving SNSs can only be carried out after school hours. This article will refer to learning that takes place outside the school environment as “informal learning” as these activities are unstructured and are not undertaken in a formal educational setting. Through a questionnaire, the present study investigated the perceptions of 799 secondary-school Malaysian secondary school students towards the using of the SNSs for informal learning purposes. Data was analysed quantitatively and comparisons across gender and age were made. The findings revealed that Malaysian students have generally accepted the SNSs as an alternative learning environment with evidence showing that the difference in usage between gender is significant to a certain extent and less so for age.