RESEARCH PROPOSAL

 The Scopes of Using Tech tools in EFL Classes at Alternating Cycle Educational System  in Espigas, Buenos Aires Province.

Maria Ines Noseda- Silvana Vota

Tutor: Veronica Pintos

ESP 2018

Universidad Caece

June 2018

Abstract

In a technology- based society, students must be prepared to be productive, independent, creative, and knowledgeable individuals. Having proper access to technology and being able to use it is essential and will be one of the many skills necessary for future use in higher education and at the workplace. The aim of this paper is to explore the scopes of implementing tech and web 2.0 tools in EFL classes at the alternating cycle educational system (sistema escolar de alternancia)   in Espigas , Buenos Aires province as well as students and teachers’ perceptions in its use throughout cross- curricular projects and works. A qualitative research approach will be used based on cases study and focusing on groups and life stories as data collection techniques. An interpretive exercise will be conducted with content analysis on emerging texts, investigating emerging categories. This paper, based on a pedagogical research, will contribute in an effective way to increase the level of awareness in terms of scope and real use of tech tools in a rural environment and consequently, to school development.

Keywords: Sistema de Alternancia

                 An alternating cycle educational school system for Agricultural  Secondary      students

                  Literacy and skills development.

                  Web 2.0 tools.

                  Mobile learning.

                  Rural and urban settings. New Rurality.

Outline

Purpose: to provide an overview of a research proposal.

Thesis: The use of tech tools at an alternating cycle educational system increases academic  success for skills and literacy, as well strengthens the bonds and communication channels among all members of the school community.

Audience: Teachers of EFL at rural settings, students at secondary agricultural schools, teachers of ICT, teachers of curricular subjects in project-based collaborative work.

                     I.        Introduction

A.   Secondary agricultural schools and Sistema de Alternancia in Espigas, Buenos Aires province

B.   New Rurality: concepts and definitions

C.   The role of social media in modern societies

D.   Web 2.0, apps and tech tools in schools nowadays

                    II.        The use of technologies in EFL classes

A.   Research questions

B.   Redefining pedagogical roles and learning environment

C.   Infrastructure and technical considerations

                  III.        Exploratory qualitative methods in the analysis of perceptions

A.   Participants

B.   Observations

C.   Questionnaires

D.   Writings

                  IV.        Conclusion

                   V.        Acknowledgements

                  VI.        References

                VII.        Appendix

The Scopes of Using Tech tools in EFL Classes at Alternating Cycle Educational System  in Espigas, Buenos Aires Province.

The use of tech tools has generated a great impact on society. Thus, the school system must contribute to a holistic education with creative, autonomous and knowledgeable individuals. Technology is part of nearly everybody`s life. But what is the place of technology in the EFL classroom in a rural alternating cycle environment?

This paper intends to show how to use tech tools in alternating cycle education system and its implications. No literature has made specific reference to the use of tech tools and its impact on the teaching and learning process in the alternating cycle educational system in general, and in particular to the one in Espigas, BA province. Significantly enough thus, this study might contribute greatly to an effective, meaningful learning providing students with and organizational design which aims to foster motivation, confidence, innovative use of tech tools in classes, as well as reflection on individual attitudes and competences displayed in each teaching-learning processes among students and teachers in rural settings. 

Literature review

Technological tools are usually cited by educators as magic-workers in literacy programs, providing great access to all students. Research studies have revealed significant improvement in student learning with regular use of technology in the classroom.

Blamires (1999) claimed that technological tools could help overcome skill-level barriers to learning. Also, according to Andrews (2003), motivation and engagement are frequently identified as the major benefits of using technological tools to support literacy learning. A common view is that, through the use of computers, students are highly and constantly engaged and motivated during class work. The reason for this is that technological tools are everywhere in society and are part of our everyday lives. Hence, the use of technological tools in teaching and learning experiences directly relates to the real lives of students. Many schools use technology to enhance student learning: tools such as Internet access, digital cameras, email, interactive whiteboards, laptop computers, overhead projectors and mobile phones. Social interaction and problem solving is a fruitful dimension of teaching-learning process that ought to be consider in techtools implementation, as Nunan (1999) stated: “Interactive visual media with computers provided seem to have a unique instructional capability for topics that involve social situations or problem solving, such as interpersonal solving, foreign languages or second language learning” (p. 26)

However, these tech tools themselves are not to meant to be the focus of attention. Technology is not the teacher either, but a tool the teacher uses to widen the student's reach. The question here is this: Are technology tools improving education in the EFL classes at the alternating cycle educational system in our context?

Admittedly, technology can be difficult to integrate into the EFL classes within a rural context. A major problem with technology in rural schools is that many of them cannot afford to have full time school computer coordinators, even though this is an important step in having technology work in schools. Other barriers to using technology in education include lack of teacher time, training, and support; limited access; high costs of equipment; lack of vision or rationale for technology use; and assessment practices that may not reflect what is learned with technology. In particular, the lack of teacher training and expertise is a major barrier to using the computer and related equipment.

Research problem

This system was born in France almost 80 years ago. Its main goals are to train young people in the technical field, fostering a democratic environment where rural communities feel respected and active protagonists of their destiny. This educational system must guarantee access to postulate knowledge through flexible pedagogical proposals that strengthen the link with cultural identities and local productive activities. It also aims at promoting institutional designs that allow students to maintain bonds with their family nucleus and their local means of belonging, during the educational process, guaranteeing the necessary coordination and articulation of the system within each province and between the different jurisdictions.

Students go to the educational centre during a week and remain at home, in their farms, during two weeks. This is called ‘sistema de alternancia’, as learners alternate from learning curriculum contents at school to practicing and investigating at home, in a continuous personal development in relation to the familiar working context. Theoretical and pragmatic dimensions of the learning process are methodologically linked to the land productions and roles of every member of the family. Teachers visit students’ homes to monitor, guide and help in activities and projects, as well as to identify necessities. Once at school again, students have lessons as usual, and contents are designed mainly in project-based learning based on students’ interests and needs. Families have an important role at school, participating as ‘consejeros’ and taking important decisions within the school staff, and particularly being part of an association in a federative organization.   The main aim of this modality is to prepare free and responsible graduates who aim to become leaders, vital  agents of the community, and skillful protagonists by interpreting, participating and producing local development.

            In the field of foreign language learning and teaching, the use of tech tools in EFL classes has been quite unknown at the “sistema de alternancia”. Web 2.0, apps, mobile phones and tablets are used by students and teachers for daily personal interaction, being the Internet an important source of information for school homework and projects. However, little has been done to use these resources in order to strengthen tech literacy and skills development.

Research questions

●     How can the implementation of technologies ease and scaffold skills and literacy development in EFL learning in students of the CEPT Nº 8, Espigas, Buenos Aires province? 

●     How can students and teachers use them meaningfully as tools and not means  in learning processes?

●     Which project-based activities should be focused on to ease cross-link curricular approach with the use of technologies and the participation of  teams of teachers?

General objective

●     To appraise the use and scopes of new technologies in EFL classes at an alternating cycle educational system in Espigas, BA province.

Specific objectives

●     To describe the level of access to infrastructure at a rural school when using technologies.

●     To appraise teachers’ and students’ perceptions in relation to the use of tech tools at the rural school.

●     To select and assess collaborative working tools and their potential use in group projects and activities.

●     To evaluate skills development and literacy improvement in using technologies.

Rationale

The XXI Century is the era of innovation in education throughout the use of  technologies as supporting tools. However, literacy is still and ever, the main concern for educators. Other important concern is how to access to apps, web tools, from students’ homes with poor or no infrastructure at schools.

For the researchers’ perspective, being a global citizen and at the same time a local individual is as mandatory as being a free person in search for a personal life project. The word Glocal, firstly coined by the founder of Sony Corporation, then evolving to ‘go local’, and finally interpretation by sociologists ‘as above, so below’, the same occurring in ‘think global, act local’. The macrocosmos reflected in the microcosmos, and vice versa. As Visser (2011) states, “whatever its origins, the notion of glocality has entered into the popular consciousness” (p. 26).  Education institutions are profoundly conscious in this state of affairs. Rural scenarios are not isolated anymore.

Being glocal citizens also drives the analysis towards a second conceptualization, arousing awareness of what regional development is: the New Rurality, to define an important number of small villages and ‘parajes’,  located in suburbs or rural areas which should not be depicted as bucolic or isolated lands, though deeply connected to nearer metropolitan  towns. Those neighborhood possess unpaved access to main provincial or national roads , in an influence area of 300 km -which is the allowed distance given to each Cept in the province by the FACEPT, its Federative organizational structure.

Traditionally, rural and urban were defined as opposite, two poles in a line in  terms of progress, industrial development, demographic and population density. However, after II World War, societies have grown and technologies have spread, changing the picture of XXI century. A central issue in the study is shortening distances and empowering students and families at the alternating cycle educational system in Espigas, Buenos Aires province throughout becoming long-life skilled users and content producers in using technologies.

Today students act as inquirers, non-passive participants, under nonlinear processes, and -as children of the era, even embedded in farms-, in search of immediate gratification. Multimedia-driven generations, whose motifs are innovation, questioning external reality, authoritarian styles, and failures in class management. Students enjoy experimenting, building community and collaborative working. Teachers in charge should not forget the importance of reaching rules consensus, as well as giving assertive guidelines and feedback throughout lessons. which include those students profile and needs.

In consequence, project-based and topic-based appear as the framework that better fits the audience expectations. All areas of knowledge work collaboratively, producing each, one annual community project, some other cross-curricular projects and finally many projects and activities specific to the area.  What means that tech tools arouse as important means to facilitate collaborative work and ease communication across distance during two weeks at home, and at school during a whole week, for this how alternating system functions. Teachers, in pairs, visit students’ homes, and offer their guide. Families find in the visit a rich moment to share and interact.  Results are published in an annuary and radio spots are sent to the cities of the influence zone : Olavarría, Bolívar, Azul and Tapalqué.

Some inquiries arouse in the study: Are teachers collaborative enough? What about students?  How, when, carried by which goal do they perform responses? What are their inner perceptions of using tech tools?  Are activities engaging? Are CALL lessons time-consuming? Too simple? Too easy? Too demanding? How do school staff evaluate the effectiveness in the implementation of project-based learning? Are teachers full-fledged professionals to monitor different stages in alternating weeks? As Stoller (2002) masterfully describes,

Through content based instruction, learners develop language skills while simultaneously becoming more knowledgeable citizens of the world. (...) By integrating project work into content-based classrooms, educators create vibrate learning environments that require active student involvement, stimulate higher level thinking skills, and give students responsibility for their own learning. When incorporating project work into content-based classrooms, instructors distance themselves from teacher- dominated instruction and move towards creating a student community of inquiry involving authentic communication, cooperative learning and problem- solving. (p. 107)

Desired outcomes

 Main desired outcomes of this study include the fact that:

●     Teachers need to change the way they teach and should on occasions, become class facilitators.

●     Classrooms can take on student-centered learning methods.

●     Students can be allowed to use technology as a tool that enables them to collect, analyze, and create major projects.

●     New proposals for e-learning at a rural school as well as teacher training programs are developed.

Methods

Technology is entwined in the social lives of students and teachers today. They carry mobile phones and Ipods, play video games during their free time, and use computers to chat with friends. Therefore, when technology tools are added into the classroom, it would stand to reason that these students should be more engaged in the learning process. Tech tools used in the classroom are valuable because they can motivate students to become involved in the lesson. As a result, it is very important for teachers to understand how technology tools can improve their teaching skills and their students' learning skills and performance.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the immense value of integrating technology tools into the EFL classes at the alternating cycle educational system in Espigas, BA province. The study will be qualitative research and the methods used to gather relevant data will be questionnaires for students, subject teachers, Head teacher, ICT teacher, EFL teacher and families. There will also be class observations, projects outcomes, group and pair work, questionnaires about students and teachers` perception on the use of tech tools, self and co assessment of group of teachers, case study.

Participants in this study will be secondary students, teachers, school staff and families. Regarding the materials needed, class equipment as well as human resources will be relevant. The study will be carried out over different stages and moments during eight months which is the required period for large institutional projects embedded in major programmes of Local Development Plan (LDP). Different stages carried out by different purposes  will be designed in the study. 

After all that has been said though, this research study does not intend to provide neither a recipe nor final solution as every institution has its own layout but it focus on the alternating cycle educational system territory.  

References

Andrews, R. (2003). Where next in research on ICT and literacies? English in Education. 37(3), 28-41. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1754-8845.2003.tb00603.x

Baker, E., Gearhart, M., & Hennan, J. (1990). The Apple classrooms of tomorrow: 1990 UCLA evaluation study (Report to Apple Computer). Los Angeles: UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation. Retrieved from https://www.apple.com/euro/pdfs/acotlibrary/rpt7.pdf

Blamires, M. (1999). Developing literacy. In M. Blamires (Ed.), Enabling technologies for inclusion (pp. 27-34). London: Paul Chapman.

Montes, C. (2011). Las Tecnologías de la información y la comunicación –TICs- como herramientas para el aprendizaje en contextos rurales. Conference: VII Seminario Internacional de Desarrollo Rural. Mundos rurales y transformaciones globales: desafíos y estrategias de respuesta., At Bogotá. Colombia. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271387330_Las_TIC_como_herramientas_para_el_aprendizaje_en_contextos_rurales

 Puig Calvo, P., García- Marirrodriga, R. La alternancia, un sistema educativo inclusivo en el medio rural: ¿en qué condiciones?. Facultad de Educación de la Universidad Internacional de Cataluña, UIC. Facultad de Educación de la Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, UNIR. Retrieved from http://recursos.portaleducoas.org/sites/default/files/5179.pdf

Stoller, F. (2002). Project work: A means to promote language and content.    Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice, 107-119.

Visser, W. (2011) Glocality: Thinking Global and Acting Local in CSR, Wayne Visser   Blog Briefing, 11 July 2011.

Young, R. (2008). Using Technology Tools in the Public School Classroom. University of Wisconsin-Stout. Retrieved from http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2008/2008youngr.pdf

Appendix

●     Letter of permission to the Head to conduct our research

●     Interview questionnaire

●     Sample of questionnaire:

Perceptions questionnaire: Name: ………………………………..        Date: ………………………………. I prefer working with collaborative google apps because…… The worst thing of collaborative use of tech tools and apps in class is….. The worst thing of working alone is … When I work at school…  When I do homework in the farm ...