EdTech Culturation: Integrating A Culturally Relevant Pedagogy into Educational Technology

Abstract

In recent years, the use of technology in educational contexts including e-learning has become increasing ubiquitous. While it is commonly believed that technology use can facilitate the process of teaching and learning, it is of paramount importance to adopt a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) to address the needs of students who might experience difficulty because of cultural, linguistic and technological obstacles that might be inherent in the use of educational technology. With this consideration in mind, the present paper reports on the findings of a qualitative research involving three case studies based on structured interviews with three university professors who are experts in developing digital tools and applications for educational purposes. The participants recorded their responses to interview questions on Google Docs over a period of one month, and the data was analysed for significant themes. The data revealed that all participants believe that cultural, methodological and pedagogical barriers can significantly affect the use of educational technology in face-to-face and online classes and can consequently impact student learning. The emergent themes in the data indicate that a solid understanding of the local context in which the process of teaching and learning takes place, flexibility in terms of one’s methodological approaches to teaching and embracing differences in students’ knowledge and abilities can help ensure students succeed in their academic endeavours, they are uncritically accepted and treated in an equitable manner regardless of their competency level. All three participants in the study believe that while there are some cultural and linguistic barriers in e-learning contexts and in developing and using technological applications for students, through adopting the core principles of a culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), they have been successful in achieving the course learning outcomes for their students. They argue that by adapting the language used in applications to the linguistic level of students, using familiar and culturally relevant themes, and adopting a blended approach in which technology complements face-to-face instruction, a better dialogue is established between the teacher and the students, and learning is thus facilitated. The findings of this study reveal that becoming familiar with the local culture, the relevant prescriptions and proscriptions can furnish the education technology developers with the requisite knowledge for creating applications that are relevant to students’ lives and are thus more effectual. Similarly, the results show that educational applications should provide a suitable platform to create and maintain an ongoing intrapersonal and interpersonal dialogue for the students to help them engage in the process of learning in a regular and consistent manner. Implications for pedagogy and research will be discussed.

Digital Technologies in Language Education: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis

“…The theme of integrating technology and pedagogy encompasses a diverse range of studies that highlight the significance of incorporating technology into teacher training and educational practices. These studies shed light on various aspects, such as programming-based learning experiences for preservice teachers [42], the factors affecting the effectiveness of teacher training courses [7], the pedagogical use of corpus tools in language instruction [32], the impact of motivational factors on teachers' utilization of digital technologies [33] and the development of computational thinking and general skills through programming [34] Additionally, the transformative pedagogy of Twitter [35] the importance of ongoing dialogue in educational applications [36] the use of Natural Language Processing tools in assessment practices [37], the effective utilization of visualization technology in teacher training [38] and the personalized approach to teacher training using the DigCompEdu framework [39] are also discussed. Furthermore, the study on language assessment literacy in the English language [23] and the comprehensive competence model for foreign language teachers [20] provide valuable insights into assessment practices and the preparation of future language educators.…”

Culturally- and Linguistically-Responsive Online Teacher Learning Professional Development

“…17 Eppard et al (2021) EdTech Culturation: Integrating A Culturally Relevant Pedagogy into Educational Technology.…”

Calidad educativa y consideraciones filosóficas en un contexto de pandemia COVID-19

“…Los diferentes países han optado por el uso de las plataformas de e-learning comprendiendo la importancia de continuar con el proceso educativo, pese a las condiciones sanitaria que asola al mundo (Alotaibi, 2021). Por ello, el uso de las tecnologías, en los contextos educativos, se han convertido en prioridad (Diaz, 2019;Ledesma, 2018); más aún en esta situación de pandemia, considerándolas como recursos necesarios para continuar con la educación y siendo conscientes que su uso permite la realización del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de forma favorable (Eppard et al, 2021).…”

“…• Esta obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Atribución-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-SA 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.es https://www.produccioncientificaluz.org/index.php/rvg Twitter: @rvgluz realización de las diversas actividades humanas; en consecuencia, para estar a la vanguardia de las necesidades e intereses del estudiantado actual, las tecnologías digitales tienen el potencial de ser una fuente poderosa para el proceso de sus aprendizajes (Eppard et al, 2021); por ello, los docentes deben utilizarlas de manera flexible y eficiente, incorporándolas como herramientas y recursos importantes en su ejercicio profesional (Lavrysh et al, 2021).…”

“…En el ámbito educativo, tanto los docentes como los estudiantes, en este nuevo escenario, vienen utilizando las TIC como medio para explorar sus propias necesidades y preferencias de enseñanza-aprendizaje basadas en la mejora de la calidad educativa (Eppard et al, 2021). Hoy en día, existe una gama de plataformas y aplicaciones virtuales que vienen siendo utilizadas para la enseñanza a distancia; entre ellas encontramos: G Suite for Education y Office 365, para las actividades en línea; Moodle, Zoom, Google Hangouts y Microsoft Teams, para las videoconferencias.…”