A study on elementary school teachers’ perception and utilization of digital English textbooks based on 2015 revised national curriculum

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the teachers’ perception of English digital textbooks and how they are being used in elementary schools. For this, a questionnaire was administered to 48 elementary school teachers. For open items of the questionnaire, frequency analysis was performed and for closed ones, qualitative analysis was carried out. The results of the study were as follows: First, most of the teachers considered that they had an average or high level of confidence in their knowledge and use of digital textbooks. Second, about half of the teachers were positive about the readiness of their schools and students to use digital textbooks, but the majority of teachers did not believe that their students would engage in self-directed learning at home. Thirdly, about three-fifths of the teachers reported that digital textbooks were being used in their schools and more than half of them started using digital textbooks after the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. Finally, many teachers said that digital textbooks should contain interesting and useful contents that are differentiated beyond the CD-ROM titles and e-books, and an easy-to-use online platform linked to digital textbooks to manage learning and interact with students. Based on these, some suggestions were made for the development and implementation of English digital textbooks for elementary English education.