Claire’s case: Introducing E-learning into a Japanese University EFL Class

Abstract

The use of digital technology to provide learning materials and activities to students (e-learning) in EFL is rapidly expanding and there are many resources that show teachers how to use digital devices and software tools to do this. There are, however, relatively few research studies that describe and evaluate how an individual teacher has integrated e-learning within a specific context. This article reports on research that attempts to bridge that gap by showing how one EFL teacher in a Japanese university, Claire, introduced e-learning into her teaching. It details the reasons why she wanted to use e-learning, provides examples of her teaching activities and the technology that she used, and describes the challenges that teaching with technology presented to her pedagogy. It is hoped that this narrative case study will be part of a growing number of shared reports that will be useful to other teachers and institutions who might wish to experiment with their own approaches to e-learning, especially teachers who are relative novices at using digital technology in the classroom.