The Perceptions of Student Teachers About Using an Online Learning Environment ‘Edmodo’ in a ‘Flipped Classroom’

Nihan Erdemi̇r,Gonca Yangin Ekşi̇

doi:10.33710/sduijes.638795

Nihan Erdemi̇r, Gonca Yangin Ekşi̇

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.33710/sduijes.638795

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Abstract

Educational technology has a significant role in language learning; therefore, strengthening student teacher’s digital literacy has recently become one of the main requirements in teacher education programs. This study aims to explore student teachers’ experience about using ‘Edmodo’ and a flipped classroom model. The course, Teaching English to Young Learners, which is one of the compulsory courses of the English Language Teaching (ELT) program, was flipped for ten weeks in a class of 31 student teachers at a state university in Turkey. A reflection questionnaire with close- and open-ended questions was given to the student teachers to understand their perceptions of Edmodo and flipped classroom. The findings showed that Edmodo and flipped classroom are good at training student teachers to increase their digital literacy, working collaboratively and controlling their own learning process. The paper also highlighted that student teachers intended to use them as a teacher in the future though this was the first experience for most of them. In the light of the findings, teacher educators might be suggested to enhance student teachers’ digital literacy first by allowing them to experience multimedia tools in teacher education programs.

Highlights

The last few decades have seen advancements in technology on an unprecedented scale, and the twenty-first century students and teachers are expected to use technology effectively and comfortably to enhance learning both in the classroom and beyond the classroom
Considering the significance of the issue and lack of research on student teachers’ practices of and perceptions towards Edmodo in a flipped classroom in their teacher education program, the present study aimed to explore this issue by analyzing the perceptions and practices of third grade English Language Teaching (ELT) student teachers at a large state university towards the use of Edmodo and flipped learning in their teacher education program
As regards the second research question, the findings suggest that the student teachers could largely benefit from the Edmodo and flipped classroom in a teacher education method coursework in the sense of increased interaction with the teacher and the peers and learner autonomy; they found the use of Edmodo in a flipped classroom challenging to practice due to their limited access to the internet connection and the limited storage of Edmodo

Summary

Introduction

The last few decades have seen advancements in technology on an unprecedented scale, and the twenty-first century students and teachers are expected to use technology effectively and comfortably to enhance learning both in the classroom and beyond the classroom. In order to meet changing societal needs students are assumed to be equipped with both domain knowledge and skills in the schools (Chan, 2010; Gut, 2011). It is the teachers who should be first equipped with them to be able to develop their students’ digital literacy knowledge and skills. The majority of studies have focused on this necessity (Albion, 1999; Chen, 2008), teachers still need more training and practice in the use of technology effectively during teaching in accordance with the requirements of the 21st century technology skills, as they could largely use technology for emails and search engines (Chen, 2008). As student teachers need more experience of technology use during their own education in case of a lack of role model showing how Erdemir & Yangın Ekşi

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