Pre-Service Teachers Awareness of Using WhatsApp as a Pedagogical Tool for The Practicum Program During Coved-19 Pandemic

This study explored the extent to which pre-service teachers were aware of using WhatsApp effectively as a pedagogical tool for educational purposes during the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, Saudi Arabias education system switched to distance learning; accordingly, there was a growing reliance on information and communication technology (ICT) for online teaching and learning. Furthermore, the increased use of social networks such as WhatsApp could have many benefits and consequences on students’ learning. Twenty-six female preservice teachers (PSTs) made a WhatsApp group to collaborate with their peers for eight weeks during the Covid-19 pandemic. Each week, the PSTs were required to share a minimum of three posts for a total of twenty-four posts. The instructions given to the PSTs focused on sharing useful posts related to their practicum program. A mixed-method research design was used for this study. First, quantitative data were collected by recording the frequency and range of posts to determine the amount of participation. Second, the qualitative data were gathered by conducting focus group interviews to understand the reasons behind each PST’s participation. Findings revealed that the contribution rate of the entire group was high (77%), with 20 PSTs meeting the minimum required number of posts. Remarkably, these 20 PSTs formed a unique norm of the learning community by regulating their own and other peers’ works as well. Only six pre-service teachers did not meet the required number of useful posts. The reasons behind the contributions, more findings, and further research suggestions and recommendations for educational settings are discussed

A QUALITATIVE INQUIRY ON THE BEHAVIOR OF ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS TOWARDS SOCIAL MEDIA DISTRACTIONS

Online educational platforms and social media applications play a vital role in the learning process of students during the rise of the pandemic since knowledge acquisition and delivering instructions were done through virtual interactions. Hence, this study was designed to explore the behavior of the English major students in UM Digos College towards social media distractions that aimed to determine the influences of these diversions on students’ academic learning perceptions. Moreover, this qualitative study utilized a descriptive study where eight (8) participants were purposively chosen to respond to the different research questions. Collaizi`s method was used in order to provide a significant thematic analysis. As a result, the major findings revealed that the influence of social media distractions on the behavior of the students were students’ loss of eagerness, behavioral interruptions and self-improvement barriers whilst classroom interactiveness, flash notifications and students’ personal interests were found to be the main causes of these social media interferences in which multifaceted strategies such as traditional strategies and multiple digital strategies were asserted as coping mechanisms in overcoming social media distractions. Meanwhile, the study ended up with three implications namely: implication to the learning process, implication to the teaching process and implication to learners’ performance.  Article visualizations

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EDMODO TOWARDS INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS’ ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

As a result of the utilization of technological advances to achieve competency integration, the 4.0 technology era is gaining traction in the field of education. This study aims to explore the efficacy of using the Edmodo application as an online-based learning medium in order to improve the way in which EFL students learn English using technology. By  a mixed-methods research design, this study recruited twenty-two tenth graders in the Mathematics and Natural Science stream from an integrated Islamic senior high school in Aceh province, Indonesia. The data indicate that the majority of students possess the necessary devices to assist them in completing their tasks, and a significant proportion of them use these devices to play games and conduct research. By categorizing aspects and components, Edmodo improves students' vocabulary when used to assess their learning progress through assignments and quizzes. In addition, the students are more willing to request assistance from teachers and peers when using the application. Despite the fact that Edmodo requires a smartphone and a reliable internet connection to utilize it, the participants do not report having any significant issues with the two requirements, however, half of them report having trouble attaching assignments from different types of files such as Doc, Pdf, Video, and Audio. Overall, Edmodo is an outstanding and highly effective online resource for reading, writing, listening, and speaking English classes (e-learning)

USING PODCAST CONTENT FOR ONLINE DEBATE TO HONE SPEAKING ABILITIES

Many EFL students find it difficult to participate in debates. They find it challenging to speak clearly due to their pronunciation and vocabulary challenges. Ten freshmen participated in the therapy to fix it. They are pupils in the English education program. In advance, the instructor created a WhatsApp group to use as a teaching resource. To begin the class, the instructor distributed URLs. Podcasting is the center of attention. The podcast's monologue and conversation are chosen by the teacher to present to the class. The pupils read the transcript while also hearing the voice. They go to their electronic dictionary to comprehend the information.  After finishing it, each student was requested to share his thoughts and experiences with the class regarding the subject matter. After the speaker finished speaking, the crowd asked questions that the speaker would respond to.  The teacher then provided feedback when the question-and-answer session was finished. To determine the results, all the data gathered during the treatment was quantitatively examined. It is claimed that the podcast lesson materials help students become more proficient public speakers. These kinds of discoveries can be used by educators to teach the relevant disciplines. It motivates other researchers to carry out relevant research

The Pedagogical Affordances of Social Media Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp in Higher Education in Saudi Arabia

This study has been conducted to explore the students and teachers’ perception of the pedagogical affordances at the University of Ha’il in Saudi Arabia. Three social media that this study aims to explore its pedagogical affordances are: Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp. The participants in this study might perceive different affordances of each tool based on its own functions and actual use. Therefore, the context of using social media was explored in order to gain a deep understanding of this issue in light of the socio-cultural theory as the theoretical framework of the study. In terms of the research methodology, this study adopted a case study using observation of classroom, observation of the students and teachers’ interaction on the social media, and semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data. The sample comprised eighteen respondents; three teachers and fifteen students. Each teacher and five students attended different class and used different social media platforms. The study concludes that the pedagogical affordances of the social media are: the social construction of knowledge, reflection, connectivity and collaboration. Furthermore, students and teachers’ social, teaching and cognitive presence shaped their perception of the pedagogical affordances of social media which was, in turn, contribute to their digital identity development and their understanding of agency on social media. Besides, various challenges facing the implementation of social networking sites were also discussed and highlighted

A Thematic Analysis of Teacher Experiences During Active Shooter Lockdown Drills

Teachers are tasked with ensuring that those under their care are safe and protected, yet the lack of evidence supporting the specific needs and experiences of teachers during active school shooter lockdown drills is alarming. The current study used live-action, virtual reality (VR) technology to simulate 36 active school shooter scenarios to explore teachers\u27 experiences related to lockdown procedures and response protocols. Using thematic analysis and structured qualitative data, 355 descriptive responses from 11 teachers across 396 scenarios were coded and analyzed for explicit and implicit themes and sub-themes. Three overarching themes—humanistic care, enacted care, and professional duty—describe how teachers negotiate demands placed upon them during an active shooter lockdown. The findings reflected internal and external responsibilities for teachers in protecting and caring for others. Implications for school safety policies, active shooter response protocols, and ways to support teacher resilience as part of emergency response procedures are discussed

Time orientation technologies in special education

A device to train children in time orientation has been designed, developed and evaluated. It is framed within a long-term cooperation action between university and special education school. It uses a specific cognitive accessible time display: Time left in the day is represented by a row of luminous elements initially on. Time passing is represented by turning off sequentially and gradually each luminous element every 15 min. Agenda is displayed relating time to tasks with standard pictograms for further accessibility. Notifications of tasks-to-come both for management support and anticipation to changes uses visual and auditory information. Agenda can be described in an Alternative and Augmentative Communication pictogram language already used by children, supporting individual and class activities on agenda. Validation has been performed with 16 children in 12 classrooms of four special education schools. Methodology for evaluation compares both prior and posterior assessments which are based in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) from the World Health Organization (WHO), together with observation registers. Results show consistent improvement in performances related with time orientation

Using TPACK to promote effective language teaching in an ESL/EFL classroom

Technology integration in English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) using Technological Pedagogical And Content Knowledge (TPACK) (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) seems to be a new territory for teachers and researchers. For this reason, this literature review explores the use of TPACK in the EFL/ESL classroom. In this review, principles, methods and activities related to English teaching are reviewed and discussed. Also, the foundations of TPACK, activity types and their applications not only in other subject areas, but also in the EFL/ESL area are explored. For this purpose, articles, studies and books were consulted to find literature that explores the integration of technology using TPACK framework. After analyzing 38 sources including journal articles and books, it was concluded that the application of TPACK in English teaching has not been explored in extent. Therefore, more empirical studies need to be done to achieve technology integration in EFL/ESL using TPACK

Students’ Uptake of Written Feedback in an Egyptian University Language Program

Feedback is by no means a straightforward path; rather, the feedback on the writing process involves several factors on the part of both educators and students at a university level. It is important to note that feedback can be given in different ways to each student, while uptake may vary across educational institutions. This study explored students’ perceptions on engagement strategies, uptake, and emotional responses to the feedback phenomenon. Past studies on feedback and uptake prompted the investigation of this area. The study includes tentative answers to the wealth of questions that have contributed to the field of feedback. This research relied on student work, questionnaires, and interviews in order to gain insight into learners’ uptake, teachers’ engagement strategies, and students’ emotional responses towards written feedback (WF). The study aims to suggest practical ways to facilitate student engagement by revealing their emotional reactions and improving feedback delivery. The study was conducted at a leading English-language instruction institution located in Cairo, Egypt. The researcher sent a questionnaire to 69 participants, collected 30 writing samples with WF, and interviewed 8 participants. The findings in this study were consistent with the results of similar studies, where educators implement several feedback strategies, resulting in a high level of student engagement and uptake of feedback. The present exploration sheds light on the relationship between students and their teacher’s feedback in one of the prestigious universities in Cairo. Keywords: writing tasks, written feedback, emotional responses, student perceptions, student engagement, feedback practices, feedback strategies, student uptak