Enhancing EFL Writing Instruction through Technology in Iran

The application of technology in English language classrooms has recently become a common practice around the world. However, Iranian EFL teachers are not very experienced in dealing with technology. By the same token, understanding teachers’ attitude and their real experience of technology in EFL context is important .The aims of the study are to find out EFL teachers’ belief of using technology in teaching of writing after integration and ways to improve teaching practice with help of blogging through the theory of community of practice. A total of 7 EFL teachers from two different universities participated in this study. They have experienced an online environment as a means to share their knowledge of teaching of writing to improve students’ writing skill. The results from the interviews indicated that the online environment helped students to grow positive attitudes toward writing skills and it improved their writing. They also considered online technology as an effective teaching tool that can change the way they deliver their teaching of writing. Keywords: technology, teacher perception, community of practice, writing, blogging

Teacher Professional Development through Blogging: Some Preliminary Findings

AbstractThe emerging trend of the use of innovative technologies to support teachers’ teaching and learning is indicative of the increasing dominance of technology in educational environments. One aspect of the use of technology is the developing online technologies where teachers are in an online interactive platform to share knowledge on their teaching practice. Blog is one of the online interactive platforms, commonly used by teachers to interact with their peers which not only makes them cognizant of the usefulness of technology but also helps them to learn how to integrate the technology to support teaching. Utilizing the theory of community of practice and through observing blog activities of teachers, this paper attempts to present some preliminary findings to show that teachers’ sharing of their practices within the communities facilitates collaboration and sharing of knowledge that benefits both the teachers and their students. It is based on a study involving 7 Iranian EFL teachers who shared their experiences and knowledge within the community through blogging for one semester. The initial findings suggest that blogging has a positive effect on teacher learning within a community of practice