Journal article
Balancing Tradition and Innovation: Digital Technology Integration in Australian Secondary English Classes
Issues in Educational Research, Vol.35(2), pp.550-572
2025
Abstract
In the time-poor world of secondary English-L1 (English as first language) teachers, integrating digital technology in the classroom is both a blessing and a curse. English-L1 teachers continually face tensions between delivering digital content, introducing traditional textbooks, maintaining student attention and teaching 21st century skills. The focus of our research is situated in Australian secondary English-L1 teaching and learning. Through personal and professional narratives, this article explores teachers' varied dispositions towards digital technology and technology-enhanced learning (TEL). These dispositions are related to prevailing school and English department cultures, which, in turn, tap into broader social beliefs about the subject English and how it is best taught. Our exploration considers Australian English-L1 teachers' complex relationships with technology and utilises a Vygotskian (1978) perspective to interpret the sociocultural milieu surrounding technology use in education. Findings suggest that the tenor of cultures in schools and their English departments is critical for understanding technology-enhanced learning in secondary English-L1 classrooms and English-L1 teachers’ dispositions towards technology.
Details
- Title
- Balancing Tradition and Innovation: Digital Technology Integration in Australian Secondary English Classes
- Authors/Creators
- Richard GordonWendy Cumming-Potvin - Murdoch University, School of EducationSian Chapman - Murdoch University, School of Education
- Publication Details
- Issues in Educational Research, Vol.35(2), pp.550-572
- Publisher
- Institutes for Educational Research
- Identifiers
- 991005779520707891
- Copyright
- © Institutes for Educational Research in NSW, SA and WA
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Education
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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