Teaching Technology Textuality PDF Download

This thesis examines issues at the intersection of three domains: a revisioning of English curriculum, expanding views of textuality and an intensifying integration of technology in English teaching. It reviews the current literature and research in technology, textuality and pedagogy and then examines the changes in educational policy in English Education in four jurisdictions as they relate to these specific domains. Using methodologies of case-by-case studies and a cross-case analysis, the thesis examined these themes in the teaching practices of three English teachers' in predominantly literature-based classrooms over six months.The results of the study support the hypothesis that shifting definitions of text and technology are indeed reshaping English Education practices. However, this inquiry demonstrates three other subtle elements affecting the teaching transaction in contemporary English classrooms. First, teachers' understanding of students' construction of knowledge continues to be a more significant factor in engaging students in transformative teaching than access to state-of-the-art technology. Second, as has been shown in other studies, access to and use of technology alone cannot transform teaching; teachers are much more willing to take risks in their practice if they are able to share and collaborate in small groups. Third, English practices continue to move from a knowing what to a knowing how paradigm that involves discernment, critical thought and an ability to access knowledge.This study also demonstrates that other issues continue to hinder English teaching and learning. First, there is a pronounced breach between educational policy and current teaching practices, manifesting itself in the divergence between mandated government expectations and local school constraints of economics and time. Second, a significant gap persists between literacy specialists who advocate for multi-literacies including electronic literacies, and English teachers who more often work in the traditional paradigms of literature and writing.Hence enhancements in technology and widening views of textuality broaden and deepen English teaching. Nevertheless, other factors also shape the learning transaction in significant ways because teaching and learning is never fixed or predictable but always contextual, surprising and human.