Digital Teaching and Learning a Language: One-To-One English Lessons on Skype
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MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Digital teaching and learning a language: One-to-one English lessons on Skype Master’s thesis Brno 2019 Supervisor Author Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A. Bc. Veronika Beranová 2 Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou práci bakalářskou vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. V Brně dne Veronika Beranová 3 Acknowledgement Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A. for her professional recommendations and encouraging attitude in the process of writing. Secondly, I am thankful to Mgr. Radek Vogel, Ph.D. who offered practical advice on the formal aspect of the thesis. Lastly, I would like to give my big thanks to all respondents who allowed me to complete the thesis and to my friend for her valuable advice. 4 Abstract This master’s thesis attempts to provide a survey of relevant and extensive data on the nature of one-to-one English lessons on Skype. I divided the thesis into two main parts. The theoretical part poses current conditions of technologies in society and in education. It also deals with the characterization of Skype as the software tool and the introduction of prime features of the one- to-one English lessons on Skype. The survey was mediated through an online questionnaire of which results I analyse in the practical part. Key words One-to-one lesson; The English language; Skype; Digital technologies; Digital education. Anotace Tato diplomová práce se snaží poskytnout výzkum, který obsahuje podstatné a rozsáhlé údaje o soukromých Skypových hodinách anglického jazyka. Rozdělila jsem práci do dvou hlavních částí. Teoretická část popisuje současné podmínky technologií ve společnosti a ve vzdělávání. Také se zabývá charakterizací programu Skype a představením hlavních znaků soukromých Skypových hodin anglického jazyka. Výzkum byl zprostředkován skrz online dotazník, jehož výsledky analyzuji v praktické části. Klíčová slova Soukromé doučování; Anglický jazyk; Skype; Digitální technologie; Digitální vzdělávání. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 7 2 Digital society .......................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Kranzberg’s laws applied to the 21st century .................................................. 9 3 Digital education.................................................................................................... 12 3.1 Digital portable devices .................................................................................. 13 3.2 Digital content ................................................................................................ 15 3.3 Assessment, evaluation, feedback .................................................................. 17 3.4 Digital flipped classroom ............................................................................... 18 3.5 Online education ............................................................................................ 19 4 Digital divide ......................................................................................................... 21 5 Digital competence ................................................................................................ 23 5.1 Digital competence for citizens ...................................................................... 24 5.2 Digital competence for educators ................................................................... 25 5.3 Digital competence for learners ..................................................................... 26 6 Skype ..................................................................................................................... 28 6.1 Facts about Skype........................................................................................... 28 6.2 Variety of Skype purposes ............................................................................. 29 6.2.1 Leisure ...................................................................................................... 29 6.2.2 Business .................................................................................................... 30 6.2.3 Learning .................................................................................................... 31 7 One-to-one English lessons on Skype ................................................................... 33 7.1 Impulses for one-to-one English lessons ........................................................ 33 7.2 The nature of one-to-one English lessons on Skype ...................................... 34 8 Survey .................................................................................................................... 39 8.1 Questionnaire ................................................................................................. 39 8.2 Respondents ................................................................................................... 40 6 8.3 The questionnaire, section 2 – Personal information about respondents ....... 41 8.4 The questionnaire, section 3 – Experience of respondents with one-to-one English lessons on Skype........................................................................................... 43 8.5 The questionnaire, section 4 – The nature of one-to-one English lessons on Skype in reality .......................................................................................................... 45 8.6 The questionnaire, section 5 – Organization of Skype lessons ...................... 55 8.7 The questionnaire, section 6 – Digital content ............................................... 59 8.8 The questionnaire, section 7 – Respondents’ learners ................................... 65 8.9 The questionnaire, section 8 - Additional data ............................................... 70 9 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 73 10 List of references................................................................................................ 76 11 List of appendices .............................................................................................. 83 12 List of figures ..................................................................................................... 86 7 1 Introduction Digital technologies commonly appear in education nowadays. Teachers that are making an effort to effectively implement the technologies into the classroom are, unfortunately, facing technological challenges, though. Still, education distinguishes its innovative forms of online teaching and impresses us with a variety of digital tools that facilitate teaching and enhance learning. Accordingly, it may seem that any other distinct form of online teaching could offer a similarly developed learning environment, but one-to-one English lessons on Skype provide both teachers and learners with highly beneficial and attractive conditions that lead to a significant improvement of the learners’ level of English. As much as I am aware, there is not research on such a specific topic. Most writings discuss one- to-one English teaching and online teaching separately and do not focus on a combination of them. It indicates that the public lacks relevant and thorough data on the lessons as a whole. Thus, the aim of the master’s thesis titled “Digital teaching and learning a language: One-to-one English lessons on Skype” is to carry out an analysis of a survey of which outcomes will presumably establish new understandings of one-to-one English lessons on Skype and extend knowledge bases on this area. The survey was designed as an online Google questionnaire. I carefully restricted the sample of respondents to people who gained experience with Skype lessons. Firstly, the theoretical part shows a bond between technologies and society. If technologies have a considerable impact on today’s life and mindset, it is plausible that people perceived technological innovations similarly in the past. Thus, I will attempt to describe real examples of that bond on Kranzberg’s laws. Secondly, education benefits from technologies but teachers are likely to face troubles such as the digital divide or constant technological development. I will then list a number of digital devices and content utilized in teaching, provide two forms of online teaching common in schools, and bring definitions of assessment, feedback, and evaluation. I will also emphasize the gravity of the digital divide that could be eliminated by digital education. Teachers could decrease the divide by updating their digital knowledge which is known as digital competence. I will explain why competence is necessary to be updated. Thirdly, the theoretical part concentrates on Skype as software, its basic and advanced services and purposes for which Skype is normally used. It is followed by the subchapter about 8 the nature of one-to-one English lessons on Skype. The chapter attempts to administer characteristics of the one-to-one teaching and online teaching separately and combine them. I will highlight the main