Emilija Zlatkovska , PhD School of Education Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

1. Title: Promoting social-constructivist pedagogy through using WebQuests in teaching EFL pre-service teachers in Macedonia: An exploratory study EmilijaZlatkovska, PhD School of Education Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

2. The current study: • Using WebQuest at a university level as a way to facilitate the integration of social-constructivist principles in classroom teaching. • Incorporating social-constructivist principles in teaching with computers is necessary for a more student-centered classroom and the needs of the “new” learners

3. What is a WebQuest? • WebQuestis an Internet-based inquiry activity in which, according to Dodge (1997), “some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet, optionally supplemented with videoconferencing”(par. 1)

4. Why WebQuest? • WebQuest emerges as a powerful free web tool for applying social constructivism in language teaching (Matusevich, 1995; Dodge, 1997, Vidoni & Maddux, 2003; Godwin-Jones, 2004; March 2007) • The infrastructure of the WebQuest is based on the principles of social constructivism: -it is problem and inquiry based, -group work, -real-life situations, -teacher as a guide, -application of higher order thinking skills.

5. Research Questions: • How do teacher educators view their approach to teaching before and after implementing the WebQuest as a tool in the EFL teaching methods course? • What are some resources that the EFL teaching methods class instructors employ in their own during implementation of the WebQuest in teaching? • How did the EFL methods class instructors interpret their experience with the WebQuest as an instructional tool and what is their understanding of the tool once implemented in their class? • What are the thoughts and experiences of the students participating in the EFL teaching methods class as part of this study with regard to the WebQuest tool?

6. Theoretical Framework: Social Constructivism • Impact of social constructivism for learning in a technological environment is recognized worldwide (Bonk and Cunnigham, 1997, Jacobs and Farrell, 2001) • The characteristics of social constructivism are naturally consonant with the new students’ learning styles.

7. Methodology: • Carspecken’s (2006) critical ethnography method for data collection and analysis. • Used the ontological categories (subjective, objective, normative evaluative and identity) to analyze the meaning of the data gathered from various sources

8. Carspecken’s five-stage design for qualitative research 1st stage –compiling primary record through observations with audio and video recording and intensive note-taking 2nd stage-preliminary reconstructive analysis 3rd stage - developing interview protocols and conducting interviews with the participants. 4th stage -examining the relationships that may exist among the cultural products or societal norms of the research site and those of other sites. 5th stage -focuses on using system relations to explain findings.

9. Data sources: • Pre, during and post WebQuest class observations and interviews with 3 EFL teaching methodology instructors (audio and video taped) • Thick observation notes • Conversations with administrators and EFL practicing teachers • Student survey • Member check • Peer debriefing

10. Data Analysis • Lenses Used: -Bonk and Cunningham’s (1997) view of social constructivist principles in teaching, • Jacobs and Farrell’s (2001) paradigm shift principles in second language education, • Macedonian contextual information for the 3 case studies • Conducted Stage 4 analysis: relationships of the cultural products with the site and other sites

11. Findings: 1)How do teacher educators view their approach to teaching before and after implementing the WebQuest as a tool in the EFL teaching methods course? Overall: There was a move toward changing the understanding of the constructivist position in their approach to teaching Example: Becky’s and Rod’s quotes

12. Becky’s feedback of a more student-centered classroom: • For me as a teacher I can provide another environment for the students and have a learner-centered class where I only guide their learning. They follow the steps that are already there without much involvement of the teacher. …the students are the ones who need to come up with everything. (Interview III, February, 2010)

13. Rod: • It is very constructive, I mean you have something and you add to that, it is progressive you have so much information and you learn so much more as you go along by relating to what you have[OC:meaning knowledge] right now (Interview II, January, 2010).

14. Findings: 2)What are some resources that the EFL teaching methods class instructors employ on their own during implementation of the WebQuest in teaching? Overall: Instructors were concerned about quality and availability of online resources but began to talk about the potential of student-selected resources and learning beyond what was offered. Example: Rod’s and Andy’s quote

15. ROD: was concerned about finding appropriate materials at the beginning, but: • Because of the WQ I got exposed to more things online and found more resources and realized that it is quite easy to bring them in the classroom and use them in different ways, especially videos. Because of doing the WebQuest I found a lot of useful things that I brought in my teaching (Interview III, February, 2010) • So I like the fact that it sort of has that flexibility so all students can go and finish a task, but it also has a lot of space for students who want to do more can really do more (Interview III, February, 2010).

16. Andy: • When my students bring different handouts to class for their presentations, I started to realize how much work is done outside in that field [methodology] and how much we are missing because of trying to or being focused on finishing all the methods and you realize you just superficially go through that and you don’t go any deeper with any of those methods covered due to lack of time (Interview I, December, 2009).

17. Findings: 3) How did the EFL methods class instructors interpret their experience using the WebQuest as an instructional tool and what is their understanding of the tool once implemented in their class? Overall: Instructors always liked technology but they began to understand that technology itself does not make instruction student-centered. Example: Becky’s and Rod’s quote

18. Becky said that: • It is a question of technology, how good the teacher is with using computers, but not only computers because this is more than just using a computer to work on a Word document or something. (Interview III, January, 2010)

19. Rod: • … it is controlled but at the same time it is very uncontrolled. The learner-centered learning requires a great deal of control by the teacher. I mean not control from the beginning to the end but great deal of control in setting up in terms of organization (Interview II, January, 2010).

20. Findings (Students): 4. What are the thoughts and experiences of the students participating in the EFL teaching methods class as part of this study with regard to the WebQuest tool? • The students enjoyed the autonomy and the inquiry experience while using the WebQuest and appreciated the opportunity to develop their creativity. • They also felt this tool and the way the lesson was organized may support learning the target language

21. Student C: • You can click around in the quest and easy access to the Internet/webpages. It is creative, visual and funny. It is up-to-date to use the computer plus net in the teaching/learning. Students working together, teacher-student interaction, students participating

22. Findings Summary: Using Jacobs and Farrell social constructivist model of English Language teaching, the shift observed was most pronounced in the areas of: -cooperative learning (role division) -focus on meaning (same background knowledge, real life situations) -thinking skills (Bloom) -autonomous learners -teachers as co-learners -alternative assessment

23. Findings Summary: • Paradigm shifts may be short term. Its long term prognosis is undetermined. • While doing the WQ lessons, the researcher observed that the three instructors were moving beyond the status quo. • This provides the hope that technology applications that are constructivist in nature such as WQs could help to sustain the shift.

24. Findings (Contextual): • WQs have been around for a long time. Not new. Often research looked at the application of WQs. • In this study, it is more a means to initiate a shift in thinking about teaching in a Macedonian context • Different contextual factors are impacting the conditions for change and need to be considered (stage 4)

25. Context: • System change that is possible with economic influence and laws imposed by the government. • Bologna process & EU • Macedonian government’s initiative to provide computers for each student • Focus on student-centeredness in pedagogy • English and technology as means to achieve success • English as a neutral language for instruction

26. System relations: partial cultural circuit model, law and politics and economy

27. Stage 4 • There is influence among these different sites but there is no movement of people. • The larger culture indirectly influences the government’s push toward modernization of the Macedonian society. • The government influences universities to develop programs that will make graduates more competitive in the job market

28. Limitations: • Short duration of the study • Training and observations during a longer period of time would have given better understanding • Formalized interviews with the administrators and government representatives • Limiting nature of the questionnaires

29. Conclusion and Indications for Future research: • Using the WebQuest as a tool that reflects the social constructivist principles enabled educators of pre-service teachers of EFL to make a methodological move and partial re-conceptualization of the approach to teaching

30. A longitudinal study of ways to train and support EFL methodology teachers in the incorporation of computers in more student centered teaching is encouraged • Further curriculum development and infusing this approach in EFL teacher-training programs is recommended. • Following the pre-service teachers beyond their graduation and entry into professional practice to see how they incorporate technology in their teaching

31. To sum: • Change has to start by incorporating constructivist technology integration in the teacher preparation programs and specifically in the teaching methods courses (also recommended in the literature). • In the Macedonian society, this requires a system change that is possible with economic influence and laws imposed by the government. At this point there is a strong recommendation to use the technology, but the methodology tools have not been provided. • Training teachers how to incorporate computers in their teaching in a more student centered way is the right direction for this change.

32. Rod: • There has to be a school initiative, and I think to become a school initiative and especially in this country it will have to come from the ministry, it will have to come from people who are in charge of making decisions about English language teaching curriculum in the country. And then it will have an effect. (Interview I, December, 2009)

33. My vision: • Video 2 Incorporating computers in teaching