AN EVALUATION OF THE USE OF SMARTBOARD TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING AT HORIZON INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL SCHOOL IN HANOI VIETNAM

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIESFACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************************** JACOB MICHAEL ADAMS AN EVALUATION OF THE

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

****************************

JACOB MICHAEL ADAMS

AN EVALUATION OF THE USE OF SMARTBOARD TECHNOLOGY

IN TEACHING AT HORIZON INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL

SCHOOL IN HANOI, VIETNAM (2013-2014)

Đánh giá việc sử dụng bảng thông minh trong đánh giảng dạy ở Trường

song ngữ quốc tế Horizon Hà Nội.

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111

HANOI, 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

****************************

JACOB MICHAEL ADAMS

AN EVALUATION OF THE USE OF SMARTBOARD TECHNOLOGY

IN TEACHING AT HORIZON INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL

SCHOOL IN HANOI, VIETNAM (2013-2014)

Đánh giá việc sử dụng bảng thông minh trong đánh giảng dạy ở Trường

song ngữ quốc tế Horizon Hà Nội.

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 SUPERVISOR : Dr Đỗ Tuấn Minh , P.H.D

HANOI, 2015

This thesis is a compilation of my original research work Every effort was made to clearly indicate the contributing individuals, with specific reference to the literary review This thesis was completed under the guidance of my supervisor, Dr Đỗ Tuấn Minh, P H D at the University of Languages and International Studies, VNU.

Student's Name

Jacob Michael Adams

In my capacity as supervisor of this candidate's thesis, I certify that the above statements are true to the best of my knowledge.

Supervisor

Đỗ Tuấn Minh, P H D

Date: Hanoi, 2015

I entrust that the contents of this thesis be used for the benefit of the use

of SmartBoard technology in teaching students at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnam….now and in the future

I would like to thank all of the teachers and students who taught for and attended Horizon International Bilingual School (H.I.B.S.) in Hanoi, Vietnam, for their participation allowing me to conduct this thesis in a professional manner I would like to thank all of the teachers and students who answered questions to the surveys honestly, thus allowing for high quality results in advancing this research that I have begun.

I would also like to thank former Principal Abdil Karakoc, whom

without his support; this project could not have been possible I would like to

further thank Nguyen Thanh Thuy for translating documents that needed to be

phrased into the Vietnamese language for my studies, including the abstract

This research thesis is an evaluation of how SmartBoard technology was used at Horizon International Bilingual School (H.I.B.S.), in Hanoi, Vietnam during the 2013-2014 academic year H.I.B.S has classrooms equipped with the latest in technological learning devices, such as the SmartBoard This thesis will show how this technology is viewed and used by students and teachers alike at H.I.B.S I used anonymous surveys to collect qualitative data results, and respectively used qualitative analysis to show how this technology was used and viewed by individuals who taught for and attended H.I.B.S during the 2013-2014 academic year The main point of this thesis is

to improve the use of modern technology in teaching, especially in the use of the SmartBoard, at H.I.B.S in the following years to come

KEYWORDS: (SmartBoard, H.I.B.S., education, technology, teachers, students)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

COMMITMENTS: ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: iii

ABSTRACT iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

PART A INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 2

2 Purpose: 3

3 Significance: 6

4 Scope: 6

5 Methodology: 8

6 Organization (structure of the thesis): 8

7 Research Questions: 8

PART B DEVELOPMENT 9

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 9

1.1 Use of SMART Boards for teaching, learning 9

1.2 The unexpected impact of SMART Boards and the emergence of a professional learning community within an elementary school 10

1.3 Beginner Adult ESL Education in the Age of Technology 11

1.4 Second Language Learning in the 21 st Century Classroom 12

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 16

2.1.1 Data Collection Information 16

2.1.2 Demographics and 2.1.3 School 17

2.2 Data Collection 17

2.2.1 Phase 1 17

2.2.2 Phase 2 23

CHAPTER 3 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 29

3.1 Data Analysis 29

3.1.1 Phase 1 29

3.1.2 Phase 2 29

3.2 Implications for Further Research 32

PART C CONCLUSION 34

REFERENCES 36 APENDIX A I APENDIX B IV

PART A INTRODUCTION

The innovative practice that H.I.B.S has chosen to aid in the advancing ofthe educational process for the students at Horizon International Bilingual School(H.I.B.S.) with their education in ESL, and other subjects, is the incorporation of theuse of the school’s SmartBoards in the daily lessons to help stimulate the minds ofthe students in all grades at H.I.B.S White-boards have been our traditionalmethod of transposing classroom language, and have helped greatly in giving visualaids in the classroom Today’s classroom technology keeps growing and growing.Now, many schools throughout the world, including H.I.B.S., are using SmartBoardtechnology SmartBoard technology uses a touch-screen interface through the use

of a projector, all finally being operated by a computer, which is in turn operated bythe teacher

The first SmartBoard broke into the educational market in 1991, and hascontinued to develop its technology into the model that arrived on the market in

2003 These interactive whiteboards are available from a growing number ofcompanies and are becoming very popular with both teachers and students Theyoffer a situation where the students can be in control of learning while the teacherplays the role of the mediator in case of confusion These SmartBoards combine theuse of words, pictures, sound and video in a way that the students can interact withthe lesson itself A teacher can use materials provided by the educational companythat they purchase their books from, find materials and lesson plans online, or maketheir own SmartBoard lessons utilizing one of many computer programs that havebeen developed for the use of this technology

The location will be at H.I.B.S Hanoi, Vietnam campus to secondary andhigh school students The context will be used in the ESL classroom setting usingsupplementary programs provided with the ESL textbooks for the 2013-2014academic year, plus the use of any additional resources that the individual teacherchose to use H.I.B.S.’ secondary and high school has been using Oxford ‘Aim

High’ ESL Books (student book, workbook, teacher’s book, iTools interactiveSmartBoard program, as well as the student’s DVD ROM), levels 1 through 5.H.I.B.S intends its teachers to utilize all of these materials in class to help bridgethe gap between theory and practice

1 Rationale

My rationale for incorporating the use of the SmartBoards in H.I.B.S ismainly for the fact that H.I.B.S has SmartBoards in almost all of the classrooms,but as a teacher, I don’t know how other teachers and students feel about thistechnology and its use I want to take a closer look at the use of SmartBoardtechnology used at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi The onlyclassroom without a SmartBoard was 12th grade’s classroom, which is getting itinstalled in the immediate future, and now has been installed since I first beganresearching this project In years past, H.I.B.S has had SmartBoards, however notmany teachers used them because of lack of knowledge or lack of good software Ihave observed this myself through theory and in practice, while teaching for thisschool since the beginning of the 2011 academic year This year H.I.B.S has aimed

to train the teachers on the use of SmartBoards, although the training was only part

of two mornings, and has supplied the teachers with program materials to be used

on the SmartBoards H.I.B.S hopes that all teachers now have the necessary skillsneeded to make use of the SmartBoards H.I.B.S has resources from the publishingcompany that they have purchased their educational books from H.I.B.S also hasattempted to train its teachers on how to create simple SmartBoard lessons

I tried to incorporate the use of the SmartBoard more into the lessons that Iprepared for teaching to high school students in Horizon International BilingualSchool, although I’m not sure if I feel that I have been trained enough I do notknow how other teachers feel about using the SmartBoard This thesis will showthe teachers and students’ views of the use of SmartBoard technology in teaching at

H.I.B.S during the 2013-2014 academic year and show suggestions to improve itsuse, based on my observations and data gathered and analysis

2 Purpose:

The students that I taught while teaching for H.I.B.S were at many differentlevels of English competence In some of the classrooms that I taught, the studentbody consisted of learners from several different countries, who could not fullyexpress themselves in the English language as of thus far Therefore, in a situationsuch as this, some communication barriers are put up between some students whoreally want to talk with each other, but cannot I have personally seen that when thestudents use a SmartBoard, they are more interactive with learning and cooperatingwith each other and looking at each other with expressions that can be understoodwithout the use of too much formal spoken communication However over myyears of teaching at H.I.B.S (three academic years from 2011-2014), I have beenwondering about the effectiveness of the utilization of this technology in teaching atH.I.B.S., considering many issues that I have seen during these years

In a localized context-sensitive approach, it will be with the use of OxfordiTools programs, for secondary and high school students, which are supplied to theteachers at H.I.B.S.; therefore the subject matter presented in the textbooks will bereproduced to give the students an extra advantage on memory retention Theinformation covered in the student’s book and workbook will be presented in a thirdway in the use of audio-visual interactive programs The same information will bepresented, but in a more interactive way to promote the retention of the topics orpoints learned

In the beginning this was my thought: Practicality, or the way in whichteachers could intend to overthrow the unequal power relationship between theoryand practice, may be seen by the students being more active in class and using whatthey’ve learned proudly in front of members of their peer group This would mean

that the students would learn the theory and then work with the subject matter more

in their workbook, and after completing these two tasks, the students may be morewilling and able to show their knowledge gained through interactive programs thatcan reinforce the learning that has been presented In theory, the students wouldhave more time to practice with interactive lessons involving native speakers

According to Kumaravadivelu’s possibility principle, the incorporations ofSmartBoards in the classroom will show social transformation because of the dailyuse of high technology in the students’ lives The identity formation of the students

is being altered by today’s modern lifestyle, which we can see in our everyday lives.These include the use of the personal computer, iPod, iPad, smartphones, electronictranslators, and many more items that students of today encounter in their everydaylives This technology can also teach culture as well, because most ESL learninginvolved learning about aspects of culture along with learning the language itself

SmartBoard technology can be a big asset to the teaching of English as asecond/foreign language today and in the future Teachers must be able tounderstand these technologies so that they can teach with their use within aclassroom Students in today’s modern classrooms are rapidly adjusting to thenewest of technologies used in the teaching of English and other subjects Allpeople involved with education should be informed about the use of SmartBoardsand how they can be used as a great learning tool in fostering the acquisition of anew language or new subject material

In this research project I will involve students and teachers at HorizonInternational Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnam, during the 2013-2014 academicyear I believe that students can be able to have a better understanding of each otherand each other’s cultures through the use of SmartBoard technology, while at thesame time increasing their knowledge of the English language, and other subjects,while becoming more engaged with their learning and social processes as the growfrom adolescents into the young men and women who will have a huge impact on

our world’s future The research that I will show in this paper, conversely will beresearch focused on the evaluation of the use of this technology in teaching andlearning in the classroom at H.I.B.S., Hanoi, Vietnam

While teaching for H.I.B.S during the 2013-2014 academic year, I taught 8thgrade international students as well as all students in grades 9 through 12 Grades 9and 10 are heavily engaged in learning English and love to try to use theSmartboard when we have time in class Eleventh grade, which is our largest class,has trouble focusing at times, and 12th grade (which got a SmartBoard installed justrecently) is uninvolved in the learning process, with the exception of one student It

is discouraging to see the 12th grade students not care about education during theirfinal year I propose, with the aid of a SmartBoard, and the proper teachingtechniques, teachers can keep the students more engaged in their learning processesand development as individual social beings

In classes that I’m not seeing much progress, I decided on changing myteaching methods In the future I want to see the students be more involved inparticipation in the classroom setting and become more comfortable in the practice

of the use of language, and widening knowledge of other subjects, while at the sametime becoming more culturally aware and culturally sensitive I also had the benefit

of teaching an extra class, of my own choice and design, to international studentsfrom grades 8 and 11 combined My students came from a wide range of culturalbackgrounds and were not all aware of each others’ cultural norms We were able

to discuss many topics and issues such as current events in the world today For ourfirst semester we focused on debates about topics of interest that I gatheredinformation for through the use of research about how a debate class was carried outinternationally, and what topics we should consider debating For our secondsemester, I conducted a Public Speaking class with these same students I presentedthem with ideas to think about and introduce to the class, in the form of a speech.For our first assignment, I had the students do a presentation about the countries (or

cities) that they came from, in order to both boost their self-confidence aboutspeaking in front of a group and educating their fellow peers about the culture andlife from where they came from before attending H.I.B.S Fifty percent of thesestudents were excited to use the SmartBoard for their presentations, incorporatingvideo, pictures, and sound so that they could practice making PowerpointPresentations while incorporating the use of the SmartBoard Four out of the eightstudents decided to use the technology of the SmartBoard, while four did not Theyhad the choice I encouraged the use, but did not require the use

3 Significance:

My desire is that this thesis will aid in the furthering of education of theEnglish language, as well as other subjects, for future teachers and students whomay work for, or attend, H.I.B.S in the future I also want teachers to be able toutilize the SmartBoard technology that they have in their classrooms, in order toteach in a more progressive manner that will benefit the learners in many differentways, not just academically, but socially as well I had worked for this school forthe last three academic years and had come to deeply love my job, my students, and

my co-educators within H.I.B.S.’s educational community This educationalcommunity has recently gone through some major changes, which included movingthe secondary and high schools to the location where the primary school alreadyexisted Now H.I.B.S has a full school (Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade) inone location The learners became more social with each other Older students arenow interacting with younger students, morals are being learned and future behavior

is being shaped

4 Scope:

The by and large aim of this thesis is to examine the current high technology-based learning experiences as seen from both students’ and teachers’ points of views, while utilizing SmartBoard technology in the classroom as a learning medium

the classroom at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi,Vietnam

the use of SmartBoard technology use in their classroom settings.Goal 4: To look at concerns about the use of SmartBoard technology

within the classroom settings at Horizon International BilingualSchool, Hanoi, Vietnam

Goal 5: To provide directions and motivation for further study and

implementation of the use of SmartBoard technology at HorizonInternational Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnam

This thesis sought to examine these 5 goals and to investigate some key issues withthe use of SmartBoard technology within different classroom settings at HorizonInternational Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnam I mostly used surveys which were

by design receptive and investigative to document the feelings and success status oflearning through the use of SmartBoard technology, experienced by teachers andstudents who taught for and attended Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoifrom 2013-2014 I used this technology in the classroom as well, including theobservation of several teachers utilizing this technology within their classrooms Iwish to see an increase in the optimization of the use of SmartBoard technology inthe near future, not just at Horizon School, but at many schools and institutesutilizing this technology worldwide

5 Methodology:

This thesis is a qualitative research analysis project with quantitative researchmethodology used when examining numbers rather than the more open-endedquestions presented on the questionnaires handed out to students in mostly 8ththrough 12th grades at Horizon International Bilingual School, Hanoi, Vietnamduring the 2013-2014 academic year I used research based off other authors’findings to build a basis for a literature review before I developed questionnairesthat I handed out to both teachers and students, mostly involved with 8th through

12th grades, at HIBS After collecting the questionnaires, observing teachers andstudents interacting and studying through the use of SmartBoard technology, andutilizing the technology myself in my own classrooms, I conjured up a researchthesis based on mostly qualitative methodology with quantitative valuesimplemented as well

6 Organization (structure of the thesis):

This thesis is broken down into three sections: Parts A, B, and C In Part A,this thesis will discuss the introduction to this thesis I will discuss my rationale,aims, and significance, as well as detail the scope, organization and finally theresearch questions that will be answered In Part B, the main of the development

of the research project will be shown Chapter one will illustrate the literaturereviews concerning this study Chapter two will show the methodology used forthe data collection Chapter three will show the results of the data that wasanalyzed for this study This chapter will also show implications for furtherresearch into this study In the final part, Part C, this thesis will show theconclusion thoughts behind this research study

7 Research Questions:

1 How do the students view the use of SmartBoards in their classrooms?

2 How do teachers at H.I.B.S view the use of SmartBoard technology?

PART B DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

Reviewing the literature currently available on the use of SmartBoards in theclassroom will support in contributing to the further development andimplementation of its technology and its impact on learning and catering to manydifferent learning styles

1.1 Use of SMART Boards for teaching, learning

The first selection that I will review is Use of SMART Boards for teaching,

learning and assessment in kindergarten science, written by Chris Preston and Lee Mowbray (Teaching Science, 54, 2: 2008) This article presents findings from

classroom-based research with kindergarteners at Abbotsleigh Junior School located

in the U.K

The article focused on studies done with kindergarten students in sciencelessons It showed how kindergarten students can use deductive reasoning on aSmartBoard to solve complex problems, that they wouldn't normally be able to sole

using pen and paper alone They showed this through their findings on Lego cars

travel distance on different surfaces The article spoke of how the conducted their

lessons They also evaluated SmartBoards showing the boards' benefits andlimitations They show the benefits as being that SmartBoards are easy to operateand fun for a child to use while being very useful in the elicitation of previousknowledge, and for gaining evidence to help the children further their conceptualand developmental skills They also show an example to back up their findings.The article also shows evidence of better assessment for the knowledge gained byyoung learners who may not yet be able to use a pen and paper to take tests Thelimitations listed were as follows: the cost, setting-up the classroom, not being able

to have more than one child using the board at once (there's a special pen to use theboard, and only one works at a time.) The article finally states that the SmartBoardshould be used as an effective tool so that the teacher will still play a role as afacilitator in the classroom, using the Smartboard to take a 'minds on' approach tolearning science The article goes on to state that grades 5 and 6 benefit the mostfrom the use of SmartBoard-based lessons.

1.2 The unexpected impact of SMART Boards and the emergence of a professional learning community within an elementary school

The second publication that I will be reviewing is written by a collective

group of authors and is entitled My teaching took off sideways: The unexpected

impact of SMART Boards and the emergence of a professional learning community within an elementary school (Naylor, et al.: 2008) This article was written for the

British Columbia Teachers' Federation and is a revision of a paper given to theCanadian School for Studies in Education This publication focuses on twopresenting issues The first issue was to examine the impact that the use of theSmartBoard has on teaching and learning The second issue discussed was betterformation of a learning community The paper concluded that the study was asuccess SmartBoards helped change pedagogical approaches of teachers Theseteachers believe that this change has aided in improving students' engagement,retention and output of the subject matter discussed The paper also helped formand identify a new layer within the school's already established learningcommunity The teachers would have meetings to discuss the nature of their workand issues with SmartBoards in their classrooms This ended up causing a strongerbond within their learning community and also led to the creation of their own Wikiproject

1.3 Beginner Adult ESL Education in the Age of Technology

The third article that I will be examining is Beginner Adult ESL Education in

the Age of Technology, written by Abdulaziz Aljabre (Aljabre: 2012) This paper

shows the needs for the use of technology in the classroom, and that it should beincorporated in a beginner level ESL class It also presents a layout of how toimplement this action in the ESL classroom This paper states that technology haschanged the way in which teachers teach and learners learn It begins by showingthat students at an older age must also be taught how to use the new technology that

we have available This begins with the problems that some adult learners havewith the use of technology such as logging onto a computer, or even turning it on.This shows how technology has created a barrier to some learners' learning Theselearners must learn to use the new technology so that they can make use of it Thispaper makes a strong argument on how technology has made such a big impact onteaching and learning in today's educational world The author also points out thatmany adult learners come from lower-income communities and nations where thiskind of technology was never available For many of these students technology inthe classroom was never an issue because it had been of little importance Theynever had a need to know how to navigate a computer because of their livingenvironments at home Many learners of ESL in America are immigrants who earnlittle money and use all of their earnings to support their extended families, notmake major purchases of electronic equipment The author bases his research paper

on this group of adult learners He goes on to give his definition of ESL students incommunity college The majority of community college students are alreadyclassified as non-traditional students because of their age, and he focuses further onthe ESL students who are immigrants, refugees and international students who want

to improve their skills in the English language The author states that students whoare immigrants or refugees may have not been introduced, or had access, to manytypes of technology we use in our common classrooms in the United States Thesestudents must learn how to use this technology, which they have never seen before,and at the same time integrate it in their learning procedures This has shown to be

a second meaning-based learning system for these students to learn even basiclanguage The author states that visual technology has brought us a long way, butnow multi-modal approaches to learning are reinforcing learners' learning in a muchmore positive way This paper not only takes a look at SmartBoards It alsoreinforces older technology, such as CD players, DVD players, and computersalone The author next outlines the negative effects of having limited knowledgewhen it comes to technology Many students don't have access to this technologyoutside of the classroom They also don't have extra hours in their lives to seek outhow to use all of this technology on their own He goes on to state that this can belearned in the classroom, but at a more advanced level, after the development oftheir initial language skills The author goes on to talk about how students need to

be taught the basics of technology before making use of it The publicationconcludes that these certain community college students have many obstacles in thehopes of learning The author also mentions that technology is always changingand we always have to learn how to adapt it for our needs He also concludes thatthe job of an ESL/EFL teacher is not only to teach language, but also teach skillsneeded to be good students

1.4 Second Language Learning in the 21 st Century Classroom

The final publication that I will review was taken from the Brandon

University Journal of Graduate Studies in Education The article, Second Language

on the ways that different technologies can aide in the development of linguistic andcommunicative competencies for second language learners This article starts off

by introducing the fact that learners today are experiencing learning differently thatthe learners of past decades She points out that students are not responding totraditional teaching methods the same way as in the past The paper points outthose second language learners are raring to reach out to others through socialnetworking and videoconferencing SmartBoards provide an interactive way oflearning that is highly desired in the 21st century classroom The author states that

collaborative learning readily occurs through the use of computer technology This,

in turn, facilitates the broadening of creativity, critical thinking and problemsolving The paper suggests that these new technologies, such as social networkingand videoconferencing are unique opportunities for students to be able tocommunicate with different students across place and time The paper identifiesthat personalized learning is very important in Canada, and that it can be betterachieved through the use of technology The author also notes that DragonNaturally Speaking (computer program) is very useful in aiding the learning ofstudents who perceive learning better through auditory means The publication alsolists SmartBoards as a great way to make use of a hands-on approach to learning.Technology has also helped students be able to study at the pace that they need.Through the use of technology, students can reinforce their learning in manydifferent ways The paper shows how teachers are making use of technology in theclassroom, but students seem to be taking the control into their own hands because

of an interactive learning experience This paper argues that learners can learnthrough collaborative relationships using the personalized learning approach Thepaper argues that the teacher’s role in the classroom is changing over the years, andchanging rapidly because of the new wave of technological devices The teacher'srole is changing to being a teacher-as-a-facilitator in the 21st century classroom.The author then goes back to emphasize the role of social networking andvideoconferencing in the learning of language in the 21st century classroom Afterthis she goes on to discuss SmartBoard use further The author quotes Gerard andWidener (1999:6) in the use of SmartBoards as a powerful support system forlanguage acquisition and communication They say that it [the SmartBoard]

“provides a bridge that allows using the features of computers without breakingcommunication – it even supports it Secondly, it may enhance new kinds oflearning processes.” The paper goes on to cover the benefits from the use of aSmartBoard, such as an increase in interaction time between the teacher and thestudents, easy ways of teaching vocabulary, having many students focus on reading

the same thing (such as an article from the internet) at the same time, and the waysthat the SmartBoard supports hands-on learning, where the students can have a lot

of control Next was the issue of teaching culture, because some parts of culture aredefinitely taught in second-language classrooms The technologies available to thestudents can also be used to encourage further understanding and learning aboutdifferent aspects of culture In the conclusion, there is an emphasis on teachingtechnical literacy in the second-language classroom There is also an emphasis onteaching culture through the use of technology because of the ‘global citizenshipoutcomes’ used in Canadian educational sectors

Each work that I read had similarities All agreed that the use of differenttechnologies, especially SmartBoards, helps in learners’ learning of a new language

or new subject material They all showed the many benefits that SmartBoards, ifused properly, can have towards learning acquisition in the classroom Except for

Beginner Adult ESL Education in the Age of Technology, every article that I

reviewed showed mostly just the benefits of using SmartBoard technology in the

classroom A similar issue was raised by Second Language Learning in the 21 st Century Classroom, where the article pointed out that technology literacy must also

be taught in the classroom

All of the articles are relevant in today’s international teaching world.SmartBoards are being used in more and more classrooms throughout the world.I’ve personally taught ESL/EFL and other subjects to speakers of other languagesand students who come from many different cultural backgrounds I have taught inKorea, Thailand, China, and Vietnam I had the use of a SmartBoard in most of theclassrooms that I have taught in, except for my teaching career in Thailand, wherethere was not much use of modern technologies in the classroom

All of these papers, with the exception of Beginner Adult ESL Education in

the Age of Technology, can help me towards conducting this research paper about

the effectiveness of the use of SmartBoard technology in teaching at Horizon

International Bilingual School, Hanoi The student body consists of well-to-doVietnamese and international learners However, every one of these publicationscan aid in the understanding and development of the use of modern technologywithin a second-language learning classroom environment in our growingmulticultural world Technology is rapidly developing in today’s educationalsystem Teachers’ teaching style and learners’ learning style needs to adapt to thechanges of using more modern technologies in the classroom

I hope in the future SmartBoard technology will become available for themajority of the English language learning students in Vietnam Currently it is used

in few International schools that are too costly for the majority of the Englishlearning population In these schools, teachers don’t seem to utilize these machines

to their full potential Learning about SmartBoards and how to implement them inthe learning process in the English language learning classroom is a long course ofaction I have a lot to learn myself about this technology as it is still very newtechnology in the classroom, and teachers, like me, are unaware of the best softwarefor the implementation of SmartBoards in education The documentation of theprogression of learning amongst students as well as helping to educate current andfuture teachers about the benefits and possible set-backs in the use of SmartBoards

in the ESL Classroom is necessary, if the use of SmartBoard technology is desired

by the educational institution that people teach, work, and learn in

to its learners This thesis will show how effective this technology has been seen bystudents and teachers at H.I.B.S during the academic year of 2013-2014 Although

I will focus on this particular year, I have had the privilege of observing students atthis school for three academic years It has been nice to see them grow as studentsand individuals, but has any of this really been shaped by the use of special moderntechnology used in the classroom? This research paper will cover such topics asthis while also taking a look at students’ perceptions of the need of the use of thistechnology while learning in their particular classrooms

Horizon International Bilingual School is a smaller international school inHanoi, Vietnam It has class sizes from three to nineteen students It was with thecooperation from both teachers and students at HIBS that I was able to put thisresearch project together

2.1.1 Data Collection Information

As my main method of research I handed out questionnaires to both teachersand students to help me gather unbiased qualitative data results of my findings of