samr model’s modification a case study of efl teachers’ perception about the learning usefulness of ict integration

The study used online surveys and in-depth interviews to find out 1 the belief of these EFL teachers in terms of their prioritized effects of ICT integration for improving learning, and

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

SAMR MODEL’S MODIFICATION: A CASE STUDY OF EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION ABOUT THE LEARNING

USEFULNESS OF ICT INTEGRATION

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of Master of Arts (TESOL)

Submitted by NGUYEN XUAN MINH

Supervisor: LE HOANG DUNG, Ph.D

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2019

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN XUAN MINH

SAMR MODEL’S MODIFICATION: A CASE STUDY OF EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION ABOUT THE LEARNING

USEFULNESS OF ICT INTEGRATION

Major: TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Major code : 60140111

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

Supervisor: Dr LE HOANG DUNG

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2019

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled “SAMR Model’s Modification: A Case Study of

EFL Teachers’ Perception about Learning Usefulness of ICT Integration” is my own

work

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from publications of which I am the only author

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institutions

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Nguyen Xuan Minh, being a candidate for the degree of

Master of Arts in TESOL, accept the requirements of Ho Chi Minh City Open University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses

Ho Chi Minh City, September, 2019

NGUYEN XUAN MINH

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The journey I have taken in my Master’s education for TESOL has consummated in the completion of this thesis I have come this far in the quest for knowledge and academic achievements thanks to the immense support of people I am more than happy to be around

I would love to send my deep gratitude to my mother who has always been with me since the start of my learning at Ho Chi Minh City Open University Also, I would like to say big thanks to my friends who teaches for EFTIN project and enthusiastically helped

me complete the survey and interviews Without their help, I would not have been able to have the thesis done this well Especially, it is my honor to express my gratefulness to my supervisor, Dr Le Hoang Dung, for being so supportive, patient, and encouraging to me during the time I managed to find a proper approach to my thesis topic He always had useful leading questions in our meetings amid hectic working weeks, and his questions definitely lit up many corners of my misunderstanding in research and helped me figure out the appropriate approach to tackle my research problems

In general, I am happy to consider this Master’s thesis as a puzzle I could solve thanks to the pieces I was given from my beloved family, friends, and teacher

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF APPENDICES x

Abstract xi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Vietnamese context of ICT use in education 1

1.2 The measurement of levels of ICT integration with different frameworks 3

1.3 Statement of the problem 4

1.4 Aims of the study 6

1.5 Research questions 6

1.6 Significance of the study 7

1.7 Definitions of key terms 7

1.8 Organization of the study 8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10

2.1 SAMR model 10

2.2 The inconsistency in the interpretation of the levels in SAMR model 12

2.3 ICT integration for EFL learning support 16

2.4 Hypothesis 24

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 26

3.1 Research design 26

3.2 Participants 26

3.3 Research tools 27

3.3.1 The survey 28

3.3.2 The interview 30

3.4 Data collection and analysis procedure 31

3.5 Validity and reliability 33

3.6 Ethical issues 35

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 37

4.1 The priorities of EFL teachers for learning supporting effects of their ICT integration 37

4.1.1 The survey results 37

4.1.2 Analysis of interview responses 40

4.2 The learning usefulness of seven effects of ICT integration 48

4.2.1 The correlation between the learning usefulness of each effect and of the situation having that effect 49 4.2.2 Findings from the interviews about the perceived learning usefulness of effects of ICT integration 59

4.2.3 The ranking of EFL teachers’ perceived learning usefulness of seven effects of ICT integration 65

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS 69

5.1 EFL teachers’ prioritized learning supporting effects of ICT integration 69

5.1.1 Prioritity for effects 6, 5, 3 and 4 69

5.1.2 Priority for effects 1, 7, and 2 70

5.2 The correlation between EFL teachers’ perceived learning usefulness of ICT effects and that of the situation having the effects 72

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY 77

6.1 The summary of key findings of the study 77

6.2 Implications of the study 78

6.3 Limitations of the study 79

6.4 Recommendations for further studies 80

6.5 Conclusions 80

References 82

APPENDICES 88

APPENDIX 1: THE SURVEY 89

APPENDIX 2: THE INTERVIEW 106

APPENDIX 3: DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE PARTICIPANTS 110

APPENDIX 4: RESULTS OF RELIABILITY TESTS OF THE SURVEY 112

APPENDIX 5: LETTER TO PARTICIPANTS AND CONSENT FORM 117

CONSENT FORM 119

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BECTA British Educational Communications and Technology Agency

EFL English as a Foreign Language

EFTIN English for those in need (name of an online teaching group)

ICT Information Communication Technology

NFLP 2020 National Foreign Language 2020 Project

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2 1 12

Table 3 1 ICT tools used in the survey questions 29

Table 3 2 Details of invalid items in the survey 33

Table 3 3 Cronbach’s Alpha scores of the 7 effects after the removal of invalid items 34

Table 3 4 The summary of the survey before the removal of invalid items 34

Table 3 5 The summary of the survey after the removal of invalid items 35

Table 4.1 Percentages of teachers’ priority for ICT integration 38

Table 4 2 Comparison of Mean values of prioritized effects of ICT integration that support learning 39

Table 4 3 EFL teachers’ priority for learning supporting effects of ICT integration 40

Table 4 4 The comparison between the perceived learning usefulness of effect 1 and that of the situations having the effect 49

Table 4 5 The correlation between perceived learning usefulness of effect 1 and that of the situations having the effect 50

Table 4 6 The comparison between the perceived learning usefulness of effect 2 and that of the situations having the effect 51

Table 4 7 The correlation between perceived learning usefulness of effect 1 and that of the situations having the effect 51

Table 4 8 The comparison between the perceived learning usefulness of effect 3 and that of the situations having the effect 52

Table 4 9 The correlation between perceived learning usefulness of effect 3 and that of the

situations having the effect 53

Table 4 10 The comparison between the perceived learning usefulness of effect 4 and that of

the situations having the effect 54

Table 4 11 The correlation between perceived learning usefulness of effect 4 and that of the

situations having the effect 54

Table 4 12 The comparison between the perceived learning usefulness of effect 5 and that for

the situations having the effect 55

Table 4 13 The correlation between perceived learning usefulness of effect 5 and that of the

situations having the effect 55

Table 4 14 The comparison between the perceived learning usefulness of effect 6 and that of the

situations having the effect 56

Table 4 15 The correlation between perceived learning usefulness of effect 6 and that of the

situations having the effect 56

Table 4 16 The comparison between the perceived learning usefulness of effect 7 and that for

the situations having the effect 57

Table 4 17 The correlation between perceived learning usefulness of effect 7 and that of the

situations having the effect 58

Table 4 18 Correlation between EFL teachers’ perceived learning usefulness of each effect and

of situations having that effect 59

Table 4 19 Mean values of perceived usefulness of effects from largest to smallest and those of

situations having the effects 65

Table 5 1 The use of the modified SAMR model in solving the inconsistency of the old model 73

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: SAMR model (Puentedura, 2006) 11

Figure 4 1 The suggested modification of two Transformation levels of SAMR model 67

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: THE SURVEY 89

APPENDIX 2: THE INTERVIEW 106

APPENDIX 3: DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE PARTICIPANTS 110

APPENDIX 4: RESULTS OF RELIABILITY TESTS OF THE SURVEY 112

APPENDIX 5: LETTER TO PARTICIPANTS AND CONSENT FORM 117

Abstract The use of information communication technology (ICT) at high levels to enhance

learning is intriguing to many teachers in this modern age of education A case study was conducted with 18 out of 25 EFL teachers involved in a project of online teaching called English For Those In Need (EFTIN) The study used online surveys and in-depth

interviews to find out (1) the belief of these EFL teachers in terms of their prioritized effects of ICT integration for improving learning, and (2) their perceived learning

usefulness of ICT integration in alignment with the transformation degree including Modification and Redefinition levels of SAMR model (Puentedura, 2006) The study found that for EFL teachers, their ICT integration is prioritized the most for 4 effects: (1) creating motivation, (2) stimulating collaborative learning, (3) creating conditions for learning with authentic language, and (4) integrating different language skills, while such effects as (5) providing convenience of space and time for learning, and (6) creating games for lessons together ranked fifth, and (7) facilitating student’s learning by the creation of artifacts ranked seventh on the scale of priority However, the results of EFL teachers’ perceived learning usefulness of those seven effects in specific situations of technology use showed very different ranking The study results suggested a detailed description for the two levels of ICT integration of SAMR model: Modification and Redefinition with four effects sorted to the Redefinition level and the other three effects

to Modification level

Keywords: ICT integration levels, teacher’s priority in ICT integration, learning

usefulness of ICT integration, SAMR model

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the Vietnamese background to the study Then it detailes the frameworks for measuring ICT integration Subsequently come the statement of problem, aims of the research, the research questions, the significance of the study, definition of key terms, and the organization of the study

1.1 Vietnamese context of ICT use in education

For a better understanding of the study, it is essential to describe its context

Vietnam is a country thirsty for innovative technology, with the vigorous expansion of the technology market in the recent decade to be one of the “Power 4 of Asia” in the

development of smart phones, and 43.9% of the population use the Internet (Wan, 2015) The access to desktop computers, laptops, and smart phones is not a fancy idea but within reach for many students, especially in cities Furthermore, Vietnam’s National Foreign Language Project 2020 (NFLP2020) has helped equip schools in the whole country with computer laboratories for teaching and learning languages Additionally, computing is now taught as a compulsory subject for students at secondary and high schools A large number of students are even sent to short courses of computing in training centers where they study Microsoft words, excel, excess, and Pascal among many other programs to get computing certificates in preparation for future studies and jobs In big cities, there are even attempts to issue electronic student numbers at secondary and high schools which allow them to build their student online profiles, and check their grades online In short, the facilities and skills are expected to be adequate for Vietnamese students to get

involved in learning with ICT tools

On the macro national scale, Vietnam’s National Foreign Language 2020 Project started in 2008 with the resolution 1400/QĐ-TTg issued by the Prime Minister on 30

September 2008 naming seven objectives, in which the final one emphasizes the use of

ICTs in teaching and learning foreign languages (NFLP2020, 2008) From the national project, a user’s guide for Competencies Framework for English Language Teachers,

commonly mentioned as ETCF, is constructed to describe the required competencies of English teachers one of which is competency 2.6 detailing the capability of teachers to use basic ICT tools in teaching and to teach their students how to use these tools for learning (NFL2020, MOET, & VNIES, 2012) To realize that goal, courses of technology

in education are organized in various schools by educational centers and large

universities in Vietnam to prepare teachers teaching English as a Foreign Language

(EFL) for integrating technology into their lesson delivery In that movement, technology has woven its way into schools and become an integral part of Vietnamese nationwide teaching practice

As regards technology support, on the website of NFL2020P, a bountiful

collection of articles about how to integrate ICT into teaching have been recommended Besides the website of Vietnam’s NFL2020P, a technology hub was also created by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) at http://edu.net.vn/media to provide a variety of educational tools such as Moodle, Lecture Maker, and Adobe Presenter 7, and other software and applications for video and audio editing or presentation, together with advice to use such tools for designing teaching materials Moreover, the online library http://violet.vn is also one of the most visited websites for teachers of all subjects to exchange lesson plans, tests, and exercise collections Recently, a six-free-course

program of educational technology has officially been recommended on the website of the National Foreign Language 2020 Project It is offered on

https://education.microsoft.com by the educational network of Microsoft which has

attracted millions of educators worldwide The course gives opportunities for teachers to upgrade their knowledge and skills in using updated educational technologies at a very modest cost of an internet connection A Facebook closed group of ICT practitioners - MIE Expert Vietnam (Microsoft Innovative Educator) also functions like a community of practice where new ways of integrating ICT in the classroom are shared, achievements celebrated, contributions acknowledged, and questions raised for consultations This online community has attracted more than 16000 teachers from all levels of education and all disciplines in Vietnam and more importantly, it has almost daily post of sharing

about how to use different technological tools to perform a range of tasks the stage of preparation to actual teaching Similar communities of practice around the world can be found on Facebook, and their membership is almost always discretionary In brief, the activeness in applying technology in teaching, the availability of basic facility for ICT integration, and the efforts to familiarize students with educational technology have been witnessed nationwide in teaching in general and EFL teaching in particular This justifies the conditions for doing a research about ICT integration that assist EFL learning in Vietnam

1.2 The measurement of levels of ICT integration with different frameworks

Some popularly used models for deciphering and guiding ICT integration in

education now comprise the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of

Technology (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2012), TPACK (Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge) (Koehler & Mishra, 2009), TIM (Technology Integration Matrix) (FCIT, 2011), RAT (Replacement – Amplification – Transformation) (Hughes, Thomas,

& Scharber, 2006), pedagogy * technology model (J M C Lin, Wang, & Lin, 2012), and SAMR (Substitution – Augmentation – Modification – Redefinition) (Puentedura, 2006) However, they do not aim at promoting the same aspects in ICT applications The

extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology explores factors

impacting people’s adoption of technology which clarify 52% of the variance in

technology use and up to 74% of that in behavioural intention (Venkatesh et al., 2012) Heading another direction in understanding technology integration of practitioners,

TPACK looks at the competency of teachers to adopt technological knowledge in

carrying out pedagogical plans to deliver the content of the subject matter It emphasizes the deep understanding of both technologies and their mutual constraints with pedagogy and content so that the most appropriate coordination of technological, pedagogical and content knowledge can be formed (Koehler & Mishra, 2009) With that claim, TPACK can be used a general framework for teachers’ professional development Meanwhile the TIM, which is a matrix of five characteristics of a meaningful learning environment and

five levels of technology integration, is devised mainly to give a detailed description of different levels of technology use to enhance learning (FCIT, 2011) On the other hand, the RAT describes how technology can alter the teaching and learning scenario by

replacing the traditional presentations, amplifying the learning and transforming learning experiences unperceivable without the technology (Brakoniecki, Glassmeyer, & Amador, 2016) As for pedagogy * technology model, it cares for both learning improvement, and the complexity of instructional technology in use with four levels in the pedagogy

dimension and 8 levels (from 0 to 7) in the technology dimension (Lin et al., 2012a) As regards SAMR model that has four levels of ICT integration namely Substitution,

Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (Puentedura, 2006), it looks at ways to improve tasks and learning activities through a linear framework of 4 levels This model seems to attract attention thanks to the compatibility of the model with the current

teaching practice (Veletsianos, 2016) The theoretical foundations, if there are, of these models are discrepant, but they, to different extents, show practical values in application into education However, there has not been any theory developed for the evaluation of a good fit of a specific model in a certain setting, so the selection of a model to follow is merely based on the practitioner’s subjective predilections (Veletsianos, 2016)

1.3 Statement of the problem

Among the measuring scales of ICT integration that are questioned about validity, the one that seems to attract the most harsh critiques is SAMR model The volley starts with Green (2014) who cast doubt on the model saying that it was only developed out of personal presentations and lectures, not from studies on teachers Also, Marcovitz and Janiszewski (2015) pointed out another drawback of SAMR asserting that instead of putting more emphasis on assisting learning, the model focused on technological means The criticism on the model is added with Hamilton, Rosenberg, & Akcaoglu (2016)

arguing that the model was built on no context (e.g no contextual technology

infrastructure, community support, needs of stakeholders, and teacher knowledge and support) with rigid structure which is prescriptive rather than descriptive, and with more

focus on product rather than process These problems result in the inevitable consequence that there would be inconsistent interpretation of technology users about levels of SAMR model as claimed by Hamilton et al (2016)

However, there are reasons to support the use of SAMR model First, it was

designed to give suggestions to ICT uses in classroom teaching, and has been welcomed

by teachers because it gives them concrete and detailed demonstrations of how ICT can

be used to enhance specific lessons so that they can conveniently apply them in their similar teaching situations Second, on the surface, it seems to focus on only the product

of the teaching which culminates in such examples as showing the videos students have made about a topic to class, or organizing online classes via Zoom website Simple as it may sound but to realize those final products or activities, teachers and students are

expected to work hard in different ways according to their available conditions If seen in that angle, then the prescriptive manner of SAMR model is only secondary to descriptive one which shows how the end should look like to direct different processes of making it

to that end Learning can happen in those processes that are sometimes customized to each student’s background knowledge, skills, and conditions Therefore, SAMR model still has practical values that need promoting, and this is proved by the efforts of

numerous researchers in elaborating different uses of ICT to promote EFL teaching in accordance with the model (Abdullah, Siraj, & Hussin, 2014; Chell & Dowling, 2013; Cochrane, Antonczak, & Guinibert, 2014; Fabian & MacLean, 2014; Hockly, 2012; Jude, Kajura, & Birevu, 2014; Pride, 2016)

The problem now lies in its shortage of consistency in the interpretation of levels

in the model which is mainly caused by the poorly described levels of SAMR model However, the model has four levels in which levels 1 and 2 (Substitution, and

Augmentation) describe quite low ICT uses without and with functional changes of the substitute technological tools In this age of Web 4.0 where “applications such as social networks, and technologies such as Internet of Things, Big Data, artificial intelligence and M2M” (machine to machine wireless connectivity) are key players in the Web

ecosystem (Almeida, 2017, p.7044), ICT integration in teaching is usually expected for

much more than simple substitution of tools with minor functional changes Indeed, the appearance of mobile applications, and websites for learning which even incorporate artificial intelligence to maximally individualize learning, has made the use of technology

as a means for displaying or communicating old-fashioned The necessity of applying ICT in teaching at higher levels is clear, but research on the advanced use of educational technology in general and especially in EFL teaching has been limited

The popularity of SAMR model in EFL in the paradox with its weaknesses and the need for research into ICT integration at higher levels converge to propose a study that clarifies what should be included in higher levels of SAMR model (Modification and Redefinition) based on perceptions of EFL teachers who frequently use ICT in their teaching

1.4 Aims of the study

The study aims at:

(1) figuring out the priorities EFL teachers put on different learning supporting effects of their ICT integration

(2) exploring EFL teachers’ evaluation of the learning usefulness of ICT

integration effects in relation with the overall perceived learning usefulness of situations having those effects Based on that result, attempts will be made to add descriptions into SAMR model’s two higher levels (Modification and Redefinition) from the perspectives of EFL teachers as ICT practitioners

1.5 Research questions

To address the main concerns and fulfill the research aims above, a case study on a group of EFL teachers in an online teaching project is conducted to find answers to the following questions:

1 How much do ELF teachers prioritize learning supporting effects in their teaching with technology?

2 How does the learning usefulness of ICT integration’s effects align with

Modification and Redefinition levels of SAMR model?

1.6 Significance of the study

The study adds more description of two higher levels of SAMR model and

contributes to the literature the criteria of advanced ICT integration in the order of

learning usefulness from empirical data of EFL teachers’ perspective to solve the

inconsistency in the interpretation of these levels of SAMR model Moreover, the

findings can be used as a guide for professional development for individual teachers or in technology integration programs of schools and institutions They suggest the effects teachers should create to achieve greater learning support for students They also

contribute to the description of two higher levels of SAMR model as a scale used for evaluating ICT integration of EFL teachers

1.7 Definitions of key terms

The term ICT can cover a wide range of technologies and has different definitions

(i.e educational tools to assist learning, computer-based and internet-based devices) as summarized in (Dang, 2013) Also, ICT is defined by Tinio (2003) as:

…a diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and manage information These technologies include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and television), and telephony (p 4)

Although ICT can be used to assist teaching, learning, and school management, within the scope of this study, ICT is defined as computer, mobile, and internet-based technologies including devices, software, and applications serving only the teaching and learning activities

The second term, Technology Integration, is defined by Kim (2012) as the use of

educational technology tools in the appropriate methods for the best instruction

Meanwhile, with an inclination to learning promotion, Ngo ( 2016) considered ICT

integration as carefully planned, frequent, and student-centered for enhancing motivation and engagement In this study, ICT integration is understood as the use of ICT tools in instruction to enhance learning

Before understanding the third term “Learning Usefulness”, it is essential to

know what ICT can do for learning It is found that ICT integration in EFL teaching develops learning motivation and autonomy in students (Al-Munawwarah, 2015),

improves retention of knowledge (Ashiyan, 2016), increase engagement in learning (Hsu, 2013), enhance knowledge of writing styles via learning with Wiki, blogs, and forums (Miyazoe, 2010), to name a few Therefore, the term “learning usefulness” here means the ICT integration’s supports for learning which range from motivation to memorization, and language skill development, which can be applied in this study

1.8 Organization of the study

The thesis is presented in six chapters as follows

Chapter 1 provides background information for a clear understanding of the research context by summarizing the Vietnamese settings for ICT integration in teaching EFL, and presents different methods for measuring ICT integration levels to lead to the research problem which is followed by research aims, research questions, research’s significance, definition of key terms and research organization

Chapter 2 presents SAMR model (R Puentedura, 2006), the problem of

inconsistency in the interpretation of the model, and learning supporting effects of ICT integration

Chapter 3 clarifies research design and methodology which describes the

participants in detail After that, the data collection and analysis are explained to exclude chances of violating the validity, reliability and ethics of the study

Chapter 4 presents the findings of learning supporting effects prioritized by EFL teachers in their use of ICT, and figures out how arrange these effects in accordance with the Modification and Redefinition levels in SAMR model

Chapter 5 elaborates discussion on the findings to come to a thorough resolution to the inconsistency in the categorization of ICT uses based on SAMR levels of

Modification and Redefinition

Chapter 6 summarizes key findings and then points out limitations, implications and recommendations for future research Finally, the conclusion is drawn to wrap up the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter looks into the literature about SAMR model and its application to describe the model, critique it, point out its inconsistency, and pinpoint the convergent effects of different technology uses by different researchers Those effects are then put through the screening of the literature to prove their importance as intended effects of teachers’ use of ICT in teaching

2.1 SAMR model

Dr Ruben R Puentedura developed SAMR model in 2006 aiming at improving educational quality by integrating technology into teaching in the state of Maine in the

US SAMR distinguishes two main degrees of ICT use namely Enhancement and

Transformation Enhancement degrees comprise Substitution and Augmentation levels while Transformation degree consists of Modification and Redefinition levels It serves

as a framework for the evaluation of how much learning is transformed thanks to the use

of mobile technology in teaching (Romrell, Kidder, & Wood, 2014), or what the

pedagogical functions of mobile devices are (Van Oostveen, Muirhead, & Goodman, 2011) Besides, SAMR approaches ICT integration in separate tasks (Jason Theodore Hilton, 2016), and helps teachers in directing their ways of selecting and integrating technological tools in teaching practice (Hartmann & Weismer, 2016) Additionally, SAMR describes a set of criteria for judging what extents the technology integration teacher can employ to improve the existing learning tasks (Hos-McGrane, 2014)

Therefore, it is expected to be used in assessing levels of technology integration in

classroom teaching, which range from enhancing the traditional tasks or activities to creating new and innovative ones (Amer & Ibrahim, 2014)

SAMR model is illustrated in the diagram below

Figure 2.1: SAMR model (Puentedura, 2006)

In general, for the Substitution and Augmentation levels, the use of technology is considered as the enhancement for the available learning tasks, “replacing and improving the existing tools” (Hilton, 2016, p 69), adding motivation and creating interest in them For this category, some activities can still be fulfilled without new technology On the other hand, for the Modification and Redefinition levels, the alternation of the existing teaching and learning activities is considered as the Transformation which goes beyond the original forms Indeed, a complete invention of new learning tasks or activities are required to partially or entirely transform the available task (Hilton, 2016)

Puentedura (2013) suggested the inquiry to recognize the move from one level to another as follows

Substitution:

 What will I gain by replacing the older technology with the new

technology?

Substitution to Augmentation:

 Have I added an improvement to the task process that could not be

accomplished with the older technology at a fundamental level?

 How does this feature contribute to my design?

Augmentation to Modification:

 How is the original task being modified?

 Does this modification fundamentally depend upon the new technology?

 How does this modification contribute to my design?

Modification to Redefinition:

 What is the new task?

 Will any portion of the original task be retained?

 How is the new task uniquely made possible by the new technology?

 How does it contribute to my design?

2.2 The inconsistency in the interpretation of the levels in SAMR model

No matter how much the guided questions from Dr Puentedura can help with the design of ICT integration, the inconsistency in understanding SAMR model still exists and is demonstrated in the following table summarizing examples of ICT integration in different studies sorted into SAMR’s 4 levels

Facebook, or phones, to suggest the use of books, to teach using interactive boards, or to make audio or video record of lectures to give

e-to students before class

Jude, Kajura, and Birevu (2014)

 Teachers upload syllabus as a Word document

on to a course site, take printed assignments

Lund (2015)

Levels of ICT

integration Examples of teachers’ and students’ use of ICT Publications

instead of hand-written ones, use ebooks with highlighting and commenting function, giving online class meetings instead of face-to-face classes

 Students take note with a device when learning Pride (2016)

Augmentation

 Teachers use search engines to search for information, check words’ meaning, collect content for lesson plans, use Spell check, thesaurus, track changes in Microsoft Word to edit texts, use citation tools like Endnote, use Google doc to share documents and encourage collaborative work, use bulk messaging to contact students, use plagiarism detection software, use different videos to illustrate different case studies, use blog to discuss topics with students before class, and use Skype to teach when off campus

 Teachers send SMS of short reading messages

to students to encourage them to read

Hockly (2012)

Levels of ICT

integration Examples of teachers’ and students’ use of ICT Publications

 Students rehearse and polish their talks about topics before making audio or video recording

of them speaking to share with the whole class online

 Teachers develop mobile tags with QR codes or social bookmarking to trigger communication

of areas of interests: knowledge, language competence, or the way to use mobile devices

 Teachers make learning contracts to encourage learning inside and online outside the class

 Students collaboratively redesign activities and methods to improve communicative skills

Abdullah, Siraj, and Hussin (2014)

in lessons

Jude et al (2014)

 Students make videos and share online Lund (2015)

 Students make a book trailer, engage in a virtual England in the Elizabethan time using Google Cardboard

Pride (2016)

 Students make video presentations and post them online for peer comments and teacher evaluation

 Students do video conferencing with peers and teachers via communication tools to enhance communicative skills

 Students participate in synchronous and asynchronous forum on different topics

 Students play educational mobile games individually or collectively

 Students post reflections on academic acquisition and future learning goals online

Abdullah et al (2014)

 Students go around the town taking digital pictures of historical landmarks and then use them to create a multimedia interactive quiz for other students

Hockly (2012)

Levels of ICT

integration Examples of teachers’ and students’ use of ICT Publications

 Students use the application Comic Strip It and the tablets’ camera to create a comic strip

 Students use the tablet camera to take pictures around the campus and use the Skitch

application to compile them into a message to present in class

Fabian and MacLean (2014)

As can be seen in table 2.1, levels of ICT integrations in teaching are differently interpreted Lund (2015) sorted the online class meetings into Substitution level, arguing that this was just a simple alternation of space and time, not the function of face-to-face lectures However, Jude et al (2014) considered this as an activity at Augmentation level which could be done through Skype when the teacher was off campus

Moreover, Jude et al (2014) classified the use of Google documents to encourage collaborative learning at Augmentation level while a similar activity of using Wiki or blog to stimulate students comments and exchanges online was considered by Lund (2015) at Modification level Jude et al (2014) also seemed to be confusing when

asserting the use of Facebook for academic exchanges to be at the Modification level, when its function is more or less to either replace face-to-face communication at

Substitution level or to encourage collaborative learning from students as seen in the use

of Google documents that they ranked at Augmentation level Besides, Hockly (2012) put into Modification level the students’ activity of sharing audio or video recordings of their polished individual speeches after many rehearsals online Meanwhile Abdullah et al (2014) classified a similar activity of making and sharing video presentations online for peer comments at Redefinition level In these cases, the mere difference in the two

activities is the inclusion of the function facilitating peer comments Moreover, in another case, the same use of video conference tools to develop communicative skills for students was considered at different levels of SAMR model, in particular at Modification by Jude

et al (2014), but at Redefinition level by Abdullah et al (2014)

The uses of ICT above highlight the following 7 effects of ICT integration that promote learning:

- The facilitation for student’s creation of artefacts with technological tools

(students’ video recording, and film making for learning projects)

- Motivation for learning (through project work, games, and online synchronous interactions)

- The condition for learning with authentic language (with projects recorded on tape)

- Integrating language skills (in combining reading and writing practice to give online comments, or reading, writing explanations, and speaking in presentations

or in videos to complete projects)

- The condition for collaborative learning (group work in presentations and project)

- The provision convenience of space (board space, online class space) or

convenience of time (access to online materials 24/7, or class meetings online at convenient time) for learning

- The use of games in learning (mobile games in class)

All of the 7 effects of ICT integration above are expected to improve students’ learning which should undoubtedly be the purpose that underlies every effort made in teaching People’s intentions to use computers can be analyzed to predict their actual use

of the devices (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989) Also, whether teachers choose to use

an ICT application or not depends on how they perceive its usefulness to be either for their teaching or for students’ learning In the scope of this study, only the perceived learning usefulness will be looked at

2.3 ICT integration for EFL learning support

There are many researches focusing on the use of technology to promote learning with more interesting, diverse, and learning supportive lessons (Hennessy, 2010) The focus of this section is to explore how ICT integration helps learning when it produces

the seven aforementioned effects deduced from the examples of technology uses in

language teaching according to SAMR model above

2.3.1 The learning usefulness of ICT integration in student’s creation of

artifacts

One of the effect of technology use in EFL teaching is the encouragement of

students’ creation of artefacts and learn the language mostly during that process This approach corresponds with the “facilitation level”, the highest level in the scale of ICT integration suggested by Rastogi and Malhotra (2013) The involvement of students into the use of technology for their learning is proved to bring numerous benefits to students ranging from their improved confidence, self-learning skills, collaborative skills, insight into the subject matters, and writing skills to name a few from a ten-year project of The Apple Classroom of Tomorrow (Dwyer, 1994) The availability of technological tools enables such tasks as easy clip making, editing, and publishing, or picture and brochure designing That helps such ideas as projects using video clips or graphic design for

learning to be turned into reality as suggested by Hockly, (2012), Fabian & MacLean (2014), Jude et al (2014), Lund (2015) , and Pride (2016)

Moreover, this learning approach partly carries the spirit of Project-based learning which is learning while doing The Project-based learning approach triggers learner’s autonomy to complete their projects in learner-centered learning environment (Krajcik, Czerniak, & Berger, 1999) This approach has numerous benefits like encouraging

students interest in learning (Wurdinger & Qureshi, 2015), familiarizing them with the working environment (Johns-Boast & Flint, 2009), and developing both academic and soft skills (Chua, 2014)

When teachers demand students to make a product, no matter how complicated and challenging it is, it requires teamwork, communication in all four language skills, the use of technology, and sometimes social skills like negotiation However, there are still unexpectedly low results from project based learning for EFL classes For instance,

language skills improvement was reported but only for students of low proficiency in a

project of making videos (Huang, 2015) In contrast, such limitation was not found in a Wiki writing project where student’s improvement was evident in the command of

writing process (researching information, presenting the research topic, editing and

publishing the work online) (McDonald, 2007)

Further more, the creation of artifacts may not have a huge weighting in the

assessment scheme as in project-based learning approach; however, students’ benefits of improving skills and knowledge in general and language skills in particular are

indisputable, especially, the components of their products require speaking, listening, reading, and writing in the target language That is why the benefits on language

improvement was confirmed by both teachers and students in a study done on based learning in EFL classes by Petersen (2016)

project-2.3.2 The learning usefulness of ICT integration in creating conditions for

learning with authentic language

Technology can provide for the establishment of authentic features for the learning environment with the following 9 characteristics: real-life context, authentic activities, access to expert performances and process modeling, provision of various roles and perspectives, collaboration in constructing knowledge, development of abstraction

through reflection, presentation of knowledge, teachers’ assistance with scaffolding only

at critical time, and authentic assessment for tasks (Herrington, J., & Kervin, L., 2007)

In learning English as a foreign language, authenticity is broken down to

authenticity in texts which are written and spoken texts used in the real world, and

authenticity in tasks which requires the communication of meaning, real-life targets, and classroom interaction and engagement (Guariento, 2001) As regards the motivation and interest in authentic texts, there have been mixed results Some argue the authenticity to

be intriguing to students and motivate their learning; however, some other reject that position due to the difficulty of authentic texts that render them unsuitable for many learners of lower proficiency (Gilmore, 2007) However, the benefits of authentic tasks in learning are indisputable It is claimed to develop students by triggering their high order

thinking via performing complicated real-life tasks, connecting students’ learning with the outside world, and enhancing their motivation to learn independently (Mims, 2003) This idea corresponds with the “constructive learning level” in Lin, Wang, Lin (2012) where students actively learn for themselves from authentic situations Also, in this fast changing world, the problem solving skills fostered by authentic learning will help

students keep up to date with the shift of time and be more prepared for a working life (Lombardi, 2007) Therefore, teachers should bring in the integration of technology in teaching to create authenticity to encourage student’s inquiries and action, extend their learning beyond the textbook, and improve their independent learning with better

‘autonomous, creative, and intellectual thinking’ (Doolittle & Hicks, 2003, p 92)

2.3.3 The learning usefulness of ICT integration in motivating learning

Technology integration was proved to motivate students of social studies (Heafner, 2004) In particular, the convergence of studies on ICT has shown that properly designed ICT environment can foster individualization, contextualized learning, and learner’s activation, and can intrinsically motivate learning when creating playfulness and

interactions (Mullamaa, 2010) Technology increases students’ motivation through

stimulating their interest and providing them access to necessary information and enables them to realize valuable ideas for their learning projects (Blumenfeld, 1991) More

specifically, a study conducted by Ciampa (2014) pointed out that the use of mobile devices can motivate students through the creation of “challenge, curiosity, control,

recognition, competition, and cooperation” (p 82)

For EFL learning, ICT integration was also perceived as a motivation source for the EFL class (Al-Munawwarah, 2015; Cahyani, 2012; Dang, 2013) Additionally,

Mullamaa (2010) conducted a study to offer almost 100% online courses in Blackboard learning management system and reported that if kept balanced, the online environment provides motivation, supports individualization as well as cooperation in learning

Besides increasing motivation for reading and writing, ICT integration also develop writing, reading, vocabulary, critical thinking and learning strategies for English majors

studying with Weblog at a University in Thailand (Noytim, 2010) In brief, motivation is only a part, but the first and essential part, of the benefit package that ICT integration can offer EFL classes

2.3.4 The learning usefulness of ICT integration in integrating language skills

On the one hand, language use in daily life normally comes in the form of

integrated skills; therefore, replicating that combination of language skills in classes is no doubt beneficial for learners in their real-life communication (Harverson, 1991) On the other hand, the skill-integration is the heart of holistic teaching which goes hand in hand with technology, especially with media where the contents naturally require to be

processed in all four skills (Aykut, 2008) The holistic teaching approach is divided into two branches: content-based, and task-based Therefore, one way teachers can promote language proficiency of students is to to devise tasks that integrate different language skills (Akram & Malik, 2010) The instruction based on skill integration is also hailed by communicative language teaching practitioners, and in a typical success story, students improved greatly in their communicative competence through learning with instructional technology in the project Lingva (Tolstykh & Khomutova, 2012) However the main obstacle is that the class time is so limited, and the class size is so large that skill

integration finds no conditions to be carried out in class Fortunately, the solutions for this conundrum come with the increasing number of technological applications for education Indeed, the computer and the Internet can provide useful tools for creating realistic and engaging activities to integrate all four skills of language into lessons (Warschauer, & Meskill, 2000)

2.3.5 The learning usefulness of ICT integration in encouraging collaborative

learning

The collaborative learning is possible thanks to the provision of an online

environment with features and tools facilitating the learning process (Kreijns, Kirschner,

& Jochems, 2003) Therefore, it is often associated with the use of social software that

fosters the joint creation of materials, the identification of knowledge gaps, the sharing of knowledge, and the exchange of opinions, all of which support a community of practice (Vesisenaho, Valtonen, Kukkonen, Havu-Nuutinen, Hartikainen, & Karkkainen, 2010) Also in the view of blended learning, the combination of physical class meetings and online sessions was proved to support collaborative learning (Ferdig, 2007) with

interaction and joint knowledge construction (Resta & Laferrière, 2007)

When there is a platform where team members can post opinions and questions, there will be an urge for other teammates to respond The rising social networks and collaborative working and learning tools like Facebook, Google document, Skype, Trello has resulted in the use of not only available networks but also specialized networks or closed groups for the purpose of collaboration in education (Martínez Rivera, 2015) The collaboration can come in many forms ranging from chatting to brainstorm ideas, to jointly composing texts, or presentations, dividing work among team members, keeping track on the group progress, cross-checking the work of each member, and jointly find answers to difficult questions

Success stories of collaborative learning in the cyberspace are plentiful In a study exploring the mobile device’s support in teaching reading for early EFL students at a primary school, the technological system was found to improve collaboration and reading motivation among elementary students (Lan, 2007) Also, collaborative learning favoured

by computers was proved to better retention of vocabulary and improved motivation for EFL learners (Lin, 2011) as well as promote reading skills for students of medium and low proficiency (Pan, 2013) Besides, collaborative writing through the co-working

online space is not new to EFL education when positive result have been reported in many studies (Dobao & Blum, 2013; Hamid & Mansor, 2012; Li, 2013; Limbu &

Markauskaite, 2015) Additionally, a mobile adaptive language learning system was used

to boost collaborative learning in EFL classes and yielded an improvement in reading performance of the two experimental groups compared to the control group (Hsu, 2013)

In brief, ICT integration creates the environment where collaboration is easier and more

extended beyond the classroom and school time to help students spend more time on learning for an expectedly better academic performance

2.3.6 The learning usefulness of ICT integration in providing convenience of

time and space for learning

The convenience of time and place is the reason for registration to online class where flexibility and personal time arrangement is allowed (Harris & Martin, 2012) The convenience of time and space is usually associated with learning on the Internet with mobile learning, blended learning, or digital learning (Kim, 2014; Lin, 2017) However,

in this study, the convenience of time and space is broken down into smaller categories

The convenience of time for learning does not just include online screen time, but also classroom learning time saved thanks to teachers’ use of ICT This time also includes the amount of time one needs and the speed at which one consumes the knowledge or carry out a learning task which is unarguably provided by technology in a number of ways Presentation software like Powerpoint and display tools like overhead projectors, TVs, or smart boards will allow content to be quickly shown to the class instead of the teacher’s time-consuming board writing That saves time for content display and have more time for learning supporting activities (Jordan, 2015) It also ensures more

organization and emphasis of important points and their relationships when the slide show is prepared prior to class, and thus saves students’ time of listening to explanation and teacher’s marking (e.g underlining, arrow drawing, etc.) on the board Another

convenience of time, the 24/7 access to knowledge, brought about by educational

technology is praised by participants in the research about students’ attitudes towards Facebook as a learning platform in their class (Yang, 2013) Indeed, learning

management systems allow students to learn at any time convenient for them and bridge the in-class and out-of-class learning environments (Looi, Seow, Zhang, So, Chen, & Wong, 2010), and thus are expected to raise learning opportunities Also, the online

environment allows unlimited input at a time, which means students do not have to wait for one another to finish writing on the board to take their turn in limited class time That

allows Google document to give more time for EFL students to think before writing, and save time from comparisons of texts written on different pieces of paper (Ebadi, 2017) Additionally, with video streaming, teachers do not even need to be present online at the same time with students for the lessons to be given (Buhl, 2008) Indeed, students can watch the teacher’s videos and even answer questions embedded in them at any time convenient Time convenience in learning in the cyberspace also means that students can choose to learn at their own speed and spend as much time as they need to gain a

particular piece of knowledge or skill (Lee, 2002) All of the above frees teachers and students from too much dependence on the restricted time of their physical class

meetings

As regards the convenience of space for learning, all class members can post their responses to a question in synchronous online environment without fearing that their writing takes up more space than the class board afford, not to mention that typed texts are more readable than handwriting Moreover, the existence of a learning space for access at any time in learning management systems or such platforms as Wordpress

websites or Facebook closed groups which really erase the classroom boundary, and merge the traditional learning space at school with the space outside schools with the internet connection In a study proposing a Wiki-based collaborating approach for EFL teaching, the online environment extends the limit of time and space for students’

meeting and collaborating out of the school limits and thus improves opportunities and conditions for student’s collaboration (Chao, 2011) Also, the convenience of online meetings through such tools like Skype or Google Hangout has eradicated the delayed meetings or academic assistance due to limited conditions from both teachers and

students, when teachers can still organize classes on such occasions as his business trips away from school

2.3.7 The learning usefulness of ICT integration in creating games for

learning

Games (e.g sorting, ordering or arranging games, searching games, matching games, ordering games, exchanging games, board games, role play games, guessing games, information gap games) are classified by Hadfiled (1990) into two types:

linguistic games focusing on accuracy, and communicative games emphasizing

interactions In teaching, games can give students motivation for learning and sustain their interest With technology, teachers have many more options for gamifying lessons and make games more effective tools to support particular lesson objectives

As for gaming in EFL classes, many benefits have been reported from the

introduction of games into teaching Peterson (2010) studied the psycholinguistic and socio-cultural aspects of computer simulation games and concluded that the introduction

of computer games offer great opportunities for improving the effectiveness of language learning More particularly, online vocabulary games are proved to improve vocabulary acquisition in EFL undergraduate students in Hong Kong (Yip, 2006) Students also significantly enhance vocabulary knowledge through simulation games on computer (Ranalli, 2008) Also in games that require oral communication, the training of

pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary is done implicitly when players have the

demand to correctly produce a certain speech to complete the challenge in the game (Turgut & İrgin, 2009) Besides, video games are found to encourage intermediate and advanced learners to communicate more through interaction in games and thus develop conversational skills (Rankin, Gold, & Gooch, 2006) Therefore, no matter whether it is a linguistic game or communicative game, it still supports the learning of language in different ways

2.4 Hypothesis

In the expectation that there is a strong relationship between the learning

usefulness of each effect of ICT integration and the level of learning support the ICT

integration has, the ranking of the former is expected to indicate the ranking of the latter With that in mind, the following hypothesis is presented so as to propose a way to arrange the 7 effects into the levels of SAMR model (see Figure 2.1)

H: There is a positive correlation between the perceived learning usefulness of the effect of ICT integration and the perceived level of learning support of that ICT

integration

This hypothesis is broken down into 7 sub-hypotheses below:

H1: There is a positive correlation between the perceived learning usefulness of the effect of facilitating student’s learning through the creation of artifacts and the

perceived level of learning support of the ICT integration situations having that effect

H2: There is a positive correlation between the perceived learning usefulness of the effect creating games for lessons and the perceived level of learning support of the ICT integration situations having that effect

H3: There is a positive correlation between the perceived learning usefulness of the effect of creating conditions for learning with authentic language and the perceived level of learning support of the ICT integration situations having that effect

H4: There is a positive correlation between the perceived learning usefulness of the effect of integrating language skills and the perceived level of learning support of the ICT integration situations having that effect

H5: There is a positive correlation between the perceived learning usefulness of the effect of encouraging collaborative learning and the perceived level of learning

support of the ICT integration situations having that effect

H6: There is a positive correlation between the perceived learning usefulness of the effect of motivating learning and the perceived level of learning support of the ICT integration situations having that effect

H7: There is a positive correlation between the perceived learning usefulness of the effect of creating convenience of time and space for learning and the perceived level

of learning support of the ICT integration situations having that effect

This research was about the perception of a group of teachers in an English

teaching project It seeked the patterns of teachers’ priority in effects of ICT integration that supported learning The commonality and dfferences among the teachers were

important for the research findings and were all within the boundary of this group of teachers The shared goals in offering free classes of English online and the common teaching practice utilizing ICT tools in this group made them representative of teachers with active ICT integration for teaching purposes The aim of this study and the

characteristic of this group of participants justified that case study was an appropriate method to be employed

Besides, due to the small size of the group of participants of only 25 members, quantitative data from the survey would not be sufficient for reflecting the researched issues, so the researcher uutilized a mixed method research combining qualitative and quantitative investigations to have triangulation and thus more accuracy for the study This principle of multiple approaches and data sources was advocated by Cohen, Manion, and Morrison (2013)

taught mainly via Skype and Zoom from different locations like Australia, New Zealand,

America, and Vietnam Normally two teachers share the teaching of different skills for one class In each teaching session, the teachers use presentation tools through shared screen, divide students into groups for discussions on Skype, correcting writing on

Google documents, managing classrooms, providing reference materials, and giving grades on Edmodo or Schoology The unpopular operation of online classes in Vietnam has shown that those involved in online teaching are expected to be pioneering ICT

practitioners The similar environment, programs, and tools in online teaching of EFTIN English classes prove that this group has some consistency in qualities of its members to make them suitable participants of this study

A summary from the demographic statistics of the survey (see Appendix 3) shows that as regards the workplace of the participants, 89% of them are teaching for Colleges

or Universities and 28% are engaged in teaching at language centers 3 out of 18

participants have never taught in classes of EFTIN and are waiting for the new course or helping with the speaking club activities As for 15 other participants, they have taught for EFTIN from 1 to 7 classes Regarding the technological tools in teaching, Microsoft office is used by all participants and most of them (83%) utilize Skype, while the figures for Facebook and Zoom are equal at 67% Quizlet and Kahoot are integrated into

teaching by 61% and 56% respectively while Moodle, Padlet, and Piratepad each is used

by only 6% of the survey respondents

3.3 Research tools

The research questions are about EFL teachers’ priorities in using ICT to support learning and how these effects should be arranged in order of the significance of the impact on learning in alignment with SAMR model Therefore, the researcher created a survey about the teacher’s prioritized factors that support learning through the use of ICT, and an interview to retrieve their personal ICT uses and ratings to confirm their

prioritized effects in their own ICT integration Figure 3.1 below shows a summary for the research tool