Imre Fekete: Technology in English teaching • The Hungarian university context
›
5. Conclusions
›
5.3. Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Future Research

5.3. Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Future Research

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Even though it was my intention to do everything to overcome them, as with every research, this study also has certain limitations. As both questionnaire studies utilised non-probability convenience sampling, the results of the studies could not be generalised to the entire population regardless of the statistical significance levels (Dörnyei, 2007; Dörnyei & Csizér, 2012), but hopefully the sampling, quality control, data analytical and interpretation procedures allowed for accurately surveying the actual state of affairs of the ICT literacy of Hungarian English Studies / EFL teacher education majors as well as Hungarian university instructors working in Hungarian English Studies / EFL teacher education programmes. Another limitation of the instructor questionnaire study was that despite all the efforts to reach out to as several participants as possible, the final sample involved 71 instructors.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

While the aim of the two additional interview studies was to learn about the exact thinking processes and practices of learners and expert instructors regarding their technology integration into learning and teaching processes because of the chosen interview study approach, it is possible that the answers only reflect the participants forming the sample of the studies. As interview data interpretation is subjected to a certain level of subjectivity (Creswell, 2009; 2015; Dörnyei, 2007; O’Leary, 2017), I did everything I could to ensure coding, presenting, and interpreting the findings of the interview study by working in a coding software, applying the method of re-coding and co-coding segments of the data. The two interview studies were conducted from a phenomenologist perspective, and their aim was not to test or generate hypotheses, but to provide a more detailed image of the ICT use and the underlying (pedagogical) thinking processes of the participants. Linked to the aims and sampling procedures of the interview studies, it is also true that this present study took an exploratory perspective and largely focused on the benefits of using educational technology, albeit whenever it was voiced by the participants, their challenges and anxieties were also addressed.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Additional limitations of the study regard the fast-developing nature of technology and educational technology. While one of the main aims of the study was to provide an overview of ICT inclusion and describing students’ and instructors’ views on the importance of inclusion, an underlying aim was to survey what and how specific technologies were used by the interview participants that could also serve as the pedagogical implications of this study. Given the time needed to design the instruments, collect, transcribe, and analyse data, and write up the studies, it is possible that by the time this manuscript is submitted in its final form, some of the technologies referenced in the text become (partly) obsolete or surpassed by ever new technological possibilities. While this might easily be the case, I hope that the established building bricks of ICT literacy as well as the expert thinking processes behind inclusion could serve as long(er) lasting benefits of this project.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Closely connected to the limitations of this study, I list some – but by all means not all – possible future directions of research that could contribute towards ICT research at Hungarian university programmes:

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

  1. As research into the technology use of the target population was not conducted systematically before, it would be worthwhile replicating the study, especially to see if the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic regarding ICT use could be measured. Replicating the instructors’ questionnaire study with more participants could also make it possible to have even more detailed findings about teachers’ technology use. The larger sample size could also allow for conducting cluster analysis to establish different levels of instructors’ digital competences similar to the one conducted in the K12 context (Fekete, 2020a).
  2. The teachers’ questionnaire study only showed statistically significant differences between instructors involved in teaching methodology and methodology related subjects (n = 51) and instructors teaching English Studies and ESP related ones (n = 20) in one construct, Digital competences 2: Keeping up with development. While the significance level was p = 0.049, it is possible that if this study were replicated with larger sub-sample sizes, further significant differences might be found between how methodology and non-methodology teachers view their ICT inclusive teaching practices. This suggestion is further prompted by the learners’ and teachers’ interview study, in which some participants mentioned that methodology teachers (in their non-representative and non-generalisable view) seem to favour ICT inclusion more. However, taking the hardships of recruiting even 71 informants to participate in the questionnaire study, it might be considered to involve methodology and non-methodology teachers from the broader field of teacher education programmes into humanities-related areas, especially other FL teaching programmes.
  3. The present questionnaire tools could be accompanied by a TPACK measurement instrument to check if isolated TPACK dimensions correlate with any of the dimensions of ICT literacy measured by the present instrument. By establishing links or finding cause-and-effect relationships between constructs, applying regression analysis could result in identifying a somewhat more general approach towards ensuring ICT acceptance and use. In the present study, it was found that instructors’ ICT use is mainly prompted by their digital competences (DigComp1: Creating and sharing content) as well as their Willingness to use devices. It would be worthwhile testing this hypothesis again involving a larger sample.
  4. A larger-scale (perhaps open-ended questionnaire) study could aim at collecting more good practices of technology inclusion in English Studies or similar university educational contexts. Such a collection of good practices regarding as many programmes as possible would be advisable because ICT tools are seen as extensions of learning and teaching practices, and every field has their particular preferences. Additionally, while excellent collections of educational software are sometimes released, e.g., Educational technology in higher education: Methodological considerations (Dringó-Horváth et al., 2021) and its Hungarian original, The methodology of educational technology in university education (Dringó-Horváth et al., 2020) that offer a vast collection of tools and methodological tips of how to integrate them into one’s teaching, revisiting the collections from time to time is necessitated by the constant evolution of educational technology.
  5. What is more, there seem to be more and more attempts at cross-university collaborations in developing such volumes and collections as Dringó-Horváth and colleagues (2020 and 2021). Because ICT involvement is always context-specific, collaborations between similar departments of different universities might result in better applicable methodological suggestions than collaborations between different fields of the same institutions. A similar aim is targeted by the Erasmus+ virtual mobility programme, which could be better promoted and encouraged among willing instructors and learners, because in this scenario, ICT plays a role similar to the lingua franca of the projects in a sense that field-related project goals could only be reached if learners work together using a common language and common ICT tools. For this reason, such instances inherently ensure that ICT use gets subjected to more important project gains, and thus its arbitrariness is bypassed.
  6. While this study largely focused on the benefits of ICT inclusion, it would be interesting to conduct research into what factors and how contribute towards building a negative belief system about technology inclusion both regarding learners and instructors. While some factors were revealed by the present study (routines, the pressure of integration, anxiety), I believe there are valuable lessons to be learnt from a study focusing on technology rejection.
 
chevron_left
chevron_right
Tartalomjegyzék navigate_next
Keresés a kiadványban navigate_next
A kereséshez, kérjük, lépj be!
Könyvjelzőim navigate_next
A könyvjelzők használatához
be kell jelentkezned.
Jegyzeteim navigate_next
Jegyzetek létrehozásához
be kell jelentkezned.
    Kiemeléseim navigate_next
    Mutasd a szövegben:
    Szűrés:
    Kiemelések létrehozásához
    MeRSZ+ előfizetés szükséges.
      Útmutató elindítása
      delete
      Kivonat
      fullscreenclose
      printsave