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14
INTRODUCTION
ofteninadequateornon-existent.Atthesametime,trainerscompetentatteaching
theuseoftechnologyinaparticularsubjectwereveryscarce.
However,sincethe2004DecreeoftheMinisterofNationalEducationon
teacherdevelopmentstandards,thesituationhasgraduallybeguntochange.First
ofall,theofficialrequirementforcomputertrainingforallteacherdevelopment
programswasintroduced,insistingonaminimumof30hoursintheB.A.
curriculum.Thankstothis,universitiesbegantoorganisecomputerclassesand
paygreaterattentiontoComputer-AssistedLanguageLearning(CALL)asan
approachtolanguageteaching.Whilethetechnicalconditionswerenotalways
satisfactoryinthebeginning,greatinvestmentsintheinfrastructureofhigher
educationafterPoland,saccessiontotheEuropeanUnionhavemadetheproblem
ofhardwareandsoftwareavailabilitymuchlesspainfulthanformerly.
Atthesametimeachangeintheprofileofcomputerskillsandabilitiesof
studentsenteringmodernphilologyB.A.programsbegantobeobserved.With
increasingnumbersofstudentsclearlybelongingtothe‘DigitalNative,generation
(Prensky,2001,2004),trainees,familiaritywithcomputersandtheInternetwas
muchgreaterthanearlierin-serviceteachers.Greaterconfidenceintechnology
useineducationshouldthusresultindecreasingtheamountofcomputerliteracy
developmentthatisrequiredinfavourofmorecomprehensiveandversatile
treatmentofCALLmethodology.
Havingtheaboveinmind,itwasinterestingtoverifythestateofdevelopment
ofdigitalteachersatPolishhighereducationinstitutions.Whatcontentareasdo
theyselect?Whatobjectivesareposed?Whatresourcesandassessmentmethods
aretobeused?Thesewerecrucialquestionstobeaskedofteachersafterafew
yearsinteaching.
Asalmosttenyearshavepassedsincethebeginningoftheobligationto
provideICTtrainingtoprospectiveteachers,itseemedworthwhilediagnosingthe
actualstateofteacherpreparationfortechnology-assistedinstruction.Intermsof
theteacherdevelopmentprocess,itisinterestingtoobservetheplacethatclasses
devotedtodigitalliteracyanddigitalprofessionalliteracyoccupyinthelanguage
teachercurricula,aswellasmorespecificcharacteristicsofmethodology,such
asskills,knowledgeanddesiredattitudes,topicstoberaised,plusmethodsand
techniquesusedduringclassestopresent,transfer,reinforceandassessknowledge
andskills.
Dataonhowcomputertrainingisdeliveredtoforeignlanguagestudents
whointendtobeteacherscouldbeobtainedusingavarietyofsources.
However,inthepresentstudyitwasdecidedthat,inordertoincreasethe
validityoftheresults,threeopposingviewpointsonICT-andCALL-oriented
teacherdevelopmentshouldbeselectedandexamined.Themostobjectivedata
comingfromdocumentssuchascoursecurriculaandsyllabiwouldneedtobe
juxtaposedwithobservationsofteachertrainersandperceptionsoflearners.