- Nov 2018
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www.chathamhouse.org www.chathamhouse.org
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Notably, the government-commissioned Vision Kuwait 2030 report states that a ‘reinvigorated education system’ will serve to integrate locals into a competitive market. Economic discourse is used throughout the report: ‘investments’, ‘examinations’, ‘management’, ‘results’, ‘career advancement’, ‘incentives’, ‘diversified’, ‘strictly monitored’ and ‘training’, to give some examples.3 This neo-liberal trend of greater standardized testing and market-driven training has not served Kuwait well, with students still lacking the knowledge, skills and values to participate actively in society and the economy. Kuwaiti students fare poorly by international standards, coming close to bottom in both the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessments.4 Systemic problems that have been identified include comparably lower budgetary spending on books and resources, as well as a shorter academic year by international standards.5 The guarantee of a public-sector job also contributes to a demotivated student body.6 Other reforms in the education sector have focused on technology, although this has been largely superficial, as demonstrated by the distribution to students of iPads with an app housing all their textbooks. A new national curriculum framework is also in development, with a major (and arguably typical) focus on assessable teacher and student outcomes. In the absence of a ‘greater investment in the human infrastructure of a free, democratic citizenry’, however, such educational reforms are insufficient,7 and they are unlikely to contribute to Kuwait’s economic a
This article gives some historical background and a comprehensive look at the state of education in Kuwait. It discusses how extreme nationalism and religious activities outweigh and undermine critical thinking and other elements of education that don't allow Kuwaiti students to perform well in a global level. This paragraph states how the integration of technology is only at a superficial level and doesn't truly give the students any digital literacy for educational purposes.
This source is credible and highly relevant for me. I teach many students from Kuwait and find the conclusions made in this article to be very true in my experience. It poses a big challenge when trying to integrate technology overall as these students are often very behind students that I have from other countries. This source doesn't have a lot of information about technology integration but does provide a base of knowledge for students from Kuwait in general. Rating: 9/10
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www.melta.org.my www.melta.org.my
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This article analyzes the readiness of teenage students in Malaysia to use technology such as mobile phones in order to learn English.
The article seems quite reputable. They use standard quantitative methods, include a review of literature and use surveys from 6 different schools. While it focuses on teenagers, not necessarily adults, it still pertains to some of my classmates especially who teach young adults. This study definitely relates to my own teaching context as my students have just graduated from high school and are learning English so they can get accepted in to an American university. Rating 7/10
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www.journals.aiac.org.au www.journals.aiac.org.au
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In today’s globalised digital era, students are inevitably engaged in various multimodal texts due to their active participation in social media and frequent usage of mobile devices o
This article highlights the effectiveness of using mulitmodal approaches in an ESL classroom. 15 students at a private school in Malaysia are interviewed. Some important topics are covered such as motivation, self-directed learning and constructivism. I especially noted how students reacted to having multimodalities for learning English instead of long, word-only texts.
This article is academic and highly relevant to my field. The only piece of information I couldn't find in the article is how old these students are. I don't know if it is a study of adults, but from the context, I would guess the students are at least teenagers and therefore still works for how young the adults are in my teaching context. Rating 8/10
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www.researchgate.net www.researchgate.net
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First, we believe teachers need to make a paradigm shift from the traditional approach to EFL teaching. While EFL in China has been seen as an important factor for modernization (Hu 2005 ; Liu and Huo 2007 ; Zheng and Adamson 2003 ) , the EFL classroom is still dominated by a teacher-centered structural approach. This overemphasis on language forms prevents schools from integrating technology for meaningful interactions and activities. Further, the traditional assessment approach that focuses on language forms and paper-pencil tests also negatively impacts teachers’ pedagogical choices in terms of technology integration (Zheng and Adamson 2003 ) . EFL teachers still see their main responsibility as preparing students to pass stan-dardized tests and enter better schools. As a result, technology is often used to better teach language forms to increase students’ test performance, instead of using tech-nology to enrich students’ learning experiences. Dai ( 2001 ) called this kind of teaching time consuming with low effectiveness
This article focuses on how technology has been integrated in teaching EFL in China and the impact it has had on students and teachers.
I highlighted this paragraph specifically because it confirms what I have experienced with my Chinese students coming into my ESL program. Students are tech-savvy, but they are not experienced with more autonomous learning using authentic materials in a more student-centered classroom.
This article is highly credible and has very wide and deep research. It does focus on technology integration K-12, not adults, but it gives background on the kind of technology and and how it has been integrated in their previous learning experiences before entering my program. I believe it is very useful. Rating: 9/10
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- Oct 2018
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www.journals.aiac.org.au www.journals.aiac.org.au
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This article highlights the effectiveness of using mulitmodal approaches in an ESL classroom. 15 students at a private school in Malaysia are interviewed. Some important topics are covered such as motivation, self-directed learning and constructivism. I especially noted how students reacted to having multimodalities for learning English instead of long, word-only texts.
This article is academic and highly relevant to my field. The only piece of information I couldn't find in the article is how old these students are. I don't know if it is a study of adults, but from the context, I would guess the students are at least teenagers and therefore still works for how young the adults are in my teaching context.
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