Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Professional Development on Web 2.0 for Teachers of Spanish: A Mixed Methods Case Study
Abstract
The topic of this study is professional development on Web 2.0 technologies for foreign language teachers and integration of these tools into the language classroom. This research explored the experiences of eighteen teachers of Spanish in grades 7-12 from both rural and urban areas in Nebraska, who participated in a technology, pedagogy, and content-based, online professional development program called Web 2.0 for Teachers of Spanish. An embedded convergent design was used in which qualitative and quantitative data were embedded within a case study. The qualitative case study included data from interviews, classroom observations, and documents to explore the learning and integration journeys of Spanish teacher participants during and after the professional development program. Quantitative data from pre, post, and follow-up measures were administered for the purpose of measuring the outcomes of the program in order to enhance the description of the case. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework (TPACK) (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) was adopted as the theoretical lens for this research, and its three principal components guided the qualitative and quantitative data analyses. The qualitative findings indicated mainly positive learning experiences in the three areas, technology, pedagogy, and content, as well as in technology integration. The observational data illuminated issues of technology access and use of the target language by the teachers. The majority of the scales in the quantitative instruments reported significant growth in participants' knowledge in the three areas as well. Investigating the participants' own experiences while learning technology and subsequent integration into their classrooms, together with a measurement of their growth in technology skills, pedagogy, and Spanish language, provided a rich and complete picture of this semester long professional development program. In addition, it provided the opportunity to analyze this professional development program through the lens of the participants' experiences and the program learning outcomes. While the quantitative data assisted in providing a measure of participants' growth in knowledge, the qualitative data brought depth and texture to the research study through the voices of the participants.
Subject Area
Foreign language education|Pedagogy|Teacher education|Web Studies
Recommended Citation
Bustamante, Carolina, "Professional Development on Web 2.0 for Teachers of Spanish: A Mixed Methods Case Study" (2014). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3616795.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3616795