"But Is It ... Meaningful?" Technology Integration in a Community of Practice Among French as a Second Language Teachers

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research in Progress Roundtable Session Three
  In Roundtable Session: Dual Language Teachers: Professional Identity, Sociocultural Competence, and Communities of Practice (Table 4)

Abstract

While research has long identified the benefits of technology integration in second language classrooms, teachers need ongoing support in making evidence-based decisions about the impact and efficacy of technology in their practice. This study investigates purposeful technology use in Canadian French as a Second Language (FSL) classrooms, and how this can be facilitated through a Community of Practice (CoP). Specifically, this study engages the question: How do FSL teachers in a CoP develop capacity and understandings of technology-enhanced practice? Following participatory action research cycles, I am currently collecting data with four FSL educators, conducting monthly CoP meetings, as well as individual interviews and in-class observation sessions. Initial insights highlight an emerging shift in the perspectives of the teachers beyond what educational technologies "are" or are "supposed to do," to seeing what the tools actually "produce" for different students in practice.

Author

• Cameron Smith, University of Ottawa
  Presenting Author