Integrating Interactive Digital Media into Problem-Based Learning in EFL Reading: an Investigation on EFL Teacher Educators’ Experiences

Extensive research on online EFL reading has proliferated in recent years. However, specific studies that investigate EFL teacher educators’ experiences of integrating digital media into problem-based learning in EFL reading classes are underexplored. To fill the gap, the present study was designed to construe (1) six Indonesian EFL teacher educators’ experiences of teaching EFL reading using interactive digital media and (2) their approaches to alleviating EFL students’ contextual challenges in the digitally-mediated EFL reading activities. Data were collected using focus group discussion activities that lasted around one to two hours with the participating teachers. The data analysis followed Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis procedure. The findings revealed that the participating teachers enacted EFL students’ autonomous learning when selecting their reading texts online and employed varied digital media in students’ problem-based and project-based reading activities. The participating teachers also used group work and integrated problem-based learning to solve students’ contextual challenges in the digitally-mediated EFL reading activities. The study’s findings suggest that reading teachers integrate digital tools in reading classes and integrate problem-based learning to develop EFL students’ critical thinking and reading literacy.