PaCKed with Technology: Pedagogically-Driven Technology Professional Development for Language Teaching

This article reports on the design and evaluation of “PaCKed with Technology”, a pedagogically-driven technology professional development program for pre-service teachers of primary English in Kuwait. PaCKed with Technology is novel in its focus on enabling teachers to identify technologies that align with second language acquisition pedagogy. Having provided teachers space to revise and develop their pedagogical content knowledge, trainee teachers are taken through two reflective cycles. The first comprises: (1) comprehension & connection, which encourages the development of pedagogical content knowledge and makes connections between technologies and pedagogical principles; (2) experience, which enables teachers to “learn with technology”; and (3) reflection, which encourages reflection based on their experience. The second comprises the same steps and provides trainee teachers the opportunity to “teach with technology.” Pre-module and post-module surveys of the teachers’ awareness of the range of technologies they might employ in their teaching, their rationale for doing so, and their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) were complemented with qualitative interviews exploring their experience of the training. While the trainee teachers’ self-reported levels of TPACK decreased, their rationales for using technology shifted from motivating and engaging learners to reasons grounded in approaches and methods of language teaching. Interview data suggests that these changes might be explained by changes in trainees’ understanding of what it means to use technology effectively to support their pedagogical goals and approach.