A Comparative Study of Digital Native and Digital Immigrant Junior High School EFL Teachers in Their ICT Use, Skills, and Integration

• Main Authors: Yi-Syue Wu, 吳怡雪
• Other Authors: Ya-Fen Lo
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/70744045546191717819

碩士 === 國立高雄應用科技大學 === 應用外語系暨英語專業溝通與教學科技碩士班 === 103 === On the subject of the influence of the Internet, Prensky (2001a) proposed the notion of digital natives and digital immigrants to indicate the differences between people born after and before 1980. Digital natives have different thinking patterns and preferences for ICT than digital immigrants. In the educational context, a digital gap is between teachers (digital immigrants) and students (digital natives). Many studies have focused on this issue, but results have been mixed. Moreover, in fourteen years, certain digital natives might have become in-service teachers, and it remains unclear whether differences between digital native and digital immigrant teachers in their ICT use, skills and integration exist. However, research which has empirically documented the generational differences within teachers is scant. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare digital native teachers and digital immigrant teachers in their ICT use, skills, and integration, and to explore the interrelationships of these variables. This research involved a survey involving EFL junior high school teachers’ ICT use, skills, and integration. 254 in-service teachers teaching in Kaohsiung municipal junior high schools participated in the study, including 88 digital natives and 166 digital immigrants. The quantitative analysis of the questionnaires was conducted through descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation. The results of this study are briefly described below: 1. The experiences with ICT of digital native and digital immigrant teachers are significantly different. Digital native teachers own more technology devices, spend more time online, and start using computers at a younger age. 2. Digital native teachers scored higher on the characteristics of digital natives than those of digital immigrant teachers. 3. Digital native teachers’ degree of ICT use, skills, and integration are higher than that of digital immigrant teachers. 4. Teachers’ age, characteristics of digital natives, ICT use, and ICT skills correlate with their ICT integration. To conclude, this study may be of importance in examining digital natives have become teachers and explaining the interrelationship of teachers’ age, ICT use, ICT skills, and their ICT integration. Suggestions for the government, the school, and future research are also provided.