Teacher training and teachers' attitudes towards educational technology in the deployment of online English language courses in Jordan

Abstract

The present paper details the experience of designing and running the first online English language courses at Yarmouk University with the support of the Open University of Catalonia. The courses fall within the framework of the EQTEL project, which aims to develop and implement accreditation standards, guidelines and procedures for quality assurance of online courses in Jordanian universities. The focus of the research was to evaluate the course from the teachers¿ perspective while identifying possible stumbling blocks and challenges that could be used to refine and enhance the course and the teacher preparation program in successive iterations. Teachers completed a questionnaire that sought to reveal their beliefs, attitudes and experiences using technology for language instruction. The study concluded that teachers perceive more affordances in using technology to practice receptive skills (listening, reading) than productive skills (speaking, writing). Teachers evaluated the teacher preparation prior to the course as sufficient but expressed contradictory attitudes towards using technology for language instruction which need to be understood within the context of the institutional culture and the decision-making process behind technology adoption.