Despite their use in almost every aspect of everyday life, smartphones remain relatively underused as a teaching resource by many language teachers.
This presentation will document research conducted with a cohort of trainee TESOL teachers at Master's Degree level at a Scottish university. The aim of the research project was to explore the teachers' perceptions of smartphones as a potential classroom tool, and to investigate the factors which either encourage or discourage teachers from employing the devices as part of their teaching activities.
The trainee teachers were interviewed by the researcher, and the interviews were subjected to thematic analysis to capture and explore themes that were consistently identified across the data. findings indicate that the trainee teachers are tentatively in favour of using smartphones in the classroom, and feel that, as teachers, it is something they 'should' be familiar with and capable of.
Nevertheless, a number of factors impact on their likelihood of actually using the devices. Firstly, there are concerns over just how ready they are to use the devices, as they reported feeling undertrained and underprepared in this area, believing that they do not know enough about the best apps, or how to use them effectively. Secondly, they feel that introducing smartphones in the classroom might lead to more disruptive classes. Thirdly, they struggle to identify just what the teacher's role is in the personalised use of smartphones, and how actual use of the devices would manifest itself in the classroom.
The presentation will end with a discussion of how each of these factors can be mitigated against to support the effective use of smartphones as part of a teacher's classroom repertoire.

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Abstract Summary
This presentation will describe research which explores the attitudes held by trainee English language teachers towards smartphones as a teaching resource. Through a mixed methods approach which combined a survey and interviews, the perceptions the trainees hold regarding the devices, and the factors which either support or limit their use as a tool, were identified.
The findings indicate that while the participants were tentatively enthusiastic regarding the use of smartphones, and feel that being able to use them effectively for teaching purposes is a part of their job, they remain hesitant to actually integrate the devices, with their primary concerns being a lack of confidence in their own knowledge of smartphone-based teaching, and also regarding potential disruption in the classroom.

Authors:
Martin Mullen, University of the West of Scotland, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Martin Mullen is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at University of the West of Scotland in United Kingdom

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