Biggest challenges in using media in language teaching

When it comes to the greatest challenges of using media in language lessons, the respondents mentioned various issues. One of the biggest challenges was the lack of time or the amount of time that it takes to prepare and plan when using media:

R18. “Vaatii paljon etukäteistä valmistelua ja suunnittelua sekä median käyttöön perehtymistä.”

R18. ”It requires a lot of preparation and planning and getting to know how to use media.”

R39. “Ei ole aikaa eikä resursseja tutustua kaikkiin uusiin medioihin ja on turhauttavaa, kun tietää, että pitäisi osata, mutta oomat (sic) taidot ei riitäkään jonkun uuden asian soveltamiseen.

[- -]”

R39. ”There is no time or resources to get to know all new media and it is frustrating when you know that you should know how to use them but your own skills are not enough to apply something new into teaching. [- -]”

Another type of challenge had to do with the equipment and hardware. A lack of resources was a challenge in many schools and those who had acquired devices and other hardware found their functioning uncertain:

R20. ”En näe median käytössä muita haasteita kuin, jos on opettamassa heikommin varustellussa koulussa. Eli jos tekniikkaan ei ole ollut kaupungilla/kunnalla varaa panostaa.”

R20. ”I see no other challenges in using media except if you are teaching at a more poorly equipped school. In other words if the city/municipality has not had money to invest in technology.”

Respondent 39 brings up several issues that pose challenges for the utilization of media in language teaching:

R39. ”[- -] Koulutusta ja ohjausta pitäisi olla paljon enemmän. Kaikki oppilaat eivät koe teitokoneella (sic) työskentelyä mielekkääksi japäänsärky (sic) sekä niska-hartiavaivat yleistyvät koko ajan. Voi myös tuntea hukkuvansa tiedon tulvaan, jos ei osaa hakea juuri sitä oleellista asiaa. Välillä tuntuu, että kaikki uudet mediat ovat kuin loputon suo...”

R39. ”[- -] Training and guidance should be offered a lot more. All the students do not think that working with computers is agreeable and headaches as well as neck and shoulder problems are becoming more common. You can also feel like your drowning in a flood of information if you are unable to search for that one relevant thing. Sometimes it feels that all new media are like an endless swamp…”

In addition to the lack of time mentioned above, the respondent brings up the need for in-service training in the use of media, which was also a concern for many others. There were problems with the quality of training but also with the fact that for some teachers there was no training available. The respondents were equally worried about the lack of knowledge that

they had when it comes to using new types of media. Respondent 39 also points out that many students do not necessarily like to work with computers at school. Other respondents had also noticed a similar issue. It seems that the students have difficulties in thinking of media as a tool for learning and still view it more as a source of entertainment. As a result, many students end up doing something completely different on the computer or tablet for example if they are utilized during a class, which of course is problematic since the students are diverted from the actual learning tasks.

There is a wealth of media types to choose from and new are invented all the time. Even though it is a good thing to have options to choose from, several respondents felt that it was too much. Many mentioned that they had difficulties in choosing from all the available options and since the quality of available media might vary a lot, it is a difficult task for the teachers to find material that is suitable for their purposes and that is of good quality. The constant change in the field of media was also seen as problematic as was the fact that even though the media presents us with authentic material, it is not structured for teaching purposes which makes it sometimes difficult to apply to language lessons. Respondent 19 along with some other respondents was also worried that too much emphasis is put on using media and technology in teaching, which makes pedagogy not a priority even though it should be:

R19. “[--] Teknologian ei pitäisi olla itse tarkoitus, myös “perinteistä” opetusta ja “perinteisiä”

medioita tarvitaan. Suuri osa oppilaista ei lue mitään kirjallisuutta, katsotaan elokuva tai kopioidaan tiedot Wikipediasta, jos on esim. jotain lukutehtäviä.”

R19. ”[--] Technology should not be the main focus, also ”traditional” teaching and ”traditional”

media are needed. Most of the students do not read literature but instead they watch a movie or copy the information from Wikipedia if they have for example reading assignments.”

Traditional teaching and media here most likely mean using a text book and an exercise book.

Respondent 19 also brings up a phenomenon that should cause some concern: students are reading less and often exploit the available media in order to avoid reading so that they can use less time in doing the assignment.

Almost every respondent found benefits in using media in teaching, but nearly everyone also found challenges. The answers were longer than those of the benefits and some listed more than five limitations that they personally thought were challenging in using media in teaching.

Previous research has also found a myriad of possible limitations (e.g. Kankaanranta and Puhakka 2008; Kankaanranta et al. 2011a; Oksanen and Koskinen 2012). Similar and nearly identical issues to the results of the present study have been introduced in previous studies.

The lack of time, lack of devices and lack of technical skills were mentioned in the results of Kankaanranta and Puhakka (2008: 89-91). In addition to these issues, Kankaanranta et al.

(2011a: 70) mentioned lack of technical support, the strictness of curricula and outdated computers. Some respondents also mentioned slow internet connections and problems with hardware, which were the most common challenges in a study by Oksanen and Koskinen (2012: 65). Other challenges were, for instance, the conservative attitude of students towards using media in teaching. All in all, it seems that even though there are various benefits in using media in teaching, there are also quite many challenges and concerns that it raises, some of which need to be addressed promptly. One of these topics is the teachers’ need for in-service training in the use of media.