Fostering Critical Digital Literacies in the Online Classroom: Teacher Perspectives

Sharon Leslie will focus on teacher perspectives in her role as a panellist in the MAAL webinar Expanding Critical Digital Literacies to the Languages Classroom: Research and Insights. In her presentation entitled Fostering Critical Digital Literacies in the Online Classroom: Teacher Perspectives, Sharon will offer insights drawn from her current research into the experiences of online teachers of English for Specific Purposes (ESAP) and her own role as a teacher and leader of online language programs. Her current qualitative study of teachers’ experiences teaching online and offshore to undergraduate Chinese students aims to highlight the digital skills and literacy of this cohort of educators and how they developed them. As she analyses her data, she is actively considering how both teachers and students develop critical attitudes to their digital use and how program leaders can use this understanding in both curriculum development and in designing professional learning opportunities for teachers.