1. Challenges of introducing digital storytelling in Malaysian ESL classrooms: Exploring teachers’ concerns Siew Ming Thang thang at ukm. my Yit Sim Lee Hazita Azman School of Language Studies & Linguistics, The National University of Malaysia

2. Introduction Digital storytelling (DST) – one of the many new educational tools which have been used by many educators to provide multi-faceted benefits to both teachers and students. DST is “the art and craft of exploring different media and software applications to communicate stories in new and powerful ways using digital media” Mclellan (2006:66)

3. Related studies to show benefits to writing Paull (2002) conducted a case study on three adult students who used digital storytelling to enhance their writing Sylvester and Greenidge (2009) also studied how the process of creating a digital story can assist struggling writers. Kieler (2010) used digital storytelling with a group of gifted students to motivate students and help them improve writing skills.

4. Background of Study Malaysia realizes the importance of technology and the English language, in order to be globally competitive. Efforts to include technology in learning English as a Second Language (ESL) officially started with the Smart Schools Initiative in 1999. In 2002 – Policy change to teach Mathematics and Science in English to improve Malaysian students’ English proficiency level In 2010 -- This effort has been abandoned in the face of mounting pressure from strong supporters of the rights of the Malay Language and for political reasons.

5. Efforts to improve the standard of English in Malaysia has not been discarded – ESL teachers are continually urged to ‘get creative’ and use ‘fresh approach’ in teaching the English language. Introduction of digital storytelling will be in line with this effort as review of studies on the use of digital storytelling (DST) in education has shown positive results.

6. Research Procedures & Tools Five teachers from one school expressed interest to participate. The teachers were given materials on DST to be read via e-mail The key researcher went personally to each teacher to show how Photo Story 3 (the chosen DST software application) works. (Note: The Photo Story 3 was chosen because it was easy to use and can be accessed without the Internet. )

7. Research log – to jot down observations of the school situation and teachers’ and students’ receptions. Initial interviews undertaken to find out teachers’ responses to the introduction of DST. Administered the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) to each teacher before implementing the DST project in their classrooms.

8. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) The Stages of Concern (SoC) questionnaire based on Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) by Hall and Hord (2001). Relevant as it focuses on change during initial adoption from the perspective of the individuals in the change (Donovan, 2007).

9. The SoCQ a 35-item questionnaire There are seven stages of concern within four levels – unrelated, self, task, and impact.

10. Levels Stages of ConcernExpressions of Concern Impact 6) Refocusing I have some ideas about something that would work even better. 5) Collaboration I am concerned about relating what I am doing with what other teachers are doing. 4) Consequence How is my use affecting my students? Task 3) Management I seem to be spending all of my time getting materials ready. Self 2) Personal How will using it (the new innovation) affect me? 1) Informational I would like to know more about it. Unrelated 0) Awareness Extent of awareness and concerns.

11. Findings Classification of Teacher Type: ◦ 1) Contented Traditionalist ◦ 2) Selective Adopter ◦ 3) Inadvertent User ◦ 4) Creative Adapter Analysis of Teacher Concerns (based on SoCQ)

12. Classification of Teacher Type Donnelly, McGarr, and O’Reilly (2011) – four types of teachers in relation to ICT integration into their practice. 1) Contented Traditionalist (CT) Focus on assessment with limited methodology use and do not feel the pressure to move beyond chalk and talk unless extrinsic factors prevail. Teacher Olly – Initially approached to take part in the DST Project classified herself as a non-user of ICT: “Do I have to give you an answer now? I would like to think about it. Can I observe other teachers? Because I’m kind of a ‘dinosaur’ in ICT. I’m not so confident.”

13. 2) Selective Adopter (SA) ◦ Would only adopt and continue to use an ICT resource if it helps their students to do better in their final assessment ◦ Teacher Cherry – claimed to be a believer in using ICT – was only willing to carry out the DST project with the best class that she was teaching. “I think we just do it with Class 1. They can do it. Other classes I don’t think so. They don’t even have the proficiency. Other classes will also have discipline problems. Later they destroy the computers.

14. 3) Inadvertent User (IU) ◦ An accidental user of a particular ICT in their classroom and they do not feel particularly competent in using new ICT. ◦ Teacher Enna – agreed to participate in the DST project after being invited by the Head of the English Department. 4) Creative Adapter (CA) ◦ Strong focus on student-centered approaches that facilitate meaningful learning ◦ Teacher Danny and Teacher Lily – enthusiastically agreed to participate in the DST project on being approached.

15. Analysis of Teacher Concerns Three teachers filled in the SoCQ (Teacher Olly (contended traditionalist) decided not to participate in the project and Teacher Cherry (Selective user) was transferred to another school. The series of operations on the Quick Scoring Device yielded an individual profile of each teacher: ◦ 1) Teacher Enna (inadvertent user) ◦ 2) Teacher Danny (creative adapter) ◦ 3) Teacher Lily (creative adapter)

17. The SoC graph shows – a somewhat similar pattern across three concern profiles for stages 1 to 4. First, they showed the highest concerns for Stage 0 (Awareness) and that is followed by the other stages: 1(Information), Stage 2 (Personal) and Stage 3 (Management) with some variation in intensity. Thus, it appeared they are generally concerned about the DST Project which they will be implementing in the classroom. Second, their lowest concern at Stage 4 (CSQ) – the teachers are not worried about their students’ attitude towards the DST Project. Only Edna charts a somewhat similar graph as would be expected of a “typical non-user profile” as suggested by Hall and Hord (2001).

18. Figure 2. Typical Non-user Profile (Hall & Hord, 2001)

20. Discussion & Conclusion Findings revealed that a teacher’s personal concern is affected by the teacher characteristics. The SoC graph reveals that Teacher Enna’s profile is the only profile which follows the graph pattern of a “typical non-user”, with some variation in intensity. This is in line with the classification of her as “an advertent user” -- one who does not feel competent in using ICT.

21. Teacher Danny and Teacher Lily are both Creative Adapters (CA), therefore, their concern profiles do not depict one as such of a “typical non-user”. Their concern profiles are unique because their concerns are also affected by their job responsibilities and ICT experiences in language teaching. Teacher Danny – lowest concern at ‘Task’ level – not worried about how the DST Project would affect his lessons, class management, and organization in class – he is a teacher with CA characteristics who frequently integrates ICT in his language teaching.

22. Teacher Lily – also classified as a CA – is more concern with the ‘Task’ level than Danny. This may be due to her responsibility as a lab coordinator which requires her to ensure that the computer lab is always in order. This may also cause her high concern for “Collaboration” as she is required to coordinate the use of the lab by other teachers.

23. Both Danny and Lily expressed high concerns for “refocusing” which show their ability in transferring what they learnt to better use – an indicator of creative users. Thus, it seems that personal concerns can be associated with the type of teacher that they are, as well as their job responsibilities and ICT experiences in language teaching.

24. From such a small sample population it was possible to find teachers belonging to each of the category strongly suggests that the four categories of teachers as proposed by Donnelly et al. (2011) do exist in the Malaysian context. The findings from the Teacher concerns questionnaire will help in a better understanding of how to accommodate the teachers’ needs.

25. Conclusion Data derived from further analysis into the teachers ’concerns will be enlightening as it will present the viewpoints of teachers from diverse categories and will provide the necessary background knowledge for us to understand how a majority of Malaysian teachers will perceive the introduction of DST into their ESL classrooms.