The multi-case study of English teachers’ mobile-assisted technology use in Southwest China from an ecological understanding

As China promotes the innovative use of technology in education, mobile-assisted technology receives increasing attention from researchers. As Rogers (1995) suggested, the teacher is the key factor in technology use. Van Lier (2004) proposed that technology use should be analyzed based on the basic organizing constructs of ecology instead of being investigating as an isolated item. In this research, the mobile technology use by English teachers in China is analyzed from 4 aspects based on Van Lier’s theory: Perception (driven by different purposes), Action (activities of adaption), Relation (attitudes and beliefs in the context), and Quality (frequency and expertise of technology use). The methods used in this research are the surveys, interviews and artifacts. The results are illustrated in the framework called Mobile Assisted Technology Use by English Teachers in China, in which these four aspects interact with each other in the circle path. By the examination of these factors, the corresponding interplay of the positive or negative factors suggests implications, such as the growing technology cultivation for teachers, the support of positive policies, the improvement of studying equipment and the technology training aimed to enhance the ability of students’ parents. Since this is a small-scale qualitative study, a large-scale study involving more participants from various stakeholders needs to be conducted to verify this ecological framework in future. Copyright © 2019 University of Antwerp.