Abstract:
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has blessed education sector as like as other
spheres of life. Education in this digital age also demands for the integration of ICT driven
teaching-learning materials e.g., digital content (DC) for the better output. With the mandate of
present education system, Bangladesh has already embraced digital content driven teachinglearning
process in every tier of education as the government of Bangladesh has focused on
achieving ‘Digital Bangladesh’ by her digitally capable citizen. However, the usage of DC in
practicing English language skills for grade XI-XII is going on for more than a decade. But how
effectively teachers use DC in teaching English, which pedagogy do they follow and what
advantages as well as challenges face during using DC have not yet been researched in the context
of Bangladesh particularly for English subject at grade XI-XII. Hence, this research has been
undertaken by the researcher. The purpose of this research was to identify the use of digital content
in teaching and learning English at the secondary level (XI-XII) of education in Bangladesh.
Besides, the research determined four specific research questions i.e., What types of DC are being
used for practising English Language skills (teaching and learning English) at grade XI-XII?
Which types of pedagogy do teachers use in presenting or making DC for effective teaching and
learning English at grade XI-XII? What advantages do teachers and students get from using DC in
teaching and learning English at grade XI-XII? What are the challenges of using DC in teaching
and learning English at grade XI-XII? to meet the purpose of this research.
A qualitative research method was adopted to get answer of the research questions and conduct
the study. Data was collected from English teachers (08), digital content specialists (03), students
and classroom observation by using semi-structured interview schedule, FGDs (04) and
observation checklist (24) respectively for the accomplishment of the research. Collected and
processed data was analysed through thematically and presented descriptively with figures and
tables.
The comprehensive analysis of data and results brings into light that content related pictures, Ebook
or
E-text,
power-point
slide,
and,
relevant
audio
and video
clips
are
massively
used
types
of
DC
for
English
where
English
teachers
tend
to
follow
TPACK
model
mainly,
lecture,
audio-visual
and
CLT
method
frequently
as
pedagogy
while
using
DC.
Moreover,
the
study
has
also
revealed
that
students centred advantages (e.g., easier to make students understand), teachers centred
advantages (e.g., teacher can study at any time in anywhere), by product advantages (e.g.,
automatically improve digital skills) and methodological advantages (e.g., shown digitally and
lively) are prominently major advantages obtained by using DC in the teaching-learning process
of English in the context of Bangladesh. On the contrary, infrastructural challenges (e.g., scarcity
of equipment), technical and methodological challenges (e.g., digital divide), and teacher led
challenges (e.g., deficiency of skilled and experienced teachers) are the pivotal challenges in using
DC discovered by this research also.
Finally, some implications have been offered for the practice (e.g. use relevant DC) and policy
level (e.g. provide proper training to teachers) for better utilization of DC in teaching and learning
English.