A course design for digital literacy training for prospective English teachers.

Abstract

Addressing the significant societal digital literacy gap, this case study presents a structured college-level course, ‘Digital Literacy and English Education,’ aimed at enhancing the digital literacy skills of students majoring in English education. The two-credit course, spread across a 15-week university term, integrates digital literacy instruction with practical application. It begins with fundamental digital literacy concepts, preparing students to navigate, evaluate, and employ digital information in their future language teaching endeavors. Students are encouraged to explore relevant digital tools for English instruction, which increase their teaching efficacy and adaptability in a digitized society. The course further includes basic coding skills and hands-on digital language tool experience, facilitating students’ capability to innovate and diversify their teaching strategies in an increasingly digital-focused educational environment. Learner reflection-logs collected over the course indicate a positive correlation between digital literacy development and proactive teacher training methods. The results highlight the potential of digital tools to stimulate student engagement, collaboration, and independent learning, enhancing their digital skills, and emphasizing the importance of equipping future teachers with essential digital literacy skills.