Abstract:

The paper deals with the evaluation of digital teaching materials which are created by Czech teachers of English and available open access to all teachers. The materials are designed in various formats, from static presentations to interactive ones exploiting latest teaching applications and running on latest ICT devices. Their creation in the Czech Republic was supported by the EU funding for schools programs. The digital materials are supposed to enhance the development of students' key competences in English, namely receptive, productive and interactive language skills. Unfortunately, their content and structure often struggles to reflect modern educational trends and promotes frontal teaching and passivity of students. Thus, the contribution to the teaching process (of chosen digital teaching materials) was evaluated by pre-service teachers (N = 35), students of the Faculty of Education, University of Jan Evangelista Purkyne, Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied. First, six criteria were defined focusing on the didactic contribution of the digital teaching materials. Second, students analyzed and considered the materials, and provided their written feedback. Finally, the results were orally discussed in groups and didactic recommendations for future creation of digital teaching materials were defined.

Keywords:

TEFL, TESL, didactics, ICT, digital teaching materials, teacher trainees, pre-service teachers.