Abstract:

The present qualitative research deals with the attitudes of Czech pre-service teachers of English towards the utilization of modern didactic principles, particularly the principles of constructivism, in the creation of ICT supported digital educational materials. The study followed several main aims: firstly, the aim was to find out whether principles of constructivism were an inherent part of the digital educational materials in question. Secondly, the study aimed to discover whether there is a link between pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards the implementation of ICT in the educational process and their utilization of modern didactic principles in the digital materials. Lastly, it was crucial to pinpoint the reasons for dis/regarding principles of constructivism in digital educational materials created by pre-service teachers. The research was conducted among first- and second-year Czech graduate students of English methodology and the data was acquired by a method of triangulation. It included the analysis of a pre-questionnaire, analysis of digital materials created by the students, analysis of a lesson plan prepared by the students, analysis of observations of the students’ implementation of the digital materials in lessons, analysis of evaluative feedback provided by their peers, and analysis of all-class discussion of the topic.

Keywords:

ICT, digital educational materials, pre-service teachers, TEFL, English methodology, constructivism, modern didactic principles.