Crossing Boundaries: Multimedia Technology and Pedagogical Innovation in a High School Class

Abstract

Although much has been written on computer technology and its potential for changing pedagogical practice, relatively little attention has been given as to how teachers' conceptualizations of teaching and other contextual factors relate to their actual use of these technologies. The present paper focuses on an innovative program in a Quebec high school, involving project-based teaching in networked classrooms equipped with laptop computers. One ESL language arts and two French content teachers' use of computer technology is discussed in relation to their conceptualizations of teaching and the way in which the pedagogical innovations featured in this program were supported by the broader social context. The discussion of pedagogical innovation is situated within sociocultural theory, notably in Engestrom's notion of an activity system and Tharp's views on the relationship between reform and the alignment of activity settings. Implications for language learning are addressed in terms of the affordances created within the context of this particular program. More generally, the paper argues for a vision of language learning and teaching wherein language is viewed more broadly in semiotic terms and computer technology is viewed as a representational resource within a multiliteracy pedagogy.