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The digital era is a new challenge for teachers. While children get acquainted with the digital technology before the age of six, teachers, who have encountered with the digital world at a later time in their lives, struggle with it. Self-directed learning, which is crucial for lifelong learning, can be enhanced by the use technology particularly beyond the classroom settings. The aim of this study was to examine the difference between the perceptions of 5-8 graders in low and high income groups about their technology use skills and their English teachers’ technology use skills. It also tested the correlation between their perceptions of their self-directed language learning behaviors and their technology use skills as well as their English teachers’ technology use skills. The population of the study consisted of 145 students. Inter group comparisons and correlational research methods were adopted. The results indicated that the low and high income students’ perceptions did not differ regarding their own technology use skills, and similarly their English teachers’ technology use skills. There was no correlation between the perceptions of the low/high income group combination regarding their technology use skills and their English teachers’ technology use skills. And lastly, their perceptions on their self-directed learning behaviors did not correlate with their perceptions on their technology use skills and their English teachers’ technology use skills. The educational implications of these results were discussed and suggestions were put forward so as to produce more effective learning environments.    Keywords: Digital technology; self-directed learning; ELT, English teacher

The digital era is a new challenge for teachers. While children get acquainted with digital technology before the age of six, teachers, who have encountered the digital world at a later time in their lives, struggle with it. Self-directed learning, which is crucial for lifelong learning, can be enhanced by the use of technology within and beyond classroom settings. The aim of this study was to examine the difference between the perceptions of students in low- and high-income groups about their use of technology in a general sense and their teachers’ use of technology in ELT classrooms. It also tested the correlation between the perceptions of their self-directed learning behaviours and their own/their teachers’ technology use. The population of the study consisted of 75 students from high- and 70 students from low-income groups. Causal comparative and correlational research methods were adopted in the study. The surveys to measure the students’ perceptions about technology use were developed by the researchers. A scale, established by Demirtas and Sert (2010), was used to identify the level of self-directed learning views of the students. The data were collected at the beginning of the first term of the 2015-2016 school year. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between perceptions of the low- and high-income students regarding their own technology use. Likewise, perceptions of the low- and high-income students did not differ regarding their teachers’ technology use. There was no correlation between the perceptions of the low-/high-income mixed group regarding their use of technology and their teachers’ use of technology. Lastly, self-directed learning perceptions of the low-/high-income mixed group did not correlate with their perceptions on any aspects of technology use. The educational implications of these results were discussed and suggestions were put forward in order to produce more effective learning environments. Keywords: Digital technology, self-directed learning, ELT

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The new Compulsory Education Law enacted in 2012 lowered school entry age from 72 months to 66 in Turkey. The interaction among age, schooling, and early literacy has been issue of interest. The aim of this study was to examine literacy development of first graders in terms of school entry age and pre-schooling. This qualitative case study was conducted at three primary schools in Ankara. One of them was a private primary school in which children of high income families attended. The other two were state primary schools; in one of which children of middle -income families, and in the other, children of low-income families attended. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The participants of the study were nine first grade teachers to give implications from classroom settings via their experiences. The curriculum guide and annual/daily lesson plans of grade 1 Turkish course were also analyzed. The findings indicated that the children below 72 months had shorter attention span and their literacy development took longer time. Effective literacy training at pre-school stage had positive influence on the literacy.

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