EFL teachers' perception of web 2.0 technologies on teaching and learning

In recent years, ICT has started to be used to help students think critically, become creative and obtain more successful learning outcomes. Web 2.0 applications such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, social networking such as Myspace, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram constitute important sources for ICT in foreign language classrooms. Studies clearly demonstrate that using Web 2.0 applications yield several benefits: they are easy to use; they can be obtained easily and in many cases freely; and they allow interaction and communication in the classroom environment between teacher and student as well as student to student interaction. The present study aims to investigate the types of Web 2.0 technologies used by English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, EFL teachers' perspectives of such tools, and the effect of variables such as gender, teaching experience, daily Internet use, and the computer use on teachers' decision to apply Web 2.0 tools for instructional purposes. A mixed-method research design has been adopted in the current study. In other words, in order to collect research data, two research instruments have been used; The Web 2.0 Application Questionnaire developed for this study and semi-structured interviews. Data was conducted from 56 English teachers working in different TED (Turkish Education Association, Türk Eğitim Derneği) colleges. Participants of the study were 56 English teachers who completed the questionnaire, and 12 teachers volunteered to contribute to interviews. Data analysis was conducted in two stages. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data from the 15 Likert-Scale items on the Questionnaire, including demographic information of the participants. Furthermore, Mann Whitney U Test was employed to analyse the influence of "gender" variable, and Kruskal Wallis Test was used to analyse the effects of "use of computer for teaching", "year of teaching experience" and "the daily Internet use" on teachers' applying Web 2.0 tools for teaching purposes. Qualitative data from the interview questions were analysed through content analysis. The findings seem to suggest that teachers participating in this study are well aware of most Web 2.0 tools and the potential uses of ICT technology, and they are inclined to incorporate various Web 2.0 tools for instructional purposes. It has also been found that no statistically significant difference exist between these variables and the teachers' applying Web 2.0 tools in their classes. Key Words: Web 2.0 application, technology integration, teacher perspective, English teachers