Digitale Mediennutzung von Schülerinnen und Schülern im Fremdsprachenunterricht der Primarschule

Textbooks are considered to play a central role in guiding teaching and changes in the education system. Meanwhile, multimedia interactive digital textbooks are available for various subjects. However, empirical studies that examine the use of digital textbooks in the classroom and the associated digital media use have been lacking up to now. In the video study presented here, the teaching practices in two fifth-grade primary school classes, for which a digital French textbook was available, were investigated and the digital media use of the pupils characterized. Phases in which digital media were used were further coded, revealing the concrete action-oriented media use. The analyses showed that the use of the analogue version of the textbook dominated, and the assignments provided in the textbook were completed with the help of other, primarily analogue media. Pupils utilized the potentials of digital media for foreign language education, particularly in terms of multimedia functions and the creative design of documents. With the focus on textbook use research, the results of the study confirmed the role of textbooks in guiding the instruction but also highlighted that the use of digital textbooks is still strongly influenced by a traditional use of media in the classroom. Simultaneously, the analysis of action-oriented media use emphasized the multi-layered nature of the process of digital media activities, ranging from handling hardware and software to reception, production, and reflection, but also including mutual assistance and distraction. The empirical findings presented here are thus intended to contribute to the current discourse on pupils’ media activities in the classroom.