Integrating YouTube as a Pedagogical Tool to Enhance Research Writing Skills in an Initial Teacher Education Program in a Compressive University, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Abstract

YouTube is a rich source of authentic materials on a vast number of topics and language varieties and can be used to help students develop their research writing skills. This paper aims at examining how YouTube can be incorporated in teacher education to help students improve their academic writing. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Framework was selected to understand the intersection of content knowledge (research writing), pedagogical knowledge (teaching strategies), and technological knowledge (YouTube as a tool). This theory was employed to understand how teachers integrate YouTube into their teaching practices and how it supports the enhancement of research writing skills, considering the pedagogical strategies and content that aligns with the use of YouTube. A quantitative research approach was conducted, and the population of the study consisted of 289 fourth year student teachers from the Faculty of Education in 2023. Seventy-one participants completed the questionnaire through Google Forms and data was analysed using Stata version 18. The results show that YouTube is a useful technique for improving research writing skills among student teachers. However, constraints such as lack of access to devices and stable internet connections are some of the limitations of this technique. Although there are these barriers, the study shows a very high willingness of student educators to use YouTube for academic purposes. Thus, to enhance the application of YouTube in teacher training programmes, infrastructure and technological issues must be addressed, and specific strategies developed.