Who's teaching the teachers? viewing the ICT content of a teaching degree through the eyes of pre-service teachers

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    Abstract

    The myth of the “digital native”, pedagogical beliefs about ICT and its place in education, and the reality of a teacher as an ICT role model each contribute to the attitudes school students develop about ICT. All Australian teachers, regardless of discipline, are required to incorporate ICT in their lessons. The way pre-service teachers (PSTs) are educated has a direct impact on their ability and desire to teach digital competence to school students. Using 482 first year PSTs’ experiences and expectations as a lens, teaching degrees at an Australian university were investigated, using a mixed methods approach, to find out whether the ICT content was appropriate to prepare graduate teachers to implement the national curriculum. Findings indicated that the teaching degrees did not meet all PSTs’ needs. PSTs wanted more explicit instruction in the practical and pedagogical implications of using ICT in the classroom, and some even wanted training to navigate the university’s online systems. These findings indicate that assumptions implicit in universities about digital competence may be invalid. Recommendations include suggestions that universities review their expectations of PST digital competence and consider including both embedded and explicit methods of teaching ICT in teaching degrees.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationEmpowering Learners for Life in the Digital Age
    Subtitle of host publicationIFIP TC 3 Open Conference on Computers in Education, OCCE 2018, Revised Selected Papers
    EditorsDon Passey, Rosa Bottino, Cathy Lewin, Eric Sanchez
    Place of PublicationCham Switzerland
    PublisherSpringer
    Pages91-100
    Number of pages10
    Edition1st
    ISBN (Electronic)9783030235130
    ISBN (Print)9783030235123
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019
    EventOpen Conference on Computers in Education 2018: Empowering the Learner for Life in the Digital Age - Linz, Austria
    Duration: 24 Jun 201828 Jun 2018
    https://occe.2018.ocg.at/
    https://www.ifipnews.org/occe-2018-open-conference-computers-education/

    Publication series

    NameIFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology
    Volume524
    ISSN (Print)1868-4238
    ISSN (Electronic)1868-422X

    Conference

    ConferenceOpen Conference on Computers in Education 2018
    Abbreviated titleOOCE 2018
    Country/TerritoryAustria
    CityLinz
    Period24/06/1828/06/18
    Internet address

    Keywords

    • Digital competence
    • Information and communication technology
    • Initial teacher education
    • Pre-service teachers

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