Emerging Technology Mediation among Pre-service History Teachers at Makerere University

Abstract

General pedagogy in higher education is constrained in terms of creativity and innovation. In the area of History Education, many teachers view history as a single accurate story about the past so they are slow in embracing dialogic and inclusive pedagogies that are mediated by emerging technologies (ETs) that can bring interpretation of the past in conversation with the present. This may become an impediment to improving the quality of learning since today’s students need to be taught using ETs that are aligned with the way they learn and think. Therefore, this study sought to support students’ participation in doing history mediated by ETs. Data was collected using interviews and observation from an educator and 20 pre-service teachers at Makerere University. The data were analysed through a Hermeneutic cycle-driven analysis. The findings revealed that historicity is constructed through active engagement in doing history by interpreting images, videos, pictures and texts as relics from the past afforded by ETs. Dialogical approaches to learning history through open conversations between the educator and students embedded by ETs helped the pre-service teachers to learn in a democratic way. If utilized this will be relevant to the pre-service teachers’ future students.