Human and Blended Support to Assist Learning About ICT Integration in (Pre-service) Teacher Design Teams

Ghaida Alayyar,Petra Fisser

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-20062-6_11

Ghaida Alayyar, Petra Fisser

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20062-6_11

Copy DOI

Publication Date: Jan 1, 2019
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Public Authority for Applied Education and Training

Abstract

AbstractThe context of this study is the pre-service science teacher education program at the Public Authority of Applied Education and Training (PAAET) in Kuwait. A major problem in the pre-service teacher education curriculum at this institution was how pre-service science teachers were prepared to use ICT in their teaching. To tackle this problem, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) was used as a conceptual framework for developing an intervention to prepare students in the science teacher program for using ICT in their teaching. In the first iteration of the intervention students worked in design teams (DTs) and were coached by technology, pedagogy, and content experts, to find a technological solution for a pedagogical problem that a teacher normally faces. In the second iteration, students were offered an electronic support environment in addition to the expert support. As a result of the intervention, students had a positive attitude towards ICT and towards working in DTs. By adding the electronic support environment, the increase in student teachers’ positive attitude towards the use of ICT was even larger, as well as the increase in their knowledge about the pedagogical use of ICT in teaching. Implications for preparing pre-service students in ICT integration as part of their curriculum are discussed as well.

Highlights

Jimoyiannis (2010) argued that true learning in the twenty-first century requires students to be able to use ICT, for enhancing the memorization of facts, and for solving problems in real world settings
The results of the study showed that the ICT skills of the pre-service teachers increased significantly after they worked in Design Teams (DTs) to develop or design a solution for a problem related to the specific science content by using a suitable pedagogy and appropriate ICT tools
The findings provided evidence that having the pre-service science teachers at Public Authority of Applied Education & Training (PAAET) work in a DT fostered their development of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

Summary

Introduction

Jimoyiannis (2010) argued that true learning in the twenty-first century requires students to be able to use ICT, for enhancing the memorization of facts, and for solving problems in real world settings. This means that there is an increased and urgent need to develop teachers who can integrate ICT in their teaching practice. Godfrey (as cited in Sang, Valcke, van Braak, & Tondeur, 2010) summarized the potential of ICT in education as follows: “ICT presents a rich learning environment, allowing the learners to adopt multiple perspectives on complex phenomena, to foster flexible knowledge construction in complex learning domains, and to cater for individual differences Besides ICT competencies, research has found that attitude toward computers and computer self-efficacy are predictors of ICT use among teachers (Christensen & Knezek, 1996; Vannatta & Fordham, 2004)

Methods

Results

Conclusion