Pre-service English teachers’ beliefs and practices in the use of digital technology: the case of a technology-enhanced teacher preparation course in South Korea

Abstract

ABSTRACT Even though many teacher education programs have evolved to include technology courses to meet the growing demand for technology integration in education, many of them tend to treat technology as an add-on entity and teach technology skills in isolation. Focusing on the case of 29 pre-service English teachers in South Korea, this study aims to qualitatively examine how a semester-long teacher preparation course designed to provide pre-service teachers with adequate training and design-based experiences for implementing technology in their content areas influences pre-service teachers’ beliefs and practices in the integration of digital technology. The findings of the paper show that pre-service teachers’ perceptions and self-efficacy beliefs about technology integration in teaching are strongly influenced by their experiences of exploring different technology options and engaging in hands-on experiences related to technology integration. Based on the findings, the paper argues that a technology-integrated teacher preparation course that involves various hands-on experiences helps pre-service teachers enhance their self-efficacy beliefs in technology integration; in turn, this enables them to use digital technologies in more innovative and creative ways.