Technology refusal: Rationalising the failure of student and beginning teachers to use computers

Abstract

AbstractResearch findings in the area of information technology in teacher education (ITTE) appear to be consistent, suggesting that information technology (IT) is still significantly under‐used by pre‐service teachers, particularly on teaching practice, and by beginning teachers. Investigations that have attempted to attribute the reasons for this have largely addressed students' development of attitudes to IT and their relative success in acquiring IT skills and knowledge. This paper takes a different approach and attempts to rationalise the apparent failure of IT education in pre‐service courses in terms of the individual. More particularly, it offers a conceptual framework for investigating and analysing the failure of IT education, particularly at pre‐service level, suggesting that IT outcomes are likely to be diverse and variable for any one student‐teacher population: and that these outcomes need to be considered in the context of individual students' constructions of IT meaning.