Using digital technology in the classroom adds new professional tasks for (student) teachers

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses a study conducted among final-year undergraduate students preparing to become primary school teachers. These students participated in an eight-week module on digital technology, working in pairs to create, test and analyse pedagogical scenarios using and not using digital tablets. The study aimed to address two main questions: (1) How do the views of pre-service teachers change as a result of a technology instruction programme? (2) What new professional tasks emerge when they use digital technologies in their internship teaching practices? Various data sources were collected and analysed. The findings revealed that none of the pre-service teachers held entirely negative views on digital technologies after the module. They became more comfortable using them in their classrooms, especially for teaching oral language, while for mathematics they found them less useful. Furthermore, the results showed that eight new professional tasks appeared when teaching with digital technologies.