Pre-service teachers' perspectives of the diffusion of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the effect of case-based discussions (CBDs)

This study investigates pre-service teachers' perspectives of the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in elementary education and the effect of case-based discussions (CBDs). The sample consisted of 170 first-year pre-service teachers from elementary teacher education programs of the largest teacher education college in Turkey. The cases used in the study were obtained from a case repository at http://ornekolay.org, indexing teaching cases from elementary classrooms of the capital city of Turkey. The cases were mainly text-based and presented stories of elementary teachers' in-class usage of ICTs. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was executed to test the effect of pre-service teachers' perspectives on ICTs diffusion in elementary teaching. Three scales were developed based on Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory (2003) to measure pre-service teachers' preferred innovativeness, innovation perceptions, and innovation decisions in the use of ICTs. The results showed that pre-service teachers had pre-established perspectives, mainly positive, about the diffusion of ICTs in elementary teaching; their perceptions about innovativeness and relative advantage were the main indicators of persuasion and decision; and CBDs positively affected their perceptions such that their computer-related persuasion and decisions positively increased.     

Teachers' perceptions of the barriers to technology integration and practices with technology under situated professional development

This case study examines 18 elementary school teachers' perceptions of the barriers to technology integration (access, vision, professional development, time, and beliefs) and instructional practices with technology after two years of situated professional development. Months after transitioning from mentoring to teacher-led communities of practice, teachers continued to report positive perceptions of several barriers and were observed engaging in desirable instructional practices. Interviews suggest that the situated professional development activities helped create an environment that supported teachers' decisions to integrate technology. Implications for teacher professional development and technology integration are discussed in conjunction with the strengths and limitations of the study.     

Student teachers' conceptions of technology: A metaphor analysis

This research applied metaphor analysis to investigate student teachers' conceptions of technology. The sample included 237 students enrolled in technical pre-service teacher education in Turkey. Participants were given a questionnaire consisting of demographic questions and the prompt “Technology is like … because …” to articulate their conceptualizations of technology. Data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Participants produced 58 distinct mental images clustered into five conceptual categories that characterize technology as development, facilitation, vital necessity, power, and threat. Gender and major had no significant effect on their conceptions. Overall, the results suggest that student teachers' conception of technology is restricted and mostly focuses on artifact and technical dimensions. The implications and potential ways for constructing balanced and broader conceptualization of technology were discussed within the context of teacher education curriculum.     

Teaching in flipped classrooms: Exploring pre-service teachers' concerns

To effectively promote the student-centered movement, it is important to understand pre-service teacher concerns about teaching in technology-integrated flipped classrooms. This study surveyed more than 470 pre-service teachers' concerns on teaching with flipped learning instruction. To understand the role of individual differences, personal characteristics such as self-efficacy for teaching, teacher knowledge, and other demographics were investigated. The results indicated the pre-service teachers had mostly self-concerns. Self-efficacy and non-technological teacher knowledge were associated with most stages of concern. Females had more awareness and management concerns; non-science pre-service teachers had more information, personal, and collaboration concerns; seniors had the highest awareness for flipped classrooms, and the effects of other personal characteristics on stages of concern were identified. The significant findings draw implications for teacher educators and teacher education programs in updating curriculum and instruction so as to equip pre-service teachers with the essential knowledge and skills for teaching effectively in 21st century classrooms.     

Enhancing pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration through lesson planning practice

The purpose of this study was to identify how pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration (SETI) can be improved during the coursework intervention, and which of the course factors (instructional media development skills, knowledge on technology, and lesson planning practice) has the highest impact on the SETI. This research also attempted to explore a more inclusive path of the direct and indirect influences between SETI and other non-course variables (computer use, teachers' attitude towards computers (TAC), changes in TAC). A total of 136 undergraduate students at a teacher education university in Korea participated in the study. Our data analyses illustrated significant increase of prospective teachers' SETI after their completion of education technology course resulting mostly from lesson planning practice. The hierarchical multiple regression revealed that the pre-service teachers with higher positive attitudes toward computers and greater ability for lesson planning showed higher increase in their levels of SETI. The path analysis indicated that these two factors influenced the SETI directly, rather than indirectly. Lesson planning practice did not affect pre-service teachers' attitudinal growth. Implications on effectiveness of the lesson planning and attitudinal factors on SETI, and suggestions for teacher education course design are discussed.     

Courseware development model (CDM): The effects of CDM on primary school pre-service teachers' achievements and attitudes

The main purpose of this study is to design a “Courseware Development Model” (CDM) and investigate its effects on pre-service teachers' academic achievements in the field of geography and attitudes toward computer-based education (ATCBE). The CDM consisted of three components: content (C), learning theory, namely, meaningful learning (ML), and multimedia (M). The CDM is designed to show the synthesis of the C and M components under ML. In this study, an experimental design including pre-test and post-test groups is used to define the efficiency of the CDM. There are 31 pre-service teachers in the control group, 28 pre-service teachers in the meaningful learning theory group-ML, and 30 pre-service teachers in GTC group that uses geography teaching courseware-GTC based on the CDM. The results of the analysis indicate that the courseware is quite effective, improving pre-service teachers' academic achievements as well as their ATCBE scores. The results also suggest that the new model has an appropriate structure for courseware design.     

Perspectives and challenges in e-learning: towards natural interaction paradigms

The role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in educational development has been world-wide recognized as a priority in order “to reinforce academic development, to widen access, to attain universal scope and to extend knowledge, as well as to facilitate education throughout life” (Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, Report of the Canadian Delegation to the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, Paris, October 5–9, 1998. http://www.cmec.ca/international/unesco WCHE98report.en.pdf). As a consequence, developments in ICTs have had a significant impact on conventional higher education, as the university of the 21st century takes shape. By analyzing traditional learning models as opposed to new e-learning paradigms, this paper provides a global overview on future learning systems, from both technology- and user-centered perspectives. In particular, the visual component of the e-learning experience is emphasized as a significant feature for effective content development and delivery, while the adoption of new interaction paradigms based on multi-dimensional metaphors and perceptive interfaces is presented as a promising direction towards more natural and effective learning experiences.     

Technology tools to support learning design: Implications derived from an investigation of university teachers' design practices

The need to improve the quality of higher education has fostered an interest in technology tools to support effective design for teaching and learning. Over the past decade this interest has led to the development of tools to support the creation of online learning experiences, specifications to underpin design systems, and repositories to share examples. Despite this significant activity, there remain unanswered questions about what shapes university teachers' design decisions and how tools can best support their design processes. This paper presents findings from a study of university teachers' design practices that identified teachers' perceptions of student characteristics, their own beliefs and experiences, and contextual factors as key influences on design decisions. The findings extend our understanding of activities fundamental to higher education teaching and inform thinking about design support tools.     

Social capital,empowerment and educational change: a scenario of permeation of one‐to‐one technology in school

The standard model of technology diffusion argues that changing teachers' perceptions and epistemological beliefs about the value of an innovation is conducive to successful implementation. It is believed that teachers' receptiveness to technology and a re‐conceptualization of its role in teaching and learning can drive the development of new pedagogies and curricula and eventually, bring about a new learning experience. In this paper, we argued that changing teachers' conceptions does not necessarily effect change in their practices and student learning. The results of our case study indicated that the impetus for change comes from the social capital and informal social forces in the school, and that parental support, permeation of technology in student learning and teacher empowerment are pivotal to the success of the implementation.     

Teachers' pedagogical change mechanism – Pattern of structural relations between teachers' pedagogical characteristics and teachers' perceptions of transactional distance (TTD) in different teaching environments

In this study we examined how the variables: teaching autonomy, teaching goals teaching style and teachers' perceptions of transactional distance (TTD) work together within the pedagogical decision-making process in different teaching environments. The independent variable was the teaching environment, which was divided into three: entirely distance environment (Distance-E); blended distance environment (Distance-B); and the traditional environment (Traditional). The dependent variables were teaching autonomy, teaching goals, teaching style and TTD, i.e. teachers' evaluation of their ability to communicate with the students, explain the content and their satisfaction from the teaching environment. One hundred and sixty faculty members who teach in distance environments and one hundred and sixty faculty members who teach in a traditional environment answered a five-part study questionnaire. The finding indicated that teaching autonomy, teaching goal and teaching style are significant predictors of TTD. Furthermore, teaching style serves as a mediator variable connecting teaching autonomy and the teaching goal to the TTD. This pattern was repeated in both structural and measurement models in all three teaching environments, indicating the centrality of the teaching style as well as teaching goal and teaching autonomy in the teachers' pedagogical decision-making process and teaching outputs. We concluded that affecting the teachers' pedagogical characteristics, which serve as mechanisms that influence the results of teaching, is an important component in the process of the technological change in 21st century education.     

Exploring pre-service teachers' use of technology: The technology acceptance model and expectancy–value theory

Understanding how prepared teachers are to use technology to enhance their teaching can assist researchers to support them better, yet the theoretical basis for understanding teachers' self-beliefs is in need of stronger empirical support. The first objective of this study was to replicate and extend prior research that empirically tested portions of the technology acceptance model (TAM) amongst pre-service teachers. The second objective was to empirically test an alternative set of antecedents of behavioural intentions to use technology based on the expectancy–value theory (EVT). Four theoretical models were tested using structural equation modelling with a sample of pre-service teachers (N = 249). Results provide support for the TAM and the extended TAM models, however, no support was found for the combined EVT and TAM models. We discuss the implications to promote teacher integration of technology in the classroom by creating facilitating conditions.     

Exploring the use of educational technology in primary education: Teachers' perception of mobile technology learning impacts and applications' use in the classroom

Mobile technology has become popular worldwide with a broad range of users, including students from all levels of education. Although the impact of mobile technology in classrooms has been extensively studied, less is known about teachers' perceptions of how mobile technology impacts in learning and its relation to Applications (Apps) use in the classroom. This state of affairs is problematic since we know that teachers' perceptions have a great influence on their teaching practices. This study used survey data gathered from 102 teachers of 12 different primary schools in Spain. The questionnaire collected data about teachers' individual information, teachers' perceptions on the impact of mobile technology in learning, and use of a set of selected Apps in the classroom. Findings suggest that facilitating access to information and increasing engagement to learning are the two main impacts of mobile technology in the classroom. Findings also show that the choice of Apps is related to the teachers' perception of how mobile technology impacts in learning. Findings could help teachers to take advantage of the combination of affordances of mobile technology and Apps that actually improve some aspects of learning practice.     

Predicting ICT integration into classroom teaching in Chinese primary schools: exploring the complex interplay of teacher‐related variables

Available research has explored a wide variety of factors influencing information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption and integration in classroom teaching; however, existing research seldom centre on the combined impact of these variables. In addition, the little research available is set up in the Chinese context. The latter is important given that the different cultural context in which the interplay between teacher beliefs and educational practices has only been documented quiet little. The present study centres on the complex interplay of a number of internal teacher variables to explain ICT classroom integration. These variables comprise ‘teachers’ constructivist teaching beliefs’, ‘teacher attitudes towards computers in education’, ‘teachers’ computer motivation’, ‘teacher perception of ICT‐related policy’. A survey was set up, involving 820 Chinese primary school teachers. Path modeling was used to explore the direct and indirect effects of the teacher‐related variables on their level of ICT classroom integration. Firstly, two distinctive types of ICT use can be distinguished in the Chinese context: (a) teacher supportive use of ICT that refers to the use of ICT for e.g. student administration, preparing worksheets, developing evaluation activities; and (b) classroom use of ICT to support and enhance the actual teaching and learning process. The results show that classroom use of ICT directly depends on teachers' computer motivation and the supportive use of ICT. Teachers' constructivist beliefs, their attitudes towards computers in education and perceptions about the ICT‐related school policy influence ICT integration in an indirect way. The results demonstrate how the complex interplay between teacher‐related variables and ICT integration in the classroom is partly in line with findings in non‐Asian contexts. A number of differences can be explained by the particular Chinese context. In particular an indirect relationship was found between teachers' constructivist beliefs and their level of ICT integration.     

Learning About Ourselves: A Review of The Mathematics Teacher in the Digital Era

ABSTRACT

Mathematics Education in the Digital Era is a title that implies the ubiquity of digital technology in our everyday lives. In fact, it can be argued that digital technology is already ubiquitous for many stakeholders in mathematics education. Volume 2 of this series is titled The Mathematics Teacher in the Digital Era, which implies an exploration of the mathematics teacher as individual agent or actor in the experience of teaching and learning mathematics. What is exciting is the book editors' potentially unintended insights into teachers' affective sense, their beliefs, and their subsequent decisions for future pedagogical effort.     

Investigating the impact of an integrated approach to the development of preservice teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK)

The purpose of this study is to describe an integrated pedagogical approach, aimed at advancing preservice teachers' learning on the use of technology and investigate its impact on participants' knowledge (i.e., TPACK) and practice. The integrated approach juxtaposes an educational technology course with methods courses and field experience through careful instructional design. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Quantitative data were collected through a pre-post administration of the Survey of Preservice Teachers' Knowledge of Teaching and Technology. Qualitative data were collected through open-ended survey responses and preservice teacher case narratives reporting on the design and implementation of technology-integrated lessons in a field placement. Finding revealed that participants experienced significant gains in all TPACK constructs. Further, findings indicated that participants applied their knowledge in practice though there was variability in the ways in which knowledge domains were represented in participants' narratives. Findings have implications for teacher education programs and for researchers interested in the development and assessment of preservice teacher knowledge of teaching with technology.     

Teacher perception for m‐learning: scale development and teachers' perceptions

Successful integration of mobile learning (m‐learning) technologies in education primarily demands that teachers' perception of such technologies should be determined. Therefore, the perceptions of teachers are of great significance. There is no available instrument that assesses teachers' perceptions of m‐learning. Our research provided the first findings about teacher perceptions in Cyprus. This article describes the development, testing and application for a suitable instrument. Research data for the tests of reliability and validity were obtained from a sample of 467 teachers from the 32 schools surveyed in 2010. The final version of the Mobile Learning Perception Scale includes dimensions seeking teachers' feedback on three facets of the m‐learning. Sub‐dimensions are defined as ‘Aim‐Mobile Technologies Fit', ‘Appropriateness of Branch’, and ‘Forms of M‐learning Application and Tools’ Sufficient Adequacy of Communication'. Validity has been established by the use of factor analysis. Internal consistency coefficient and reliability of the scale showed that this instrument can be used for the future studies. According to the results of this study, teachers exhibited above medium levels of perception towards m‐learning.     

Exploring pre-service teachers' beliefs about using Web 2.0 technologies in K-12 classroom

This qualitative study explored pre-service teachers' behavioral, normative, and control beliefs regarding their intentions to use Web 2.0 technologies in their future classrooms. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used as the theoretical framework (Ajzen, 1991) to understand these beliefs and pre-service teachers' intentions for why they want to use Web 2.0 technologies. According to Ajzen's TPB, the behavioral beliefs are based on attitude toward outcomes or consequences of using Web 2.0, the normative beliefs depend on social support and social pressure to use Web 2.0, and the control beliefs lay the foundation of perceived behavioral control over using Web 2.0 in a classroom. Data were collected from open-ended survey questions (n = 190), semi-structured interviews (n = 12) and end of semester reflections (n = 12). Findings suggest that pre-service teachers' intentions to use Web 2.0 technologies are related to their beliefs about the value of these technologies for improving student learning and engagement, its ease of use (behavioral beliefs), its ability to meet the needs/expectations of digital age students (normative beliefs), the participants' high self-efficacy in use, and its potential for affording students anytime/anywhere access to learning and interaction (control beliefs). From these results, we recommend that teacher educators should target these beliefs within teacher development programs to prepare pre-service teachers for successful use of Web 2.0 technologies in their future K-12 classrooms.     

Professional development to enhance teachers' practices in using information and communication technologies (ICTs) as cognitive tools: Lessons learned from a design-based research study

Technology integration in K-12 classrooms is usually overly teacher-centered and has insufficient impact on students' learning, especially in enhancing students' higher-order cognitive skills. The purpose of this project is to facilitate science teachers' use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as cognitive tools to shift their practices from traditional teacher-centered methods to constructivist, student-centered ones. This paper describes the outcomes and lessons learned from an application of design-based research (DBR) in the implementation and refinement of a teacher professional development (PD) program that is a key component of the overall project. This DBR study involved 25 middle-school science teachers from 24 schools whose implementation of cognitive tools with their students in science classrooms and virtually through a social networking site were observed over four years. A mixed-methodology was utilized to examine the impact of the cognitive tools intervention on teachers' classroom practices and students' development of new literacy skills. Identifying reusable design principles related to technology integration was another focus of the DBR study. The results revealed teachers' positive changes in their classroom practices by gradually allowing students to take control over the use of technology, and positive impact on students' ICT skills and science learning. Design principles for future professional development programs aimed at preparing teachers to adopt a cognitive tools approach are described.