Chapter 3 Literature Review 3.1 Overview of chapter
2. Digital Age Learning Culture: Educational Administrators create, promote,
3.2.7 IT and teacher education
Two aspects, IT and teacher education, are discussed in this section. On one hand, IT could be used to assist teacher education and professional development (Bitter & Legacy, 2008; Waniganayake, Wilks, & Linser, 2007); the training for teachers to understand how to integrate IT in teaching is another (Christensen & Knezek, 2007; Duran, Fossum, & Luera, 2007; Lisowski, Lisowaki, & Nicolia, 2007; Shelly et al., 2008).
The importance of teacher education for promoting the integration of IT is generally discussed. Dawes and Robertson acknowledged that one of the greatest
impediments to the effective use of the computers in education is the lack of knowledge on the teacher’s part (Dawes & Robertson, 1991). Teachers should be technologically competent and information-‐literate. Most importantly, they need to know how and when they should enhance teaching and learning (Smaldino et al., 2008). Harrison (2005) addressed that many teachers claim that their IT skills increased through in-‐service training, but they are still expected to develop their ability to explore the potential of IT in relation to their teaching. Similarly, a survey
conducted in Australia in 2007 shows that although the pre-‐service teachers have learned the fundamental IT skills, they still should have had the opportunities to learn about the tools and associated settings for preparing their future teaching (Russell & Romeo, 2007). Shelly et al. (2008) also suggested that teachers undertake professional development to acquire the knowledge and start the integration of IT.
Bitter and Legacy (2008) suggested that teachers could improve their professional skills (including the skill of the integration of IT) via the collegial communication, participate in the professional associations and professional development. Technology allows teachers to access different resources, approach experienced colleagues and experts by connecting to the Internet. There are several professional websites that offer forums for the teachers to discuss, communicate, share and get advice for challenging situations. The professional associations provide either face-‐to-‐face or on-‐line environment for teachers to explore and develop their professional skills. Many government/non-‐government organisations or teacher education institutions of different sectors operate their workshops and training (including web-‐based training) for teacher professional development. In general, teachers have a variety of options to improve their professional skills.
In order to prepare tomorrow’s teachers to infuse technology into teaching, several researchers draw attention to the pre-‐service teacher training (Christensen & Knezek, 2007; Duran et al., 2007; Lisowski et al., 2007). Christensen and Knezek (2007), based on the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology Program (PT3) (a program in the USA to support teacher education in IT), explain the goals, processes and content of pre-‐service teachers’ IT related training. Lisowski et al. (2007) not only designed a project for pre-‐service teachers’ training for integrating IT but also
addressed several processes they have encountered. Duran et al. (2007) argued that if future teachers are to effectively use technology, their pre-‐service training should adopt key components such as educational technology, faculty modeling and clinical experiences. Such researchers intended to develop the models for pre-‐service training in the integration of IT to enhance teaching and learning. Wentworth (2006) pointed out the importance of modeling the appropriate use of technology in
teacher education courses. Thus, with these, pre-‐service teachers are able to experience, create and evaluate appropriate technology to enhance their future teaching career.
With respect to in-‐service teacher training, Meskill, Mossop and Bates (1999) found that there are significant differences between novice and experienced teachers in terms of using IT in teaching. Experienced teachers use technologies effectively and their students can be generally characterised as viewing technology as means rather than an end of learning, whilst the novice teachers are concerned more about mastering the routines and rituals regarding using IT. Three years later, Meskill and other, further addressed the difference between novice and experienced teachers in using IT. They suggested that teacher training should reconsider the processes involving technologies; the inclusion of experienced and expert teachers as models of discourse and practice; and the notion of technologies as sidestepping the human expertise required for powerful learning (Meskill, Mossop, DiAngelo, & Pasquale, 2002). That means pre-‐service teachers should have undertaken IT related training courses in teacher education institutions. In addition, a continuing professional development is needed to improve their skills and strategies in terms of the integration of IT.
For in-‐service teachers, they are able to undertake either IT related courses in
teacher education institutions or participate in related workshops to improve their IT literacy in order to meet NET for Teachers Standards in the USA. As the researcher mentioned previously, several professional associations and professional
development websites are accessible for teachers to obtain the information needed so as to improve their teaching (Lever-‐Duffy & McDonald, 2008). Amburgey (2007) developed a model for professional development in order to improve the use of IT in university teaching. This model adopted the NETS for Teachers and appeared to be successful. Teachers themselves also suggested establishing their e-‐portfolio for the professional purposes, that is, teachers use an electronic profile to collect their experience of professional development to present teachers’ best light (Younie & Moore, 2005).