Understanding the best way to embed ICT in teacher education

Abstract

Every Australian school teacher is required to include instruction in information and communication technology (ICT) in their teaching. Thus, ICT in education, including technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK), needs to be taught to every pre-service teacher (PST). A drop in the digital competence of high school students suggests many PSTs may not be reaching the levels of ICT competence envisaged to deliver the Australian Curriculum. Universities are grappling with the most effective way to address this. This paper focuses on the effectiveness of embedding ICT in education units in two different ways. Qualitative data was collected from PSTs from units in which ICT was actively embedded: in one, ICT was embedded as a content delivery tool only; in the other, PSTs were additionally required to create a digital learning object as part of the assessment task employing experiential learning. Findings indicate that when PSTs are required to create using digital technologies they gain a deeper understanding of TPACK and have greater intention to use ICT in their future classrooms.