Developing an integrated, situated model for digital literacy in pre-service teacher education

Abstract

In this article, we draw on the findings of a qualitative case study of the digital practices and perceptions of four pre-service English teachers in order to make the case for an integrated situated approach to digital literacy that takes identities into account. Our case study highlighted the ways in which the student teachers' perceptions of their own digital proficiency and of the affordances of the digital acted as barriers in their classrooms. Drawing on insights from New Literacy Studies and Authentic Learning theorists, we describe how we used these findings to inform subsequent curriculum design and pedagogy. We argue that in order for student teachers to engage meaningfully with the digital, they need to be provided with models and authentic tasks in the discipline that enable them to explore and then reflect on how to use the affordances of the digital as a tool for learning in their classrooms.