General

An exploratory, within-subject study examined the extent to which 34 preservice teachers noticed the implementation of high-leverage practices (HLPs) in special education classrooms within three virtual field experiences (VFEs). The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which preservice teachers could accurately identify HLPs across a variety of classroom settings that embedded different instructional models (i.e., explicit teaching versus inquiry-based models). Overall findings indicated that preservice teachers consistently observed strategies to promote active engagement with high accuracy and observed the implementation of cognitive strategies and scaffolded instruction with low accuracy. Furthermore, preservice teachers identified HLPs with this highest accuracy within classrooms using explicit instructional settings. Implications for teacher educators on how to scaffold VFEs to promote accurate identification of HLPs across settings are provided.

This introductory editorial is a brief explanation of the history that led to the special issue of Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education – General Section. It discusses the difference between technology infusion and technology integration. It then expands on Foulger’s (2000) four pillars to a technology-infused teacher preparation program, and the special issue includes four articles that individually examine each pillar. These pillars include the following: (a) technology integrated curriculum, (b) modeled experiences, (c) practice with reflection, and (d) technology self-efficacy. Written by 19 authors who are considered experts in the field of educational technology, this special issue offers practical guidance and recommendations to assist teacher educators with program development that supports technology infusion and prepares preservice teachers and in-service teachers to use technology effectively.

In this article, the authors discuss technology integration curriculum in teacher preparation programs, focusing on key elements of both the curriculum and curriculum development process. Specifically, they highlight the need to develop a coherent teacher preparation program founded on shared values and practices and responsive to change. When considering technology in the teacher preparation curriculum, this means integrating technology content and practices throughout the program. Research is discussed on the efficacy of touchpoints, or opportunities for integrating technology in the teacher preparation curriculum, including technology-focused and subject-specific courses and opportunities for practicing teaching with technology in field experiences. Finally, key elements of a technology infusion approach are highlighted and program design incorporating a continuous, collaborative process is suggested to support ongoing improvements to effective technology infusion.

Modeling is a widely adopted and frequently used strategy to prepare teacher candidates for technology integration. However, whether modeling as a strategy alone is enough for technology-infused teacher preparation programs is questionable. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe an investigation of how teacher educators model technology use in various settings. Our research utilized an integrative literature review methodology to establish search and inclusion criteria. The authors initially screened 674 papers published between 2012 to 2022. A secondary review included 65 articles for full-text analysis. Results show that ample empirical evidence demonstrates the positive impacts of modeling while simultaneously emphasizing that modeling alone is not enough. Furthermore, there are quantitative and qualitative disparities in the modeling practices of faculty and cooperating teachers. Overall, the literature review underscores the need for a more intentional approach to designing learning experiences that model technology integration. The authors summarize a review of literature as research-based design principles, implementation strategies, and competencies teacher educators need to be excellent at modeling. The design suggestions will be helpful for program designers, teacher educators, and those supporting field experiences who wish to contribute to building technology-infused teacher preparation programs.

The third pillar of technology infusion is practice, providing numerous opportunities in multiple settings for teacher candidates to practice teaching with technology and to reflect on their experiences. Drawing from sociocultural theories of learning and change, this article offers a theoretical justification of this pillar and unpacks how infusing practice-based technology preparation will improve new teachers’ ability to use technology in their classrooms. The authors discuss multiple types of practice, both in the teacher education courses and in K-12 field experiences. They argue that teacher preparation programs have been shifting to practice-based approaches for over a decade. However, not all preparation programs have adopted practice-based approaches that support the vision of a technology infusion approach. The article concludes with a discussion of design recommendations for practice elements of technology-infused programs needed for success.

This article focuses on factors related to supporting the development of teacher candidates’ self-efficacy as critical components in designing technology-infused teacher preparation programs. Through a synthesis of relevant literature, the authors present information about elements influencing teacher self-efficacy in technology integration (TSEinTI) such as environments, attitudes, beliefs, intentions, support, policies, and resources. Findings describe the connection of TSEinTI to the experiences in teacher preparation programs through which teacher candidates gain the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to enable the successful integration of technology in their future classrooms. Additionally, findings reveal the influence of program culture that can support teacher candidates’ growth as they progress through a technology-infused approach to teacher preparation. The authors summarize recommendations for teacher preparation programs in the context of designing program-wide and program-deep technology-infused experiences to support the growth of candidates’ teacher self-efficacy in technology integration.

In this concluding editorial, the editors summarize design considerations, as presented by the coauthors of the articles in this special issue, for the four pillars of a technology-infused teacher preparation program: (a) technology integration curriculum, (b) modeled experiences, (c) practice with reflection, and (d) technology self-efficacy. They then offer additional, practical suggestions on how to initiate technology infusion in preparation programs and briefly discuss an adoption process to influence change toward an infused-technology approach that involves higher education, PK-12, and other stakeholders.

The technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework describes seven domains of knowledge that teachers rely on for teaching with technology. The framework includes an eighth element labelled “contexts,” representing the situated nature of instruction. This latter construct has been inconsistently represented and defined across the literature as well as interchangeably considered both the settings surrounding teachers’ TPACK and an additional domain of knowledge. Disentangling these two conceptually different constructs and viewing context as a domain of knowledge may be a crucial addition to teachers’ TPACK, given that teachers’ abilities to account for contextual complexity is a feature of teaching expertise. This systematic review focused on the literature addressing context specifically as a domain of knowledge (XK) of TPACK. Database searches retrieved 675 records, of which 47 contained substantial references to XK and were retained for final analyses. Findings present XK as a complex construct described by three levels (micro, meso, and macro) and three dimensions (social, resources, and content). Based on these findings, the authors discuss the structure of XK and propose an extension of the TPACK framework for promoting a more systematic approach to TPACK as a situated construct relevant for research on teacher expertise and teachers’ professional development.

Teachers have been called upon to be more entrepreneurial in their approaches to change. However, the universities in which preservice teachers learn and the schools in which teachers practice tend to emphasize standards, accountability, and risk-management, while traditional entrepreneurial conceptions of innovation tend to promote risk-taking and the pursuit of disruptive change. In this interpretive qualitative study, the authors conducted semistructured interviews of 14 teachers, entrepreneurs, and teachers-turned-entrepreneurs, analyzing how they position themselves in terms of guiding interests, approaches to change-making, and orientations to power and the educational status quo. Findings revealed that innovators in schools must often work subversively and in an oppositional manner to make change. Teachers must position themselves beyond traditional roles as managers, consumers, and rote implementers of technology in preference of more creative and agentic modes of innovational leadership. Considering their critical emic perspectives, their professional ethic of care and their authority of expertise, the authors suggest that teachers could be developed as uniquely trustworthy agents of calculated risk-taking in change-resistant schools. They highlight measures that could be taken to better prepare and support them as critical innovators with technology, and draw implications for teacher education.

This study describes the ways in which 36 preservice elementary teachers (PSETs) incorporated text into slides (n = 158) they designed for use with K-5 students during whole-group mathematics instruction. A qualitative content analysis was conducted to determine the extent and purposes for which the PSETs used slide text. Overall, 80% of slides contained text, which was closely aligned with what the PSETs planned to say during instruction. Text was used for three primary purposes: to convey information, to prompt student engagement, and to prompt teacher action. Study findings indicate that instruction in visual literacy skills should be incorporated into teacher education coursework if teacher educators expect PSETs to use slides effectively in their teaching. The findings also highlight the potential utility of slide text as a tool to support novice teachers as they learn to enact cognitively demanding teaching practices, such as engaging students in discussion during lessons. Collectively, the results suggest that slides designed for teaching should be viewed as shared spaces, to be used by and useful to both students and their teachers. Recommendations for ways PSETs may be taught to use slides as a shared space are included.

Corporate EdTech Certification Programs (CECPs) have the potential to disrupt the traditional ways professional development has been offered to teachers. With large companies creating CECPs to demonstrate the ways their products can be used for educational purposes, this study utilized a content analysis methodology to analyze which knowledge bases from the Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework were being integrated into CECPs. Overall, the knowledge bases that included technological knowledge were emphasized, and the ones connected to content knowledge were seldom addressed, if at all. The study is first contextualized, followed by a description of its methodology before reporting findings. The implications section identifies the collective strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the CECPs before concluding with recommendations for stakeholders to improve and use CECPs for educational purposes.

Extended reality experiences for mathematics teachers can allow them to understand both pedagogy and the mathematics itself in new ways. In this study, the authors explored a virtual reality simulation for learning about geometric shapes, where teachers could engage in joint, shared manipulation of holograms in three dimensions. The authors examined what teachers saw as the affordances and limitations of this activity, as well as how the activity transformed their understanding of extended reality, through three cases of groups of teachers. Important themes emerged related to engagement, tangibility, collaboration, and dynamicity of the virtual reality environment, as well as serious concerns relating to space, cost, and physical issues. Implications are discussed for training teachers and teacher educators to implement embodied approaches to mathematics instruction.

This article reports outcomes from a working conference focused on the role of simulations in K-12 mathematics and science teacher education. The authors synthesized work shared via conference papers and presentations organized around three questions: (a) How are simulations defined and used? (b) How do simulations work? and (c) What evidence is being collected and what evidence should be collected about the use of simulations to prepare K-12 mathematics and science teachers? Results suggested that, while simulations vary in terms of format and foci, one common element is that they serve as responsive and interactive learning spaces where preservice and in-service teachers can rehearse critical instructional practices essential to the work of teaching in these disciplines. Attendees noted the importance of learning cycles to achieve the full benefit of these simulations to promote teachers’ learning and advocated for using experimental and quasi-experimental designs to better understand for whom, under what conditions, and for what purposes simulations are best used to prepare K-12 mathematics and science teachers. Connections to and implications for ongoing work within mathematics and science practice-based teacher education are discussed.

Effective teachers require a variety of skills, including the ability to provide and incorporate feedback from others. Self-review and peer review are two methods that help preservice teachers develop feedback skills. Teacher educators face a number of challenges utilizing peer and self-review within their courses, especially in large university classes where preservice teachers of different majors are enrolled in the same course. Online peer review tools offer a promising approach to support peer review in preservice teacher education. Guided by adult learning theory, an experimental study was conducted to determine the effect of online peer review, using the peer review tool Peermark™. Preservice teachers in the experimental group used online peer review to provide feedback to peers about the creation of a content specific graphic organizer. Results show that online peer review resulted in higher quality graphic organizers when compared to self-review. Limitations, implications for practice, and future research suggestions are discussed.

In the United States, teachers are expected to analyze data to inform instruction and improve student learning. Despite investments in data tools, researchers find that teachers often interact with data visualizations in limited ways. Researchers have called for data interpretation training for preservice teachers to increase teachers’ interactions with data visualizations, but training alone may not be enough to spur pedagogical insights. Research suggests that helping teachers build personal connections with data may foster their own agency. However, little is known about how to provide agency-developing experiences for teachers more efficiently that respect both the time and resource constraints that teachers face in their daily work. This article presents a design experiment that explored whether giving preservice teachers the choice of which data to visualize impacted their connections with data. When compared with a control group who were not offered the chance of choosing their data (but only received data interpretation training), the authors found that participants who experienced the agency intervention reported a deeper connection with the underlying meanings of educational data. This intervention provides foundational evidence that facilitating agency-developing experiences may help educators to develop deeper sensemaking about educational data.

Some K-12 social media celebrities, or influencers, have begun to enact influence at a massive scale, possibly shaping the teachers who follow them, while seeking individual profit in the process. In this qualitative study, the authors explored the content edu-influencers share on Instagram, which is an understudied yet increasingly popular social media site, where influencer culture runs rampant. The authors coded publicly available Instagram posts (n = 310) and stories (n = 115) shared by 18 influencers comprising the popular and racially diverse K-12 collaborative, Teach Your Heart Out™. They observed activity across 4 weeks during the 2019 back-to-school season. Edu-influencers’ content encompassed four themes: promoting products and themselves, motivating teachers, soliciting engagement, and advocating for classroom approaches. On one hand, edu-influencers sometimes facilitated teacher networking, provided motivational messages for teachers, shared resources with teachers, provided authentic examples of classroom practice, and promoted social justice orientations. However, some influencers’ activity was overwhelmingly promotional, lacked thoughtful explanation, or missed an opportunity for connection to critical social issues. Findings shed light on the phenomenon of educator influencer culture, highlighting the need for critical digital literacies among teachers who use social media for professional purposes.

Developing, sustaining, and improving student engagement is of vital importance to higher education instructors. Educational technology has been linked to student engagement, and preservice and in-service teachers need to develop information communication and technology (ICT) skills and knowledge to apply them in the classroom as well as to develop ICT skills in students. Thus, further investigation of this link in the field of education is needed. This narrative systematic review is a synthesis of 42 peer-reviewed articles from across four international databases, published between 2007-2016 and is a subset of a larger systematic review. The results indicate that the majority of research has been undertaken within undergraduate preservice teacher education, predominantly in the US, Hong Kong, and the UK, with limited attention given to grounding research in theory. This review found educational technology supports student engagement, with behavioral and affective being the most prevalent dimensions. Social networking tools (SNT), knowledge organization and sharing tools, text-based tools, and website creation tools were the most effective at promoting engagement. However, caution is needed when employing SNT and assessment tools, as they were also more likely to lead to disengagement. Further research is needed on how educational technology affects disengagement, how tools are used in online teacher education programs, and how to effectively integrate SNT in education programs.

Teacher educators have increasingly integrated  social media into their education courses with aims including improving instruction and preparing students for a connected world. In this study, the authors sought to better understand the possibilities and challenges of scaffolding 60 pre- and in-service teachers across two universities into professional learning networks (PLNs) through a social media assignment. Participants analyzed educator practices, participated in, and envisioned future uses of teacher Twitter. Consistent with previous studies, education students were positive about the relational and relevant aspects of Twitter use. However, students’ participation did not mimic the participatory cultures of affinity spaces often reported by connected educators in the literature. Instead, participants tweeted around deadlines and quit using their accounts for professional education purposes once the class ended. In contrast to recent literature, this article argues that social media integration for education students should focus on relational and relevant engagements and content, as opposed to attempting to build social media augmented PLNs for unknown futures.

Technology integration models are theoretical constructs that guide researchers, educators, and other stakeholders in conceptualizing the messy, complex, and unstructured phenomenon of technology integration. Building on critiques and theoretical work in this area, the authors report on their analysis of the needs, benefits, and limitations of technology integration models in teacher preparation and propose a new model: PICRAT. PIC (passive, interactive, creative) refers to the student’s relationship to a technology in a particular educational scenario. RAT (replacement, amplification, transformation) describes the impact of the technology on a teacher’s previous practice. PICRAT can be a useful model for teaching technology integration, because it (a) is clear, compatible, and fruitful, (b) emphasizes technology as a means to an end, (c) balances parsimony and comprehensiveness, and (d) focuses on students.

This literature review synthesized current research on preservice and in-service programs that improve K–6 teachers’ attitudes, self-efficacy, or knowledge to teach computing, coding, or computational thinking. A review of current computing training for elementary teachers revealed 21 studies: 12 involving preservice teachers and nine involving in-service teachers. The findings suggest that training that includes active participation can improve teachers’ computing self-efficacy, attitudes, and knowledge. Because most of these studies were fairly short-term and content-focused, research is especially needed about long-term outcomes; pedagogical knowledge and beliefs; and relationships among teacher training, contexts, and outcomes.

This article describes an examination of how undergraduate instructional design assistants (IDAs) scaled up an open badge system by assisting in creating open badges. External reviewers rated the open badge rubrics created by seven of these IDAs along with those created by instructors, and the results were compared by scored components as well as overall totals. Interviews were conducted with the seven IDAs, which were coded using cross-case thematic analysis. With the help of IDAs the number of badges increased without compromising the quality of the badge rubrics, as IDAs’ rubrics were of quality equal to those created by instructors. Benefits experienced by IDAs included technology skills and professional growth. Several practitioner tips are provided for those wanting to employ IDAs effectively in creating open badges, including finding students with strong content expertise, creating a rigorous mentoring process that guides the IDAs in their tasks, allowing IDAs to own their badge development from beginning to end, involving the IDAs as teaching assistants so they can see the implementation of their badges, and encouraging peer collaboration among the IDAs to share best practices.

Although board, card, and other analog games can serve as useful educational technologies, little research exists to support teachers’ efforts in finding analog games that are pedagogically appropriate or likely to be well-received by their students. In this study, the authors retrieved data associated with 208 educational games from the crowdsourced website BoardGameGeek. They used this data to summarize players’ description of games into 15 themes, mechanics, and genres that can support teachers’ comparison and evaluation of analog educational games. They then analyzed how these design features influenced player reception of these games—as evidenced by game ratings on BoardGameGeek. To do this, they used two models: a hierarchical regression (features were nested within themes, mechanics, and genres categories) and a flat stepwise regression (features were all at the same level). Both analyses indicated that themes were parsimonious and significant predictors of game ratings, suggesting that the theme of an educational game may be an important consideration for teachers. The findings of this paper present helpful initial guidelines for teachers, teacher educators, and others interested in educational analog games; however, holistic evaluation of analog games and thorough consideration of their pedagogical potential are important.

In an initiative to improve learning experiences and outcomes for students, the leaders of a school located in a hospital in Australia implemented a new digital strategy with mobile technologies and relevant digital pedagogies. This study examines the outcomes of a professional development program introduced to effect transformational change by enabling integrated use of mobile technologies in the hospital school. The study examines teachers’ views following completion of this customized professional development program, using a mixed methods investigation situated within the unique learning environment of the hospital school. A key finding is that identifying and addressing teacher needs through customized professional development, supported with individualized coaching, can increase the participating teachers’ technological pedagogical knowledge to enable the improved use of mobile technology in a hospital school setting. Additionally, hospital school teachers responded to opportunities to collaborate as a professional learning community to implement, support, and enhance mobile learning for hospitalized students. The findings from this study have significant implications for leaders in all schools and systems embarking on similar initiatives to transform pedagogical practices through professional development supporting mobile technology integration in a digital world.

This article highlights the highly collaborative, multimethod research approach used to develop the Teacher Educator Technology Competencies (TETCs): a specific list of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, developed with input from many teacher educators in the field, to help guide the professional development of teacher educators who strive to be more competent in the integration of technology. The purpose of this article is to describe and critique the sequence of three different collaborative research approaches (crowdsourcing, Delphi, and public comment) used by the TETC research team to gather critical opinions and input from a variety of stakeholders. Researchers who desire large-scale adoption of their research outcomes may consider the multimethod approach described in this article to be useful.

An increasing number of migrant teachers with a foreign teaching degree enter Swedish teacher education to complement their studies to become eligible to teach in Swedish schools. Digital competence is one of the central skills required of teachers in today’s digitized information society. Within teacher education few studies examine how migrant teachers estimate their ability and skills within digital competence. Hence, in the present study, migrant teachers’ digital competence is investigated applying the framework of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK), the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp 2.1), and the Digital Competence of Educators framework (DigCompEdu). A convergent mixed-methods research design was used. The combined datasets consisted of a web survey, focus groups, individual interviews, and reflective texts, which were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The respondents’ initial teacher education was obtained in 57 countries/regions. The findings highlight that migrant teachers’ digital competence is diverse, scoring from both very low to high in TPACK, as well as in DigComp 2.1, from a foundation proficiency level to a highly specialized one. This result implies that further development to enhance migrant teachers’ digital competence must be diversified.

This qualitative case study examined what educators and startups learned from each other when participating in a 4-hour educational technology (edtech) design summit, SlowPitch, which strategically facilitated boundary crossing conversations and activities among typically siloed constituents, such as educators, researchers, developers, investors, and students, in the edtech ecosystem. Participants included eight edtech startup founders or representatives, seven preservice teachers, and 18 practicing educators. Individual interviews were conducted during and after SlowPitch. Findings revealed educators (a) learned about edtech innovations, (b) engaged in teacher design thinking for integrating edtech innovations, (c) became aware of the voices and influencers within the ecosystem, and (d) learned about edtech startup development processes. Startups (a) learned how their edtech products would work (or not) in teachers’ classrooms, (b) explored how to penetrate the K-12 market, and (c) generated ways to gain interest of potential users. This study illustrates value in broadening an ecological perspective on educators’ work toward technology innovation and integration in school classrooms to consider edtech innovators and their innovations. The discussion suggests edtech learning in teacher education and professional learning can push farther than program wide and program deep in university and K-12 contexts to include experiences in the broader edtech ecosystem.

Teacher educators understand that the preparation of teachers needs to be rooted in the practice of teaching. This understanding, paired with the advancement in digital technologies capable of delivering practice-based teaching experiences, requires that those charged with preparing teachers consider how to best to position these technologies within their programs. This article positions virtual field experience platforms as on-ramps to professional practice and provides guidance for examining the features and capabilities of such platforms to inform their selection and use within teacher preparation programs.

This 5-year multicohort study examined the growth of elementary preservice teachers’ technology integration in the context of a teacher preparation program redesign that made integrating technologies into instruction a major focus. The authors examined how the teacher education program impacted preservice teachers’ technology integration in the classroom by increasing their efficacy to integrate technology and subject areas (i.e., technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge [TPACK] efficacy) and their technology knowledge. Survey data collected from 891 participants were analyzed using thematic coding, analyses of variance, and structural equation modeling. The full program redesign showed across-cohort growth in TPACK efficacy, technology knowledge, and technology integration frequency, suggesting the possibility of increasing preservice teachers’ technology integration through redesigning the teacher education program. Findings indicated that modeling by teacher educators and cooperating teachers positively impacted TPACK efficacy, technology knowledge, and technology integration frequency. Technology knowledge predicted technology integration frequency. TPACK efficacy empowered preservice teachers with confidence to integrate technology but did not predict technology integration frequency. Implications for teacher education programs are discussed.

The feedback provided to teachers by their supervisors, in preservice and in-service settings, is considered to be essential to teacher learning.  Incorporating video records into these mentoring sessions has been shown to trigger the cognitive dissonance needed to help teachers explore the gaps between their intentions and their actual behaviors.  However, while preservice teachers are increasingly asked to examine their teaching practice via video, their supervisors are not engaging in a parallel examination of their supervisory practice.  Thus, university-based clinical supervisors who carry out critical conversations with teacher candidates do so without reflection about how they are performing in those conferences.  At the same time, institutions of teacher education recognize the essential role supervisors play in the development of teacher candidate learning, yet are challenged as to how to provide professional development to supervisors.  This paper describes an innovative response to this dilemma: an initiative in which clinical supervisors were invited to investigate their post-observation conversations using video in a self-development group. The research questions explored the impact on supervisors of viewing their own feedback sessions on video and sharing their video analysis in a peer group of fellow supervisors.  Via an exploratory, qualitative design, and through document analysis, questionnaires, and transcriptions of the focus group conversation, results suggest video review is a promising approach for advancing supervisors’ self-awareness of their post-observation facilitation skills.

As part of their graduate education, in-service teachers identified an area of instructional focus, video recorded their classroom instruction at two intervals in a semester-long course, formed peer groups, and shared their videos for the purpose of obtaining feedback for professional growth.  After the conclusion of the course, participants were contacted and presented with a summary of four benefits of the peer video review process, as identified in a recent professional article.  Through online survey, participants were asked to share their perceptions of the peer video review experiences in the course and address any evidence related to the benefits raised in the professional article.  Qualitative analysis revealed evidence of individual and collective benefits at personal and professional levels and consensus around the value of the experience, despite common apprehension about the vulnerability involved in sharing.  Additionally, participants identified strengths of the video medium and provided suggestions for practical applications of peer video review in the field.

The use of videos to analyze teaching practices or initial teacher training is aimed at helping build professional skills by establishing more explicit links between university education and internships and practical work in the schools. The purpose of this article is to familiarize the English-speaking community with French research via a study of the use of videos in preservice teacher education. The scientific research trend called “course of action” is presented, along with a brief summary of several studies conducted in the context of initial teacher education in France, which point out the respective contributions of four distinct video-based approaches to professional development for educating new teachers. Last, the authors’ conceptual contribution is presented based on a few scientific studies conducted between 1965 and 2017 that exemplify the different approaches to the use of video-based training for new and experienced teachers. This conceptualization is designed to help the field rethink the various ways of conceiving of video resources in education, of providing guidance during video viewing, and of organizing the various goals of video viewing and the different objects of analysis into a step-by-step teacher-training program.

This article presents a study of individual video-based educational sessions with secondary trainee teachers (N = 30) observing others’ teaching. Within a Peircian semiotic framework, the study was designed to deepen the researchers’ understanding of video-enhanced experience in educational settings beyond the usual research areas of noticing, interpreting and reflecting. Facilitated think-aloud protocols were used, the trainees’ verbalizations were transcribed and the data were coded using semiotic schemes. The analysis revealed eight referentiality items jointly underlying the teachers’ activities of description, interpretation, and evaluation while video observing. The results suggest the need to acknowledge the dimension of referentiality in video observation as a legitimate object of research, instructional design, and facilitation in the field of teacher video-enhanced education, especially during the induction period.

Studies have shown that when K-12 school districts implement a new technology initiative, it is not always accompanied by effective teacher professional development (PD).  Many teachers have indicated that effective technology PD experiences should incorporate their individual PD needs.  The authors surveyed technology-using K-12 teachers at two points (2009 and 2015) to examine what they perceived as useful technology PD with regard to content and format.  Specifically, since technology changes quickly, we sought to examine whether there were any changes to what teachers perceived as useful content and format for technology PD.  Over 6 years, more teachers reported that personalized technology PD tended to be more effective.  Although some things remained consistent regarding content (e.g., utilizing Web 2.0 resources continued to be preferred PD content by teachers in both years), other content preferences changed (e.g., mobile applications and pedagogical-focused knowledge and skills).  Regarding PD format, the authors found that in 2015 more teachers perceived online and face-to-face workshops, personal learning networks, and conferences as useful.  Finally, teacher-led PD and in-class support were suggested as useful by more teachers in 2015.  Thus, more personalized, sustained, and situated PD is needed to effectively support K-12 teacher technology integration.

Incorporating technology in classrooms to promote student learning is an ongoing instructional challenge. Teacher professional development (PD) is a central component of teacher education to support student use of technology and can improve student learning, but PD has had mixed results. In this study, researchers investigated a PD program designed to prepare a cohort of middle school social studies teachers to teach with an online resource, the Smithsonian Learning Lab. They examined how an iterative, design-based approach used teacher feedback to develop learning opportunities in the PD. Using the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge framework (TPACK), they found that through four iterations of 1-day PD workshops, PDs afforded teachers increasingly individualized and meaningful opportunities to learn. Teacher feedback emerged as a central component in the changes and development of the PD series. Through the course of the PD, teacher knowledge increased across five of seven TPACK domains.

Early field experiences, or those that come early in a teacher’s preparation before more formalized opportunities like practicum and student teaching, can provide a venue for pre service teachers to practice technology-specific instructional decision-making and reflective practice. Although research exists on the potential roles of field experiences in teacher education, little research exists on early field experiences, especially those taking place in informal contexts. Moreover, little research exists examining how those early field experiences in informal spaces might shape preservice teachers’ use of digital learning tools.  To address this gap, an inquiry was conducted to better understand teachers’ early field work experiences in informal science contexts and the use of formative assessment technologies. Researchers used a mixed methods design to examine how early field experiences might support authentic and robust opportunities for teachers in training. Results suggested that technology-focused early field experiences can serve as confirmatory events for preservice teachers, afford them opportunities to apply theory and content knowledge to practice, and contend with issues related to technology integration, instructional planning, classroom management, and even attendance within an informal context. Findings could be used to improve the design of early field experiences for preservice teachers, and facilitate the scaffolding of the opportunities to help them better integrate technologies into those experiences.

This study provides insight into preservice teachers’ experiences with integrating technology into lessons with children who had mild learning disabilities. Participants included 14 junior early childhood education majors enrolled in a special education course with a fieldwork component. The researchers collected and analyzed lesson plans, journal entries, focus group interviews, and field notes.  The findings illustrated preservice teachers’ use of iPad apps during fieldwork, identified their technology-related instructional decisions, and determined how those choices exhibited emerging dimensions of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK). The preservice teachers combined their knowledge of pedagogy, student understanding of content, and emerging knowledge of iPad apps to effectively develop and conduct lessons in various content areas.  Interviews with the students supported the social validity of the iPad implementation.

Many school districts across the United States now offer online K-12 education, and the proportion of all students in higher education taking at least one online course is at an all-time high of 32% (Allen & Seaman, 2013). With the evolution of online teaching and learning, teacher preparation programs must establish and offer online student teaching placements. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the experiences of seven secondary preservice teachers who completed student teaching in dual settings, online and on campus. Student teachers valued not having to write the curriculum for online classes, stated that classroom disturbances were limited online, identified valuable online tools and resources to differentiate their lessons, and reported high parental involvement with online classes. Student teachers, however, struggled to motivate their online students and manage their time efficiently. Recommendations on how to get started and improve online student teaching are provided.

Engagement in game design tasks can help preservice teachers develop pedagogical and technical skills for teaching and promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Through the design process, preservice teachers not only exercise critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, but also learn about an instructional method to support their future students’ problem-solving skills. Becoming comfortable with games and game design, however, requires firsthand design experiences, which teacher education programs hardly provide. Given the limited opportunities and research, this study attempted to gain insight into the implementation of a game design workshop to teach preservice teachers how to integrate game design in their future practices. In this exploratory case study, we analyzed reflections and lesson plans from four preservice teachers who participated in a game design workshop. Overall, the preservice teachers found the workshop to be effective in teaching them the intricacies of the game design process. However, both the participants’ learning experiences during the workshop and the level of pedagogical elements present in their lesson plans varied depending on their technology knowledge and teaching context.

Technology is increasingly positioned by policy makers as a necessary part of 21st-century schools. However, it is not always clear how well preparation programs in educational technology truly prepare educators for such work. In this study, the author critically analyzed official standards documentation for an educational technology specialist program in order to determine the degree to which preservice educators are being prepared for what is expected of them. The author articulated a framework called critical software studies, which seeks to unpack the way software, which is what comprises modern technologies, demands a kind of scrutiny few acknowledge and consider when preparing future educators. The author concluded that the standards themselves do not take a critical stance with regard to technology, but rather presuppose technology as something neutral and purely functional. Recommendations to improve standards and programs are then made to different stakeholders in teacher education.

This study examines the use of a digital video annotation tool used by beginning in-service secondary science and mathematics teachers in the Teacher Induction Network (TIN). TIN is an online induction program in its ninth year of existence and has served over 180 teachers. The need to provide spaces for beginning teachers to reflect on their practice and seek support of their colleagues is critical to their professional growth. The current study specifically examines the social interactions and potential supports of a video annotation tool (VideoANT) to promote collaborative interactions toward the development of reflective practices. Results suggest that in the absence of additional scaffolding, teachers overwhelmingly used VideoANT to respond to their peers’ teaching practices with praise and agreement. Given the aims and objectives of the induction course, this finding indicates the need to give beginning teachers specific supports and scaffolds to further their development as reflective practitioners. This study adds to the literature on online video clubs for teacher education and identifies changes intended to improve the current design of the video activity in TIN.

Twitter has demonstrated potential to facilitate learning at the university level, and K-12 educators’ use of the microblogging service Twitter to facilitate professional development appears to be on the rise. Research on microblogging as a part of teacher education is, however, limited. This paper investigates the use of Twitter by preservice teachers (N = 20) in a face-to-face undergraduate teacher education course taught by the author. The participants completed student teaching the subsequent semester, after which a survey was conducted to explore whether they had continued to use Twitter for professional purposes and why or why not. In reflections upon the fall semester’s experience, preservice teachers noted several benefits to the use of Twitter in the course, including support of resource sharing, communication, and connection with educators both inside and outside of the class. During the spring semester, the majority of participants stopped professional Twitter activity, with many citing a lack of time. Those who continued use in the spring most commonly did so to gather teaching resources. The majority of participants maintained a positive opinion of Twitter’s educational potential and indicated intentions to utilize it for professional purposes, including classroom applications, in the future.

In highlighting the importance of problem-based learning in the development of 21st century skills, An (2013) identified the challenges faced by novice teachers in its implementation and suggested strategies to support them. This commentary explores two aspects mentioned in the article, assessment and the role of collaboration, and argues that they need greater critical consideration if the implementation of problem-based learning is to be effective.  The role digital technologies can play is discussed and some implications for teacher education are considered.

This study presents a refined technological pedagogical content knowledge (also known as TPACK) based instructional design model, which was revised using findings from the implementation study of a prior model. The refined model was applied in a technology integration course with 38 preservice teachers. A case study approach was used in this implementation study. Data were collected from the participants’ discussion worksheets and lesson plans, along with associated artifacts and the researchers’ field observation notes. Data analysis results revealed that (a) preservice teachers’ had an entry-level understanding of TPACK through discussions on the meaning of TPACK and evaluations of technology-integrated teaching examples; (b) designing several technology-integrated lesson plans improved preservice teachers’ teaching-related knowledge and facilitated their TPACK learning; and (c) preservice teachers’ use of technology was more teacher centered than student centered. Findings, suggestions, and future research possibilities are also discussed.

As tablet technologies continue to evolve, the emergence of educational applications (apps) is impacting the work of teacher educators.  Beyond online lists of best apps for education and recommendations from colleagues, teacher educators have few resources available to support their teaching of how to select educational apps.  In response, this article puts forward a framework for choosing educational apps based on their purpose, content, and value.  The framework first classifies educational apps into four categories before delineating them into smaller subcategories.  A sample of apps that are representative to each category and subcategory are included.  This framework provides teacher educators with a much-needed resource to support their instruction of educational apps.

With the increasing ubiquity of new technologies, many claims are being made about their potential to transform tertiary education. In order for this transformation to be realized, however, a range of issues needs to be addressed. Research evidence suggests that motivation is an important consideration for online learners. This paper reports on one aspect of a case study situated within a larger study that investigates the nature of motivation to learn of preservice teachers in an online environment. Using self-determination theory as an analytical framework, the focus here is on the underlying concepts of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The ways in which certain social and contextual factors can foster perceptions of these needs being met are explored. These factors are known to have a supportive effect on learner motivation. Most prominent among these were the relevance of the learning activity, the provision of clear guidelines, and the ongoing support and feedback from the lecturer that was responsive to learners’ needs. Supportive, caring relationships were also important.

This study offers a new way to assess TPACK within the context of a graduate program revitalized to focus on new literacies. Whereas previous studies have focused on teacher lesson planning or modeling best practices, our research examines TPACK by exploring the Creative Synthesis Projects of graduates from our program. These projects reveal the manner in which the teachers synthesized personal and professional insights gained over the course of graduate study. Portraits of four teachers provide a holistic understanding of the evolving nature of teacher professional knowledge, especially within the context of prolonged, authentic inquiry and reflection.

Technology plays an integral role in the English Language Arts (ELA) classroom today, yet teachers and teacher educators continue to develop understandings of how technology influences pedagogy. This qualitative study explored how and why two ELA teachers used different technologies in the secondary English classroom to plan for and deliver instruction. Analysis revealed that the English teachers, one novice and one experienced teacher, valued integrating technologies into their instruction and experienced similar challenges in that integration. The novice teacher believed that technologies played a primary role and centered her instruction on the available technologies, while the experienced teacher viewed technologies as having a secondary role, choosing to integrating technologies only if they added to her instruction.

This study investigates the use of interactive video in teacher education as a way of laying the cognitive groundwork for developing teacher self-reflection. Two interactive video approaches were designed to help early preservice teachers (novices) align what they observed in classroom teaching videos of other preservice teachers with what experienced teacher-educators (experts) observed in the same videos. The first approach of video coding, based on qualitative research methods, required preservice teachers to write their own observations when viewing short video clips before being shown the observations written by experts who had viewed the same clips. The novices then compared their observations to those of the experts before viewing and coding the next video clip. Both experts and novices coded the video clips, which came from a middle-school language arts class and an elementary mathematics class, for instances of classroom management and student questioning. The second approach of guided video viewing involved preservice teachers reading experts’ written observations while viewing the same video clips used in video coding but not writing their own observations. On a written classroom observation posttest, the video viewing group performed better than the video coding group and significantly better than a no-video control group.

Designing problem-based learning (PBL), especially blended PBL, is very different from designing traditional teacher-centered instruction and requires a new set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. To be successful, teachers must step out of their comfort zone, adopt new roles and responsibilities, and develop new knowledge and skills required in PBL environments as well as technology integration skills. The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to examine the difficulties and challenges that PBL novices faced as they designed their first blended PBL in an online environment, (b) to explore effective strategies for supporting PBL novices in the design process, and (c) to examine the impact of PBL design experience on PBL novices’ perceptions of PBL. The researcher collected qualitative data from multiple sources, including an online survey, initial design documents, feedback meeting notes, revised design documents, and reflection papers. The findings of this study provide practical insights into how to support PBL novices in designing blended PBL. The implications for teacher professional development, especially online professional development, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A national survey of high school principals (N = 683) was used to assess the acceptability of job applicant qualifications that included degrees earned either online, partly online, or in a traditional-residential teacher-training program. The applicants with coursework taken in a traditional-residential setting were overwhelmingly preferred over applicants holding a degree earned partly or wholly online. Chi-square analyses were used to examine the relationships among applicant selection and respondents’ demographic characteristics, their explanations for applicant selection, and background information. Results indicated that applicant selection significantly differed by gender, school type (public vs. private), opinions on hiring criteria, and experience with online classes. Further analysis indicated that online courses were perceived as not presenting sufficient opportunity for students to develop important social skills through interaction with other students and mentors.

The researchers in this study undertook development of a webquest evaluation rubric and investigated its reliability. The rubric was created using the strengths of the currently available webquest rubrics with improvements based on the comments provided in the literature and feedback received from educators. After the rubric was created, 23 participants were given a week to evaluate three preselected webquests using the latest version of the rubric. A month later, the evaluators were asked to reevaluate the same webquests. The statistical analyses conducted on this rubric demonstrated high levels of reliability.

This study explored computer animation vignettes as a replacement for live-action video scenarios of classroom behavior situations previously used as an instructional resource in teacher education courses in classroom management strategies.  The focus of the research was to determine if the embedded behavioral information perceived in a live-action video version of classroom management situations was the same as a 3-D computer animation version of the same content. Preservice teachers (N = 55) were randomly assigned to watch the video or an animated vignette and to complete a questionnaire. The results indicated there were no differences between the groups in identifying the critical behaviors. These findings have significant implications for the development of instructional resources and expanding learning environments to support all levels of teaching and learning.  Rapidly advancing animation technology may offer multiple advantages or viable alternatives to staged actors and static content of live-action video in creating dynamic professional learning experiences.

This qualitative research study is an exploration of the merit and shortcomings of using a combination of the music software GarageBand™ and an electronic bulletin board to facilitate musical and peer learning in a 3-month elementary music methods curriculum and instruction course. A pedagogical objective of this assignment was to increase the interaction among preservice teachers for the purpose of improving the following: (a) their understanding of musical vernacular, genres, and cultures; (b) their appreciation of the relationships among personal, social, and cultural identities; and (c) an introduction to digital learning technologies as a platform for community building. Specifically, sharing their playlists online (as well as their thoughts, feelings, and images about these musical selections) encouraged reflective practice and a process of peer learning, providing opportunities for students to learn about their peers and broaden their participation in a community of inquiry.

Although the term data-driven decision making (DDDM) is relatively new (Moss, 2007), the underlying concept of DDDM is not. For example, the practices of formative assessment and computer-managed instruction have historically involved the use of student performance data to guide what happens next in the instructional sequence (Morrison, Kemp, & Ross, 2001).  Like many of its sister fields, such as knowledge management, DDDM implementation is reliant on technology, but requires many other components to be successful. This article reports on an exploratory study of preservice teachers’ use of a web-based online tool designed to collect and display student level data. A primary purpose of the data displayed is to facilitate just-in-time formative assessment for instructional decision-making. Findings illuminate the barriers to implementing DDDM in actual classroom practice: a confluence of curricular policy as well as technology and teacher heuristics that result in variations in data interpretation that involve issues with both skill and perspective-taking on the data sets. Recommendations for school leaders and teacher educators alike include the need for the coherent alignment of pedagogy, policy, and supports.

Analysis of baseline attitudinal data gathered from a National Science Foundation Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers project uncovered large contrasts between the perceptions of practicing professionals and students toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and careers (Tyler-Wood, Knezek, & Christensen, 2010). These findings have been reconfirmed in a second year analysis based on new data and are reported in this paper. The pattern of findings suggests that university teacher preparation candidates hold attitudes similar to middle school students, while the faculty (the educators of teacher preparation candidates) have attitudes similar to STEM education professionals. Additional findings based on disaggregated data are reported. For example, middle school students appear to have more positive perceptions of science, mathematics, and engineering than do the university preservice teachers surveyed, who are destined to be middle school teachers.

Virtual schooling, or the practice of offering K-12 courses via distance technologies, has rapidly increased in popularity since its beginning in 1994. Although effective interaction with and support for students in these environments requires a unique set of skills and experiences, teacher education programs rarely include teaching and facilitation competencies for virtual school education. Even less has been offered in terms of virtual field experience. A pilot virtual field experience enabled teacher candidates to observe how a high school science course was taught by an exemplary teacher using blended technologies. Key findings show that the virtual field experience helped to clarify misconceptions, preconceptions, and concerns and led to a better understanding of Virtual School teaching skills and teacher’s role as well as the supportive role of technology. Teacher candidates also reported an increased interest in Virtual School and learning goals at the end of the experience. Five key elements were also identified as contributive to the successful experience. The elements were putting the “virtual” in the virtual early field experience, increasing awareness through external and internal informational gathering methods, including self-paced and guided observation, providing guided hands-on experiential learning, and including on-site observation.

The paper discusses the implications of the current phenomenon of adolescent engagement in digital spaces. Young people are increasingly active Web 2.0 users, and their interactions through these technologies are altering their social identities, styles of learning, and exchanges with others around the world. The paper argues for more research to investigate this phenomenon through the use of virtual ethnography and identifies the ethical challenges that lie therein. It raises questions for school education and presents an argument for studying the area in culturally sensitive ways that privilege adolescents’ voices. 

This study was conducted in response to several recent incidents in which teachers and student teachers were reprimanded for content they placed on the Internet. This study examined the Facebook postings of preservice elementary teachers to determine the extent to which these postings are congruent with expected dispositions. Profiles were analyzed to determine the appropriateness of the content, and when inappropriate, the nature of the behavior depicted on the site. Findings indicated that 32% of elementary education majors in this study had an unrestricted profile on Facebook, and only 22% of those profiles were devoid of inappropriate content. These numbers are likely conservative due to other networking sites that may be in use. The nature of the inappropriate behavior is cause for concern for teacher educators who are expected to teach and assess dispositions and who must decide whether or not a prospective teacher is ready for the ethical responsibility of teaching children.

This article presents a review of the research on technology integration in the area of literacy for individuals with mild disabilities. It describes relevant legislation, including how special education technology is impacted by the No Child Left Behind Act (2001). Included studies focus on research in the core content areas of reading and written language most likely to impact inclusive classrooms. In the area of reading, research has investigated such technologies as the use of computer-assisted instruction and text-to-speech synthesis in reading instruction. Written language research in special education technology has studied the use of word processors, text-to-speech synthesis, word prediction, and spelling and grammar checkers.

As the global community continues the transition from an industrialized factory model to an information and now participatory networked-based society, educational technology will play a pivotal role in preparing students for their futures. Many teacher preparation programs are failing to provide preservice teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to adopt and utilize technology effectively. This paper presents an enhanced technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) model that adds assistive technology as a means to promote inclusive educational practice for preservice teachers. This model offers substantive promise for improving learning outcomes for students with disabilities and other traditionally marginalized populations who receive the majority of their classroom instruction in general education settings. This paper extends the TPACK model by providing specific examples of how assistive technology and instructional technology are distinct yet overlapping constructs. Essential technology skills for preservice teachers and strategies supporting inclusive educational practice are identified.

This paper describes a framework for teacher knowledge for technology integration called technological pedagogical content knowledge (originally TPCK, now known as TPACK, or technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge). This framework builds on Lee Shulman’s construct of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to include technology knowledge. The development of TPACK by teachers is critical to effective teaching with technology. The paper begins with a brief introduction to the complex, ill-structured nature of teaching. The nature of technologies (both analog and digital) is considered, as well as how the inclusion of technology in pedagogy further complicates teaching. The TPACK framework for teacher knowledge is described in detail, as a complex interaction among three bodies of knowledge: Content, pedagogy, and technology. The interaction of these bodies of knowledge, both theoretically and in practice, produces the types of flexible knowledge needed to successfully integrate technology use into teaching.

With the increasing popularity and accessibility of the Internet and Internet-based technologies, along with the need for a diverse group of students to have alternative means to complete their education, there is a major push for K-12 schools to offer online courses, resulting in a growing number of online teachers. Using the Tailored Design survey methodology (Dillman, 2007), this study examines a national sample of 596 K-12 online teachers and measures their knowledge with respect to three key domains as described by the TPACK framework: technology, pedagogy, content, and the combination of each of these areas. Findings indicate that knowledge ratings are highest among the domains of pedagogy, content, and pedagogical content, indicating that responding online teachers felt very good about their knowledge related to these domains and were less confident when it comes to technology. Correlations among each of the domains within the TPACK framework revealed a small relationship between the domains of technology and pedagogy, as well as technology and content (.289 and .323, respectively). However, there was a large correlation between pedagogy and content (.690), calling into question the distinctiveness of these domains. This study presents a beginning approach to measuring and defining TPACK among an ever-increasing number of K-12 online teachers.

This interpretive case study explores an attempt to add an online component—the On-line Literacy Project—to a successful face-to-face professional development community. Participants were six members of the Literacy Project, which was carried out in the school board of a western Canadian city. The principal theoretical framework informing the study was Lave and Wegner’s (1991) community of practice. Analysis of data, collected over 7 months, showed that although participants acknowledged the potential of the Online Literacy Project the concept was poorly understood, received little support, and was not deemed relevant for a number of reasons, many of which are reported in the information and communication technology literature. However, a number of distinctive factors emerged in this study that serve as cautions for others interested in similar professional development endeavors.

The development of community in educational settings is now recognized as a social and collaborative process that is an integral part of learning. As classrooms and communities extend beyond the traditional four walls, research related to online community development across media is of vital importance to teachers. The study reported in this paper furthers the research on the development of community by investigating how graduate student foreign language teachers develop and perceive community and how these perceptions or developments differ according to medium (chat, discussion board, or face-to-face class discussions). Additionally, it extends the research by bringing the cross-institutional element to the blended learning courses. The goal of the study is to explore and analyze the incorporation of technological tools into blended learning in order to assist other teachers in the creation of collaborative cross-institutional situations. Experience in these situations will assist instructors in modeling such communities for their students so that they will potentially benefit from a well-developed and well-understood sense of community, both with onsite peers and with peers at a distance.

This study examined the factors perceived by in-service teachers as either facilitating or impeding successful completion of online group work in a virtual graduate school of education program. Based on a quantified qualitative data analysis of open-ended questions, five facilitative factors were identified as (a) individual accountability, (b) affective team support, (c) the presence of a positive group leader, (d) consensus building skills, and (e) clear instructions. There were also seven impeding factors perceived by the teacher participants. Although four of the factors described a lack of the aforementioned facilitative factors, another three broached new, problematic issues that need to be further considered in online teacher education programs. At the conclusion of this article, recommendations are provided that online teacher educators might consider as they initiate group projects in online environments.

Systematic observation is a foundational skill teachers use in order to document children’s reading development and plan developmentally appropriate instruction. However, a variety of challenges make it difficult for teacher educators to help preservice teachers develop systematic observation skills. The purpose of this study is to tell two stories of two technologies (multimedia and video) used to help preservice literacy teachers develop systematic observation skills. These stories include descriptions of each technology and the results of sequential mixed methods studies used to examine the preservice teachers, development of systematic observation. Results indicate that the multimedia group showed similar or better performance than the video group for all measures. Discussion is offered to explore possible explanations for the findings and suggest further investigations.

Globalization has stretched the scope of the online learner population from a homogeneous profile of mostly adult, mostly employed, place-bound, goal-oriented, and intrinsically motivated to one that is heterogeneous, younger, dynamic, and responsive to rapid technological innovations. This paper describes the emerging characteristics of the online learner and ensuing pedagogical implications and suggests that exploratory and dialogical online learning pedagogical models are most effective for supporting and promoting these characteristics.

The pervasive nature of the Internet, both in society and in America’s schools, leads teacher educators to wonder how this dynamic tool is being utilized in the classroom and, especially, if it is benefiting students’ understanding. This study analyzed 127 Web sites self-reported by in-service teachers as excellent for teaching. From these data, a majority of K-12 educators view the Web either as a lesson planning tool or as a place to turn for additional information to teach a particular lesson. The majority of sites designed for use with students were passive in nature. This paper offers a qualitative data analysis of the attributes of the sites, as well as implications of the selected sites on K-12 teacher beliefs regarding student learning.

Slow motion animation (“slowmation”) is a new teaching approach that uses a simple animation process to engage learners in creating their own comprehensive animations of science concepts. In this paper, preservice elementary teachers used slowmation, a form of stop-motion animation, to make models of science concepts and take digital still photos as the models were manually manipulated in the horizontal plane. A range of materials can be used, and the animations are played in slow motion at two frames per second. Importantly, the preservice teachers provided pedagogical prompts, such as narration, diagrams, music, and factual text in their animations to help explain concepts. Preservice elementary teachers learned how to create slowmations in their science method course and then made their own comprehensive examples in an assignment to represent a science concept. Slowmation is a use of technology that generates a “real need” for preservice teachers to understand science content so that they can represent and explain it accurately in their animation.

Web-based learning has been proposed as a convenient way to provide professional development experiences. Despite quantitative evidence that online instruction is equivalent to traditional methods (Russell, 2001), the efficiency of this approach has not been extensively studied among teachers.  This case report describes learning in an online biology course designed to help teachers prepare for science certification exams. A mixed methodology approach was utilized to analyze the manner in which course participants learned and how the online environment influenced this process. Concept maps scored by two different methods and objective pre- and postcourse examinations were contrasted as representations of assimilated knowledge, while unstructured interviews reflected participants’ perceptions of their experiences. Findings indicate that participants experienced gains in declarative knowledge, but little improvement with respect to more complex levels of understanding. Qualitative examination of concept maps demonstrated gaps in participants’ understandings of key course ideas. Engagement in the use of online resources varied according to participants’ attitudes toward online learning.  Subjects also reported a lack of motivation to fully engage in the course due to busy schedules, lack of extrinsic rewards, and the absence of personal accountability.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of selected teacher education faculty members engaged in electronic portfolio development. The research questions driving this study were (a) What are the faculty members experiencing as they adopt eFolios? (b) How do these professors understand and make sense of the role eFolios play in teacher education? A phenomenological case study research design framed and guided the study. Six overlapping themes emerged from this study. Interpretation of the teacher’s voices revealed assertions that attempt to make sense of their collective experience. Implications of these five assertions are discussed.

This paper describes the infusion of technology training into a university’s special education program for intern teachers. As the teachers participate in their core classes they have the opportunity to immediately consider and plan for incorporating technology into their teaching to assist their special needs students. Through their class activities and course assignments they demonstrate technology knowledge and skills that they are able to immediately transfer to their classrooms. The program, in response to an informal inquiry into technology use in the interns’ schools, is extending the partnerships with the schools to include technology training to benefit both the teachers and the students.

Beginning teachers face enormous challenges in their first year of teaching. High attrition rates of teachers within the first five years attest to the difficulties inherent in commencing professional life as a teacher. This paper describes the design of a Web site developed to overcome many of the problems of professional isolation encountered by beginning teachers. The Web site allows new teachers to access curriculum resources that are dynamically updated through RSS feeds, to communicate with each other and expert teacher mentors through discussion boards, and to reflect on practice through weblogs. The paper describes the theoretical foundations of the approach, the features of the site in detail, and the plan for evaluation of the site.

As beginning teachers experience and process new information during their initial acts of teaching, reflection is an inherent part of the process. The following study was designed to explore technology as a tool for reflection by introducing first-year teachers to three technology tools designed to elicit and encourage their reflections on teaching: (a) electronic portfolios, (b) online discussion, and (c) videotaping teaching. Results indicate that the first-year teachers in this study found value in each of the tools, with videotaping teaching encouraging the most meaningful reflection on their teaching practice. Overall, the technology tools provided an avenue for reflection on teaching and a structure for novices to think and talk about their work.

This paper describes how the Web-based Inquiry for Learning Science (WBI) instrument was used with preservice elementary and secondary science teachers in science methods courses to enhance their understanding of Web-based scientific inquiry. The WBI instrument is designed to help teachers identify Web-based inquiry activities for learning science and classify those activities along a continuum from learner directed to materials directed for each of the five essential features of inquiry, as described in Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 2000). Implementations of WBI analysis activities in preservice science methods courses are discussed.

The Teacher as Software Developer is the name of a program integrating technology instruction, curriculum, and field experiences in teacher preparation. In an introductory education course for all undergraduate education students, a required technology lab links to a one-day-a-week prepracticum. Preservice students produce a Web site or “software” for their supervising teacher, who is their “client,” and the supervising classroom teacher directs them to authentic curriculum objectives. Preservice teachers learn about software while learning about teaching, lesson planning, curriculum, and technology. Supervising classroom teachers’ gain an opportunity to experience designing and using software with their own students and curriculum and access to the preservice student produced Web sites after the student has completed the lab. Evidence of the program’s success comes from student survey data and student reflections. Despite the program’s productivity, it remains an island of instructional technology.

This paper examines three questions regarding the use of computer technologies and education. The first question addresses the effects of computer technologies on student achievement, the second regards the effects of computer technologies on school climate, and the final question examines the cost efficacy of computer technologies in our nation’s schools. Using the most recent literature reviews, recent studies, and survey research that was not included in the most recent reviews, our synthesis of the data demonstrates an overall positive effect that computers have on student achievement and on the school environment. It also appears that using the latest computer technologies to keep the United States competitive in the global economy is cost effective.

This essay presents a vision for technology integration in teacher education that develops teachers into “technology integrationists,” or teachers who thoughtfully choose to integrate technology when it supports students’ subject matter learning. Four principles guide the design of technology learning experiences for preservice and in-service teachers to increase the likelihood that they will become technology integrationists. The principles are (a) connecting technology learning to professional knowledge; (b) privileging subject matter and pedagogical content connections; (c) using technology learning to challenge professional knowledge; and (d) teaching many technologies. The advantages and limitations of using these principles with preservice and in-service teachers are discussed. Future innovations in technology learning approaches in teacher education are outlined.

This paper describes the goals of critical multicultural education in the USA and identifies current challenges working to impede its infusion within technology teacher education programs. It offers both technology and multicultural teacher educators a model for infusion of both critical multicultural perspectives and technology into their respective curricula. This model is illustrated with an example that integrated video and Web technologies into a multicultural education course for preservice teachers. This paper calls for faculty members within technology education and critical multicultural education to engage actively in helping prepare students to become culturally responsive and technologically proficient teachers by modeling good practice in critical multicultural education and technology education.

This paper addresses the core goals for educators to stimulate participation across diversity (including life trajectories and culture) and motivate learners to engage in negotiation of meaning and knowledge building dialogue in the processes of networked learning. The paper reports on a Danish masters online course on networked learning for educators that attempted to realize these goals. The participating teacher learned important methods, including moderation, through experience, guided by a teacher educator whose instructional design was based on communities of practice for participants with different backgrounds, cultures, age, and prerequisites in a shared learning endeavor on the Web. The experience supports a twofold foundation for instructional design: the learning theoretical concept of Etienne Wenger (1998) and an orientation toward participant cultures in terms of experiences and competencies, in order to facilitate collaborative knowledge building online.

This article examines the similarities and differences for one course, Foundations of American Education, when offered in traditional face-to-face and online formats. The data analysis used both qualitative and quantitative measures. Several conclusions were reached: (a) for the course to be effective, the time that must be allotted for online teaching will remain an issue that instructors may struggle with as the workload is significantly higher; (b) for students, a familiarity with their own learning styles and the desire and motivation to shoulder responsibility for online learning will be major factors in their success; (c) while the instructor can, and should, design and monitor the course to ensure that all students are kept on track and participating, student time management and organizational skills will remain of paramount importance; and (d) students with more proficient reading and writing skills will perform better in online classes. Suggestions for further research include focusing on whether or not certain types of courses are more appropriate for online instruction and developing a repertoire of instructional strategies to accommodate a range of learning styles.

This paper describes how a teacher educator used a Computer Applications for Educator’s preservice education course to teach constructivist lesson planning to students who were in the process of planning lessons. It was hypothesized that by providing scaffolding and coaching during the planning process, preservice teachers could be guided to learn to produce constructivist lessons. This type of learning experience follows Vygotsky’s (1978) suggestion that constructivist teaching can be a social activity that involves “problem solving under [teacher] guidance” (p. 86). Because constructivist lesson planning requires creative thought that novice lesson planners often find difficult to do on the spot, the “Interactive Lesson Planner” was developed to provide scaffolding so that students would have speedy access to lesson resources via the Internet ( Holt, 2000; Klein, 1997; Mintrop, 2001). Students were also taught how to post their resulting lessons to the Internet. By doing so, students preserved their efforts so that they may be applied in the future to the student-teaching experience and as a way to market themselves online to potential employers. Because this approach follows John Dewey’s suggestion that the teaching and learning process should attempt to solve real-world problems, it was hypothesized that this would enhance motivation (Dewey, 1916). Seventy-five percent of students taught with this approach successfully applied constructivist lerning theory by completing a constructivist lesson on their own.

This article illustrates the path of the College of Education at Towson University to successfully integrate technology within coursework and thereby meet national technology standards. This discussion includes details about specific required instructional technology courses and a faculty development project that supports the ongoing use of technology throughout the teacher education program. A mentor/protégé faculty development model has been employed to assist university and school faculty to gain needed skills and abilities to integrate technology in teaching. A majority of the full-time university faculty has participated in this faculty development with technology process. As an outcome, teacher education students are experiencing widespread use of technology throughout the curriculum, including their internships within partner schools.