Initial Teacher Education in ICT: an Online Approach

Initial Teacher Education in ICT: An Online Approach

Catherine Bruen
Centre for Learning Technology

Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Keith Johnston
Education Department
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

Teacher education in the use of ICT (Information & Communication Technology) is at the corner stone of any possible strategy to establish and improve the use of ICT in primary and post-primary education. This paper is written in the context of developing an online course that aims to facilitate student teachers in developing the knowledge and skills to use ICTs for teaching and learning within their subject areas. Descriptions of the course and the design process used to create it are provided. A rationale for the key decisions made as part of the design process is provided. Some initial conclusions are presented, based on evaluation conducted to date.

Introduction

Although not sufficiently reflected in ICT policy strategies to date, the teacher has long been recognised as the key agent in respect of any educational change or innovation. Teacher education in the use of ICT is hence at the corner stone of any possible strategy to establish and improve the use of ICT in primary and post-primary education. This paper is written in the context of developing an online course that aims to facilitate student teachers in developing the knowledge and skills to use ICTs for teaching and learning within their subject areas. The paper describes the approach taken and presents some initial conclusions based on an evaluation of the course.

Background and Context

Over the past four years, Trinity College through its Centre for Learning Technology (CLT) has supported over 250 e-learning courses across the university using blended forms of ICT based learning. This case study focuses on a joint initiative between the Education Department and the Centre for Learning Technology in the design of a course aimed at students of the Higher Diploma in Education using inquiry based instructional models.

A number of challenges existed with the existing course structure, such as: large class size, quantity of material to be covered, differing levels of ability and interest in using and promoting the use of ICT’s in the classroom, and similarly differing levels of ability and interest in computing. The literature and research based elements of the course content were previously presented on a static website disconnected from the skills and general context of ICT’s and hence created little potential for proactive engagement from the learner. It lacked the necessary integration between theoretical rationale for using ICT’s and the practical skills that would facilitate the implementation of ICT in the classroom.

The key challenge in the re-design of the course was to improve the overall pedagogical approach and provide a model of using ICT’s for teaching and learning. There was a need to provide greater support and scaffolding for the course participants in building ICT resources. The technology would focus on improving the overall quality, broaden access, and widen student engagement

It was envisioned that this course would model best practice in terms of using ICT for teaching and learning purposes, and allow face–to–face sessions to be more student driven addressing issues raised by the students on the basis of their experiences in the school/classroom, as well as the online content, discussions and tasks. A resource that will benefit the wider educational community will be developed showcasing the work created by the students taking the course.

Course Description

The ‘ICTs in Education’ component of the Higher Diploma in Education aims to provide professional development in the use of ICT in the classroom across a broad spectrum of subjects to pre-service teachers. It comprises practical sessions, class activities and discussions, spread over three terms. Following a brief overview of the range and scope of the discipline, the course was divided into four units, each representing the major thematic strands that run through the discipline; learning theories, rationale for using ICT’s in education, key features of Irish ICT policy, the social and ethical issues associated with using ICT’s in the classroom, as well as current and potential use of ICT for teaching and learning purposes. The overall course goals are to:

• Develop an awareness of the development and scope of ICT’s;
• Engage with contemporary learning theories and debates, which underpin the use of ICT’s;
• Empower students to analyse critically the range of ICT tools for use in their own discipline;
• Increase ability to express an understanding of ICT policy in the Irish schools and the formulation and substantiation of their own ideas for how the current situation might be improved;
• Develop an awareness of the advantages of how their students might benefit from using ICT’s in the classroom, and the need to integrate different disciplinary components (theoretical rationale and practical skills);
• Increase critical skills in using technology to access information efficiently and effectively, evaluate information critically and competently, and use information accurately and creatively.
• Increase technical skills in using technology to plan a class, and coordinate their own students’ use of technology

The ICT’s course is a vehicle for promoting critical thinking and developing skills of analysis and evaluation that are central to the work of the teacher. It emphasises the importance of critical thinkingand perception, and that knowledge and understanding emerge from dialectic between (often competing) information sources.

Design Process

Following the instructional design process utilised by CLT, the “ICT’s in Education” course was designed and enhanced with technology. The stages of this process were derived from Alessi and Trollip’s Model for Design and Development (Alessi and Trollip, 2001). Stages of CLT’s variation of this model include Analysis, Planning, Design, Development and Implementation combined with Standards, Evaluation, and Project Management.

The initial stage involved determining existing instructional problems, identifying instructor and student characteristics and abilities, reviewing previous student achievement and past evaluations of the course. The work then progressed to the planning stage. The scope of the project was defined and the content was analysed. A strong objective which arose for this course was how to teach the theory in a way that best allows the possibility of integrating it with the students own classroom practices and planning. Previously it was taught as a theory-only element supplemented by a static text based website. However this approach reinforced the division between theory and practice with the students focusing on the theory as a separate entity before beginning the practical application and their work demonstrated a lack of cohesion. Also the students were unable to generalise or make connections between the different theories underpinning ICT use, and their practical application. Clearly the theory and practice were not working well together. Some Instructional methods under the umbrella of a constructivist learning pedagogic models were considered including Inquiry-based learning (Collins, 1986; DeBoer, 1991; Rakow, 1986), Anchored Instruction (Bransford, 1990) and the Situated Learning Framework (CTGV, 1993), Future Problem Solving Program (Torrance, 1999), Problem-based Learning and Goal based Scenarios (Schank, 1999).

The instructional model WebQuest, based on the pedagogical approach of Inquiry-based learning (Dodge, 1995) was also explored. WebQuests generally contain the following elements: an introduction to set the stage and motivate the student; a task or challenge, the steps or process that the students must follow while completing the WebQuest; a rich array of resources; usually Web-based; an evaluation of the student’s project constructed as part of completing the task; and a conclusion (Young and Wilson, 2002). Unit three models the WebQuest approach. As a task assigned to students, it was envisaged that developing a WebQuest would not require a high level of technological expertise as it can be developed as a simple Website. This was an important feature since one of the objectives of the course was to empower the student teachers and help them acquire the necessary skills for future project maintenance and further development in their own classrooms. It was decided to deliver the course through a course management system, WebCT and utilise many of its built-in tools, such as: discussion boards, quiz editor, group tools, tracking and monitoring. For example, the discussion board was used to initiate discussions for reflection and peer review.

It was decided to progress toward a more inquiry-based learning environment than was the case previously; one which would capitalise on technology and prepare students for the “real world”. The teaching part was redesigned and modified as more of a learner-centric model based on inquiry-based learning that aimed:

(i)To demonstrate that there are theoretical principles implicit in all practices

(ii)To enlarge the student’s imagination as to what ICT’s can achieve in their classrooms through tasks that require self-reflexivity

Once the appropriate pedagogic model had been identified and the instructional methods selected, the objectives became more refined, the constraints and technologies for rolling out the first pilot of the project were established. An evaluation plan and a project management plan were then created and development commenced.

Design and Development

During the next stages, Design and Development, a prototype was constructed. There are five sections, starting with an Orientation section, and followed by the four course Units (three Units have been designed to date). The initial orientation section includes:

• Course objectives and aims
• Course map
• Guiding questions to bear in mind while addressing the task at the end of each unit
• Availability of resources (e.g. online communication, computer labs, class schedules, etc.)
• Accessing and contacting technical support
• Working with peers and submitting tasks

Each Unit is broken up into five sections – Explanation, Demonstration, Exploration, Implementation and Reflection. The student begins by working through the Explanation section that provides theoretical underpinnings based on research and literature. The Demonstration section focuses on the use of various software applications for teaching and learning and outlines some general principles for ICT use. As the student’s work through the Demonstration section, they have the opportunity to see ICT’s in practices in different classrooms and from different perspectives using websites, and audio & video clips. They can also explore the resources and websites that showcase the work of others in the field. The aim of these two sections is to familiarise the student with integrating the practical skills with the conceptual foundations, so that they can consider the ideas under scrutiny and incorporate them into their own class plans.

In the third section, the Exploration, the student has the opportunity to explore and critique some cases where ICT’s are being used in the classroom. They are given access to resources for improving their skills in producing ICT based materials and creating activities for their own classes. The fourth section, the Implementation, details the task that is to be completed as part of the unit. The resources necessary and the issues to be considered when completing the task are also provided. The final section, the Reflection, aims to facilitate formative reflection on the process in which the learner has engaged.

Evaluation Plan and Initial Conclusions

To date data for the purposes of evaluation has been collected by means of a questionnaire distributed to course participants. The questionnaire contained both open and closed-type items, and consisted of two main sections: section one addressed respondent’s school based experiences of ICTs, section two addressed the ICTs in education course, including the Web-based element. Whilst some statistically significant correlations have emerged fromthe data, the limitation of the number of responses (n=45, representing 33% of the class) must be acknowledged. The main focus of the evaluation is to establish of the instructional design and theoretical rationale for this course facilitates student teachers in using ICTs in their schools and classrooms.

The data indicates that one-third, or 33%, of respondents used ICT for teaching and learning in the classroom during the H.Dip year. The main uses reported centered around using the Internet as a research tool for classroom projects. Some respondents reported using presentation or word-processing software to present project work. 92% used ICTs to prepare a class handout, 80% used ICTs for classroom administration and 91% used ICTs to research content for a lesson. The data shows a significant relationship between respondents own confidence and competence in using technology and their actual use in their teaching practice, using a combined scale for the types of use outlined above. Low confidence in using technology emerged as a strong barrier with those respondents who rated ‘my own confidence’ as a substantial barrier reporting significantly less use than those who reported it as not a barrier or a moderate barrier.

It is not possible to attribute a cause and effect relationship between participation in the course and school based use of ICTs, however the reaction to the course was generally positive in terms of overall satisfaction rating with 56% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement ‘in general I am satisfied with the course’. 44% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement ‘after completing the course I feel prepared to use technology in my classroom setting’. 56% agreed or strongly agreed that ’I will be able to apply what I learned from this course’. Likewise the respondents were generally positive in their reactions to the navigation, the instructions for using the material, and the amount of text, colours, graphics and icons used in the web based course materials.

Whilst the reactions documented above may be said to be generally positive there is however room for improvement. Respondents expressed a desire for more subject specific content to be provided, seemingly in preference to creating subject specific resources using the content and skills provided. This is in line with the data regarding the most worthwhile elements of the course; with 58% identifying the presentation element as most worthwhile, followed by the web-design (13%) and desktop publishing (8%) elements. This data may be best understood when taken in the context of participant’s immediate priorities as teachers new to the school and classroom situation; what is seen to be most practical, and immediately applicable, is deemed to be of most value. In this context, there appears more need for attention to the content and emphasis of the course, rather than to the instructional design. However the interaction between content and design must be acknowledged.

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