PRESERVICE TEACHERS EXPERIENCE WITH ONLINE MODULES ABOUT TPACK

Despite the fact that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is valued as a tool for learning, the modelling for preservice teachers of ICT integration in the curriculum areas is often limited. In the recently approved AITSL standards for Initial Teacher Education Programs, knowledge of ICTs is explicitly mentioned in three of the standards. In order to address these requirements, online modules on the use of ICT in teaching and learning were developed as part of the Teaching Teachers for the Future project. This study reports on one university’s use of these modules and the preservice teachers’ responses to them. The modules were used as a component of a methodology course with the students completing an online survey after they had finished the modules. The modules were based around the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) framework (Mishra and Koehler, 2006) and incorporated videos of teachers and their students using ICT, lesson plans and useful ideas for incorporating ICT into the classroom. The preservice teachers were asked about structure and navigability of the modules, what they found to be the most useful aspects and how they could be improved. Overall the preservice teachers were positive about the modules and valued the videos and specific examples that would enable them to more effectively embed technologies in the classroom