Teaching with interactive whiteboards : is teacher education up to it? : a study of pre-service primary school teachers’ education with interactive whiteboards

Without quality teaching and learning based around a solid understanding of sound pedagogical principles, IWBs will be just another piece of hardware in the classroom. Unless teachers understand how to leverage interactive technology to create better learning experiences for their students, then we are wasting our time (Betcher & Lee, 2009, p .13). Given the increasing prevalence of Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) in Australian primary school classrooms, this study aimed to determine how well the teacher education course at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) was meeting the needs of pre-service teachers. Variables, including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceptions of technological complexity, technological self-efficacy, attitude towards computer use, and facilitating conditions, potentially influencing the acceptance of this technology, as described by Teo (2009), were examined, and connections between participants’ perceptions identified. This study sought to compare the IWB education received by pre-service teachers at UTAS with IWB use in primary school classrooms, with the aim of determining the readiness of beginning teachers to embrace this technology. Surveys and interviews were conducted with pre-service teachers at UTAS, Faculty of Education teaching staff at UTAS, and primary school teachers, with the results compared and interpreted in light of the existing research findings as presented in the literature review. There was a disjuncture between how IWBs were used in primary school classrooms and how they were used at university. Pre-service teachers were on average more positive in their perceptions about IWB use than were university teaching staff. Low levels of education in IWB use and limited access to the technology were reported by the majority of pre-service teachers and Faculty of Education teaching staff. There was also a difference among expectations for IWB use of the three groups participating in this study. The results of this study are relevant and of interest to educators and university leadership in Australia and beyond