The tools of teacher education: Preservice teachers’ use of technology to create instructional materials
Abstract
This research examined the effectiveness and efficiency of preservice teachers' use of technology to create instructional materials developed in an undergraduate reading and language arts course. Four trained raters judged the quality of 130 writing prompts (independent writing ideas or prompts that motivate children to write creatively) according to five design-related criteria and five idea-related criteria. Preservice teachers self-reported the time required for each writing prompt, whether it was either technology assisted (i.e., Kid Pix, Writing Center, etc.) or handmade (i.e., nontechnology assisted with markers, collage techniques, or stickers) and their preference for continuing the project using technology or handmade techniques. There was no significant difference between measures of overall quality of the technology assisted as compared to the handmade prompts. When overall quality was broken into design and idea, however, there was a significant difference between the two groups regarding measures of design, yet no significant difference regarding the idea or content of the writing prompts. On average, preservice teachers using technology reported significantly less time required to create the writing prompt than did the group using non-technology assisted materials. Additionally, 85% of the preservice teachers reported that given a future task of creating additional writing prompts, they would prefer to use computer-related applications.
Annual surveys report that technology use is on the rise in post-secondary institutions. More than half of all college students and faculty now have some regular experience with information technology resources and learning activities (Green, 1995). Also, sheer numbers of computers in public schools continue to increase. "During the last decade, the number of microcomputers and computer terminals in U.S. schools increased by nearly 50-fold from fewer than 50,000 to roughly 2,400,000" (Becker, 1991, p. 385). As teacher educators, we recognized the growing emphasis on technology and encouraged our preservice teachers to integrate technology into projects and assignments for a reading and language arts methods course. As we evaluated instructional materials made by preservice teachers using technology or not using technology, three questions concerning technology use continually surfaced and became the focus of this study: (a) Does technology help preservice teachers in terms of the quality of their product? and (b) Does technology help preservice teachers in terms of saving time? and (c) Will preservice teachers choose technology over handmade techniques to complete projects?
Reference
Roberts, S. K., & Hsu, Y. (2000). The tools of teacher education: Preservice teachers' use of technology to create instructional materials. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 8(2), 133-152.
Journal
Journal of Technology and Teacher Education
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
- Reading and language arts methods course
Preservice Participants
- Undergraduates (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
26
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
Data Analysis Tools
- Cronbach's Alpha Coefficients
- Rating criteria for writing prompts
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
Does technology help preservice teachers in terms of the quality of their product?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
Does technology help preservice teachers in terms of saving time?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
Will preservice teachers choose technology over handmade techniques to complete projects?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes