Developing Digital Pedagogues: Redesigning Preservice Teacher Education With 21st-Century Literacies in Mind

• In Event: 32.038 - Advancing Equitable Student Learning Through Teacher Preparation and Professional Development Innovations That Leverage Learning Technologies

Abstract

Rapidly changing, technologically-mediated society demands a wide range of literacies that are social, dynamic, and malleable (National Council of Teachers of English, 2013). Literacy teachers must be prepared to teach students to engage multiple literacies to communicate knowledge in multiple modes, including those that are digital (Ajayi, 2010). Yet research demonstrates a persistent gap between teacher education and teachers’ effective use of technology in their instruction (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010). Even despite receiving technology training, many teachers still do not use technology in transformative ways in their classrooms (Hicks & Turner, 2008; Hohlfeld et al., 2008). So-called “digital natives” (Prensky, 2006) and other tech-savvy educators often do not use Web 2.0 tools in their preservice coursework (Kumar & Vigil, 2011) or other space.

This case study focuses on the redesign of a preservice technology course from primarily a technology tool exploration to a model integrating literacy content and pedagogical knowledge (n=12). The theory of change for the course was developed upon four key assumptions: (1) Education practitioners who integrate technology into their teaching practice can provide important knowledge and experience on the process of understanding and selecting technological tools, (2) Student teachers enter programs with their own prior experience and ideas about technology, (3) Educational research has identified key principles in terms of technologically-mediated learning. This research, along with practitioner knowledge, will provide a foundation for student teachers to develop a habit of practice for integrating technology, and (4) A redesigned technology course must be malleable to integrate changes with the technology industry. (Table 1). The redesigned course aimed to build on their prior knowledge to develop teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge or TPACK (Koehler & Mishra, 2009), and prepare them to design & lead equitable literacy learning experiences by exploiting the affordances of technology. The course included practitioner-led demonstrations of technology pedagogy in urban schools, multiliteracies pedagogy and multimedia content (New London Group, 2000; Luke, 2003), and an emphasis on critical media literacy (Thoman & Jolls, 2004).

Data collected includes pre and post surveys to evaluate participants’ TPACK, 45-minute semi-structured audio interviews, and classroom observations (Creswell, 2012; Spradley, 1979) to gain insight on how the course had influenced their instructional practice as in-service teachers. Findings include teachers: (1) explicitly connected their uses of technology in instruction to their disciplinary content goals, (2) were most likely to integrate technology for digital composition over other literacy tasks, and (3) developed a critical orientation toward technology favoring transformative uses over those where the technology only substituted for analog modes of instruction (Puentedura, 2010). Teachers also showed evidence of a newfound “tech teacher” identity, as revealed through in vivo codes during qualitative data analysis (Crotty, 1998; Miles et al., 2013).

This study offers implications for designing preservice and professional learning opportunities for teachers. Teachers develop digital pedagogy with robust rationales for technology integration when the learning space offers: 1) research linking content, technology and pedagogy, 2) room to tinker with tools, and 3) cross-cohort professional collaboration. These design principles are transferable across 21st century teacher education ecologies.

Author

• Cherise McBride, University of California - Berkeley