Technology in Teacher Education

A basic strategy used when designing programs for students with exceptionalities is to provide them with appropriate challenges. Much attention is paid to challenges in the areas of mathematics and logic, music or sport. The same cannot be said for intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences. However, to develop more'balanced'individuals, who can prosper in an increasingly diverse and globalized world, we need to pay more attention to these. Global learning, with its emphasis on cross-cultural communication and ...

Proponents of video games consider them a useful medium for engaging young people, especially those who enjoy game play but who are otherwise disengaged academically and/or socially. This paper describes the two major paradigms framing the research on video games: the Active Media perspective, which assumes that players imitate what they see in media, and the Active User perspective, which focuses on what players do with the game. Next, the positive effects of video games on learning and behavior are explored. The paper articulates how video game research can inform the work of educators in multiple ways, and encourages the integration of carefully selected educational games into curricula for engaged learning and to encourage prosocial behavior.

This book brings together a number of academics who have conducted research and written about effective practices and pedagogies that incorporate the use of information and communications technologies (ICT). The book is intended for graduate and undergraduate students in Teacher Education programmes, as well as teachers and those who are interested in contemporary educational issues. The authors in this book have been engaged in rethinking education with ICT. Implicit in this, is the view that we need to reconceptualise our pedagogies and practices in order to make schools relevant to the lives of the young people who inhabit them. The chapters in this book are based on empirically grounded research work. The chapters illustrate the various dimensions of innovative practices with ICT that can extend teachers' pedagogies and engage learners so that they are able to extend their potential for knowledge building in new and dynamic ways.
Authors: Yelland, Neal and Dakich

Research about teachers’ knowledge of game-based learning
is in its infancy. Fourteen pre-service teachers completed
a methods course, which prepared them in game analysis,
game integration, and ecological conditions impacting game
use in school contexts using the Game Network Analysis
(GaNA ) framework. Surveys and tests were administered
in a mixed-methods study to assess participants’ acquired
knowledge of GaNA . Additional data were solicited using
background surveys and focus group interviews to understand
participants’ thoughts about game-based learning. Data were
analyzed using t-tests and thematic analysis. Participants
demonstrated statistically significant gains on the constructs
of GaNA . Participants also reported changed thoughts about
the processes for incorporating game-based learning in K-12
classrooms. This included insights about teacher roles, game
selection, and contextual factors for successful adoption of
games in schools. GaNA may be beneficial for advancing the
work of both teacher educators and researchers in developing
and assessing novice-expert teachers’ competence in adopting
game-based learning.

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) has been introduced as a conceptual framework for the knowledge base teachers need to effectively teach with technology. The framework stems from the notion that technology integration in a specific educational context benefits from a careful alignment of content, pedagogy and the potential of technology, and that teachers who want to integrate technology in their teaching practice therefore need to be com- petent in all three domains. This study is a systematic literature review about TPACK of 55 peer-reviewed journal articles (and one book chapter), published between 2005 and 2011. The purpose of the review was to investigate the theoretical basis and the practical use of TPACK. Findings showed different understandings of TPACK and of technological knowledge. Impli- cations of these different views impacted the way TPACK was measured. Notions about TPACK in subject domains were hardly found in the studies selected for this review. Teacher knowledge (TPACK) and beliefs about pedagogy and technology are intertwined. Both deter- mine whether a teacher decides to teach with technology. Active involvement in (re)design and enactment of technology-enhanced lessons was found as a promising strategy for the develop- ment of TPACK in (student-)teachers. Future directions for research are discussed.

This is a PDF file of 'Online vs. Face to Face: Is There a Difference in How Accounting and Finance Students Learn in an Online vs. Face-to-Face Setting?' slides from a presentation at the Innovative Teaching Methods Conference of the American Accounting Association: Southeast Region on March 31, 2006 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Scholars in behavioral accounting, finance, and economics have begun to investigate how novices and experts learn in a wide range of accounting and financial settings. This session provided an initial discussion of the different learning processes for accounting and finance students enrolled in online vs. in-class (face-to-face) formats.

As educators, our primary goal is to facilitate the learning of our students. An emerging method of delivery known as online education, where the teacher and student may never have face-to-face contact; this online format is a increasingly provided by all different types of colleges and universities across the country. How does this alternate delivery method affect the learning process of students? Or does the learning technique of students have an influence on the way online courses are delivered?

The focus of this session was to review the main studies within the literature of learning as it relates to online delivery and face-to-face delivery of courses. One outcome of the session was to share with participants the main themes and findings from this collection of studies. This discussion presented scholars with a future avenue of research and a valuable source for improving their own teaching experience.

Keywords: Online class, Face to Face, Internet Classes, Learning, Education, Accounting, Finance, Students, Behavioral Finance, Behavioral Accounting, Behavioral Economics

Storytelling is one of the most common activities used in teaching English proficiency to
language students. It is widely accepted as a teaching technique by many educators because it
engages students in learning. This study seeks to examine students’ readiness in using
technology-aided applications in telling their stories. It also investigates how cybernated
storytelling could encourage them to communicate more in groups. This qualitative study
involved 35 secondary school students, selected based on purposive sampling technique,
from a multi-ethnic secondary school in Malaysia. After having initial exposure to cybernated
storytelling video production, the students were divided into small groups and required to
engage in developing a cybernated storytelling video for a period of 90 days using the
English language. While engaging in the activity, students were expected to communicate
orally in face-to-face meetings and in writing using WhatsApp (WA) and Facebook (FB)
platforms. Their WA and FB entries were compiled and analysed thematically besides
interview responses which were collected during the group interview. The findings point to
how technology aided language learning could be a strong support in enhancing students’
English communication skills.

This study reviewed qualitative studies that focused on strategies to prepare pre-service teachers to integrate technology into their lessons. A meta-ethnography approach was utilized to locate, critically appraise, and synthesize the results of these studies. Based on an extensive search in theWeb of Science, 19 articles were included in this synthesis. The results were divided into two parts: (1) key themes explicitly related to the preparation of pre-service teachers (e.g., using teacher educators as role models, learning technology by design, scaffolding authentic technology experiences), and (2) conditions necessary at the institutional level (e.g., technology planning and leadership, co-operation within and between institutions, training staff). To present how these key themes related to each other, an overarching model was developed. By interpreting the results of the review, recommendations were discussed for pre-service teacher technology training and future research.

North-West University in South Africa is committed to expanding use of learning technologies for contact and distance education students by augmenting the existing NWU teaching and learning policy with an e-learning policy. The School of Continuing Teacher Education at North-West University is currently training about 24 000 in-service teacher students through Open Distance Learning. Only a few students submit assignments in typed format and seldom electronically. Students rarely use electronic technologies to augment their learning, and the SCTE employs few to support students. This does not comply with the South African Government’s policy on e-Education that demands information and communication technology mastery in teacher training.
The aim of this research was integration of learning technologies in open distance learning at SCTE NWU through recommendations compiled in a sociologically transformative emergent implementation framework. The researcher followed a concurrent mixed-method sociologically transformative approach, focussing on the use of technology for social empowerment to cross the digital divide, through a theoretical lens of ICT for development.
The lived experience in the natural setting of distance education students, lecturers, and involved stakeholders was used as initial data collection, informed by a continuous literature study of emergent learning technology use.
Purposeful sampling was used during participant selection. The role of the researcher was that of participant observer, interviewer, and human instrument, from a position of methodological pragmatism as a method of inquiry. Using a design-based research approach, the thesis addresses the main research question through five research papers; each addressing one of the sub-questions as design-based research cycles, while collectively addressing the research problem to address the main research question. Nonstandardised measuring instruments were developed based on themes identified from literature and the analysis of qualitative data. Significant barriers to population-wide ICT adoption exist. Strong intentions of perseverance in attaining functional computer literacy are evident. Support and enablement are required to promote trust to attempt using computers, necessary to obtain self-confidence through accomplishment. In this way perseverance to attain functional computer literacy may be cultivated.
The study presents a model for intention to use, confidence, trust and perseverance in attaining computer literacy competence with statistically significant standardised regression weights. In terms of affective responses of students during computer literacy training, a twodimensional model for computer literacy learning emotions is presented. Perceptions during professional development produced a model for faculty development towards socially transformative learning technology integration for open distance learning. The researcher also presents a people-technology interaction in teaching and learning model in the fifth paper. A distinction is made between reactionary interventions and pre-emptive unobtrusive seamless support, based on requirements identified through bottom-up feedback listening to latent requests of participants. Technology-enhanced learning integration should be legitimised through visible commitment from the university as institution. Lecturer training, innovative planning of time issues, acquisition of appropriate infrastructure, buying in from the institution and IT support services, and support of teacher-students are all essential for evolvement towards an e-mature organisation for the delivery of ODL to vast numbers of newly industrialised context clients.

The study investigated in-service biology teachers’ perceptions of the instructional use of smartphones equipped with Biology Mobile Learning Applications (BMLAs) in the learning of biology concepts in Nigerian senior secondary schools and the pedagogical rating of two commercially available mobile learning applications recommended for learning biology. The study utilized a descriptive survey design. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings gathered revealed that the in-service biology teachers had good perceptions of the instructional use of BMLAs and that these perceptions influence their pedagogical rating and selection of mobile applications. The study also revealed that demographic variables such as gender and years of professional teaching experience do not have any significant effect on biology teachers’ perceptions o f the instructional use of mobile applications and in the pedagogical rating of the BMLAs respectively. The implications of these findings for a mobile-enabled biology curriculum development were discussed extensively.

The main objective of this study is to develop a self-report instrument to measure pre-service teachers’ ICT competencies in education. The questionnaire items of this instrument are based on an existing comprehensive framework and were created with input from experts in the field. The data were collected from a sample of 931 final-year pre-service teachers in Flanders (Belgium). A first subsample was used for an exploratory factor analysis, and a second one to verify the identified factor structure via confirmatory factor analysis. A two-factor structure of ICT competencies was identified: (a) competencies to support pupils for ICT use in class and  (b) competencies to use ICT for instructional design. This two-factor structure was confirmed in the confirmatory factor analysis. Recommendations are made on how this reliable instrument can help assess the level and progress of pre-service teachers’ ICT competencies.

The research used an open-educational resource using Kotobee software to design interactive e-learning for the Grade 12 TVL-ICT programming students of the Lagro Senior High School. The researchers wanted to assess the learners' interest by using an interactive e-learning design made by the teachers. We used stratified and simple random sampling techniques to get the samples. The method and procedure of the research used are quantitative, descriptive, and developmental. The respondents of the study are selected Grade 12 TVL-ICT programming students. We used the Google form survey questionnaire to gather and collect the respondents' data because of the online distance learning implemented amidst a pandemic situation for this Academic Year 2020-2021. The statistical treatment used in the study is mean, frequency, percentage, and Likert scale. As the results, 41 out of 50 respondents were answered and retrieved the survey data. There were 33 male and 8 female participants who answered the survey through Google form. The learner's characteristics among the respondents were 76% are visual, 10% were auditory, and 7% were kinesthetic and pragmatist. Most of the learners have used gadgets for their online distance learning. 33 out of 41 respondents have used the mobile phone, and 26 responses used the tablets. When the teachers utilized e-learning through virtual online classes, the students' challenges were the image blurred and very small to view, which had 26 responses out of 41 participants. Next, the text is too much, and the content is too hard to understand, which had 22 answers and agreed. Followed-by the text used is small, and the video presentation is pixelated. When the student's losing interest talked about, the teacher has always presented a YouTube video clip related to the topic, which had the highest mean of 3.10 or agreed and placed in the rank 1. Second, using a simple PowerPoint presentation to discuss the lesson with no proper explanation had a mean of 3.05 o agree. Three (3) losing the interest of the student had the same mean of 2.80 or agreed. These are 1) hard to read the text from the teacher's PowerPoint presentation, 2)the graphics are pixelated and inappropriate to the lesson, and 3) there is no interconnection of the image, colors, text, and shape used in the presentation. Meanwhile, the level of satisfaction to utilize the teacher's interactive e-learning in terms of effectiveness shows that it is minimally satisfied or with an average mean of 2.31. The efficiency had an average of 2.46 or minimally satisfied.

This paper documents a teacher-training workshop designed to address the problem of motivating instructors and learners of English in Japan. It first provides a brief overview of the relevant research to date on motivation and the Japanese English education context. It then explores a series of interviews (n＝6) with in-service Japanese high school teachers of English, which ultimately proved to be the impetus behind this study. Findings from an analysis of these interviews revealed a lack of learner motivation was the primary concern for in-service teachers. It also revealed that in-service teachers felt ill-equipped to deal with this problem. A workshop was then created to provide pedagogical support for Japanese teachers of English. This workshop first involved examining the different factors that influence motivation, before moving on to showcase how the use of authentic materials by instructors can greatly enhance learner motivation. It concluded with a discussion of the specific problems that instructors typically face. Feedback from a post-workshop questionnaire suggests the workshop was highly successful. Finally, implications and future workshops are discussed.