Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers Using Innovative Digital Technologies
Keywords:
Technology, Teacher education, Business educationAbstract
Problem: With an estimated 200,000 teacher candidates (US Department of Education, 2011), completing teacher preparation programs every year, the need to research well-defined teacher preparation practices is vital to strengthening the knowledge and experience base of prospective teachers and to improve the achievement scores of students in their first year of teaching.
Research Questions: In what ways does the use of Instructional Strategy Lessons for Educators Series (ISLES) Secondary eBooks affect teacher candidates’ knowledge of instructional strategies?
Research Method: The methodology adopted for this study is based on the constant comparative methods based on a phenomenological approach, which explores the contexts of lived experiences that occur within particular learning instance.
Data Collection Procedures and Analysis: Multiple sources were collected and analyzed, providing for methodological triangulation. Findings from each data set were compared to each other to locate either patterns or inconsistencies. The data were analyzed in order to answer the research question.
Findings: Three data sets were collected. Although the pre/posttest response rate was low (26% pretest and 30% posttest) the teacher candidates demonstrated an increase in use of instructional strategy terminology at a ratio of 1:14. The second data set included responses to ten consistent reflective questions per each of the five eBook modules with a 100% participation rate. As the responses were coded, three patterns emerged from the data: 1) the teacher, which included personal or affective comments about the teacher and/or appraisal of the teacher’s planning; 2) the students, which included students’ affective reactions to instruction; and 3) the instructional practices, which included affective comments about the teachers’ integration and/or use of instructional strategies. The third data set included responses to the interactive eBook widgets. The completion rate of interactive widgets was seventy-six percent (76%). The overall tone of the teacher candidates’ comments was positive and detailed the advantages of using the interactive eBook.
Conclusions/Recommendations: The study provides relevant information on the value of developing mobile digital books that emphasize the three subcategories of a community of inquiry by designing materials that include; 1) teaching presence; 2) cognitive presence; and 3) social presence to foster teacher candidates’ engagement while gaining knowledge of instructional practices. The findings from this study demonstrate that teaching, cognitive, and social presence structured supports provided within the modules helped to increase teacher candidates’ knowledge of instructional strategies.
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