A few weeks back, there was a report released by the Education & Training Committee (Victoria, AU) titled “Step Up, Step In, Step Out” which emerged from the “Inquiry into the Suitability of Pre-Service Teacher Training Courses”. A portion of that report targetted ICT in Teacher Education, and this type of information, of course,is central to my role here at the University of Regina.
Here are summarized points from the report, with my brief interjections.
“ICT linkages between teacher education faculties and school systems
are under-developed.”
I absolutely agree. This is something we’ve noted here in our own iTeacherEd research, and something we need to continue to address.
“ICT resources and applications within teacher education has not kept pace with developments in the schools sector.”
In our case, I think it’s the opposite. The computer hardware in many of the classrooms in our local systems are out-of-date. Our interning students complain that many of things they learned in our technology integration courses cannot be used when they hit the (sometimes) poorly equipped classrooms. Of course, the proprietary lock-in on software is another entire issue, and schools are not quick to upgrade software when each new version costs money and takes time and resources to implement.
“linkages between education faculties and developers of ICT products
are not strong enough.”
Yes! Not strong enough, or in many cases, non-existent. It would be interesting to see (open source) ICT developed in-house in collaboration with CS students (perhaps) and Education students. Hmmmmm.
“experiences of pre-service teachers in ICT instruction during pre-service teacher education vary considerably in breadth and quality.”
Agreed, strongly. And it’s something we are certainly trying to address through elective and mandatory content, but more so, through the professional development of education faculty members in ICT. Still, my belief is that once we have professors modelling appropriate uses of ICT in ALL classes, we will have won a major battle.
The Australian report can be downloaded here.
I find it kind of disturbing that in this day and age a course in ICT is not required to get your teaching degree. I think that at least ECMP 355 should not be optional.
I agree Lisa, I believe that ECMP 355 should be mandatory and should be taken before your internship. I would like to see it placed in third year (so you can use the materials in both pre-internship and internship), but where would they put it?
Even if it is not placed in third year, I feel that it is important to continue to network within this area. To stay on top of new software, new movements, etc. you need to stay connected with people who are doing this all the time. I’m sure Alec doesnt mind sharing new stuff!
They say that when you enter the school you make friends with the custodian and administrative assistant first, but what about the tech leader? Our world is becoming more and more technology based, so the tech leader is one of the most important persons in the school as well, IMHO. Continue to network and share, and you will be able to continue to stay on top of things in technology.