scholarly journals Digital Downsides in Teacher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 123-139
Author(s):  
Ove Edvard Hatlevik ◽  
Greta Björk Gudmundsdottir ◽  
Anubha Rohatgi

This paper is particularly relevant in the context of a global pandemic when the majority of teaching is conducted online or in a hybrid environment that requires long hours in front of a screen. Online teaching is becoming increasingly important throughout education, and our findings draw attention to some of the challenges and possible pitfalls of the extensive use of digital technologies and, consequently, implications for teacher education. In the paper, we explore student teachers’ perceptions of digital downsides, their teaching tools self-efficacy, their resilience to digital distractions, and physical discomfort from the use of digital technology. We aim to identify these four concepts and examine whether and how they interconnect. A cross-sectional design was used to analyse data from 561 first-year student teachers enrolled in two teacher education programmes in two universities in Norway in 2019. The findings indicate that resilience to digital distractions decreases and a higher level of reported physical discomfort from digital technology increases student teachers’ perceived downsides of digital technologies. Overall, 38% of the variation in perceived digital downsides within the two teacher education programmes can be explained by these two concepts, as well as to the study programme the student teachers attended.

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-529
Author(s):  
Nicola Fořtová ◽  
Jitka Sedláčková ◽  
František Tůma

The sudden switch to online teaching enforced by the covid-19 pandemic has impacted teacher education at universities, particularly micro-teachings and teaching practice, as technology has become an inherent part of these processes. The growing body of literature on online teaching and teacher education during lockdown conditions mainly addresses challenges in teacher education and educator perceptions. However, very few studies deal with the perceptions of student- teachers. To fill this gap, a group of teacher educators conducted a research study with 63 students enrolled in a master’s Degree in Teaching efl for Secondary Schools offered at Masaryk University, Czechia. To carry it out, qualitative coding procedures were employed on a dataset of 120 lesson reflections written by students completing their teaching practice via online courses which were ordinarily conducted in person. The purpose was to find out how student-teachers perceived technology use when teaching online. The main findings show that, despite constant comparison between the face-to-face and online classrooms and an initial reliance on the success of technology to determine a lesson’s success, the majority of student-teachers normalized technology as a platform for teaching, using technology-specific language for teaching strategies and classroom events. These findings suggest that online teaching and learning should be seen as an integral part of teacher education.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-529
Author(s):  
Nicola Fořtová ◽  
Jitka Sedláčková ◽  
František Tůma

The sudden switch to online teaching enforced by the covid-19 pandemic has impacted teacher education at universities, particularly micro-teachings and teaching practice, as technology has become an inherent part of these processes. The growing body of literature on online teaching and teacher education during lockdown conditions mainly addresses challenges in teacher education and educator perceptions. However, very few studies deal with the perceptions of student- teachers. To fill this gap, a group of teacher educators conducted a research study with 63 students enrolled in a master’s Degree in Teaching efl for Secondary Schools offered at Masaryk University, Czechia. To carry it out, qualitative coding procedures were employed on a dataset of 120 lesson reflections written by students completing their teaching practice via online courses which were ordinarily conducted in person. The purpose was to find out how student-teachers perceived technology use when teaching online. The main findings show that, despite constant comparison between the face-to-face and online classrooms and an initial reliance on the success of technology to determine a lesson’s success, the majority of student-teachers normalized technology as a platform for teaching, using technology-specific language for teaching strategies and classroom events. These findings suggest that online teaching and learning should be seen as an integral part of teacher education.


Pythagoras ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wajeeh Daher

This article studies student teachers’ perceptions of the pedagogic and didactic aspects of teaching and learning mathematics in a democratic classroom. It is concerned primarily with issues of democracy in the mathematics classroom, specifically freedom, equality and dialogue. The research was conducted in two mathematics teacher education classes, where students were in their third year of study to major in mathematics. To find these students’ perceptions of democracy in the mathematics classroom the first two stages of the constant comparison method were followed to arrive at categories of democratic and undemocratic acts. The participants in the research emphasised that instructors should refrain from giving some students more time or opportunities to express themselves or act in the mathematics classroom than other students, because this would make them feel unequal and possibly make them unwilling to participate further in the mathematics classroom. The participants also emphasised that instructors should not exert their power to stop the flow of students’ actions in the mathematics classroom, because this would trouble them and make them lose control of their actions. Further, the participants mentioned that instructors would do better to connect to students’ ways of doing mathematics, especially of defining mathematical terms, so that students appreciate the correct ways of doing mathematics and defining its terms.


Languages ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Raili Hilden ◽  
Anne Dragemark Oscarson ◽  
Ali Yildirim ◽  
Birgitta Fröjdendahl

Summative assessments are an exercise of authority and something that pupils cannot easily appeal. The importance of teachers being able to assess their pupils correctly is consequently both a question of national equivalence and individual fairness. Therefore, summative assessment is a paramount theme in teacher education, and we aimed to investigate the perceptions and competence of student teachers regarding common summative assessment practices. The study was conducted at three universities, two in Sweden and one in Finland involving prospective language teachers responding to an online survey (N = 131). In addition, interviews were carried out with 20 Swedish and 6 Finnish student teachers. The analysis of the data indicates that student teachers value practices that enhance communication and collaboration as well as the curricular alignment of summative assessments. With respect to perceived competence, the respondents in general felt most confident with deploying traditional forms of summative assessment, while they were more uncertain about process evaluation and oral skills. Regarding significant differences in the participants’ perceptions of competence among the three universities, Finnish university students reported higher levels in all variables. However, room for improvement was found at all universities involved.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-84
Author(s):  
Tuija Kasa ◽  
Matti Rautiainen ◽  
Mia Malama ◽  
Arto Kallioniemi

This article discusses democracy and human rights education (DHRE) in Finnish teacher education, drawing on existing literature, curricula and a survey of student teachers’ perceptions. Earlier studies suggested that DHRE in Finnish teacher education is unsystematic, implicit, and dependent on the teacher’s individual interests. These studies highlight a sense of national exceptionalism, where DHRE is assumed to be self-evident. In 2019, we conducted a survey of student teachers (n=300) in one university. Data content analysis reveals that student teachers now see DHRE as relevant and timely, and by no means self-evident. Student teachers believe that DHRE needs to be explicit and part of their professional education. Although the Finnish national curriculum addresses DHRE explicitly, there is a lack of implementation and explicit DHRE teacher education. We contend that the data reflects societal change, and that the notion that democracy and human rights are self-evident needs to be challenged in Finland.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Peter Tiernan ◽  
Jane O'Kelly ◽  
Justin Rami

COVID 19 represented a major challenge for many educators, with teachers needing to pivot rapidly to using online learning tools in order to stay connected with their students. This was particularly relevant for teachers in the process of completing their Initial Teacher Education (ITE), whose programmes of study did not include online teaching components. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a module for teaching in online and blended learning environments for 244 post-primary teachers in ITE. This study begins by examining the impact of COVID-19 and the resulting pivot to online learning, this includes an overview of the challenges associated with online teaching. Next, the authors explain the module in detail, outlining the tools, strategies and activities provided for student teachers. This included peer-evaluated online micro-teaching components - which formed a major part of the learning. Data collection involved a questionnaire which gathered student teachers’ perceptions of the module and its approaches, the impact it had on their ability to teach during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the knowledge and skills useful for future practice. Findings suggested that the implementation of the developed module was successful in preparing student teachers to teach online, providing them with the tools and confidence necessary for success. Improvements suggested the development of differentiated pathways for student teachers who are more experienced with online teaching. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (SPE3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Z. Vlasova ◽  
Elizaveta A. Barakhsanova ◽  
Svetlana V. Goncharova ◽  
Tatyana S. Ilina ◽  
Pavel A. Aksyutin

In the modern world of education, the level of digital technology development plays a decisive role in the competitiveness of educational institutions. The transition to digital education is considered a key driving force for the development of any university. In recent years, pedagogical universities have made tangible progress in many areas of digital development. However, the introduction of digital technologies (DT) in the educational process reached its peak during the pandemic. This study aims to identify the distinctive features in the work of a teacher at a pedagogical university during the pandemic. The study revealed the following: the doubts of the teachers with no e-learning experience; didactically effective digital technologies in the educational process, the combined use of which ensures the synergistic effectiveness of e-learning; students’ attitude towards the quality of the e-learning process during the pandemic. Given the identified problems and positive aspects, the results of the study can be used to further develop a strategy for the digitalization of teacher education. The study proved that effective digitalization of the educational process is possible under the condition of cooperative and systematic work of all participants.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eglė Pranckūnienė ◽  
◽  
Rūta Girdzijauskienė ◽  
Remigijus Bubnys ◽  
Liudmila Rupšienė

After the World Health Organization announced the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, education systems were forced to move instruction to the virtual world. It drastically changed the interplay between teachers and learners, educational content, and the learning environment. When scrutinising the experience of teacher educators, we realised that it was important to focus on their discoveries. Collective reflection and collaborative autoethnography of four teacher educators developed into a reflective process of creating collective knowledge about their lived experience of coping with the new reality of teaching. The research was carried out in four steps: collective reflection on the context of education and individual lived experiences, collective analyses of transcribed first-person narratives, collective interpretation of the first-person narratives, co-creation of insights, and implications for the future of teacher training. The paper discusses the discoveries of four teacher educators made during the pandemic period: the benefits of communication technology, new interpersonal relations, the dynamics of self-learning, and a new concept of multiple educational spaces. The research results showed that the online teaching and technological breakthrough encouraged teacher educators to use various online platforms and technological tools, to develop new teaching strategies, to find effective ways of communication, to focus more on the organisation of teaching and learning, the usage of multiple learning spaces, and teaching multimodality. At the end of this paper, we provide some insights for teacher education: teacher education programmes should create conditions for student transformative learning preparing prospective teachers to live and work in a rapidly changing and challenging world, to create space and time to develop important qualities of student teachers such as flexibility, the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and resistance to physical and emotional disturbances.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1476718X2110303
Author(s):  
Vicki Schriever

Young children use, engage with, and experience digital technologies in their home and early childhood settings, yet their presence and use can be fraught with tensions and uncertainties. This paper reports on an Australian study focusing on how early childhood teachers perceive and manage parental concerns about their child’s digital technology use in kindergarten. Grounded theory was the methodological approach used to give insights into the early childhood teachers lived experiences. The findings revealed that early childhood teachers who taught kindergarten children, aged three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years of age, experienced parents voicing concerns about their child’s digital technology use and made requests for mediation. Differences were identified between the children’s home environment and kindergarten setting regarding children’s access to digital devices, expectations for use and digital mediation practices. To manage the concerns parents raised, early childhood teachers endeavoured to educate and reassure parents about the nature of digital technology use in kindergarten. This paper invites early childhood professionals to reflect on how they respond to parental concerns about digital technology and to consider the role they play in educating parents about how digital technologies are used in kindergarten.


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