Technology Integration Skills among Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

The importance of technology integration skills in pre-service teacher education has generated extensive research and development. Integrated frameworks, models, competencies, and other resources provide reference points for monitoring and advancing technology integration training. Despite broad consensus on their critical importance, pre-service teachers continue to report low levels of skill and confidence in effectively integrating technology into teaching practice (Koch, 2009). Determining core competencies, clarifying the accompanying meanings of integration, and identifying models, frameworks, and pedagogies enable a systematic examination of what pre-service teachers must be able to do in order to effectively integrate technology into teaching practice and monitor progress toward closing these gaps.

The study has three main purposes: to illustrate the wide range of definitions of technology integration, to examine several key frameworks for pre-service teachers, and to identify pedagogies that readily incorporate technology and are widely promoted by key national and state-level bodies. The first purpose leads to the second and provides a foundation for identifying pedagogies that are useful for developing—yet are themselves indirectly constrained by—core technology integration competencies. The analysis informs the design of training for both pre-service and in-service teachers and supports monitoring of progress toward closing critical gaps in fundamental technology integration competencies.