Think all incoming teachers have a natural facility with technology just because most are digital natives? Think again.
Teacher preparation programs have a long way to go in preparing prospective educators to teach with technology, .
In fact, more than half of incoming teachers鈥�56 percent鈥攍ack confidence in using learning technology prior to entering the classroom, according to survey data included with the report. That survey of 214 teachers in their first three years in the profession was conducted last year by Jenna Conan Simpson, the director of instructional technology at All Saints鈥� Episcopal School, a private school in Fort Worth, Texas. She found participants largely through social-media groups.
The majority of early-career educators鈥�55 percent鈥攄escribed their training to teach with technology in teacher-preparation programs as lacking, Conan Simpson鈥檚 survey found. Just 21 percent thought it was 鈥済ood鈥濃�攁nd even those teachers wanted a better sense of how to manage a classroom in a technology-rich environment and more training on how to best select tools to support student learning.
Schools of education assume that many of their students are 鈥渄igital natives鈥� who instinctively understand technology, Conan Simpson said in an interview. 鈥淏ut just because you know how to use TikTok does not mean that you know how to integrate technology in a classroom.鈥�
New teachers are still trying to figure out when it is and isn鈥檛 appropriate to use technology and even what kind of tool to use, she added.
That could be partly because few educator training programs appear to prioritize preparing teachers to use technology in the classroom. Only 9 percent of educator preparation programs reported that every faculty member embraces and models instructional technology, according to a separate survey of 43 faculty members from 36 educator preparation programs ISTE conducted last year that was also included in the report.
While 53 percent of the programs ISTE surveyed reported that 鈥渕any鈥� members of their faculty made technology integration part of their preparation courses, another 30 percent weren鈥檛 sure how often it was included. And 7 percent reported that none of their faculty model or teach technology integration.
In fact, the faculty members surveyed identified getting teachers ready to use technology in the classroom as a major area of needed growth, ISTE鈥檚 report found. Nearly two-thirds of the educator preparation programs surveyed reported that they are in the process of updating their curriculum, which could provide the opportunity to focus more on getting preservice teachers ready to use instructional technology.
Many university professors haven鈥檛 been classroom teachers for years, Conan Simpson said. While they may try to keep up their skills, they haven鈥檛 had firsthand experience with using the latest tech in the classroom. Teacher-preparation programs could get at that problem by hiring technology coaches, the same way school districts do, she suggested.
What鈥檚 more, many preparation programs used to offer at least one technology course but jettisoned it in favor of integrating tech into every class, Conan Simpson said. Often, that doesn鈥檛 end up happening, and programs may want to consider reinstating their stand-alone courses, she recommended.
They could also teach some of the most common tech tools鈥攕uch as learning management systems鈥攐r at least have subscriptions to those products so that students can try them out.
School districts can backfill the deficit in new hires鈥� tech training, but that help can come at a difficult time, said Stefanie McKoy, a newly minted Ph.D. who studied preservice teacher preparation and technology in her doctoral program at the University of Arkansas.
鈥淎s a new teacher, it can also be very overwhelming because you鈥檙e [working on] classroom management. You鈥檙e trying to build connections with parents in the school community,鈥� said McKoy, who teaches special education in Missouri. 鈥淎nd so, technology is just one more thing that they have to add.鈥�
The dearth of adequate preparation to teach in schools increasingly dominated by technology isn鈥檛 a new issue for ISTE. Last year, the organization partnered with the U.S. Department of Education to encourage teacher-preparation programs to . So far, more than 60 programs have signed on.
Conan Simpson is optimistic change is coming. The increase in virtual learning spurred by the pandemic鈥攁nd now the need for students to better understand artificial intelligence鈥攄emands change.
鈥淚 feel like a lot of universities are starting to realize that they need to do more,鈥� she said.
