Divisió Basidiomycota: els rovells i els carbons

Section 2.6.1 set out an acknowledgement in the literature that preparation of student teachers to use ICT for pedagogical purpose is a complex process and that responsibility for this resides with ITE providers. This aspect is discussed in relation to the complexities and responsibilities of teacher educators and the influence of teacher education provider knowledge.

Complexities and responsibilities

Over 10 years ago, Jones (2003) argued that, whilst preparing student teachers to use ICT is complex and challenging, ITE providers hold future teachers’ technology use for educational purposes in their hands and therefore must take their role in this seriously. More recently, Teo, Lee and Chai (2008) acknowledged the complexities involved in preparing student teachers to use ICT, but they argued that it was the ITE providers’ role to ensure that their student teachers graduated as teachers who were willing to embrace ICT and able to integrate it into the curriculum and their teaching practice. They stated:

While it is important to ensure that teachers are able to use technology in the curriculum, the groundwork must be laid at the pre-service teacher’s level. In the course of training, pre-service teachers should be provided with tools and experiences that will be used regularly in their future jobs as a teacher as teaching has become a highly complex activity. (p. 138)

These views were later supported by Morgan (2009), who commented that ITE providers need to move away from just using traditional modes of teaching to ensure that the content of their programmes is designed to include opportunities for student teachers to learn about ICT in ways that are engaging and will enhance their learning. Sutton (2011) suggests that, given there has been an emphasis on the need for student teachers to gain an understanding of the affordances of ICT in relation to teaching and learning, one could expect ITE providers to ensure their programmes provide access to the tools, support and time that student teachers need to learn how to integrate ICT into their teaching practice. However, this is often not the case, as Sutton states:

Teacher educators may believe that they provide all of the necessary training so that their graduates go out into the world with the best 21st century skills possible, but study after study has shown that teachers do not feel adequately prepared to integrate technology into their classroom instruction … (p. 39)

Brun and Hinostroza (2014) concur with the views expressed above. Their study in Chile to ascertain the use of ICT within ITE programmes found that, while more lecturers and student teachers are developing a range of ICT-related skills, the knowledge about ICT for pedagogical purposes is not being transferred into innovative teaching practice. They state, “However, the use of technologies still seems to remain bounded to a set of basic teaching and learning activities, whereas the more advanced and complex pedagogical activities are significantly less frequent” (p. 236).

Overall, it is evident in the literature that an understanding of and action on how student teachers appropriate and integrate ICT into teaching practice by ITE providers is viewed as essential if student teachers are to gain the knowledge and skills required to use ICT effectively in their teaching. To enable ICT tools to be used to their full potential, student teachers need to understand their affordances and how to create opportunities for their use as part of their teaching practice. However, this can only become a reality when student teachers are competent and confident with their use of ICT (Donnelly, McGarr, & O’Reilly, 2011; Ertmer, 2005; Jung, 2005; Katic, 2008; Sutton, 2011).

ITE providers need to ensure that ICT is embedded into their programmes is highlighted by Parette, Quesenberry and Blum (2010). They posit that this should be done in ways that reflect lecturers’ understandings of meaningful developmentally and culturally appropriate uses of technology in ITE programmes with the aim to support student teachers’ use of ICT in their teaching practice. They further argue that teachers could not be expected to use ICT in their teaching until ITE providers change their practices to reflect the influence of ICT on 21st century learners. Larkin, Jamieson-Proctor and Finger (2012a) noted that ITE providers ideally should ensure their student teachers are aware of the intersection between ICT and pedagogy and argue that many providers do not

(2014) wrote about the importance of student teachers graduating with the skills and knowledge to use ICT in their teaching practice to enhance teaching and learning. He argued that, even though there has been a significant investment in ICT within ITE, there were still difficulties that needed to be addressed. He stated:

In spite of substantial investment in both equipment and training, it has proved more difficult than envisaged to train teachers so that they are all adept and accomplished users of information and communications technology (ICT). Recent reports by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in England note that there are still substantial variations in the extent to which new teachers are able to use new technology effectively in their teaching. (p. 455)

Recently, Aslan and Zhu (2015), writing about ITE programmes and teacher preparation, argued that ITE providers must recognise the importance of their role in supporting student teachers to integrate ICT into their teaching practice. They further argued that student teachers should experience rich ICT learning environments, which would then contribute to them gaining the skills and knowledge they will require to use ICT in their teaching practice.

Turning to work from New Zealand, Bolstad (2004), in her literature review of the role and potential of ICT in early childhood education, concluded that early childhood ITE providers’ programmes should include learning about ICT that has a strong theoretical basis. She argued that it was important to embed student teachers’ learning about ICT into the context of their understanding about children’s learning and development. She suggests it is important for student teachers to understand how contemporary theories about learning and development can be linked to ICT use and what pedagogical practices might support this. In addition to having opportunities to develop sound theoretical and pedagogical knowledge of ICT, Bolstad suggested that student teachers needed to see and experience meaningful uses of ICT in authentic early childhood educational settings. Overall, the Bolstad review indicated that the ICT use should be grounded in an understanding of the purposes, practices and social context of early childhood settings, which is consistent with a sociocultural orientation to the effective use of ICT in early childhood education.

Relational Trust

There is a body of literature about the nature relational trust in professional learning communities. Bryck and Schneider (2002) acknowledge there are a number of conceptualisations of the notion of relational trust, however in the context of professional learning communities they highlight three specific concepts of trust - organic, contractual and relational trust. They describe each of these concepts as follows. Organic trust is based on the notion of a total trust in the beliefs and rules of the organisation. With an understanding of organisational culture, of the way things are done in a particular organisation, organic trust is established and built. This form of trust is seen in teachers’ understanding of the school vision and trusting how it is demonstrated throughout the school in behaviour and the levels of authority present in the school’s day-to-day operation. Bryck and Schneider (2002) conceptualise contractual trust as a form of trust that relates to performance or to expected outcomes when contractual agreements are entered into. This kind of trust is common in the business sector and is often the basis of financial agreements. Finally, Bryck and Schneider describe relational trust as a form of social trust that sits outside of organic or contractual trust. They describe relational trust as embodied in the interpersonal and social exchanges that take place within a community such as a school. These exchanges might include principal to teacher, principal to parent, teacher to teacher, teacher to student, or teacher to parents exchanges. Respect, competence, personal regard for others, and integrity are four aspects that form the basis of relational trust in the educational context.

Mason and Lefrere (2003) suggest that trust is seen as an important component of the processes of collaboration and knowledge sharing in e-learning. For technologies to work and be embraced by individuals they must be trusted and validated in the context that they are used. Mason and Lefrere contend that the relational nature of trust enables individuals to take risks when exploring the use of technology. This includes a sense of trust in relation to privacy and security and to understanding the affordances and limitations of the technology that people engage with. Mason and Lefrere (2003) further state, “most important of all, trust cannot be decreed, or designed, only designed for” (p. 265). This notion of designing for relational trust to develop in relation to individual’s use of

technology in educational contexts suggest curriculum designers need to take this account when planning for technology use with programmes.

Palvia (2009) argues that beliefs influence the development of trust. He goes on to assert that trusting beliefs about ICT use is what determines the foundation of trust, and therefore both beliefs and trust must be taken into account when considering individuals’ adoption and use of ICT. Palvia also argues that relationships are a very important element of trust and therefore relational trust needs to be present for the adoption of ICT to occur. When writing about the context of e-commence and online technology Palvia posits that trusting relationships impact on users intentional use and continual engagement with technology.

Cranston (2011) when describing relational trust in the context of school communities suggests relational trust influences the development of collaboration and the willingness of teachers to embrace change and on-going professional growth. He posits that relational trust is the “glue the that binds a professional learning community” (p.59).

Kuriyan and Kitner (2010) and Smith (2010) posit that whilst trust is a complex concept that is often broadly defined in the literature it is an under researched area in the context of ICT use. They argue that the social aspects of trust and ICT use are often overlooked. These writers contend that social trust represents the relationships individuals and institutions have in technology, which includes the reliability and trustworthiness of the technology, and safety aspects such as an awareness of cyber bullying.

Given the literature reviewed above relational trust in technology is a concept that ITE providers could usefully consider when developing their teacher education programmes. Relational trust with technology can involve professional learning communities and includes individuals developing a trusting relationship the technology they use. Seen this way relational trust also takes into account an understanding of negative aspects of ICT use, for example cyber bullying.

The Influence of Teacher Education Provider Knowledge

Teacher educators or lecturers in ITE programmes need to be able to use ICT with their student teachers in ways that will enhance student teachers’ understanding of

how to use it for pedagogical purposes. This has been highlighted by a number of authors.Thieman (2008) claims the lack of ITE providers’ knowledge needs to be addressed so that effective modelling of educational technologies can become commonplace within their programmes. Manning and Carpenter (2008) contend that ITE programmes are still seen by many as a barrier to student teachers gaining the knowledge and skills required to integrate technology into their teaching practice effectively. They state, “Few teachers are adequately prepared to use technology themselves or to help students use technology in the classroom” (p. 48). Manning and Carpenter (2008) argue that these issues must be addressed to ensure that student teachers are prepared to use ICT effectively in their teaching practice. Goldstein et al. (2011) maintain many ITE programmes do not expose student teachers to innovative teaching methods because most lecturers use ICT at a basic level and therefore are not preparing student teachers sufficiently to integrate ICT into their teaching practice. Johnson et al. (2013) detailed a range of concerns around the need for ITE providers to understand the trends and challenges that new technologies bring whilst embracing them as tools for learning. Their report concluded that many lecturers are limiting their student teachers because they are not supporting them to use ICT across the curriculum areas. This doctoral study aims to address these issues by providing a model that will support ITE providers and lecturers to understand how student teachers appropriate and integrate ICT into their teaching practice. This understanding can then be used by lecturers to gain insight into how they can use ICT in innovative ways to help student teachers’ use of ICT for pedagogical purposes.