Comments on: Pre-Service Teacher Tech Training

By: dabrace1984

dabrace1984 — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:45:25 +0000

When I was an undergrad at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, NC (same city where the winner of last summer’s “Last Comic Standing” lives) we discussed a little bite about integrating technology during each of my methods courses but it was too difficult to get too involved because we only had so much time to learn “regular” material. I did have a separate technology course but that was just using the basic features of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and FrontPage. The only good that I really got out of it was a certificate stating that I was Intel certified.

By: bolutbte415

bolutbte415 — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:32:02 +0000

Terri’s comment above is well founded and I can relate to that especially considering that I was enrolled in a master of education program prior to coming to Lehigh University. I have to say that the program taught little or nothing about technology for pre-service teachers. I learned a lot about learning theories, curriculum and assessments, and inclusionary practices but nothing about using technology to achieve any of that. It goes to show that students seeking degree in education with a goal of teaching have to identify what areas of education they want to go into and carefully examine which university offers the best program closely related to their need. Everyone of the education degree programs vary very widely. In conclusion, it is good to have the opportunity to have a peek at what is expected of future teachers through your presentation.

By: Terri Miquel

Terri Miquel — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:42:33 +0000

Patricia made some good points about the lack of real technology instruction that many teacher education programs provide. I know when I did my undergrad work in the early 90’s “technology” consisted of learning to use the laminator, the opague projector, the copier, etc. I would have thought that by now, technology integration would be a part of EVERY methods course. At least it seems that it should be. That way, as a pre-service teacher learns about teaching each subject area, he/she would also learn how to integrate technology into the instruction in a way that supports student learning. If that’s not happening, then I wonder how colleges think they are really preparing “tomorrow’s teachers” for the demands of the profession?!?!