Perservice teachers explore instructional software with children

"They couldn't tell me what they'd learned, but I'm sure they learned something."

-a preservice teacher

The demand for teachers who can effectively use technology to create meaningful learning environments for students is increasing (U.S. Department of Education 1999). We also face a predicted high rate of teacher turnover (Darling-Hammond 1996), which makes the preparation of technology-using teachers a high priority for schools of education. To prepare preservice teachers to meet the expectations of the school districts that hire them, we must help them acquire technological expertise and give them opportunities to use technology throughout their preservice experience (O'Bannon and Matthew 1998).

Though the importance of technology in education is widely recognized, few teacher education institutions adequately prepare teachers to use technology effectively (Strudler, McKinney, Jones, and Quinn 1999; Willis and Mehlinger 1996; Strudler and Wetzel 1999; Moursund and Bielefeldt 1999). Teacher education faculty members must first model technology use more than they currently do. Furthermore, methods and curriculum courses that integrate technology affect new teachers' use of technology in their classrooms more than stand-alone technology courses. Additionally, student teachers need opportunities to use technology during field placements, under the supervision of classroom teachers who effectively integrate technology into their teaching.

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE 1997) and Moursund and Bielefedt (1999) have reported that schools of education are not adequately preparing preservice teachers to use technology wisely, despite educational technology standards that international, national, and state organizations-including the Milken Exchange on Education Technology and the International Society for Technology in Education-have developed for teachers. Willis and Mehlinger (1996) suggested that part of the problem is a lack of universal agreement regarding what teachers should know or how teachers should be prepared.

Many teacher education courses promote the use of electronic resources. Yet their emphasis is often on the location of resources, which is a relatively simple task, rather than using them, a complex task that requires a high degree of competence in evaluating software, planning and implementing instruction that employs it, and assessing its impact on student learning. Though electronic resources are widely available, the effective integration of software into curriculum still remains a puzzle to most teachers (Dias 1999). Often, teachers are able to locate and use simple programs, but they do not know how to use technology to promote critical thinking and deep engagement with subject matter.

To help preservice teachers catch up with the emerging technology and learn how to integrate computers into the curriculum, several measures should be considered. These include the inculcation of positive attitudes toward computer integration, promotion of constructivist approaches to teaching, and the creation of school-college partnerships in which the use of technology is supported.

Teachers' knowledge and beliefs play an essential role in their practices, shaping the learning that goes on inside and outside their classroom (Borko and Putnam 1995). These beliefs and knowledge shape teachers' learning as they work to improve their practice, acting as filters through which teachers view educational change. For teachers to adopt new educational innovations, such as technology, they must "think in new ways about students, subject matter, and the teaching-learning process" (Borko and Putnam 1995, 38).

Many educational technologists have suggested that an effective way to integrate technology into the teaching and learning process is to follow a constructivist model (Dede 1995; Jonassen 1996). Forcier (1996) noted that, in a constructivist approach, teachers should provide learners with a rich environment of sensory experiences to which they will respond in building understandings. The computer, through its use of text, sound, graphics, animation, and multimedia control, is ideally suited to present such a rich environment.

Preservice teachers need opportunities to use educational technology in realistic school settings (Pan 1998). To foster changes in how teachers use technology in the classroom, universities and schools must form partnerships to ensure that preservice teachers have opportunities to integrate technology into instruction in classrooms (White 1994). Universities must provide leadership for schools as they work to integrate technology (Pan 1998). This collaboration between universities and schools will assure that novice teachers transfer their technology knowledge and skills into their classrooms (Bennett and Daniel 1999). As Christie (2000) and Hornung and Bronack (2000) have suggested, partnerships between universities and local K-12 school districts are beneficial in providing opportunities for university professors, K-12 students and teachers, and preservice teachers enrolled in undergraduate programs to learn from one another.