Digital Competence in Pre Service Teacher Education

Name of Author : Dr. Sushma Bala

Abstract: With more and more modern day classrooms moving to technology mediated learning environments, there has been an unavoidable need to integrate hard core digital literacy structures in pre service teacher education. This study article considers how pre service teacher digital competence has been systematically developed with much interest on the structural shift of elementary functional computer literacy to the advanced and critical pedagogic integration of technologies. With a concurrent mixed methods research design, the participants of this study will be followed over N = 400 teacher candidates through several university based preparation programs to assess their technological preparedness, efficaciousness of instructional design as well as their socio ethical consciousness (in relation to the digital environment). The quantitative results suggest that although the personal digital familiarity of pre service teachers is at high levels, their ability to critically employ technology towards the attainment of specific, higher order learning outcomes is still highly undeveloped unless specifically, through focused pedagogy, it is undertaken. An analysis of candidate portfolios and reflective journals using qualitative thematic analysis can uncover profound structural contradictions within the teacher education curriculum, such as failure to model authenticity by faculty members in universities, and dependence on non embedded, unintegrated courses in technology. The paper ends with practical systemic suggestions on how teacher preparation programs should integrate digital skills on a universal basis across all basic methods courses to create a more fortified system of virtual teacher preparedness.

Keywords : Digital Competence, Pre Service Teachers, Teacher Education, Pedagogical Technology, Curriculum Integration.

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