Student teachers’ digital competence development in teacher education: A Norwegian case study By: Fredrik Mørk Røkenes1, Supervisors: Prof. Tale M. Guldal2, Prof. Rune J. Krumsvik3 1 – Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) & University of Sydney [
[email protected]] , 2 – NTNU, 3 – University of Bergen
Abstract: This is an ongoing case study which examines how postgraduate student teachers’ digital
competence is developed through an English didactics course offered in a Norwegian teacher education program.
ICT in Teacher Education
Purpose of Study
Several researchers (e.g., Kirschner et al., 2008) have emphasized the importance of developing student teachers’ digital competence during teacher education so that they are better prepared to meet the demands of, and expectations for, teaching in today’s technology-rich schools. However, teacher education programs have been criticized for their slow uptake, adoption, and lack of attention to ICT. In Norway, research shows that digital competence is lacking among student teachers and teacher educators, and that ICT-training is mostly limited to technical skills rather than pedagogical use of and teaching with ICT (Tømte, 2013). Thus, there is a need for more research investigating digital competence development in teacher education (Krumsvik, 2014).
Krumsvik (2011) defines digital competence as “the teacher’s…proficiency in using ICT in a professional context with good pedagogic-didactic judgement and his or her awareness of its implications for learning strategies and the digital Bildung of pupils and students” (pp. 44-45). Adopting Krumsvik’s (2011) definition, my research investigates how postgraduate student teachers’ digital competence is developed through an English didactics course offered in a Norwegian teacher education program. The study is a part of my doctoral project which draws on a design-based research approach (DBRC, 2003; Figure 1).
Figure 1. PhD Research Design
Figure 2. Digital Competence Model
Figure 3. Coding example from Nvivo
Table 1. Course and sample details
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Preliminary Findings
My study follows a case study methodology (Yin, 2009) where I examined four cohorts of postgraduate student teachers (n = 170) taking an English didactics course over a period of 6-7 weeks from fall 2012 until spring 2014 in a Norwegian teacher education program. I observed all lessons in the English didactics course, and observed and later interviewed a sample of the student teachers (n = 19), based on purposeful selection (Maxwell, 2013), during their English lessons in their school practicum. Surveys were distributed to the student teachers before (2012) and after (2014) the course.
Krumsvik’s (2011; 2014) digital competence model (Figure 2) was used as an analytical lens throughout the work with the data. Field notes and interviews were analyzed using the constant comparison method (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) in NVivo 10 for Windows (Figure 3) by applying the cyclical coding process suggested by Saldaña (2013). Initial or open codes were developed into categories, and significant passages of data were used to construct, support, and illustrate assertions, theories, or propositions. Survey results were analyzed for descriptive purposes in IBM SPSS Statistics 21.
Early findings indicate that modeling appropriate use of and teaching with ICT by the teacher educator is an important factor in student teachers’ digital competence development, and use of ICT in their school practicum. Modeling ICT-use was pointed out in all of the student teacher interviews as an essential aspect in the English didactics course. The findings are in line with existing research (e.g., Korthagen et al., 2006), and modeling has been pointed out in several literature reviews (Kay, 2006; Røkenes & Krumsvik, in press; Tondeur et al., 2012) as an significant approach for ICT-training in teacher education.
References Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. L. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3 ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage. DBRC. (2003). Design-Based Research: An Emerging Paradigm for Educational Inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 5-8. Kirschner, P., Wubbels, T., & Brekelmans, M. (2008). Benchmarks for Teacher Education Programs in the Pedagogical Use of ICT. In J. Voogt & G. Knezek (Eds.), International Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education (Vol. 20, pp. 435-447). Dordrecht: Springer. Kay, R. H. (2006). Evaluating strategies used to incorporate technology into pre-service education: A review of the literature. Journal of Research on Technology in Education and Information Technologies, 38(4), 383–408. Korthagen, F., Loughran, J., & Russell, T. (2006). Developing fundamental principles for teacher education programs and practices. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(8), 1020-1041. Krumsvik, R. J. (2011). Digital competence in Norwegian teacher education and schools. Högre utbildning, 1(1), 39-51.
CoCo
Krumsvik, R. J. (2014). Teacher educators' digital competence. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 58(3), 269-280. Maxwell, J. A. (2013). Qualitative research design: an interactive approach (3 ed.). Los Angeles: Sage. Røkenes, F. M., & Krumsvik, R. J. (in press). Development of Student Teachers' Digital Competence in Teacher Education: A Literature Review. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy. Saldaña, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2 ed.). Los Angeles: Sage. Tondeur, J., van Braak, J., Sang, G., Voogt, J., Fisser, P., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2012). Preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology in education: A synthesis of qualitative evidence. Computers & Education, 59(1), 134-144. Tømte, C. (2013). Educating Teachers for the New Millennium? Teacher training, ICT and digital competence. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 1-2(8), 7488. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (4 ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.
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