Preservice Teachers’ Edu-Tech Competencies Development：learning Outcomes, Factors And Strategies

By comparing the current Educational Technology Standards for Teachers in China withthose of other countries, this research attempts to analyze preservice teachers‘competenciesand to form a model based on the process of technology integration in the classroom. Themodel indicates four key skills and four stages for capacity-building-orientated facultydevelopment, namely technology learning skills, integration abilities, innovation andleadership and the four core stages including the teacher as a learner, as an instructor, as afacilitator and as a leader.Their learning focus varies at different stages. As a learner, the teacher should focushis/her learning on the clear understanding of the relationship between technology andindividuals, and effective application of technology to solve practical problems they confrontin their study and lives as well. As an instructor, the teacher begins to keep his/her eyes on therelationship between technologies and subjects taught, technologies and education as well asthe and effective application of educational technology to solve the problem in the teachingof relevant subjects. As a facilitator, the teacher should take an active part in understandingthe interactions between technologies and learning and applying the educational technologyin a creative way into the design and implementation of inquiry-based learning andcooperative learning, such as learning resources, learning process and learning assessment.The last stage is the highest level where teachers are involved in upgrading their researchcapacity for educational technology, especially the ability to model their own technologyintegration patterns and to share these models with others to promote faculty developmentand campus cultures.The development of teachers‘educational technology is not a linear and mechanicalprocess but a dynamic process of the integration of technology and education. The authorfinds that when new technologies emerge, breaking the balance of the original instructionalstructures, the teacher, as a key component of the structure, must demonstrate his/hereducational technology competencies and actively adjust the original structure toaccommodate the new technology. The teacher‘s educational technology competenciesbecome transparent and implicit. At this moment, the educational technology competenciesare not a special teaching ability more than a general one.As an initial stage in their lifelong development, the education of pre-service teachers iscrucial to the future application and innovation of educational technology, both in anindependent and cooperative way. Practice and theoretical learning do not synchronize witheach other in the educational technology competencies, with theoretical learning prior to practice. The purpose of pre-service teachers‘educational technology competencies is tofoster an positive attitude towards, to broaden the horizon of and to enhance the basic skills ineducational technology. On theoretical learning, pre-service teachers should lay emphasis ongeneral information accession and application at the learner stage, the ability to solveproblems in the teaching of relevant subjects at the instructor stage, the design ofinquiry-based learning at the facilitator stage, as well as the research capacity for educationaltechnology at the leader stage. As far as practice is concerned, informational application atthe learner stage and the the design and implementation of inquiry-based learning at theinstructor stage are two main aspects. Based on the above-mentioned knowledge and skills,some pre-service teachers will be encouraged, in terms of practice, to reach the facilitatorstage and to foster basic skills in the design and implementation of inquiry-based learning.Educational techonology competencies are comprised of general information-basedcapacity, the ability to access information on subjects taught and the capability oftechonology-involved teaching and research. By means of questionnaires and interviews, theauthor conducts a survey on pre-service teachers from four normal universities. Item analysisand factor analysis have ensured the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The resultsof factor analysis indicate that there are six key components for the pre-service teachers‘technology competencies. Factor one, the ability to integrate, innovate and model in atechnology-based way. Factor two, the general skills in technology-based teaching. Factorthree, basic computer and network skills. Factor four, skills in functional productivitysoftware (Word, PowerPoint, Excel). Factor five, the understanding of the interactionsbetween technologies and subjects taught. Factor six, the information accession capacity.Factors three, four, and six are components of general information-based capability. Factorfive is the most important aspect of the ability to access information on subjects taught.Factor two indicates the general teaching design skills and factor one relates to thecomprehensive capability of techonology-involved teaching, innovation and research.The results of the questionnaire show that the general information-based capacity ofpre-service teachers is at a higher level than their ability to access information on subjectstaught. The finding also indicates a lack in the appropriate application of educationaltechnologies for diversifed teaching. They have not realized the true advantages and valuebetween technologies and teaching, subjects taught, and learning. They even have somereluctant and negative attitudes towards educational technology application.Besides the analysis of the current development of pre-service teachers‘educationaltechnology competencies, through path analysis, this paper finds that the developmentprocess of pre-service teachers‘educational technology competencies should undergo threestages, from general information-based capacity, the ability to access information on subjects taught to general teaching design skills and finally leading to the promotion of thecomprehensive capability of techonology-involved teaching, innovation and research.Based on the results of the interview, pre-service teachers‘educational technologycompetencies depend on mutiple factors such as the curriculum arrangement, practice, facultydemonstration, learning resources, teaching environment and education beliefs of thepre-service teachers. In order to improve the pre-service teachers‘educational technologycompetencies, the comprehensive reform of faculty education is necessary, in such ways asimproving teacher educational technology environments, reconstructing educationaltechnology curriculum and promoting normal university teachers‘educational technologycompetencies.