| "Infusing Technology" initiatives involving information and communications technology (ICT) are on the rise in teacher education programs, such as the Professional Development Program (PDP) at Simon Fraser University. Pilot study data and observations of the first two years of computer conferencing in the PDP reveal it was used primarily to facilitate simple course management tasks (assignment submission, resource sharing, notices) and social activity. Given the demonstrated potential of computer conferencing to support teaching and learning, and the importance for teacher education programs to model and use technology in pedagogically meaningful ways, the purpose of this study is to explore and document new ways of designing and using computer conferencing in the PDP. This collective case study focuses on teacher educators and their experiences as they participate in a responsive instructional design process (Ertmer, 2001) to plan, design, and use computer conferencing to support their work with preservice teachers. Teacher beliefs, preferred practices, computer skills, computer attitudes, and computer self-efficacy are explored in an effort to better understand and assist teacher educators in the process of designing and implementing approaches to technology use in the PDP. First and second-order barriers to technology change, and relationships between these and teacher educators' ways of using technology are also considered. Findings suggest that strong computer skills, positive computer attitudes, and high computer self-efficacy aren't essential for using technology in pedagogically meaningful ways. Rather, teacher educators with a sense of "designer self-efficacy" and flexible or symbolic perceptions of technology and its function(s) are more likely to integrate technology into their practice in ways that extend and support specific teaching and learning goals and processes. Results of this study have implications for current and future technology use in the PDP, and for teacher educators and those who support them to plan, develop, and use ICT to support teaching and learning in teacher education. |
