Learning to Teach With Technologies What Pre-Service Teachers Say About Their Experiences

It is the intention of the Australian Government, that over the next five years, as a
result of the Digital Education Revolution, all secondary schools in Australia will
have achieved computer to student ratios of one-to-one. This investment in
infrastructure brings with it many challenges. Two of these facing Australian
educators are:
• In what ways can advantage be made of such a significant investment in schools’
infrastructure?; and
• What preparation do pre-service teachers require to enable them to meaningfully
include technologies in their classroom activities?
To provide some insights into these two questions, this paper draws on data collected
from pre-service teacher education students in 2008, as part of a larger, Australian
Government funded research project listening to students’ views and expectations of
teaching and learning with technologies. In this paper, the data collected from preservice teacher education students is used to provide insights into their views about
including technologies into their teaching and learning activities during practicum; to
gain insights about their views and expectations of the skills with technologies of their
supervising teachers when on practicum, and of their university lecturers; and to reflect
on their suggestions about how their courses could be improved. This paper highlights
some of the issues and challenges facing Australian educators to prepare pre-service
teachers to meaningfully include technologies into their future students’ learning.