International Portal of Teacher Education

Source: European Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 40, No. 2, 191–209, 2017
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)

This study explored the effects of the teacher characteristics on pre-service teacher (PST) concern about integrating Web 2.0 tools into instruction.

Methods
The participants were pre-service teachers in a teacher education university in north Taiwan.
They completed online surveys at their convenience either in the university or at home over a two-week period. 31% of the participants were males and 69% were females.

The authors decided to use SoCQ (Hall, George, and Rutherford 1977), Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) (Tschannen-Moran and Hoy 2001), and the TPACK instrument (Archambault and Crippen 2009) to measure teachers’ concern, teacher self-efficacy and teacher knowledge.

Discussion
The authors found significant relationships between the concern and a few personal characteristics.
The authors found that the PSTs seemed more prepared and confident in utilising instructional strategies (pedagogical knowledge) and less in engaging students in learning and managing classrooms.
Furthermore, it was found that the positive association between extent of concern and self-efficacy support that more confident PSTs tend to be more aware of Web 2.0. For instance, the PST concern was most intense in the self-concern stage and then fluctuated from task-concern to impact-concern within a small range.
The findings also revealed that when the PSTs have more confidence in the use of instructional strategies, they have higher awareness of Web 2.0 and have more concern on how to modify the innovation to further maximise the benefits for learners.
The findings also indicate that teacher education programmes need to incorporate technology and model its use in instruction and learning to promote TPACK development.

The authors suggest that teacher education programmes may modify their curriculum to promote PST self-efficacy through participation in field-based practicums and other course activities that promote the development of professional competency.
They also suggest that teacher education programmes may provide the PSTs with information and resources related to Web 2.0 for instruction.
In addition, PSTs need to experience the use of Web 2.0 in their own learning. Hence, they argue that teacher educators must model the integration themselves throughout the teacher education curriculum and not only in single technology skill-related courses.

References
Archambault, L., and K. Crippen. 2009. “Examining TPACK among K-12 Online Distance Educators in the United States.” Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education 9 (1): 71–88.

Hall, G. E., A. A. George, and W. L. Rutherford. 1977. Measuring Stages of Concern about the Innovation: A Manual for Use of the SoC Questionnaire. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

Tschannen-Moran, M., and A. W. Hoy. 2001. “Teacher Efficacy: Capturing an Elusive Construct.” Teaching and Teacher Education 17: 783–805.