A Preliminary View of Students’ Information Technology Experience across UK Initial Teacher Training Institutions

Abstract

Students enter initial teacher education institutions with a wide variety of experiences of information technology. This report aims to create a national perspective of their abilities and needs based on data collected independently by a number of institutions from England and Wales. For this preliminary survey data were provided by eight institutions. The survey covers 1370 students, of whom 731 were primary and 639 secondary. The data were gathered over a three year period (ending 1990/91) using a variety of questionnaires designed to gather data on the students' previous computer experience, their proficiency in using computers, and their attitude to information technology both personally and its use in education.The data indicate that students entering initial teacher education have a wide variety of needs regarding information technology (IT). The proportion of students lacking any computer experience prior to their course varied from 8% to 60% depending on institution and course. The most common experience was word processing only. The location of this experience also 241 M. BLACKMOREETAL varied, with school use more common for students who had just left school and use at work common for mature students. Differences were indicated with factors such as age, course and gender. A proportion of students (2% -49%) felt anxious or very nervous when computers are mentioned. However, most students feel that it is important to use IT in their teaching, despite these anxieties. The provision of a differentiated IT experience for students is recommended. A more reliable annual survey using a common instrument is now underway. The questionnaire is available from the ITTE Association. [1]

Effective integration of information and communications technology in teacher education

“…Reports from Summers (1990) and McMahon & Gardner (1995) suggest that male students are less anxious about ICT and make more frequent use of it. Several other studies have reported that female students are less confident or knowledgeable than males about using computers (Blackmore et al, 1992;Oliver, 1993;Marshall, 1997;Marshall & Bannon, 1986). In contrast, there are also many reports which indicate that there are no significant differences between the attitudes of male and female students, for example: Koohang (1989), Kay (1989), Hunt & Bohlin (1993), Marshall & Bannon (1986) and Woodrow (1991).…”

“…Conflicting reports have argued whether age is a significant factor in determining the extent of low student teacher ICT uptake (Woodrow, 1991;Blackmore et al, 1992;Liénard, 1995).…”

“…The age phase for which students are being trained to teach may also be significant in that Blackmore et al (1992) and Oliver (1994) demonstrated respectively that primary-trained students were more anxious and used computers less than secondary-trained students.…”

“…Lack of resources or lack of access to resources in schools/initial teacher training (ITT) institutions has been suggested by Veen (1993), Byard (1995), Wild (1996), Dearing (1997) and Taylor (1997). The lack of opportunity to use computers (Blackmore et al, 1992;Dunn & Ridgway, 1991), predominance of other pressures during the early years of teaching (Wild, 1996), and the lack of ICT experience and training at pre-service level (Oliver, 1994;Wild, 1995) have also been implicated as factors leading to low student ICT uptake. Other suggestions include the lack of encouragement for students to use ICT by teachers in schools or teacher trainers (Dunn & Ridgway, 1991;Downes, 1993;McDonald, 1993a;Collison & Murray, 1994) and lack of confidence in the computing skills of student teachers and teacher trainers (Chen, 1997).…”

Information Technology in Initial Teacher Education: preconceptions of history and geography interns, with reflections of mentors and tutors

“…Blackmore et al, 1992;Mellar & Jackson 1992, 1994. However, these surveys concentrate mainly on whole cohorts and provide few insights into individual subject areas.…”