Preparing teachers for schooling in the digital age: A meta-perspective on existing strategies and future challenges

Abstract

Recent developments in educational innovation and new technologies have made tensions between old and new models of schooling more apparent, creating new demands upon teachers as agents of change. Looking back at the last 20 years, it is clear that important steps in development have tried to find a good balance between technology-and pedagogy-driven changes. In the first part of this article, we present some strategic models that summarize these developments. The second part of the article addresses new challenges on the horizon that point towards possible future developments. However, from the position of teachers in schools today, this might create an ambivalence between old and new models of teaching and learning that use new technologies. These models are discussed as ways of preparing teachers to innovate, adopt, and implement new ways of teaching and learning in the digital age.

Information literacy education in primary schools: A case study

“…A study carried out by the Ministry of Education itself assumes that a teacher who prepares their students to cope with the challenges of the 21st century has already mastered those skills (Dayan et al, 2013). This is in contrast to studies which have found that many teachers lack this ability (Erstad et al, 2015; Wastiau et al, 2013). Nor does this approach consider the differences among teachers, stemming from personal attitudes, technological training, and their relative experience in the field.…”

“…On the other hand, most of the interviewees were unable to explain the meaning of the term “information literacy” and did not sufficiently distinguish between the use of technological tools and the substantive changes required in teaching methods. They used technology mainly for screening presentations and videos, in a way that preserved traditional teaching methods (Erstad et al, 2015; Melamed, 2010).…”

“…The results of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) indicated the gap between the positive attitude of teachers toward integrating technology and innovative teaching practices into their teaching and the actual application of these practices (Ministry of Education, 2015b). Many teachers see computers as effective tools for managing a lesson, but not necessarily a means of changing their teaching methods, and tend to integrate them into familiar teaching methods rather than using them to create new ones (Erstad et al, 2015). However, a recent study (Walton et al, 2019) focusing on students’ engagement via the creation of digital artifacts (or “e-artifacts”) revealed that including the creation of e-artifacts in the curriculum offered a more inclusive and rewarding provision of learning for both students and staff.…”

Digitalization of education: trends in teacher training

“…the mechanisms of integrating media education into the professional training of teachers are being investigated (within the framework of the European project e-MEL Education Lab [12]), the analysis of models and ways of implementing promising developments in the field of IT-technologies in education [13], 5G technologies, streaming video, mixed reality, models of multilevel professional pedagogical training are being designed in the context of digitalization of education [14,15];…”

Alfabetización mediática en la escuela primaria. Estudio de caso en Galicia

“…Con frecuencia los alumnos utilizan los medios ligados a contextos de interacción social, pero no profundizan sobre su significado, pues es algo que necesita estimulación, y aquí es donde entra el rol del profesorado ofreciendo prácticas enriquecedoras más allá de las que habitualmente desarrollan los jóvenes fuera del aula (Dussel, 2012). La actitud del docente y su grado de competencia digital es fundamental para que puedan desarrollarse estos procesos en el aula (Aguaded & Pérez-Rodríguez, 2012;Erstad, Eickelmann, & Eichhorn, 2015).…”