Information and communications technology in teacher education: can a reflective portfolio enhance reflective practice?

Abstract

Abstract In this article we argue that the need to integrate information and communications technology (ICT) into teacher education courses goes beyond facilitating the development of student teachers' ICT skills. Such skills need to be developed in ways that will enhance students' ability to teach effectively and will also enhance pupil learning. We illustrate this need by reporting on the experience of requiring student teachers to complete a reflective ICT portfolio during their Postgraduate Certificate in Education course, which is designed for students wishing to become teachers in secondary schools. The perceptions and experiences of 110 students across seven curriculum subjects were explored, as well as the views of university tutors and placement teachers. While the reflective portfolio has many benefits, we show that when attempting to integrate ICT in teacher education there are many challenges, not least the perceptions of the tutors and the students regarding the role of ICT in teaching and learning. We show that reflective practice in the application of ICT in teaching needs to be more than an account of incidents of the use of ICT but that the presentational and communicative qualities of ICT shadow its real potential for improving the teaching and learning cycle. Rather than develop personal skills in the use of ICT, we argue that higher education institutions should develop students' ability to reflect on the use of ICT in the context of teaching in the placement schools in which they teach, so that students learn more effectively about teaching, and pupils in schools can explore new ways of learning offered by ICT