Decoding the Digital Gap in Teacher Education: Three Perspectives across the Globe

Abstract

Educational use of technology is regularly assessed, and results often show a gap between educational policies and what is actually practiced. This chapter will help clarify how teacher educators experience the changing educational contexts due to the digital revolution, how their meaning-making shifts, and how outside forces influence those processes. The results are based on comparative international studies. Central for this study is practitioners’ professional digital competence, their attitudes towards digital technology and the use of digital technology in education. We found that the influence and contribution of digital practice is carried out quite differently across the globe. Our research questions were: How do practitioners experience teaching in a rapidly changing context? How do attitudes change due to top-down governing of education? and What motivates teacher educators to implement digital technology?