Information Management Tools for the Development of Self-Regulated Learning Skills in Pre-service Teacher Education

Abstract

This article presents a didactic strategy aimed at developing student teachers’ personal learning environments (PLEs) with a self-regulated learning (SRL) approach. The strategy is framed in the Dabbagh and Kitsantas (2012) model, which relates Zimmerman’ SRL cycle (forethought, performance, self-reflection) to the three levels of social media usage (personal information management, social interaction and collaboration, and information aggregation and management). A learning scenario was implemented to facilitate SRL skills through information management. The participants were 241 students of Education at the University of Balearic Islands (Spain) and data was collected through a questionnaire designed to explore tool usage and their perceptions of the effectiveness of those tools for information management tasks. Data analysis allows the observation of some patterns in the usage of information management tools in the diverse learning scenarios. In the conclusions challenges such as resistance and traditional assessment focus are identified; affordances for transferability of the acquired skills to other contexts are highlighted and further educational implementation and research are suggested. With this work, a model applicable to other contexts is provided, and a didactic strategy for the management of information based on the PLE and the SRL is presented.