Journal of Technology and Teacher Education
Volume 4, Number 2 1996
Developing Preservice Teacher's Computer Competencies
Rich Valde, Randall Bower, and Rex A. Thomas 83
Preservice Teacher Education Students and Computers:
How Does Intervention Affect Attitudes?
Martha A. Gabriel and Colla J. MacDonald 91
Effect of Intergenerational Co-Learning of Software onPreservice and
Inservice Teachers' Computer Anxiety
Mary L. Stephen 17
The Teaching Decisions Simulation: An Interactive Vehiclefor
Mapping Teaching Decisions
Harold R. Strang 133
Preparing Special Education Teachers at a Distance:
Effective Televised Instruction
Joan P. Sebastian, M. Winston Egan, Marshall Welch,
and Brent Page 145
The Different Ways Preservice Teachers Have Used anElectronic Discussion
List in a Science Methods Course
M.O. Thirunarayanan 161
Abstracts
RICH VALDE
Computation Center
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50010, USA
RANDALL BOWER
Computer Science Department
REX A. THOMAS
Computation Center
Preservice teachers need a vision, very early in their college career, for usingcomputers in their classrooms. The vision is needed to motivate and direct their learningof technology and related instructional methods. This paper describes the use of asimulation which is a simplified model of computer operations with "programming"tasks for the user to complete. The simulation is used to help meet three learning goalsfor preservice teachers. First, it serves as a basis for understanding computer operationsand programming. Second, it acts as a first step in assisting preservice teachers to learncomputer concepts. Finally, it aids in developing a vision of the value and use ofcomputers in learning.
MARTHA A. GABRIEL AND COLLA J. MacDONALD
University of Ottawa
Faculty of Education
145 Jean-Jacques Lussier
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
This study explores the effect of a computers-in-education course on the attitudes ofpreservice teacher education students toward computers. The Computer Attitude Scale (Loyd& Gressard, 1986) was administered to a group of 94 teacher education studentsenrolled in a required computer course. In addition to gathering pre- andpost-questionnaire data, the researchers observed these students in the computerlaboratory, and conducted interviews with nine of them. Findings regarding these students'attitudes and practices underline the importance of accommodating individual learningstyles and needs in the process of training. The findings also suggest the importance ofthe role played by the teacher-training institution in fostering and supporting positiveattitudes toward computers and their implementation in the classroom.
MARY L. STEPHEN
Harris-Stowe State College
3026 Laclede Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63103,USA
Teacher educators preparing students to use technology effectively in educationalsettings often face the challenge of working with computer-anxious students with minimalcomputer experience. This paper describes a study involving preservice teachers and firstgrade students as co-learners of a hypermedia authoring system. The study examinedpotential benefits for preservice teachers from such co-learning, and the impact ofco-learning with young children on the preservice teacher's level of computer anxiety. Notall students in the college class benefited equally. Factors identified in this studywhich impacted the preservice teacher's level of computer anxiety were the collegestudent's perception of the purpose of the project, the role assumed with respect to thefirst grade students, and the adult's individual learning style. The major benefit of thisco-learning activity for the preservice teachers was first-hand knowledge of thedifferences between how adults and children approach computers with the correspondingimplications for designing computer activities involving children.
HAROLD R. STRANG
Curry School of Education
University of Virginia, 405 Emmet Street
Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
This Visual Basic simulation enables participants to engage in fundamentallesson-planning activities such as deciding where pupils will be located in the classroom,with whom they will interact, what activities they will engage in, and what the teacherwill do during the lesson. Post-lesson feedback is provided via an event record whichpresents both a sequential text listing of each participant's decisions and a graphicalmatrix which presents a comprehensive picture of the participant's planning activities.Initial research results suggest that experienced teachers exhibit more deliberation incompleting the simulation than do preservice teachers. This deliberation translates intotaking more time to reach better decisions-decisions that reflect personal control andpupil empathy. Plans for improving the simulation center on streamlining its informationaccessing features.
JOAN P. SEBASTIAN
Department of Special Education
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
M. WINSTON EGAN
Department of Educational Psychology
Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
MARSHALL WELCH
Department of Special Education
University of Utah
BRENT PAGE
Department of Psychology
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
This qualitative study describes the perceptions of adult distance learners who wereinvolved in a graduate special education distance teacher education program delivered viatelevised instruction. Using a focus group method, study participants were interviewed toidentify the elements of effective televised instruction delivered using both closedcircuit television and pre-recorded video. Four themes emerged during the data analysisthat provide insight into the question "What makes a difference in televisedinstruction?" Study results include a description of each of the four themesidentified as critical for effective televised instruction. Examples of participantsresponses are included to illustrate the data patterns. Implications for the design oftelevised instruction conclude this article.
M.O. THIRUNARAYANAN,
Elementary Education Department
Rowan College of New Jersey
Glassboro, NJ 08028-1701, USA
An electronic discussion list was established in the autumn of 1993 for use bypreservice science teachers who enrolled each semester in a science methods course taughtby the author. Over a two year period, many students have subscribed to the list eachsemester and have posted several hundred messages. In this paper the author reviews themessages posted on the list during the semester of spring 1995, and describes thedifferent ways students have used the discussion list. During the first two years of itsexistence, the list has been used for many purposes. These include: (a) providinginteresting information, (b) sharing science activities, (c) following up on classroomactivities, (d) sharing information about resources, (e) submitting a course assignment,(f) asking questions and getting answers, (g) answering instructor's questions, (h)sharing internship experiences, (i) seeking and receiving ideas, (j) providing feedbackregarding course assignments, and (k) providing feedback about the discussion list itself.Messages posted on the discussion list are excerpted and reproduced throughout this paper.