Learning to teach with technologies what pre-service teachers say about their experiences

It is the intention of the Australian Government, that over the next five years, as a result of the Digital Education Revolution, all secondary schools in Australia will have achieved computer to student ratios of one-to-one. This investment in infrastructure brings with it many challenges. Two of these facing Australian educators are: In what ways can advantage be made of such a significant investment in schools’ infrastructure?; and What preparation do pre-service teachers require to enable them to meaningfully include technologies in their classroom activities? To provide some insights into these two questions, this paper draws on data collected from pre-service teacher education students in 2008, as part of a larger, Australian Government funded research project listening to students’ views and expectations of teaching and learning with technologies. In this paper, the data collected from pre-service teacher education students is used to provide insights into their views about including technologies into their teaching and learning activities during practicum; to gain insights about their views and expectations of the skills with technologies of their supervising teachers when on practicum, and of their university lecturers; and to reflect on their suggestions about how their courses could be improved. This paper highlights some of the issues and challenges facing Australian educators to prepare pre-service teachers to meaningfully include technologies into their future students’ learning.