Main Barriers and Possible Enablers of ICTs Integration into Pre-service Teacher Education Programs

Göktaş Y., Yildirim S., Yildirim Z.

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY, vol.12, no.1, pp.193-204, 2009 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 12 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Journal Name: EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.193-204
  • Keywords: ICT barriers, ICT obstacles, Technology integration problems, ICT enablers, TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the main barriers and possible enablers for integrating information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Turkey's pre-service teacher education programs. The data were collected by means of questionnaires from 53 deans in schools of teacher education (STE), 111 teacher educators, and 1,330 prospective teachers, and additionally from interviews of six teacher educators and six prospective teachers. The findings indicate that the majority of the stakeholders believe that lack of in-service training, lack of appropriate software and materials, and lack of hardware are the main barriers for integrating ICTs in pre-service teacher education programs. There was also agreement on the possible enablers; "having technology plans" was the strategy most strongly agreed upon in that category. Based on these findings, we propose the use of several strategies that should enhance successful ICTs integration.