The staff of teacher education institutions in Scotland are under increasing pressure to ensure that teachers in training acquire a range of Information and Communications Technology skills. This paper reports a study of current skills and attitudes of some Scottish training institutions and students' related experiences. Ways of ensuring effective development of skills are discussed.
In common with other parts of the United Kingdom, teacher education in Scotland is facing a period of rapidly changing demands with respect to the use of information and communications technology (ICT), together with high levels of investment, rising expectations, and increased scrutiny and accountability. In this article, we present an account of a national survey of the ICT skills and attitudes of students entering and exiting from the teacher education institutions in Scotland in the session 1996-97. The students are extremely positive in their attitudes, their enthusiasm for ICT use in education is high and their aspirations clear-they expect ICT to permeate their professional work now and in the future. Their experiences during their period of training fall considerably short of their expectations. We discuss the reasons for some of the difficulties and consider the challenges faced by tutors in initial teacher education courses who must now 'model the message' of a learner-centred approach to the education of their students.
While ICT has assumed considerable importance in education its contribution to teaching and leaming is frequently questioned. Educationalists focus solely on the latest technology and strongly hyped 'killer' applications, ignoring valuable software that develops skills, competences and conceptual understanding. In this paper the contribution of curriculum-oriented CD-ROMs to teaching and learning is exemplified through an exploration of one sophisticated resource which allows pupils to investigate differing urban environments and social history characteristics ofVictorian Scotland. The paper acknowledges the many factors that inhibit the development of such CD-ROMs and argues that national initiatives are essential to effectively exploit the potential of this valuable educational resource. D. Watson et al. (eds.
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