Teacher Education in Online Contexts

Abstract

Teacher candidates in online courses engage in authentic learning to foster 21st-century practices similar to those of their K–12 students, namely information and technology literacy and media production. This chapter describes instructional practices used in six online literacy courses for pre-service and in-service teacher candidates. The instructor assumed multiple roles during online instruction, including pedagogue, technologist, and evaluator. Although the course designs were highly structured, the instructor incorporated multiple resources to support diverse learners, to foster independent learning, to promote critical thinking and reflection on how instructional strategies can be used in K–12 classrooms, and to facilitate small group collaboration through authentic problem-solving tasks. Online courses for teacher education programs can serve as a vehicle for supporting candidates’ information and technology skills. Online instructors can assume the primary role of pedagogue to help candidates connect their content area with best practices in literacy and technology.