Supporting teachers' technology integration in lesson plans

Abstract

Lesson planning offers rich opportunities for teachers to consider and implement technology in the classroom. This dissertation investigated the design and effectiveness of supplementary information to assist pre-service teachers during the lesson planning process. Based on the Technological, Pedagogical, And Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, several sets of support materials were developed. All materials contained information about technology, pedagogy, and content, but differed with regard to how these types of information were organized. Some materials presented each type of information in a separate section whereas other materials used an integrated format in which multiple types of information were combined. These different configurations were compared in four experimental studies. The main findings indicate that pre-service teachers prefer and benefit most from integrated support when thinking about the use of technology in their lessons. However, additional support or sustained practice seems needed to ensure high-quality technology integration.