Teacher educators’ perspectives and practices towards the Technology Education Technology Competencies (TETCs)

This mixed-method study explores current innovative methods towards technology integration in a teacher preparation programme at a mid-sized university in the Southeastern United States. The authors collected and analysed qualitative descriptive data from instructors of a foundational technology course. Using the recently developed Technology Education Technology Competencies (TETCs), they surveyed 17 faculty members and conducted follow-up interviews to understand their perspectives about the importance of the TETCs, and their belief of whether their current instructional technology integration aligned with them. Key findings suggest policies and initiatives to increase faculty technology integration did not tightly align with practice; teacher educators believed the TETCs were important, but most perceived their practices with teacher candidates were weak, and teacher educators with a higher proficiency with technology scored higher on their beliefs and practices with technology integration. The authors use their findings to propose ways to redesign teacher education programmes to increase faculty technology integration practices.